The Social Location of the Visions of Amram (4Q543-547) (Studies in Biblical Literature)

4Q543-547 are five copies of one Aramaic document found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. This work stems from the pre-Hasmonean period and is further evidence of a highly variegated society in early Judaism. This book will provide a new reading of all the fragments and an in-depth discussion of their significance, culminating with a suggested social location for the production of this work.

The conclusions of this study suggest that this text was written by a disenfranchised, priestly group, which resided in Hebron. The importance of the patriarchal burials, chronology, endogamy, the figure of Moses, and angelology argue for a priestly group, which was also influenced by apocalyptic thinking. The suggestion of Hebron as the geographical location for this group is based on the theories of George Nickelsburg's and David Suters work on 1 Enoch. In their thinking, 1 Enoch stems from a similarly disenfranchised group residing north of the Sea of Galilee. The results of this study will further illuminate a time period in Jewish history that needs more understanding. Pre-Hasmonean Judaism was an intense time of dialogue and disagreement, and this text is one more item to consider in reconstructing these social realities.