It is commonplace for Qumran scholars to use the terms “sect” and “sectarian” in a general way in connection to the community, or voluntary association, that produced and preserved the Dead Sea Scrolls. Nevertheless, not all texts that are considered to be composed by the Qumran movement are viewed as similar in their “sectarian” nature. The Damascus Document (D) is commonly understood as a rule book (serek) that circulated among married members living in “camps” in towns or villages, while the Community Rule (S) is seen as the foundational rule in the yahad, which scholars associate with a group of celibate members living at Qumran. Although several aspects of this model are problematic and the historical reality was likely much more complex than this, we will assume for this study that the documents were composed within different Essene communities. Scholars in general consider S to be the primary example of a document produced by a sect. The document reveals a group or groups that distanced themselves from the rest of the society. Commonly, the assumed celibacy and the desert location are seen as indicators of sectarian authorship, but strict qualifications for membership, stringent purity rules and rigid discipline are also clear and perhaps more undisputable markers. Although a few scholars describe the “Damascus community” as a sect, most consider this community only mildly – or not at all – sectarian.