Save

Cherchez les femmes: Were the yahad Celibates?

In: Dead Sea Discoveries
Author:
Eyal Regev Martin (Szusz) department for Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel;, Email: regeve1@mail.biu.ac.il

Search for other papers by Eyal Regev in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Download Citation Get Permissions

Access options

Get access to the full article by using one of the access options below.

Institutional Login

Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials

Login via Institution

Purchase

Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

$40.00

Abstract

This article challenges the consensual view that the yahad were a celibate group by raising the following arguments: (1) The silence of the Community Rule regarding women and family cannot attest to celibacy, since there are no passages in the scrolls which refer to celibacy; (2) The passage in CD 7:3–10 should not be regarded as alluding to the celibacy of the yahad; (3) Comparisons with early-modern sects attest to the centrality of celibacy in the group ideology, hence it is impossible that celibacy was self-understood; (4) 4Q502 Ritual of Marriage mentions marriage, reproduction and children, and bears several lexical affinities with 1QS and other compositions of the yahad. Therefore, it should be related to the yahad. Consequently, the sweeping identification of the yahad with the (mainly celibate) Essenes seems problematic.

Content Metrics

All Time Past 365 days Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 282 29 3
Full Text Views 149 3 0
PDF Views & Downloads 56 9 0