Discoveries in the Judaean Desert: Volume XXVI. Qumran Cave 4: XIX

This volume presents the long-awaited edition of the Cave 4 manuscripts of Serekh Ha-Yahad or The Rule of the Community, in which the Essenes detailed the guidelines for membership in their community. It is extremely important for understanding the nature, practice, and ideology of the Qumran covenanters.a volume that reads like a seamless whole, rich with palaeographical, linguistic and historical information ... this official volume renders all others obsolete, stamped as it is by the sure hand and authoritative transcription, translation and commentary of the editors ... This volume provides many insights and corrections to previous scholarship ... exemplary in its presentation and discussion of one of the key texts of the Qumran community. Both Alexander, who prepared the plates himself, and Vermes deserve thanks for setting all future research on the Rule of the Community on such solid ground.