Zadokite Priests as the Chosen of Israel

Ezekiel 44 refers to descendants of Zadok, a priest who served during the reigns of David and Solomon, as righteous priests who distinguished themselves from sinful and idolatrous Levites and were therefore to become the sole legitimate holders of the priestly office. It is unclear whether the founders of the Qumran sect were priests who traced their ancestry to Zadok, but as a principled group that had defected from what it viewed as a corrupt priestly establishment, the sect viewed itself as fulfilling Ezekiel’s prophecy. This passage from the Damascus Document, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran, offers an interpretation of Ezekiel 44:15 identifying the Zadokites with the members of the sect, who are destined to serve as priests at the end of days. (The “detailed list” referred to at the end of the passage does not appear in the extant manuscripts.) See also “The Damascus Document.”