The 'Mysteries' of Qumran: Mystery, Secrecy, and Esotericism in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

• Author: Penner, Jeremy
• Position: Book review

The "Mysteries" of Qumran: Mystery, Secrecy, and Esotericism in the Dead Sea Scrolls. By SAMUEL I. THOMAS. Early Judaism and Its Literature, vol. 25. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, 2009. Pp. xvii + 311. $39.95 (paper).

This book is the author's revised dissertation written at the University of Notre Dame under the supervisor of James VanderKam, and it reflects the careful, patient style for which Professor VanderKam is well known. In the introductory chapter, Thomas states, "I attempt in this book to describe how Jewish texts from the Second Temple period employ mystery language, and how Qumran texts in particular express concepts of mystery in a way that encompasses sectarian knowledge and the different modes of religious authority in which it operates" (p. 2). Thus, in addition to describing how mystery language functions within the Qumran texts, Thomas has socio-historical aims, which are to describe how concepts of mystery and esoteric knowledge are employed within a social context as instruments for claiming authority and power. Thomas' socio-historical concerns require a more comprehensive approach to the topic of "mystery," so in addition to analyzing the usual mystery language texts, often apocalyptic in genre, he also examines the appearance of mystery language in interpretative (e.g., pesharim), liturgical (e.g., Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice), and wisdom instruction texts--texts that may reflect the broader interpretative and experiential contexts of the members of the Qumran community/ies.

For readers of this Journal, chapters two and three may be of special interest because here Thomas discusses such concepts as "mystery," "secrecy," and "esotericism" in a broader cross-cultural perspective; he also seeks in more detail to situate mystery language within its broader ancient Near Eastern context. In chapter two ("Esotericism, Sectarianism, and Religious Discourse") Thomas sets up a heuristic division for analyzing different Second Temple period discourses that utilize and cultivate mystery language. Not surprisingly, Thomas observes that these discourses, which are also reflected in the broader ancient Near East, are the "prophetic, the priestly, and the sapiential" (p. 71). Another important aim of Thomas is to highlight the necessary correlation between "secrecy" and "esotericism" and how these phenomena serve important functions within a sectarian context, in this case that of the Qumran community/ies.

In chapter...