Dead Sea Scrolls: The Community Rule

If the Dead Sea Scrolls do in fact represent the library of an ancient Jewish sect, perhaps the Essenes, then they ought to provide evidence of the daily life of the community and its members. And that's exactly what we find in the Qumran corpus of texts. Because in addition to the Damascus Rule, we have a very important manual, which consists of the organizational structure and general rules and guidelines by which the community was to operate. It’s known as the Community Rule…