This is of course based on Lev. 21:17-23, which is speaking of priests, but as is well known the sectarians applied the priestly laws to their community. One basic idea behind such laws was that these infirmities could somehow interfere with the proper practice of the law in various ways. It was assumed, for instance, that those who were blind could not read the requirements of the law. Similarly those with a stutter or a quiet voice were not permitted to read the law in meetings because a failure to enunciate clearly might lead others to misunderstand the law and stray into sin. I believe that there are some rabbinic parallels that help enlighten the reasoning behind some of these strictures. I think Schiffman or J. Baumgarten may have discussed these matters, but I don't have my sources in front of me.
The idea that impurity would drive away the angels from the camp is found in many sectarian texts (the Serekh texts, not the halachic texts). See for instance 1QSa 2:8-9; 1QSb 1:5; 3:6, 25-26; 4:23, 25-26; 1QM 1:10; 7:6; 9:15-16; 12:1-10; 4QMa 1-3 10; CD 15:17 = 4QDb 17 i 9.
I hope these general comments are somewhat helpful.
Best regards,
Russell Gmirkin
1QSa 2.6 excludes a number of categories of people from the
congregation, including "everyone who is defiled in his flesh, paralysed
in his feet or in his hands, lame, blind, deaf, dumb or defiled in his
flesh with a blemish visible to the eyes, or the tottering old man who
cannot keep upright in the midst of the assembly" (Martinez'
translation), because they are defiled and the holy angels are present.
Am I right in thinking that the text assumes that should the defiled
appear in the congregation, their presence would drive the angels from
its midst? And if so, why?
Yours,
Jeffrey Gibson
