Reach for the sky: A typology of angelic discourse and its liturgical impact within the Yaḥad.

Thesis

And God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years...'(Genesis 1:14).

Time was created and a method for determining a calendar was invented. In creation, God gives us time and space, a separation of the heavenly and the earthly, and a Sabbath day on with which to worship God. Yet God also transcends time and space, being both the beginning and the end - 'the alpha and omega' - the past, the present and the future all at once. What if humans also had that ability: a way of being connected with the past, present and future; an intellectual transcendence of the earthly into the heavenly?

This thesis uses spatial theory to analyse the angelic and priestly discourse of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (Shirot), and its liturgical impact within the Yaḥad. Firstly, scriptural tropes and themes are investigated to show how these are later incorporated into the development of the Shirot and the inter-relationship between God, divine beings and humanity. Secondly, the placement of the Shirot within the liturgical calendar at Qumran is analysed. Thirdly, spatial theory is used to investigate the text of the Shirot, focussing on the heavenly hierarchy of angelic beings and their function within the priestly ministry of worship in heaven. Finally, the connection between angelic beings and the earthly community using the Shirot is scrutinised. The question of 'what does it mean to be a member of the Yaḥad?' is addressed, before investigating the formation or transformation of the use of communal liturgy like the Shirot, in order to understand to what extent liturgical worship like the Shirot contributed to the formation of identity and self within the Yaḥad's quest for perfection.

Authors: Clark, JA

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-pmmjkeap9
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Jubilees; Fire; Space; Worship; Yaḥad; Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice; Dead Sea Scrolls; Angelology; Liturgy; Calendar; Self
• Subjects: Old Testament; Dead Sea Scrolls; Hebrew Bible; Angels