"in the works of God, and make them familiar with
his wonderful deeds of might, and recount before them the things that
happened long ago...; and he shall have compassion on them as a father
toward his children (13 7 ff.)."(52) We have seen that he has even to
instruct the priest in the rules for the diagnosis of leprosy.(53) The
admission of new members to the sect is also in his hands; no one is
permitted to introduce a man into the congregation without his consent. He
examines the candidates in regard to their character and intelligence,
their physical strength and courage, and their possessions, and enrolls
each in his proper place in the lot(54) of the camp (13 11 ff.). From the
following badly defaced lines so much at least can be made out, that the
Supervisor had extensive powers of control over the dealings of members of
the sect with outsiders in the way of trade. He evidently had also a
leading part in the administration of justice and the enforcement of the
discipline of the sect, but the state of the text here denies us insight
into the particulars.

Courts were constituted of ten members,(55) chosen _ad hoc_ from the
congregation, four of the tribe of Levi and Aaron and six Israelites, all
well versed in the Book of Institutes and in the Foundations of the
Covenant, between twenty-five and sixty years of age. No man of more than
sixty shall be a judge, "for on account of the unfaithfulness of mankind
his days were shortened, and through the wrath of God on the inhabitants
of the earth he bade to remove their understanding before they completed
their days (10 4 ff.)." The rules relating to the competence of witnesses
are strict. No one may testify against the accused in a capital case who
is not a god-fearing man old enough to be included in the census (that is,
at least twenty years of age, Exod. 30 14); nor shall a man's testimony be
credited against his neighbor who is himself a wilful transgressor of any
of the commandments, until he has come to repentance (9 23-10 3). A
peculiar provision is made for the case that a single witness (on whose
testimony therefore conviction could not be had) sees a capital offence
committed. He is to make known the facts to the Supervisor, who records
the testimony in writing. If subsequently the offence is committed again
in the presence of another witness, the same process is repeated; on a
second repetition, the testimony of the three single witnesses combined
suffices f