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A few words on how the #Qumran sect referred to the #Pharisees, whom they did *not* like.
Their writings often refer to the דורשי חלקות *dōrešē ḥalāqōt 'seekers/interpreters of smooth things'. This appears to be the Dead Sea Scrolls' most common term for the Pharisees. 1/5
Their writings often refer to the דורשי חלקות *dōrešē ḥalāqōt 'seekers/interpreters of smooth things'. This appears to be the Dead Sea Scrolls' most common term for the Pharisees. 1/5
It is probably a pun on דורשי הלכות *dōrešē halākōt 'interpreters of halakhot (= Pharisaic/Rabbinic rules)'. With the weakened pronunciation of the gutturals /ḥ/ and /h/ known from these texts, it was probably even more hilarious. It implies the Pharisees wanted easy rules. 2/5
Pesher Nahum (3–4 ii 1–2) uses this term besides two others: "'Woe to the city of blood; it is full of lies and rapine': its interpretation is the city of Ephraim, those who seek smooth things during the last days, who walk in lies and falsehood". ('Walking' again is √hlk.) 3/5
