Dear Stephen, If we are talking about the literal use of the Hebrew word 'halakha' in the scrolls ... then you and I have no argument. As far as I can tell there is no concrete evidence in the scrolls to suggest that the authors employed the word 'halakha' in the rabbinic sense.
If, however, we are talking about using the term 'halakha' as a generic label to describe the legal rulings and interpretive strategies present in the scrolls, then I see no reason why we should not use it. As Philip Davies noted earlier, there is very little difference between the techniques and presuppositions employed by the authors of the scrolls and the rabbis in the formulation of their respective legal positions. Certainly a word like 'legal' is less loaded than 'halakha', with that I have no issue. But there is an added nuance to the word 'halakha' involving the hermeneutical approach of the author that is absent in a word like 'legal.' There have been a great many books and articles written on the legal material in the scrolls using the generic label 'halakha' with little or no confusion. One that immediately jumps to mind is Schiffman's dissertation entitled: "The Halakhah at Qumran." Baumgarten has used the word himself in the title of at least two articles: �Halakhic Polemics in New Fragments from Qumran Cave 4.� and �A Qumran Text with Agrarian Halakhah.� Rather than occasionally "using the word in quotes and or with a demurrer about its use," as you suggest, the word is used by these authors often and frequently without quotes. One of the ways Baumgarten specifies that he is using the term generically is by describing the legal material in the scrolls as "general 'halakhah'" (my quotations), as he does in his introduction to the DD in the EDSS. In �Halakhic Polemics in New Fragments from Qumran Cave 4,� Baumgarten even goes so far as to call the Damascus Document a "halakhic novella." Concerning your final example: "To take another example, Karaites did not accept Rabbinic halakha." Saying that the Karaites did not accept Rabbinic 'halakha' does not mean that they did not perform their own form of 'halakha'. On the contrary, they applied the similar methods and techniques to the bilical material and came up with different legal interpretations or 'halakha'. Although the rabbis coined the term and came up with their own interpretations, that is not to say that other groups didn't engage in the same sort of activity with different results. Best, Ian -- Ian Werrett PhD Candidate St Mary's College University of St Andrews ----------------------------------------------------------------- University of St Andrews Webmail: http://webmail.st-andrews.ac.uk _______________________________________________ g-Megillot mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.McMaster.CA/mailman/listinfo/g-megillot
