These celebrations often slip under the radar because they aren’t directly mentioned in the Hebrew Bible – the Tanakh or Old Testament. Yet they hold a fascinating place in the practices of the Qumran community. The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal details of these incredible feasts, offering insights into a segment of Jewish culture and spiritual life that is sometimes overlooked.
The Feast of New Wine, Feast of New Oil, and the Wood Offerings are significant in their ceremonial roles, marking key moments in the agricultural calendar. Celebrated by communities following the ancient Jewish solar calendar, these feasts were integral to marking changes in seasons and ensuring the community’s spiritual and physical well-being.
Unlike the Tanakh, the Dead Sea Scrolls provide a rich, detailed account of these celebrations, showcasing their relevance and meaning. This absence in the Tanakh creates an intriguing mystery, prompting scholars to delve into the past to uncover their roots and importance.
These celebrations go beyond jus enjoying wine and oil or offering wood; they symbolized renewal, sustainability, and the divine order in nature. The structure of these celebrations reflected an understanding and reverence for the environment that is striking, given the historical context of these texts.
Along with the books of the Hebrew Bible, religious texts from the Qumran community highlight a distinction in practice and interpretation. While the Tanakh offers a defined set of religious rituals, the Dead Sea Scrolls present a more expansive catalog, encouraging a deeper understanding of Jewish spirituality and cultural practices from antiquity.
Understanding the Temple Scroll and Its Insights on Calendrical Festivals
The Temple Scroll is more than just a relic from the past—it is a goldmine for anyone wanting to grasp the nitty-gritty of how these old festivities were woven into daily life. As one of the most extensive of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it highlights the intricate details about the rituals and statutes surrounding these celebrations.
Documenting temple rituals down to the smallest detail, the Temple Scroll offers a glimpse into a structured religious life that emphasized purity and divinely ordained order. It is here that the Feast of New Wine, the Feast New Oil, and the Wood Offerings find a detailed record, offering insights into how these observances fit into a systematic religious framework.
By analyzing the Temple Scroll, scholars unravel aspects of the Qumran community’s adherence to a solar calendar—a point of difference from the more commonly used lunar calendar in wider Jewish society at the time. These calendar texts not only outline when and how these feasts were observed but also reveal the broader theological beliefs of the community.
Through these scrolls, you get a sense of the rituals that borrowed from agricultural practices, symbolizing a sacred relationship between man, nature, and the divine. This connection was pivotal for understanding how the community lived in harmony with seasonal cycles while maintaining spiritual discipline.
The significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls is immense. They don’t just fill in historical gaps; they challenge and expand our understanding of ancient Judaism. The Temple Scroll, in particular, underscores the devotion to maintaining religious traditions through its exhaustive detailing of every festival and sacrifice. This sheds light on a religious consciousness that valued continuity, adherence, and spiritual awareness.
Exploring the Feast of New Wine: Symbolism and Celebration
The Feast of New Wine recognized not just the joy of a new harvest but an act of reverence toward the divine for the sustenance provided. It was a time when the community came together in celebration, marking the arrival of new wine from the year’s harvest.
You shall count beginning from the day when you bring the new grain offering to the LORD – the bread of the first fruits – seven weeks, seven full weeks, until the day after the seventh Sabbath. You are to count fifty days, then bring new wine as a drink offering: four hin from all the tribes of Israel, one-third of a hin from each tribe.
Temple Scroll, column 19 lines 11-15
So the children of Israel are to rejoice before the LORD, this being an eternal statue, generation after generation, wherever they may dwell. They shall rejoice this day, for they have begun to pour out a fermented drink offering, new wine, upon the altar of the LORD, and annual rite.
Temple Scroll, column 21, lines 8-10
This celebration wasn’t merely about enjoying wine. It held deeper symbolic significance in ancient Jewish tradition, often embodying themes of renewal, abundance, and gratitude. For the people of the Qumran community, the feast represented a divine blessing upon their labor and fields.
During the feast, participants likely engaged in rituals that emphasized thanksgiving and spiritual reflection. These acts didn’t only express gratitude but were also believed to invite ongoing divine favor, ensuring a continued blessing on their lands and produce.
The Significance of the Feast of New Oil: Ritual and Tradition
The Feast of New Oil stands out as a moment to pause and appreciate the bounty of olive harvests, showcasing the cultural depth of ancient Jewish practices. It was a time to acknowledge the vital role that olive oil played in daily life and religious observance.
You shall count from that day seven weeks – seven times seven days, forty-nine days, seven complete weeks – until the day after the seventh Sabbath: count fifty days. Then offer new oil from the places where the tribes of the children of Israel dwell, half a hin from each tribe, newly extracted oil. They are to offer the first fruits of the oil on the altar of burnt offering, as first fruits before the LORD . . .
Temple Scroll, column 21 lines 12-16
…they are to anoint themselves with new oil and eat olives, for on that day they shall have atoned for all the oil of the land before the LORD, as an annual rite once a year. The children of Israel shall rejoice before the LORD wherever they may live; this is an eternal statute for generation after generation.
