BIBL 7553 The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament

1
BIBL 7553 The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New
Testament

• Text of Scripture, Literary Genres, Interpretive
  Methods,
• Messianism and Eschatology

2
The Scrolls and the Text of Scripture pt.1
3
lt
4QSamuela, with missing Nahash material 4QKings,
with missing verse (fragment in lower right
corner).
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The Scrolls and the Text of Scripture pt.2
The missing verse is underlined.
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Pesharim Scripture Commentaries

• Isaiah (3Q4, 4Q161165, 4Q500)
• Hosea (4Q166167)
• Nahum (4Q169)
• Habakkuk (1QpHab)
• Zephaniah (1Q15, 4Q170)
• Malachi (4Q253a, 5Q10)
• Psalms (1Q16, 4Q171, 4Q173)
• Canticles? (4Q240)

4Q162 4QIsab
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Pesher Nahum and Janneus
The lion catches enough for his cubs, and
strangles prey for his mates (Nah 212a). This
refers to to the Lion of Wrath who would kill
some of his nobles and the men of his party.
He fills his cave with prey, his den with
game (Nah 212b). This refers to the Lion of
Wrath vengeance against the Flattery-Seekers,
because he used to hang men alive, as it was
done in Israel in former times, for to anyone
hanging alive on the tree (Deut 2122), the
verse applies Behold, I am against you, says
the Lord of Hosts (Nah 213a) I will burn with
smoke your horde, the sword will consume your
lions, and I will annihilate its prey from the
land. (4Q169 frgs. 34 col. i, lines 4-9). Most
scholars believe the Lion of Wrath is Alexander
Janneus, who crucified 800 Pharisees cf.
Josephus, Ant. 13.14.2 380 There he did a
thing that was as cruel as could be while he
feasted with his concubines in a conspicuous
place, he ordered some eight hundred of the Jews
to be crucified, and slaughtered their children
and wives before the eyes of the still living
wretches. Earlier the pesher refers to
Demetrius, king of Greece (line 2), which also
corresponds to the story narrated by Josephus
(cf. Ant. 13.14.1 377). The Nahum pesher is well
preserved, second only to the pesher on
Habbabkuk. See the next slide.
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The Nahum Pesher
Allegro at work
Columns 1-2 above 3-4 below
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Pesher Habakkuk and the Teacher of Righteousness
Then God told Habakkuk to write down what is
going to happen to the generation to come but
when that period would be complete He did not
make known to him. When it says, so that with
ease someone can read it Hab 22b, this refers
to the Teacher of Righteousness to whom God made
known all the mysterious revelations of his
servants the prophets (715).
Columns 68. 1QpHab is the best preserved of the
pesharim.
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Pesher Isaiah and the Coming Messiah
After quoting parts of Isa 1034115, the
commentator explains This saying refers to
the Branch of David, who will appear in the
last days, his enemies and God will support
him with a spirit of strength and God will
give him a glorious throne, a sacred crown,
and elegant garments. He will put a scepter
in his hand, and he will rule over all the
Gentiles, even Magog and his army all the
peoples his sword will control. As for the verse
that says, He will not judge only by what his
eyes see, he will not decide only by what his
ears hear Isa 113, this means that he will
be advised by the Zadokite priests, and as they
instruct him, so shall he rule, and at their
command he shall render decisions and always
one of the prominent priests shall go out with
him, in whose hand shall be the garments of
... (4Q161 frags. 710 col. iii lines 1724).
This interpretation coheres with what we find
elsewhere in Qumran (e.g., 4Q285) and in other
writings (e.g., Psalms of Solomon 17 Isaiah
Targum).
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Isaiah Peshera (1Q161)
Frags. 26 (col. ii)
Frags. 710 (col. iii)
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Pesher Studies
Bill Brownlees study of the Habakkuk Pesher is a
classic he later produced a much expanded second
edition. Maurya Horgans study remains a
standard. Greg Doudnas study of the Nahum Pesher
is massive. John Allegros DJD volume on the
Pesharim is badly flawed George Brooke will
replace it.
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Sectarian Scrolls

• Rule of the Community (Serek)
• Two Appendices 1QSa and 1QSb
• Damascus Covenant

