The Theme of Apocalyptic War in the Dead Sea Scrolls

The theme of apocalyptic war was widely developed in Qumran literature. The main source of information about the apocalyptic war can be found in lQM, whch Sukenrk named "The War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness."' According to Paolo Sacchi, "The word 'apocalyptic' is a modern invention, deriving from the wish to conceptualize the field of research on the affinities between the Apocalypse of John and other works of its time."2 In other words, apocalyptic literature has to have two characteristics: a twodimensional picture of the world, with heavenly and earthly dimensions both present, and symbolic representation of the main personages. The 'War Scroll" seems to comply with these characteristics. The entire content of the scroll is dedicated to the planning of the war between the "faithful" Sons of Light and their enemies. The heavenly realm is constantly projected upon the earthly dimension. Some elements of apocalyptic war are also present in the Pesharim, commentaries found at Qumran that interpret the prophecies about the destiny of the enemies of Israel. The Pesharim can apply these prophecies either to the present reality or to future events. The goal of the present research is to investigate the ideology of apocalyptic war presented in the DSS. In order to gain a better understanding of the nature of this apocalyptic war, and of the character of the Qumran community as well, the present research d l focus on the question of the identification of the enemy in the apocalyptic war. The answer to this question will help to explain the ideology of the community of Qumran in comparison to other Jewish and early Christian communities of that t h e .