¶ … Community Rule Texts The incredible finds at Qumran have provided many new insights about faith, God and the way religion was practiced many years ago. The Rule of the Community or the Manual of Discipline, as it is known in some circles, is a very central text that represents many of the core principles of the sectarian movements during the times before the new era. This text provides a keen insight into the possible practices of these people.

The Rule of Community is a highly organized instruction manual that appears to be directed an elite level of society due to its tone and content. This manual presented many laws and rule much like other texts such as the Damascus Document and the Miqsat Ma' ase Ha Torah, also referred to as 4 QMMT. The rule of community spelled out many principles about the organization of community by clarifying what behaviors needed to be observed and what tasks needed to be performed in order to stay in order and at peace with their god. The Rule of Community did not include women in their sect and, unlike the aforementioned companion texts, prescribed a male dominated society that most likely did not include women at all.

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The laws actual content of the rules listed in this text can't apply in today's modern world, their spirt and essence still can live on when considering the baseline principles that are inherent within the words.
The Rule of the Community did not align themselves with the "Great Teacher" that is mentioned in both the Damascus Documents and 4 QMMT. This is a very distinct rift between this documents and other Dead Sea Scrolls. The 4 QMMT represented The Great Teacher's ideas represented in a letter, however the authors of the Community Rule decided to omit this character. It is also possible that The Great Teacher was not invented or born during the time of the Community Rule.

This writing also reflected a great apocalyptic interpretation of life, more so than the other documents discussed. The writing was more emotional and pointed towards a more dire and dark religion. This alignment with impending doom also distinguishes this sect of Judaism with modern day Christianity in some aspects while the Great Teacher has other…