1QSa
Damascus Covenant from Cairo genizah
The well preserved 1QS is above 1QSb is below.
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Sectarian Scroll Studies
Brownlees was the first major study of the Rule
of the Community (at that time called the Manual
of Discipline). Wernberg-Møllers study advanced
the discussion some, while Metsos offers the
definitive treatment of the history of the text
and its various recensions. Schiffmans book is a
study of 1QSa (or 1Q28a), with emphasis on its
eschatology.
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War Scroll (1QM)
1QMilhamah cols. 1 (on right) and 10. The scroll
begins with the words For the Instructor, the
Rule of the War. The first attack of the Sons of
Light rw) ynb shall be undertaken against the
forces of the Sons of Darkness Kwx ynb . . .
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War Scroll Studies
J. van der Ploeg
Philip R. Davies Not
pictured is Yigael Yadins Scroll of the War of
the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness
(Hebrew, 1955 ET Oxford University Press, 1962).
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The Temple Scroll
11QTemplethe longest scrollhas gained a lot of
attention, not least for the manner in which
General Yadin obtained it. Some wonder if it was
viewed by the Essenes as authoritative Scripture.
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Temple Scroll Studies
Pride of place goes to Yadins massive
three-volume study.
18
4QMiqsat Maaseh ha-Torah
4Q398
4Q399
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4QMMT Studies
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Sectarian Hymns

• 1QHodayoth and related scrolls

Reconstructing 1QHa,b was a challenge.
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Songs for the Sabbath
4Q400
4Q403
Masada The Songs of the Sabbath
celebrate Gods kingship. The frequent reference
to the divine kingdom (your kingdom of glory,
his glorious kingdom, and the like) forms an
important part of the conceptual and linguistic
backdrop for Jesus proclamation of Gods rule.
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Wisdom Psalms
4Q380
4Q381
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Hymns and Songs Studies
The Hymns of Qumran are fascinating. The studies
by Mansoor and Kittel concern 1QHa,b. Newsoms
book studies the Songs of the Sabbath, while
Schullers treats 4Q380381, which comprise two
noncanonical psalms.
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The Copper Scroll (3Q15)An Inventory of Treasure
Real Treasure? Related to the Temple? Related to
the Essenes? Unrolling this brittle, oxidized
copper scroll is a story in itself.
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Copper Scroll column 1
1 In the ruin that is in the Valley of Achor,
under 2 the steps, with the entrance at the east
a distance of forty 3 cubits a strongbox of
silver and its vessels 4 seventeen talents by
weight. 5 In the sepulcher, in the third course
of stones 6 one hundred ingots of gold. In the
big cistern that is in the courtyard 7 of the
peristyle, at its bottom concealed by a sealing
ring, 8 across from the upper opening nine
hundred talents of silver coins. 9 In the mound
of Kohlit votive vesselsall of them flasksand
high-priestly vestments. 10 All the votive
offerings, and what comes from the seventh
treasury, are 11 impure second tithe. The
caches opening is at the edge of the aqueduct,
six 12 cubits to the north of the immersion
pool. 13 In the plastered Reservoir of Manos, at
the descent to the left, 14 three cubits up
from the bottom silver coins 15 totaling forty
talents.
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Copper Scroll Studies
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The Essenes and the Origins of the Scrolls

• Literary Sources

Philo of Alexandria, Quod omnis probus liber sit
7591 Idem, Apologia pro Judaeis 118 Josephus,
Jewish War 2.8.213 119161 Idem, Jewish
Antiquities 18.1.5 1822 Pliny the Elder,
Natural History 5.17.4 Dio Chrysostom (apud
Synesius) 5 Dio somewhere praises the
Essenes, who form an entire and prosperous city
near the Dead Sea, in the centre of Palestine,
not far from Sodom.
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The Essenes and the Origins of the Scrolls

