The Truth about the Virgin

Speaking of Tongues

The tongue imagery of the songs, repeated throughout, is the telling symbol of this rite of passage:

And the offering of their tongues ... And the tongue of the first (angelic prince) will grow strong sevenfold (joining) the tongue of the one who is second to him. And the tongue of the one who is second with respect to him will grow strong.... And with the tongue of the seventh it will grow strong ... holiness of the sanctuary. (4Q403 l ii 26-29)

Even though the coherence of the phrases is not always maintained (it is a great secret after all!), the key words are "offering" and "grow strong." The first denotes a sacrifice, and the second suggests acceptance and accomplishment. The final "holiness" is the personal and communal outcome.

It is now our task to understand more fully what the sectarians did with their "angels" and how they attempted to "correct" the debased world, at least within their own ranks. As befits the frame of mind of the Qumran fellowship, the roles played by the sectarian priests reflect a rigid hierarchy. The highest archangel, the Prince of Light, is Michael or, Melchizedek (who is quoted as saying:

[My] des[ire] is not according to the flesh, [and] all that I value is in the glory of ... [ ... the pl]ace of holiness.... And who can deal with the issue of my lips?... [F]or I am reckoned with the "gods," and my glory is with the sons of the King. (4Q491 fr. II)

In keeping with Second Temple Levitical practice, in which cultic song accompanied sacrifice and circumcision and conforming to yet more ancient rituals, we assert that all parts of the Shirot are scripted; all are roles, played out at the appropriate time, "each in their season" and "in their due time" (4Q402 frag. 4, line 13). To be most efficacious, the enactment is made precisely, exactly, and all by fleshly beings. We believe that this script is not about a circumcision, the traditional mark of distinction, as alluded to by the official editor, nor about priestly sacrifice for the initiation of heavenly angels. Certainly, "joiners" would not be circumcised within the inner sanctum; as the Qumran's Temple Scroll suggests, they cannot even worship there, nor are they allowed to function as holy men or priests. As for Jewish infants - who are not mentioned in the text of the Shirot, they would not be the beneficiaries of such an elaborate secret ceremony which was (and still is) common-place in Judaism.

Priests and angels are linked in that both are supposed to be "without blemish," namely, without the sin of sexual emissions, as well as without any physical deformities (or tattoo which normally accompanied all mystery sects of the Greek and Roman world; the longest surviving cult wounded one of the initiates' feet).⁽⁶⁰⁾

The tongue imagery of the Songs, is the most telling symbol; it is also one mark of this order among sectarians; in fact, it is the key to the function of the ritual. The use of the "tongue" is culturally and psychically loaded because it is first and foremost associated with circumcision. We remember that it was said of Moses that he had "lips circumcised" (Exod. 6:12, 30), when he is offered the mission by Yahweh to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He is reluctant to accept God's command because of his presumed speech impairment or shyness or poor rhetorical abilities -- or all three. It is ironic that Moses, who is called "the greatest of all prophets," is first introduced to the Hebrews as someone whose speech capabilities are questionable. Furthermore, Moses was the son of a Levite man and woman (Exod., 2:1) and thus the heir to their (Levites) elaborate Israelite tradition of "singing."⁽⁶¹⁾ Finally, Moses accepts the task and is accompanied by Aaron, the priest, who was supposed to assist his "brother" in negotiating with the Pharaoh. Aaron becomes Moses' "tongue," not only because of his perfect speech but because of his priestly capabilities.⁽⁶²⁾

The "tongues" in Shirot is not the only image that harks back to a ritual evocative of a certain perfection (which Moses seemed to have lacked). Ecstasy-producing chants along with swinging and sweet smelling incense to cover the "odors" of the drugs, accompany a rite of passage to the purest male bodily state, that of the eunuch. One can compare the early church, which was referred to as an "angelic choir" and comprised soprano-voiced eunuchs (presumably only their testicles were removed in childhood) and some famous founding leaders, also castrated (to whatever degree) by their own choice in adult life.⁽⁶³⁾ Their distinction as almost godlike beings is befittingly symbolized by the notion of "circumcised lips."

