The Qumran Community as Temple
Rule of the Community 8:4–10; 9:3–7
2nd Century BCE–1st Century CE
Column 8
4[ . . . ] When these things exist in Israel 5the Community council shall be founded on truth, to be an everlasting plantation, a holy house for Israel and the foundation of the holy of 6holies for Aaron, true witnesses for the judgment and chosen by the will (of God) to atone for the land…
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The following excerpt from the Rule of the Community, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, envisions the Qumran community as a substitute for the Temple, which the sectarians considered corrupt and defiled (see Sectarian Texts from Qumran).
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Qumran, Hellenistic Judea (Khirbet Qumran, Israel)
Roman Judea
Ancient Corpus:
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Significance and Meaning of the Jerusalem Temple in Early Jewish Writing
2nd Century BCE–6th Century CE
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Temple and Priesthood in Ancient Judaism
4th Century BCE–6th Century CE
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