Endnote 14 – Was It an Essene Settlement?

“The formation shall consist of one thousand men ranked seven lines deep, each man standing behind the other” (1QM 5.3–4). “In their hands they shall hold a spear and a sword. The length of the spear shall be seven cubits … The swords shall be made of pure iron refined by the smelter and blanched to resemble a mirror … ” 1QM 5.5–16 (Geza Vermes, trans., The Dead Sea Scrolls in English [Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1990]).