1QS 6

Community Rule
Dead Sea Scrolls

1 And furthermore, let no man accuse his companion before the Congregation without having admonished him in the presence of witnesses. These are the ways in which all of them shall walk, each man with his companion, wherever they dwell. The man of lesser rank shall obey th greater in matters of work and money. They shall eat in common an bless in common and deliberate in common Wherever there are ten men of the Council of the Community there shall not lack a Priest among them. And they shall all sit before hi according to their rank and shall be asked their counsel in all things i that order. And when the table has been prepared for eating, and the new wine for drinking, the Priest shall be the first to stretch out his hand to bless the firstfruits of the bread and new wine.

Matthew 18:15

New Testament

15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that at the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector. 18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.

 Notes and References

"... These words are very close to those attributed to Jesus in Matt 18:15-20. Indeed, it is a reasonable inference that the two texts are both developments of a common Jewish tradition, especially when one takes into account what the Dead Sea Scrolls have to say on the subject of reproof ..."

Allison, Dale C. Scriptural Allusions in the New Testament: Light from the Dead Sea Scrolls (p. 26) Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2019


"... Not only in the terms in which the Sect describes itself but also in the discipline which it imposed on itself are we recalled to the New Testament. Here again we can only refer to the most striking instance. In Matthew 18:15-17, where we have a discussion of church discipline. We find rules laid down which have almost an exact equivalent in DSD ... As we shall have occasion to note later, much in the practice of the Sect is very similar to what emerged in the early Church ..."

Davies, W. D. Christian Origins and Judaism (p. 103) Westminster Press, 1962


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