Original scientific paper
Temporal and eternal temple in the Qumran Temple Scroll
Domagoj Runje
orcid.org/0000-0002-6244-362X
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Split
Abstract
The greatest portion of the Qumran document 11Q19, known
as the Temple Scroll, presents the blueprint of the temple which
the Sons of Israel are commanded to build when they enter the
Promised Land. This command is given by God to his people in the
context of the Sinai covenant.
The temple plan is divided into two blocks by the Feast
Calendar which is inserted after the prescriptions for the altar
in col. 13. This part of the scroll ends in col. 29 with a rather
unexpected conclusion that the temple described in the text in
the future will be replaced by a new eternal temple created by God
himself according to the covenant which he made with Jacob at
Bethel.
In this article its author makes a comparison between these
two constructions calling them respectively the temporary and
the eternal temple. The main conclusion of that comparison is
that, despite the differences between the two temples, there is
fundamental continuity between the time before and after the Day
when God will create his temple. Namely, the eternal temple as
well as the temporary one is the place of the communion between
God and his people, the same one that is presented in the Temple
Scroll.
Keywords
Temple; Qumran; Temple Scroll; liturgy; covenant; God and people
Hrčak ID:
109387
URI
Publication date:
16.10.2013.
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