• Spelling and Meaning of Essene

At this time there were three sects among the
Jews, who had different opinions concerning human
actions the one was called the sect of the
Pharisees, another the sect of the Sadducees, and
the other the sect of the Essenes ?Esshnw'n
(Josephus, Ant. 13.5.9 171 cf. two dozen
more). The Essenes also, as we call a sect of
ours ?Essai'oi kalouvmenoi gevno", were excused
from this imposition. These men live the same
kind of life as do those whom the Greeks call
Pythagoreans concerning whom I shall discourse
more fully elsewhere . . . (Josephus, Ant.
15.10.4 371). In Latin (Pliny) we have Essenoi.
Philo (Omn. prob. lib. sit 75) spells Essenes
?Essai'oi and thinks it comes from oJsiovthto"
(holiness). Two Aramaic words have been
proposed ayysj (pious ones) and ayysa
(healers). In favor of the latter is the
reference to the Therapeutai (qerapeutaiv) in
Philo (Contemplative Life 2), where are linked
with the Essenes.
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A Suggestion
In 1QpHab 71011 81 we read of those who do
the Law (hrwth yCwo). In 124 the poor ones
are the simple of Judah, doer(s) of the Torah
(hrwth hCwo). In 4Q185 3 i 3 we have a fragment
with a reference to doing the words of the
covenant (tyrb yrbd hco). The parallel with Jas
122 is suggestive be doers of the word
(poihtai lo/gou), and not hearers only, deluding
your own selves. The Hebrew MyIcOo, which
probably underlies the Greek poihtai/, may lie
behind the transliteration Essene. Essenes and
early Christians apparently regarded themselves
as doers of the Law/word. hCo appears
twenty-six times in 1QSerek, five times in col. 1
alone. In favor of this understanding is Stephen
Goranson, Others and Intra-Jewish Polemic in
Qumran Texts, in Peter W. Flint and James C.
VanderKam (eds.), The Dead Sea Scrolls after
Fifty Years A Comprehensive Assessment, vol. II
(Leiden Brill, 1999) 534-51, esp. 539.
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The Ruins at Qumran
cliffs to the left Dead Sea to the right
31
Close-up of Ruins
Observe the divided steps leading into the miqveh
(on the right damaged by the earthquake of 31
B.C.).
32
Miqveh near Temple Mount
33
P.Oxy. 840
And taking along the disciples he entered the
holy court and was walking about in the temple.
And approaching, a certain Pharisee, a ruling
priest, whose name was Levi, met them and
said to the Savior, Who permitted you to
walk in this place of purification and to see
these holy vessels, when you have not washed
nor yet have your disciples bathed their
feet? But defiled you have walked in this
Temple, which is a pure place, in which no
other person walks unless he has washed
himself and changed his clothes, neither does
he dare view these holy vessels. And the
Savior immediately stood (still) with his
disciples and answered him, Are you then, being
here in the Temple, clean? He says to him, I am
clean, for I washed in the pool of David, and
having descended by one set of steps I ascended
by another. And I put on white and clean clothes,
and then I came and looked upon these holy
vessels. emphasis added
34
Qumrans Artifacts pt.1
The cloth (coarse weave), sandals, cordage, cups,
bowls, dishes, lamps, and pots are utilitarian
and do not reflect luxury. This has an important
bearing on the origin and history of this site.
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Qumrans Artifacts pt.2
cooking pot, scroll jars, inkwell, container,
large goblet, sundial, and wooden bowl
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The Debate

• What were the ruins originally?
• Fortress?
• Villa?
• Government outpost (taxation)?
• Essenes headquarters?

Some think the coin hoard (561 coins in all)
argues for either a government outpost or a
wealthy villa. Magness thinks it is a collection
intended for the Temple tax.
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Support for Essene Site

• Literary sources place Essenes in vicinity.
• Ruins could not have been a defensible fortress
  (or outpost, for that matter).
• Lack of luxury and art tells against villa.
• Physical links between ruins and scrolls
  themselves.

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Which Brings us to Norman Golb

• Golb sees no connection between Scrolls and
  Qumran ruins. However
• Shoe nails lead from ruins to caves.
• Jars in caves made from clay baked in kiln in
  ruins.
• Pottery in ruins made from same clay.
• Literary sources speak of group near Eingedi that
  closely resembles scroll rules.
• There is coherence in the scrolls a clearly
  unified sectarian view is in evidence.
• Anti-Temple establishment is a problem.

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Footnote on the Jars

• Because no scrolls were actually found in the
  jars (that is, by reliable witnesses), some doubt
  that the jars actually were made for the scrolls.
• What is the evidence?
• But take this writing so that later you will
  remember how to preserve the books that I shall
  entrust to you. You shall arrange them, anoint
  them with cedar, and deposit them in earthenware
  jars . . . (Testament of Moses 11617).

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The Qumran Ostracon
Do we have yahad in line 8?
Found in 1996 by Jim Stranges team. Reported in
Provo.
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Golb Challenged the Ostracon
Audience in Israel National Museum lecture hall.
Does the ostracon mention the Yahad
(Community)? That is the question. Golb says it
does not.
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Golb may well be right.
d j y l
Photo of bottom lines of top piece of ostracon
Facsimile of the lines
Is the transcription of Cross and Eshel (when he
fulfills his oath to the community) correct?
Ada Yardeni does not think so. Only the lamed is
clear. The yod is quite possible, but the het and
dalet are pure guess work.
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But Not Entirely.

• Not all scrolls were written at Qumran.
• Not all scrolls are sectarian. Agreed.
• But several scrolls do revolve around a clearly
  recognized worldview, which includes sharp
  criticism of ruling priests.
• Why would people flee fortified Jerusalem, to
  hide precious scrolls miles away in the desert?
• In any case the evidence is sufficient without
  ostracon.