Temple Scroll, column 22 line 15 – column 23 line 2
Olive oil, revered for its versatility, was crucial not only for cooking but also for lighting lamps, making it a symbol of sustenance and enlightenment. During the feast, people would gather to offer and share the freshly pressed oil, engaging in rituals that aligned with their agricultural lifestyle and spiritual dedication.
The Dead Sea Scrolls provide detailed accounts of this feast, shedding light on its structured worship and communal engagement. You can imagine the community members preparing offerings, probably with great care and tradition as they utilized this new oil in ceremonies.
Barley, Wheat, Oil, and Wine
The Tanakh does not mention either the Feast of New Wine or the Feast of New Oil, though there are may references throughout the Hebrew Bible to new wine and new oil, often together and often in connection with grain. Though Rabbinic Jewish tradition lists at least seven kinds of “first fruits,” there are four primary “first fruits” observances in the Temple Scroll. They are each separated by a period of seven weeks.
- The First Fruits of Barley, the Wave Sheaf, is on the first day of the week following the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the 26th day of the first month.
- The First Fruits of Wheat, the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot (Pentecost), is exactly seven weeks later, counting fifty days inclusive of the first day and ending on the first day of the week, the 15th day of the third month.
- The First Fruits of New Wine is exactly seven weeks later, counting fifty days inclusive of the first day and ending on the first day of the week, the 3rd day of the fifth month.
- The First Fruits of New Oil is exactly seven weeks after that, counting fifty days inclusive of the first day and ending on the first day of the week, the 22nd day of the sixth month.
The First Fruits of Barley and the First Fruits of Wheat (the first and last days of “counting the Omer” are both referenced in the Hebrew Bible. Only the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot, the First Fruits of Wheat, is an annual Sabbath day. And only Shavuot (Pentecost) is mentioned in the New Testament.
The Ritual of Wood Offerings: Purpose and Practice
The ritual of Wood Offerings forms an essential part of religious practice, underpinned by the need to maintain the sacred fires for temple sacrifices. This ceremony is less about celebration and more about duty and devotion, reflecting a deep-seated religious commitment.
The ritual spanned six days, with families or groups designated to bring wood to ensure the altar fires did not falter, thus maintaining a continuous space for offerings and prayers. This practice was vital for the proper conduct of religious rituals, making it an honor and responsibility to contribute to the temple’s needs.
The Dead Sea Scrolls provide a meticulous account of how these offerings were conducted, highlighting the organized and community-centered approach inherent in these practices. These details are scattered through several DSS fragments besides the Temple Scroll.
The twelve tribes of the children of Israel are to contribute wood for the altar. Those contributing on the first day are to be the tribes of Levi and Judah; on the second day Benjamin and the sons of Joseph; on the third day Ruben and Simeon; on the fourth day Issachar and Zebulun; on the fifth day Gad and Asher; on the sixth day Dan and Naphtali.
Temple Scroll, column 23 lines 03-05;1-3
On the twenty-first day in the sixth month is a Sabbath. On the twenty-second day in the sixth month is the Festival of Oil. After the sabbath … is the Offering of Wood.
4Q327 Fragment 1 Column 5
After the festival of new oil, let them bring the wood two by two in their tribes… …those who bring offerings on the first day: Levi and Judah; on the second day, Benjamin and Joseph; on the third day, Ruben and Simeon; on the fourth day, Issachar and Zebulun; on the fifth day, Gad and Asher; and on the sixth day, Dan and Naphtali.
4Q365 Fragment 23 lines 9-12
The Wood Offering is found, post captivity, mentioned twice in the Tanakh in the book of Nehemiah.
We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.
(Nehemiah 10:34 ESV)
Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.
(Nehemiah 13:30-31 ESV)
The concept of keeping the fire alive is rich in symbolism, akin to nurturing faith and continuity. For any reader keen to understand deeper religious customs, these overlooked practices reveal much about the values and lives of ancient Jewish communities captured in the remarkable Dead Sea Scrolls.
Summary
Along with the waving of the omer of First Fruits of Barley (Leviticus 23:10-11) and Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks celebrating the First Fruits of Wheat, there is a continuation of celebrations filling up the agricultural year. These two Biblical Feasts in the Tanakh are separated by seven weeks, fifty days inclusive.
Seven weeks after Shavuot, fifty days inclusive, is the Feast of New Wine. Seven weeks after that, fifty days inclusive, is the Feast of New Oil. And immediately following the Feast of New Oil is the week-long wood offering, ending on the weekly Sabbath.
The next Wednesday, the fourth day of the week, is the beginning of the seventh month, Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets – then Yom Kippur, then Sukkot. We are pretty familiar with these. Incorporating these other festivals, we see a continuous feast cycle throughout the agricultural year, from the first month to the seventh month. Scripture calls the time of Sukkot “at the turn of the year” (Exodus 34:22).
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Quotations from the Temple Scroll are taken from The Dead Sea Scrolls, A New Translation by Wise, Abegg, and Cook © HarperCollins