Catching up with the Dead Sea Scrolls

1. I'm trying to ease back into scholarship as I transition back to teaching. Yesterday I was trying to catch up a little on some Dead Sea Scroll scuttlebutt. Last time I taught Intertestamental Literature was in 2009, just as I was transitioning to become Dean.

I knew that Jodi Magness had caused some tremors in the force, that James VanderKam was going to have to revise The Dead Sea Scrolls Today at least a little. I bought John Collins' Beyond the Qumran Community and Hanan Eshel's, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hasmonean State and left them there on my shelf to collect dust.

2. So here's my update. It seems like everyone now is pretty much on board that 1) the scrolls go with the site of Qumran, 2) the community that goes with the scrolls was Essene, 3) that the Essenes were significantly bigger than the Dead Sea community, and 4) that many of the scrolls were produced elsewhere and brought to Qumran. Pretty much dead are Schiffman's Sadducee hypothesis and Norman Golb's Jerusalem library hypothesis (for a bizarre chapter here concerning his son, see here).


3. It looks as if Magness has well nigh convinced the DSS scholarly community that there is no real evidence for the community being at the site before the first century BC. She largely supports Roland de Vaux's 1950s analysis of the site, but with a few modifications. The denial of any occupation there before the first century is her biggest change.

Probably because of the numbers in a document called Covenant of Damascus, de Vaux identified an early phase of the site in the second century. But we now have some 50 years unaccounted for between the majority view of when the Essenes started and when we have any evidence of a group at Qumran.

4. Into this gap step Michael Wise and John Collins. The majority seems unmoved in its sense that the Teacher of Righteousness was active in the mid-second century BC and that Jonathan Maccabee was the proto-Wicked Priest of the pesharim in the scrolls. But of majorities, Collins says, "Such is the power of the received scholarly consensus" (95 n.27).

Collins suggests rather that there is no evidence that the Teacher of Righteousness squabbled over the priesthood at all. While he accepts that the Essene community must have formed in the late second century BC, he dates the TR's engagement with the Wicked Priest to the reign of Hyrcanus II (60s BC).

I have always found Collins extremely judicious, someone whom you can tell doesn't have an ax to grind but is really out for the most likely answer. That makes his reassessment something that must be taken very seriously indeed. Of course for me these things are just frustrating. Frustrated at how the early decades of a subject wobble. Frustrating that I am not up on the arguments enough to have a firm position.

The Green Exhibit

Thanks to the generosity of the Green family of Hobby Lobby, IWU and Wesley Seminary at IWU have been privileged to host some of their manuscript collection this week.  Not everyone will be interested in the history of the Bible's transmission, but of course I very much enjoy it.  Here are some of the pieces they brought:

1. Some Dead Sea Scrolls that they own, dating from the century before Jesus.

2. The papyrus fragment known as p39, fragment of John 8 dating to the 200s.

3. Some of Codex Climaci Rescriptus, which in its discovered form was a Greek manuscript from the 600s or 700s, but using technology has been able to reveal an original Aramaic translation of the gospels that had been what was written on the vellum originally.  It dates to the 500s.

4. Letter of Luther soon before he was condemned.

5. The Complutensian Polyglot, which was very well done but Erasmus got the Greek Bible onto the printing press first.

6. The Geneva Bible, which was the favorite English Puritan Bible of the 1500s, with its Calvinist notes.

7. Original 1611 King James.

8. Elzevir's Greek New Testament, which was the first to refer to the Erasmian Greek text as the "received text" or the textus receptus.

9. Letters of John and Charles Wesley.

10. King James first printed in the US after the Revolutionary War, only Bible printing ever sanctioned by Congress in the 1780s.

Fun stuff.  Of course there are still, surprisingly, American Christians who insist on only using the KJV. When you tell them that they're using a version from the 1780s that had already been updated about 5 times, some retrench by saying, "Then we're going to use the 1611 KJV."

Then when you tell them it was an Anglican, compromise translation, that it originally had the Apocrypha, that King James may have been gay, they retrench and say, the Geneva Bible then.  I've seen a version of the Geneva Bible that is called "The Patriot's Bible."  Really?

The Geneva Bible was never printed in America. It was brought over on the Mayflower... along with the KJV.  The Geneva Bible wasn't printed any more after the 1640's, so what patriot are they thinking about in this title?

Great Bibles, yes!  Great history, yes!  A lot of silly people out there, yes!

