The second most
frequent word for that priestly service at Qumran is šārat (1QM 2.1, 2,
3; 1QSb 4.25). It is applied to the community, which as the ‘chosen’ will ‘serve
him perpetually’ (1QH 12.23; 15.24). The occurrences of the verb šārat
give evidence of a priestly allusion, although any precise cultic context
regarding the community, but any specific activity by that community goes unmentioned.
(John M. Scholer, Proleptic Priests: Priesthood in the Epistle to the Hebrews
[Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 49;
Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991], 54)
1QM (alt. 1Q33) 2.1, 2, 3
1 fathers of the congregation, fifty-two. They
shall arrange the chiefs of the priests behind the High Priest and of his
second (in rank), twelve chiefs to serve 2 in
perpetuity before God. And the twenty-six chiefs of the divisions shall serve
in their divisions and after them the chiefs of the levites to serve always,
twelve, one 3 per tribe. And the chiefs of their divisions
shall each serve in his place. The chiefs of the tribes, and after them the
fathers of the congregation, shall take their positions in the gates of the sanctuary
in perpetuity. (Florentino García Martínez and Eibert J.C. Tigchelaar,
eds., The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition [Leiden: Brill, 1997], 115)
1QSb (alt. 1Q28b) 4.25
25 like an angel of the face in the holy
residence for the glory of the God of the Hos[ts … You shall] be around,
serving in the temple of the [kingdom] (Ibid., 107)
