According to Gromacki (nd), there are approximately 900 Dead Sea Scrolls divided into two primary groups, which are

(1) The nonbiblical scrolls numbering 670; and

(2) The biblical scrolls numbering 200.

The books of the Hebrew Bible fall into three primary sections, which are:

(3) The Writings. (Gromacki, nd; paraphrased)

The Qumran community held that the books of the Old Testament were "inspired by God and authoritative." (Gromacki, nd)

The word 'pesher' is a word from the Hebrew language which means 'interpretation", or "solution" The Qumran community, also known as the pesher community believes that the scriptures in the Old Testament were prophetic in relation to their situation in

COMPARISON: PESHER HABAKKUK AND BIBLICAL HABAKKUK

Polliack states: "The application of the pesher method to prophetic texts is meant to unravel the details of the fulfillment of the prophetic visions in specific historical events...The aim of the Pesharim in the Scrolls is to discover the figures and events at which the prophecies were aimed, identifying them as persons and events from the 'last generation' or connected to the immediate future of the present generation. This identification solves the prophetic "mysteries" (razim). Thus the Sect Authors use the term pesher when they uncover the details of the fulfillment of a prophecy." (Polliack, 2005) Polliack further states that the "interpretive methods and techniques common to pesher and midrash have been widely categorized and analyzed since the 1950s. In the most systematic of these studies, Nitzan identified four major methods common to midrash and pesher. These include: (1) paraphrased; (2) allegory; (3) atomization (or decontextualization, meaning the isolation of the biblical verse or part of it form this immediate context) and (4) the use of variant readings or multiple meaning of a world or phrase." (Polliack, 2005)

Interestingly the Commentary on Habakkuk (1QPHab) renders the interpretation of these verses to be: "Woe to him who causes his neighbors to drink; who pours out his venom to make them drunk that he may gaze on their feasts." (2:15) In the interpretation this is stated to be relating to the "Wicked Priest" who pursued the Teacher of Righteousness to the house of his exile that he might confuse him with his venomous fury. And at the time appointed for rest, for the Day of Atonement, he appeared before them to confuse them, and to cause them to stumble on the Day of Fasting, their Sabbath of repose. "You have filled yourself with ignominy more than with glory. Drink also, and stagger! The cup of the Lord's right hand shall come round to you and shame shall come on your glory." (2:16) Interpreted, this concerns the Priest whose ignominy was greater than his glory. For he did not circumcise the foreskin of his heart, and he walked in the ways of drunkenness that he might quench his thirst. But the cup of the wrath of God shall confuse him, multiplying his...and the pain of... "[For the violence done to Lebanon shall overwhelm you, and the destruction of the beasts] shall terrify you, because of the blood of men and the violence done to the land, the city, and all its inhabitants" (2:17) "Interpreted, this saying concerns the Wicked Priest, inasmuch as he shall be paid the reward which he himself tendered to the Poor. For Lebanon is the Council of the Community; and the beasts are the simple of Judah who keep the Law. As he himself plotted the destruction of the Poor, so will God condemn him to destruction. And as for that which He said, Because of the blood of the city and the violence done to the land: interpreted, the city is Jerusalem where the Wicked Priest committed abominable deeds and defiled the Temple of God. The violence done to the land: these are the cities of Judah where he robbed the Poor of their possessions."(Gromacki, nd)

In the initiative to interpret these texts consideration must be given to the fact that "The difficulty in halakhic interpretation lies in the impossibility of discerning whether a certain legal norm actually preceded the scriptural argumentation adduced in its favor. In other words, it is hard to determine whether a certain interpretation of the law reflects a deeply rooted and ancient judicial practice that was transmitted through 'oral' or 'common' law long before it was supplied with scriptural proof texts..." (Polliack, 2005)

In Chapter 2: 13 of Habakkuk reads: "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables that he may run

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Approximate Word count = 3292
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)