Worship of Angels in Colossians 2

Trying to pick back up writing the devotional I'm writing on Ephesians and Colossians.
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Mention of the “worship of angels” (2:18) has led many interpreters of Colossians to assume that the religious movement in question involved worshipping angels. If so, it would be a “syncretistic” or mixed form of Judaism, since Jews did not believe in worshipping anything but God. However, the Dead Sea Scrolls have suggested another possibility, namely, that this Jewish movement thought their worship participated in the worship that angels did in heaven. It would thus be a form of mystical Judaism that aimed at religious experiences such as the one Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. Some have even wondered if the physical disciplines of 2:23 hint of food restrictions meant to induce such experiences, although perhaps Old Testament food laws are in mind.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament

For previous posts in this series, see here. In this post, I want to boil down and organize what I think are the biggest take-aways from the Dead Sea Scrolls as background to the New Testament. Certainly many have done this sort of thing before, but that's never stopped me before.
_________
Jesus and John the Baptist
1. The Community Rule is striking in its use of Isaiah 40:3--"Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord" (e.g., 1QS 8). It then refers to its membership as individuals who have chosen the Way (e.g., 1QS 9; CD 2). The similarity to the way John the Baptist is introduced in the gospels, along with the fact that Acts indicates early Christians saw themselves as followers of the Way is very striking indeed. Apollos, for example, is said to understand the Way of the Lord when Priscilla and Aquila come on him (Acts 18:25), yet only to know the teaching of John the Baptist!

It is very hard for me to read these observations and not conclude that John the Baptist was an Essene and that Essenism stands as the principal background for Jesus' ministry. Luke presents him as someone of priestly descent, which fits the Essenes. He does not seem to be married (although frankly we don't know for sure) and his life as a Nazirite fits as well.

That is not to say, of course, that Jesus was an Essene, quite the contrary. He apparently assented to the call to repentance that was a signature of John the Baptist's message, but his practice of inclusion showed a disregard for boundaries and purity rules that would not only have been massively unacceptable to the Essenes. The gospels depict it as unacceptable to the less "conservative" Pharisees.

2. Messianic expectation is not a regular feature of the books commonly called the Apocrypha. It is, however, noticeable in the scrolls. It may first appear in the Animal Apocalypse around 160BC in terms of literature that has survived. We also find it in the Psalms of Solomon around 50BC. The messiah will be king of the restored Israel. We do not find any good indication that this messiah was thought to be a heavenly figure in the scrolls. His arrival is accompanied in 11QMelch by the archangel Melchizedek who will judge angels and men.

We do know of a few revolutionaries who tried to revolt against Rome. There was Judas the Galilean in AD6. There was Theudas in the early 40s. We know of an anonymous Egyptian from Acts. Simon bar Kochba was thought the messiah in the later 135 revolt. It is hard to know, therefore, how widespread messianic belief was.

3. Dead Sea Scrolls like 4QFlorilegium look to several messianic texts that also appear in the New Testament: Psalm 2; 2 Samuel 7:14; Amos 9:11. It is impossible to know if Jesus used these sorts of texts in reference to messianic expectation during his earthly ministry. But they certainly found their way eventually into the self-understanding of the early church.

4. 11QMelch speaks of Melchizedek bringing good news to captives from Isaiah 61, just as Luke 4 has Jesus say as he commences his ministry. It also quotes Isaiah 52:7 from which arguably come the word "gospel" and the phrase "kingdom of God." It is quite possible that Jesus evoked the image of God's coming salvation using commonly known imagery (drawn from Essene circles?).

5. Language of a new covenant was clearly in play among the Essenes and the Dead Sea Community. It is difficult to know for sure to what extent Jeremiah 31 might have served as a backdrop for Jesus' earthly ministry, but clearly at some point the earliest Christians understood Jesus' death to be the real inauguration of one.

6. The War Scroll looks to a final battle between good and evil, just as Jesus may also have anticipated in the way he framed his mission on earth. The idea that the Dead Sea community was the final generation such as we find in the Habakkuk commentary also seems to have become the understanding of the earliest Christians.

7. Hell fire as a place not only for the Devil and his angels but for the wicked of Israel seems to stand in the background of Jesus' ministry or at the very least early Christian understanding and such imagery is found also to some extent among the scrolls.

Earliest Christians
8. communal living, holding possessions in common
The Community Rule also records a process of a person's property becoming absorbed into the community. Acts 2 also speaks of the early Jerusalem Christian community holding their possessions in common. This would fit a community with strong Essene sympathies. The incident with Ananias and Sapphira reminds us of the penalties for lying about property that pertained to the Qumran community.

9. The literature of 1 Enoch arguably stands in the background of the Dead Sea Scrolls and may in fact have served as Scripture for the Essenes. In this connection, it is noteworthy that Jude 14-15 quote 1 Enoch 1. Similarly, the story of evil angels having sex with human women seems presumed by Jude 6; 2 Peter 2:4; and 1 Peter 3:19-20. By contrast, Paul the ex-Pharisee does not engage any of this Enochic literature. We could argue, however, that some significant Jerusalem Christians did and may even have considered 1 Enoch to be Scripture.

