ABSTRACT
This prayer is part of the conclusion of 1QS (Serekh ha-Yaḥad, often known as the Community Rule or Manual of Discipline), a work which is a mélange of some of the rules and theology of the Qumran sect. The last two columns of this scroll, one of the original seven which were discovered in 1947, differ in their contents from the prose text of the rest of the document. The similarity of the material in this section to that in the Hodayot (‘Thanksgiving Hymns’, 1Q/4QH) has often been noted although significant details prevent us from identifying the 1QS text as merely another representative of Hodayot-type poetry. It is clear that these two columns do not constitute a single prayer, and, indeed, the last portion (11:15–22) is introduced by the characteristic ‘Blessed are you, my God.’ How many separate hymns exist in the entire portion, however, can be debated,1 and there is not even full agreement as to where the poetic portion begins. 2 The brief section which has been selected for inclusion in this anthology (1QS 10:8b–17) can certainly stand as an independent unit, but it is important to get a sense of its context, particularly its relationship to the preceding segment.
