Sources: The Songs for the Sabbath Sacrifice

I know it's not Saturday, but I was getting some material from the Dead Sea Scrolls ready for my Prison Epistles class. The "philosophy" at Colossae involves the "worship of angels." The question is whether such Jews are worshipping angels or are interested in angelic worship of God.

The Songs for the Sabbath Sacrifice from Qumran are usually considered relevant to this debate, for it provides evidence of a Jewish community that saw their Sabbath worship as parallel to the heavenly worship of God by the angels. Further, this Jewish tradition has some mystical elements, just as the Colossian philosophy involves visions of some sort.

So I reproduce here excerpts from Geza Vermes' The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, which for more than one reason (including cost) I have found a good translation to use with undergraduate students in the intertestamental literature course I teach every other year.

I have only altered it very slightly. It it painful for me as a scholar to take the brackets out, but it is even more painful for students to leave them in! I have as usual put in bold points of particular relevance to New Testament study.
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To the Master. A song for the holocaust offering on the first Sabbath, on the fourth of the first month.

Praise the God of... the gods of supreme holiness (a reference to angels, methinks). Rejoice in his divine kingship, for he has established supreme holiness among the everlasting holy, the Holy of Holies, to be for him the priests of the inner temple in his royal sanctuary (in heaven), ministers of the Presence in his glorious innermost temple chamber.

In the congregation of all the gods of knowledge, and in the congregation of all the gods of God, he engraved his precepts for all the spiritual works, and his glorious judgments for all who lay the foundations of knowledge, the people endowed with his glorious understanding, the gods who are close to knowledge... of eternity and from the fountain of holiness to the sanctuary of supreme holiness... priests of the inner temple, ministers of the Presence of the most holy King...

For he founded them (the angels) for himself as the most holy, who minister in the (heavenly) holy of holies... Their expiations will obtain his goodwill for all those who repent from sin...

In all the highest heights they will sing marvelous psalms according to all their understanding, and the glorious splendor of the King of the gods they will recount on their stations... for what shall we be counted among them? How will our holiness compare with their supreme holiness? How does the offering of our tongue of dust compare with the knowledge of the divine beings... Let us extol the God of knowledge...

For the Master. A song of the holocaust offering on the seventh Sabbath on the sixteenth of the month.

Praise the most high God, O you high among all the gods of knowledge. Let the holy ones of the gods sanctify the King of glory, who sanctifies by his holiness all his holy ones.

O princes of the praises of all the gods, praise the God of majestic praises, for in the splendor of praises is the glory of his kingship...

By a discerning goodwill expressed by the words of his mouth, all the gods on high come into being, at the opening of his lips, all the eternal spirits, by his discerning goodwill, all his creatures in their undertakings...

Celebrate O all celebrating gods, the King of majesty, for all the gods of knowledge celebrate his glory, and all the spirits of righteousness celebrate his truth, and seek acceptance of their knowledge by the judgments of his mouth...

And the chief dwelling on high, the glory of his kingdom, the innermost sanctuary... and he consecrates the seven elevated holy places... And the chariots of his innermost sanctuary will utter praises together and their cherubim and wheels will bless wonderfully the chiefs of the godly figure and will bless him in the holy innermost sanctuary....

For the Master. A song for the holocaust offering on the twelfth sabbath on the twenty-first of the month.

Praise the God of wonder... , and exalt him... of glory in the tent of the God of knowledge. The cherubim prostrate themselves before him and bless. As they rise, a whispered divine voice is heard, and there is a roar of praise... The cherubim bless the image of the throne-chariot above the firmament, and they praise the majesty of the luminous firmament beneath the seat of glory.

When the wheels advance, angels of holiness come and go. From between his glorious wheels, there is at it were a fiery vision of most holy spirits... The spirits of the living gods move perpetually with the glory of the marvelous chariots.