Eruv and Sectarianism in Ancient Judaism: Related Prohibitions

Water Channel at Qumran

The prohibition found in Zadokite Fragments 11:1-2 of carrying water from a watercourse seems to presume that it is forbidden to carry on the Sabbath from domain to domain:

On the road, if he goes down to wash, let him drink where he stands, but let him not draw (water) into any vessel.

This text requires that someone who is in the public domain, that is, not in an enclosed area, must drink directly from a water source, since he is forbidden to draw water into any vessel. Mishnaic law permitted the drawing of water from a well within the private domain. An eruv would also permit drawing of water from a flowing watercourse. Under no circumstances could water be taken from a source in the public domain, according to the rabbis. M. Eruvin 10:6 allows one to drink in the public or private domain provided that the head and torso are in the same domain as the water. In the public domain, where water drawing was prohibited, the action permitted would be that of bending over and drinking directly with the mouth. This Mishnaic tradition accords completely with the Qumran halakhah. It is even possible that the sect permitted the drawing of water within the confines of the camp.
This law can only be understood in light of the general prohibition that we discussed above of carrying from domain to domain. Otherwise, it makes no sense to prohibit the taking of water from the domain of the watercourse, considered to be a separate location, into the domain of the house or courtyard in which the person intends to drink. Wherever no enclosure exists, it is a natural extension of the prohibition on carrying to prohibit drinking.
Also closely related is Zadokite fragments 11:11 regarding the carrying of infants:

Let the parent not carry the infant to go out or to come in on the Sabbath.

Tannaitic law also prohibited the carrying of children who could not walk. Clearly, this is simply an extension of the prohibition of carrying on the Sabbath, as can be seen from the language of this prohibition that is similar to that of the general prohibition of carrying from domain to domain. Once a child was able, the rabbis permitted the parents to walk him in the public domain by moving his feet, one in front of the other. Once able to walk, if carried (from domain to domain or in the public domain) no punishment accrued to the bearer because of the rule that “a living being carries himself.” There is no way of knowing the sect’s position regarding aiding children to walk or carrying those able to walk. In any case, this sectarian passage again prohibits carrying from domain to domain on the Sabbath, simply asserting that it includes infants who cannot walk on their own.