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The “Mysteries” of Qumran: Secrecy and Esoteric Knowledge (2009) is a book by Samuel I. Thomas.

Abstract

"This volume provides a new interpretation of the functions of a oemysterya language and secrecy in the Qumran scrolls. The texts preserved and composed at Qumran by the apocalyptic group known as the Yaa, ad display an interest in revelation, interpretation, and ritual practice, and attest to the active cultivation of esoteric arts such as astrology and astronomy, physiognomy, and therapeutic a oemagic.a Much like its Babylonian priestly-scribal counterparts, the Yaa, ad fostered and guarded its a oemysteriesa a "its store of special knowledge available only to the electa "and used a oemysterya terminology (especially raz) to claim authority and to erect social boundaries around themselves as the a oemen of the visiona and the a oehouse of holiness.a The a oeMysteriesa of Qumran offers an in-depth semantic analysis of relevant terminology and integrates social-scientific and intellectual-history approaches in focusing on an important motif in the Dead Sea Scrolls."--Publisher description.

Editions

Published in Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009 (Early Judaism and Its Literature, 25).

Contents

Introduction -- Esotericism, sectarianism, & religious discourses -- Secrets, mysteries, and the development of apocalyptic thought -- A lexicology of mystery in the Qumran scrolls -- Prophetic, sapiential, and priestly "mysteries" -- Conclusion: vision, knowledge, and worship -- Appendix: On the Persian etymology of Raz

External links

• [ Google Books]