This book is the first work of its kind to examine legal exegesis in the Dead Sea Scrolls from the perspective of both the history of Jewish law and early Jewish scriptural interpretation. It shows how the Dead Sea Scrolls transform the meaning and application of biblical law to meet the needs of new historical and cultural settings. The Dead Sea Scrolls legal texts are examined through the comparative lens of law and legal interpretation in Second Temple Judaism and rabbinic Judaism. The creative interpretation of scriptural texts in the Dead Sea Scrolls responds to the tension between seemingly rigid authoritative scripture and the need for law and scripture to be perpetually evolving entities. The ongoing legal interpretation of scriptural texts frames the development of Jewish law at the same time as it shapes the nature of the biblical canon.

'In this book, Alex P. Jassen joins two lines of inquiry that are commonly pursued independently of one another: the scriptural hermeneutics of the Dead Sea Scrolls and their legal contents. Previous studies of scriptural interpretation in the Dead Sea Scrolls have tended to focus on the nonlegal, narrative, hortatory, liturgical, and eschatalogical texts, while those on the legal contents of the scrolls have sought to uncover the sect’s practices, polemics against other groups, or the larger history of ancient Jewish law. While there have been several important recent studies that combine interests in Qumran (the site of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls) law and scriptural exegesis, none has been as comprehensive and as systematic as is Jassen’s. This book offers high-quality scholarship on an important and timely topic.'

Steven D. Fraade - Mark Taper Professor of the History of Judaism, Yale University, Connecticut

'There is no doubt that the legal texts from Qumran have become a real focus of scrolls research in the relatively short time that all of them have been available. The contemporary emphasis on these texts reflects well their importance to the ancient community that owned them. Despite all the research that has been devoted to these works, Jassen approaches them in an original way. He knows the texts well, deals with issues of reading and reconstruction, interacts with the secondary literature adeptly, and explains the issues lucidly. Jassen works at a very high level.'

James C. VanderKam - John A. O’Brien Professor of Hebrew Scriptures, University of Notre Dame, Indiana

'This volume fleshes out an important new research agenda which Jassen forcefully promoted in a 30-page article on 'The Presentation of the Ancient Prophets as Lawgivers at Qumran’ that appeared in the Journal of Biblical Studies in 2008 … The present volume consolidates this approach further by offering detailed case studies exploring legal hermeneutics of prophetic texts in the Scrolls and reflecting on the significance of those findings for the history of Jewish law and legal exegesis from the Second Temple period to the rabbis.'

Charlotte Hempe Source: Journal of Jewish Studies