The discoveries from the caves of Qumran yielded hundreds of psalms and prayers. Some of these derived from the sectarian community known as the Yaḥad, who lived there. Others came from diverse Jewish communities, and were preserved and presumably used by the Yaḥad as part of their twice-daily “offering of the lips” as an alternative to the “defiled” sacrifices being offered in the Temple. These documents offer invaluable evidence concerning the origin of fixed communal prayer in Judaism.Some years ago I published a critical commentary on the liturgical texts from Qumran:
James R. Davila, Liturgical Works (Eerdmans Commentaries on the Dead Sea Scrolls; Eerdmans, 2001)Also, congratulations to Professor Chazon on the Orion Center event tomorrow celebrating her recent Festschrift, which I noted here.
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