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Studies in Archaeology
Magness reaffirms the widely held view that
Qumran was occupied by the Essenes she strongly
repudiates the rustic villa theory. Hirschfeld
argues that the ruins of Qumran were once a
business enterprise, owned by a wealthy
individual. He further arguesin support of
Norman Golbthat the scrolls in the nearby caves
came from Jerusalem.
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Messianism and Eschatology

• Expectation of a coming Messiah, who will make
  things right (atoning for sin and restoring
  Israels kingdom), provide an important backdrop
  for Christianity. A key piece of Milhamah.

4Q285 (interpretation of Isa 1034115) . . .
just as it is written in the book of Isaiah the
prophet, And the thickets of the forest shall be
cut down with an ax, and Lebanon with its
majestic trees will fall. A shoot shall come out
from the stump of Jesse and a branch shall grow
out of his roots Isa 1034111. This is the
Branch of David. Then all the forces of Belial
shall be judged, and the king of the Kittim shall
stand for judgment and the Prince of the
congregationthe Branch of Davidwill have him
put to death. Then all Israel shall come out with
timbrels and dancing, and the High Priest shall
order them to cleanse their bodies from the
guilty blood of the corpses of the Kittim.
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Another Example
4Q252 1A ruler shall not depart from the tribe
of Judah when Israel has dominion. 2And the
one who sits on the throne of David shall never
be cut off, because the rulers staff is the
covenant of the kingdom 3and the thousands of
Israel are the feet, until the Righteous
Messiah, the Branch of David, has come. 4For to
him and to his seed the covenant of the kingdom
of his people has been given for the eternal
generations, because 5he has kept . . . the
Law with the men of the Yahad. For 6 . . . the
obedience of the peoples is the assembly of
the men of . . .
4Q252 comments on Genesis 49, here Jacobs
blessing on Judah.
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Two Messiahs? A New Idea?

• Important Texts
• until the appearance of the Anointed of Aaron
  and of Israel (CD 1223311 cf. 1419
  191011 201 1QS 911 Anointed Ones)
• when god will have begotten the Anointed One
  among them . . . afterward the Anointed One of
  Israel will enter (1QSa 21112, 14)
• until the coming of the Anointed One of
  righteousness, the Branch of David (4Q252 5.34
  cf. 4Q174 frgs. 13 i 11)
• the rod is the Prince of the whole
  Congregation (CD 71920, alluding to Num 2417
  cf. 1QSb 520)
• the rod is the Prince of the Congregation
  (4Q161 26 ii 19)
• the Prince of the Congregation, the Branch of
  David, will put him to death (4Q285 frg. 5 line
  4)
• He shall be hailed the Son of God and they
  shall call him Son of the Most High (4Q246
  21)
• the two sons of oil Zech 414, who . . .
  (4Q254 frg. 4 line 2)

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Diarchic Messianism is Biblical
I will raise up for myself a faithful priest,
who shall do according to what is in my heart and
in my mind and I will build him a sure house,
and he shall go in and out before my anointed for
ever (1 Sam 235). For thus says the LORD
David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne
of the house of Israel, and the Levitical priests
shall never lack a man in my presence to offer
burnt offerings, to burn cereal offerings, and to
make sacrifices for ever. As the host of heaven
cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea
cannot be measured, so I will multiply the
descendants of David my servant, and the
Levitical priests who minister to me (Jer
331718, 22). Hear now, O Joshua the high
priest, you and your friends who sit before you,
for they are men of good omen behold, I will
bring my servant the Branch (Zech 38). And a
second time I said to him, What are these two
branches of the olive trees, which are beside the
two golden pipes from which the oil is poured
out? . . . Then he said, These are the two
anointed who stand by the Lord of the whole
earth (Zech 412, 14). Therefore a covenant of
peace was established with him, that he should be
leader of the sanctuary and of his people, that
he and his descendants should have the dignity of
the priesthood for ever. A covenant was also
established with David, the son of Jesse, of the
tribe of Judah the heritage of the king is from
son to son only so the heritage of Aaron is for
his descendants (Sir 452425).
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Diarchic Messianism

• Is attested in the Testaments of the Twelve
  Patriarchs, in that the patriarchs Levi and Judah
  are linked to messianic expectations.
• It is also attested in 4Q254 frag. 4

1 to them . . . people . . . 2
two sons of oil who . . . (cf. Zech 414) 3
who observe the commandments of God . . .
4 for the men of the community they
are . . .
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Jesus and Diarchic Messianism?

• Given the evident influence of Zechariah on
  Jesus, it may well be that his entering the
  Temple Mount, amidst shouts of Ps 1182526, was
  an invitation to the High Priest (the other
  anointed one) to join in common cause. In other
  words, the diarchic messianism attested in the
  Bible and presupposed by the Essenes may well
  have been Jesus view, too.

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And Now, at Last . . .

• The Scrolls and Jesus and John