The Rule of the Blessing (1QSb) is a very fragmentary text once thought to be part of the text of the
Community Rule scroll found in Cave 1 at
Qumran as part of the
Dead Sea Scrolls. It is added as one of two appendices (including the equally
eschatologicalRule of the Congregation) following the book of the
Community Rule, on one of the first seven scrolls discovered at the
Qumran site.[1] The Rule of the Blessing includes three
benedictions for use during the
eschaton: one for the general assembly of the
eschatological Tribe of
Israel, which describes a sort of “living water” bringing them into a new
covenant with God, one concerning
the Kohen (priest) Sons of Zadok, chosen by God who will act “like angels” and lead
Israel after the War. The third prayer is that for the messianic meal, to bless the
“Prince,” or Davidic
messiah, who has come to deliver
Israel. Similar prayers are found elsewhere in the scrolls, and some believe that this particular manuscript may be a collection of prayers for general, daily use.[2][3]
Bibliography
Phillip R. Davies, George J. Brooke and Phillip R. Callaway. "The Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls," London: Thames and Hudson, 2002.
Michael O. Wise, Martin G. Abegg Jr., and Edward M. Cook. "The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation," San Francisco: HaperSanFrancisco, 2005.
Lawrence H. Schiffman, The Eschatological Community of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Atlanta: Scholar's Press, 1989.
Lawrence H. Schiffman, “Rule of the Congregation.” The Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman and James C. Vanderkam. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. 797–798.