The Qualitative-Quantitative Shift

Abstract This chapter presents the evidence for a “tectonic” shift from qualitative to quantitative modeling in late Second Temple texts. Primary among these is 4Q274 (4QTohorot A) from Qumran, which offers a unique perspective on the laws of purity in ancient Judaism. A close philological study of the scroll reveals that it was composed as a “quantitative manifesto”—presenting a systematic exposition of the quantitative model. The scroll, which presents a radical version of the quantitative model through the prism of contact between diverse pollutants, does not present a foreseeable evolution toward hierarchization but a quantum leap vis-à-vis its sources. In light of these findings, the chapter examines several other late Second Temple sources including Philo, Josephus, and other Jewish Hellenistic and Qumranic texts, revealing their gravitation toward the quantitative model.