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4Q394

4QMMT/The Halakhic Letter

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Fragments 3-7 i

1 [eighth of it] is a sabbath. To it, after the sabbath, [the second and the third day] 2 are added. And the year is complete: three hundred and [sixty-four] 3 days. […] 4 These are some of our words […] … which are [some of the words of] 5 the works that we [consider. And all] of them concern […] 6 and the purity of … [And concerning the offering of the] grain of the [nations, which they …] 7 and they touch it with their … and defile [it: one must not eat] 8 of the grain of the nations, [and it must not] enter the sanctuary. [And concerning the sin offering] 9 that they cook in a vessel [of bronze … in it the] 10 flesh of their sacrifices, and … in the court [… it] 11 with the broth of their sacrifice. And concerning the sacrifice of the nations, [we consider that they sacrifice] 12 to the … which is like a woman who has whored with him. [And also concerning the grain offering of the sacrifice of] 13 well-being, which they leave over from one day to the next. And also [it is written …] 14 that the grain [offering is eaten] with the fat and the flesh on the day of their [sacrifice. For the sons of] 15 the priests ought to take care in this matter, so that they do not 16 make the people bear guilt. And also concerning the purity of the heifer of the sin offering:⁠ 17 the one who slaughters it and the one who burns it and the one who gathers its ashes and the one who sprinkles the [water of] 18 purification, all these are to be pure at the setting of the sun, 19 so that the pure sprinkles upon the impure. For the sons of

Texts in conversation

4Q394 B:13-17 and Mishnah Parah 3:7

Dead Sea Scrolls, Torah and Temple Practices · Rabbinic

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Summary

4QMMT requires that all who handle the red heifer’s ashes be fully pure at sunset, not merely immersed. Mishnah Parah records that the Pharisees deliberately had a merely-immersed priest perform the rite to counter the Sadducean position.

Passages

4Q394 3-7 i 16

Dead Sea Scrolls, Torah and Temple Practices · 4QMMT/The Halakhic Letter
13 well-being, which they leave over from one day to the next. And also [it is written …] 14 that the grain [offering is eaten] with the fat and the flesh on the day of their [sacrifice. For the sons of] 15 the priests ought to take care in this matter, so that they do not 16 make the people bear guilt. And also concerning the purity of the heifer of the sin offering: 17 the one who slaughters it and the one who burns it and the one who gathers its ashes and the one who sprinkles the [water of] 18 purification, all these are to be pure at the setting of the sun, 19 so that the pure sprinkles upon the impure. For the sons of
160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q394

Mishnah Parah 3:7

Rabbinic · Mishnah
If the cow refused to go out, they may not take out with it a black one lest people say, "They slaughtered a black cow" nor another red [cow] lest people say, "They slaughtered two." Rabbi Yose says: it was not for this reason but because it is said "And he shall bring her out" by herself. The elders of Israel used to go first by foot to the Mount of Olives, where there was a place of immersion. The priest that was to burn the cow was deliberately made unclean on account of the Sadducees so that they should not be able to say, "It can be done only by those on whom the sun has set."
190–230 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Mishnah Parah

References

"... According to L.H. Schiffman, G. Blidstein and others, the case of the tebul yom is dealt with in 4QMMT B 13.17, 59-67. This technical term does not appear in our letter; it is taken from the Mishnah Tractate Tebul Yom. It designates the man ‘who has immersed himself during the day’ (see b. Yeb. 74b), because he had become unclean and therefore cleansed himself through a ritual bath before sunset. The passage Num. 19.7-10 was interpreted in a different way: the Pharisees of the Mishnah related the term ‘ish tahor (Num. 19.9) to the tebul yom in Num. 19.7 and concluded: he is clean after immersion (m. Par. 3.7). 4QMMT and the Sadducees of the Mishnah were more correct than the Hakhamim of the Pharisees. For the stereotyped decision at the end of Num. 19.7 and 19.8 is quite clear: ‘unclean (tame’) is (the priest) till evening.’ The meaning is purposely changed in Pseudo-Jonathan, where the phrase qodom tibuleh (‘before his immersion’) is inserted (Num. 19.7, 8, 10); this means that the ritual bath renders the tebul yom pure right away ..."
Otto Betz, “The Qumran Halakhah Text Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah (4QMMT) and Sadducean, Essene, and Early Pharisaic Tradition,” in The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context, ed. D.R.G. Beattie and M.J. McNamara (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1994), 185–188.
"... three specific rulings in 4QMMT (Miqsat Ma'aseh ha-Torah) are attributed to Sadducees in the Mishnah: the red heifer could be burned only by priests who were in a state of complete ritual purity [4QMMT B:13-17/m. Parah 3:7]; non-kosher animals' bones were considered impure [4QMMT B:21-23/m. Yadayim 4:6]; and liquid poured from a pure vessel into an impure one rendered the former impure [4QMMT B:55-58/m. Yad. 4:7/m. Toh. 8:9] ... In m. Parah 3:7, the contrary position is attributed to the 'elders of Israel' ..."
Jacob Neusner and Bruce D. Chilton, eds., In Quest of the Historical Pharisees (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2007), 412.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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4Q394 3-7 i 16 and Mishnah Parah 3:7

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