Hellenistic Philosophy and Ancient Jewish Anthropology

Abstract

This article addresses one of, if not the most discussed passages among the Dead Sea Scrolls: 1 QS  3:13–4:26, “The Treatise on the Two Spirits.” I argue that, although scholars have centered the “two spirits” and “dualism” in their interpretations, the Treatise concerns the two spirits only insofar as the two spirits concern humanity. 1 QS  3:13–4:26, rather than being a tractate on dualism, is a Jewish philosophical treatise on human nature. The article re-centers this complex treatise and reframes it in relation to other treatments of human nature in the Hellenistic and Roman Mediterranean. In particular, the article draws on Hellenistic and post-Hellenistic philosophy and argues for its participation in this wider cultural and intellectual environment.