The sectarians were seriously searching for an atonement for "the first sin"; they thus elevated the sacrifice of the first fruits to new levels because they believed that there they could find the answer to the human problem-- male virginity. We suspect from another dedication mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls (and from biblical histories of other Nazirite sons adopted for priestly training, e.g., Samuel and even the prophet Jeremiah) that the small group selected for the angelic choir or other "holy" asceticisms were so appointed from early on, even "dedicated from the womb" (Jer. 1:5) as "first fruits" and, if born male and physically fit, trained and conditioned to accept their status accordingly. But the most zealous, who made the extreme choice to become castrated as adult males (in whatever degree), to stand with the angels in the highest degree of purity, must have been fewer still. Qualified by commitment and schooling at Qumran, as well as by health, age, and ability to keep secrets, these eunuchs probably became the elite cadre among the "Angels of the Presence" in the camps. It may very well be that this concept was best articulated for Western consumption by Matthew in the Gospels:

For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it. (19:12)

And it is noteworthy that in Third Isaiah, the most influential book of prophecies at Qumran, a text which scholars long held was composed during the Second Temple period, eunuchs are also given an uncharacteristically positive value:

and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." For thus says the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; ....I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. (Isa. 56:3b-5)

At this point, we can see what the sectarians were after. The Shirot speak of "a perverse spirit," which is presumably a spirit betrayed by his core of passion, namely, "abominable uncleanness or faithless guilt" (1QH 11:10). We have already seen that the Qumranites and their contemporaries (and later gnostics -- including some surviving today who still make themselves into eunuchs!⁽⁶⁴⁾) believed that the first Adam knew no carnal knowledge before the woman came into the world. According to the sectarians, her mortal sin subverted human perfection and therefore the second Adam, that is, the "son of man," by celibate example, repenting for the sin of mortals, would reverse that judgment. In the "firstfruits" sacrifice of the Shirot, the angels, the debirim, the chariots, all "give praise together" (4Q403 l ii 15); they "sing with one voice," monotonally, without distractions (like the liturgical hymns of the early church).⁽⁶⁵⁾ Indeed, the impression one gets from reading the whole corpus of the Scrolls is the tightly controlled terminology -- the consistency of it and the crescendo to future "light," which is not too far off. We see in the Shirot that feminine nouns are changed to the masculine form but not vice versa; ⁽⁶⁶⁾ that, too, is quite consistent with the message that eunuchs are highly honored men (almost godlike) and should be divorced from sexual associations with women, who are regarded as tainted.

Body defilement comes from any bodily emissions,⁽⁶⁷⁾ but spermal emissions (and thus their testicular source) are the foremost offenders because they are uncontrollable.⁽⁶⁸⁾ In a recently published fragment (4Q477) titled by the authors "A record of Sectarian Discipline,"⁽⁶⁹⁾ there are "reproving" words addressed to those whose vows may be limited to celibacy and who "love their bodily (or, fleshly) emissions" (i 8).

Unlike the angelic orders that eliminate the problem "in hand" (a euphemism in Rabbinic literature for penis), the "priestly/angelic" parallel castes are pious in the sectarians' mind because they exert their will over matter. They are "saints," or "the righteous ones," those with the "purest souls," the ones having the "most light" according to their horoscopes; they exemplify perfection of mind. The description is related to degrees of purity that have been adopted by the sectarians; not everyone is of the same station, though all have to aspire to a significant degree of holiness.

Therefore, by comparison (and contrary to Christian practice), water baptism in the Dead Sea Scrolls is intended only for the purification of the body, to wash away any of their uncontrollable bodily emissions; the souls of the elect have already been saved from sin. All must be so (by water) baptized, even the high priest on whom rests the holy spirit.⁽⁷⁰⁾

We also see that the angels have a variety of necessary, human tasks besides singing: specifically, serving the priests and the angelic elite daily (we think to prevent "contamination" by the women living at Qumran, but not in these all-male camps); making special announcements, such as who is chosen to bear special children. Moreover, it is the "angels'" mission to maintain the purity of the Temple and execute judgments. Watching for impurities among those in the camps and in Temple practices, guarding the elite like pedastal virgins, executing judgments, a role that may have been limited to the master, titled Melchizedek or Michael, are some of their other duties.⁽⁷¹⁾ Godlike beings "do not tolerate any whose way is perverted. There is no unclean thing in their holy places [their "camps"] ... [with] good will for all those who repent of sin" (4Q400 i 14-16). They make their daily prayers, and now, purified in the flesh, they serve the Saints, the Just Ones.⁽⁷²⁾ According to the War Scroll, both groups are held to the rear in the final battle plan: the "hosts" of angels are there to prevent the saints' defilement because no priest may have contact with dead bodies:

The Priests shall depart from among the slain and stand on either side next to the... and they shall not profane the oil of their priesthood [by the blood of the s]lai[n]. (4Q493 = Mc)

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