So the answer to the question whether one can properly
translate infra here as placing Essenes between Jericho and Ein Gedi
(i.e., in an area including Kh. Qumran and caves but not including the
Y. Hirschfeld site)without some a priori assumption involving Qumran ms
discoveries of c. 1947ff
Looking for previously known texts (e.g. 1, 2 Maccabees) which are missing
at Qumran is only one, incomplete, way to characterize what the collection
has and does not have. Looking at the previously unknown texts (and
looking at all the texts anew), one can ask whether any particular Qumran
Interesting point, Herbert. Ephron has I think convincingly demonstrated
that the Talmudic passage on the dispute between the Pharisees and Sadducees
under Hyrkanus I to which you refer is not an independent tradition but
derives from Josephus. (His argument, as I recall, hinges on the
In light of the recent discussions on this list regarding an attempt to
establish a date for the Hebrew Bible, I thought this letter posted to
another list (Ancien-L) might be of some help to those in the audience
struggling in establishing a date for the scriptures.
Dear Tom,
Your last
