Before the Church · c. 75–50 BC
The War Scroll
1QM
Anonymous
What it is
A forty-year campaign of the sons of light against the sons of darkness, laid out like a manual: the wording on each trumpet and banner, the dimensions of the shields, the ages of the cavalry, and the priests who must not enter the killing so as not to be defiled — with the outcome decided seven times, three to each side and the last by God's own hand.
Why it lasted
The fullest picture of ancient Jewish holy war expectation, and the direct background to the language of spiritual warfare, armour, and the sons of light that runs through Ephesians, Thessalonians, and Revelation.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
Read next