10. Paul goes to Damascus to arrest some Christian Jews. This is peculiar because Damascus was not under the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin. There must surely have been a significant Christian element there of some kind. Similarly, Damascus plays an important at least putative role for the Essenes. The Covenant of Damascus remembers Damascus in one way or another as the place where the fundamental Essene covenant was first made.

11. New Testament interpretation in general fit with the hermeneutics of the day. For example, some of Matthew's interpretations are reminiscent of the pesher commentaries at Qumran in the way they lift segments of words from the Old Testament from their original contexts and apply them to incidents in the life of Jesus.

12. The DSS repeatedly invoke the Holy Spirit as God's presence in the community. Romans 1:3 may repeat an early Christian "creed" of sort using the phrase, "Spirit of holiness," which of course is attested at Qumran.

Paul's Letters
13. 4QMMT remains excellent background to Paul's use of the phrase "works of law." This phrase apparently evoked images of the kinds of debates Jews had over boundary issues and how to keep the purity issues of the Law. The strongly ethnic overtones of the phrase are clear enough in Galatians, where circumcision is primarily at issue.

If much of the early Jerusalem church was Essene, then we can see Paul's use of Qumran categories in part as effective rhetoric. Paul becomes an ex-Pharisee believer arguing with ex-Essene believers or even still Essene believers. The use of the phrase "doers of the Law" (versus mere "hearers of the Law") in Romans 2 and indeed in James becomes intriguing because Paul possibly throws an Essene mantra back in his opponents face.

14. Paul's language of election and his evocation of mystery to explain God's predestination of the Gentiles ironically finds strong precedent in the Qumran hymns and War Scroll. It is ironic because Paul turns language that had been used in relation to a very separatist, conservative Jewish community and applies it to the inclusion of the Gentiles!

15. Although the DSS are not the only background for the phrase the righteousness of God, they support the strong evidence from the Psalms and Isaiah that Paul's use of this phrase primarily referred to God's righteousness, His propensity to save and show mercy on His people. See the Community Rule and the Hymns.

16. The Qumran hymns, while ironically having a strong expectation of moral perfection, also have a strong sense of human depravity. No one can be righteous in their own strength. Justification is by God's grace. Although some will no doubt quibble that the emphasis on holiness cancels out the insight about human depravity, the New Testament also expects a life above sin.

In that sense the Qumran hymns well dispense with the older view of Judaism as a religion of works righteousness. The NT like the scrolls have a pattern of keeping the Law in response to God's grace and works as an element in the equation of final acceptance while strongly affirming human unworthiness. Paul's evocation of such themes are not so much in disagreement over them but he uses them to lead his opponents to different implications for them.

17. Paul's use of flesh as that part of a human that is susceptible to sin, as well as the sense that humans have a guilty inclination are attested at Qumran. Such ideas probably fit better with an Essene background than with Paul's own Pharisaic background perhaps.

18. Paul's sense of the glory of Adam may be invoked in the scrolls. It is this glory that Paul believed we lacked because of our sin and it was hope of this glory that we aspired to through Christ.

19. Paul's early use of the phrase sons of light in 1 Thessalonians is possibly an artifact of early Christian language he has retained which, again, fits very well against an Essene background for many early Christians.

20. Paul's references to meetings of early believers as "churches," "assemblies," fits very well with Essene origins for earliest Christianity.

21. The one artifact in 2 Corinthians where the word Belial is used of Satan reminds us of the name primarily used of him among the scrolls.

22. The Songs of the Sabbath sacrifice may very well provide us with important background to understand an incipient mystical Judaism that Colossians addresses where certain Jews saw their worship as a participation in the worship of angels. The use of tongues in worship may intersect here at some point as well.

Hebrews
23. The idea that God's throne room was a heavenly Holy of Holies in a heavenly temple is certainly attested at Qumran.

24. The importance of santification of the community understood as purification is certainly attested at Qumran.

25. The Qumran sense of Melchizedek as a heavenly archangel may stand somewhere in the background of Hebrews 7, although if so, probably more in terms of the author using some associations on the part of the audience rather than his own. Hebrews does not equate Jesus with Melchizedek.

Revelation
26. Once again, the idea of a final battle between Israel and the world, with the primary bad guy or image of the primary bad guy based on Rome, stands as an essential part of Revelation and is strongly evoked by the War Scroll.

New Testament Intersections 8: Final DSS

Previous posts in this series include:

Most Apocrypha and Alexandrian Literature
Enochic Literature and 4QMMT
Covenant of Damascus
Community Rule
Qumran Hymns
Pesher Commentaries
Songs of Sabbath, 4QTest, 4QFlor, Son of God frag, etc...

And now the remaining Dead Sea Scrolls I am covering.

11QMelchizedek
General Elements
1. Generally known for equating Melchizedek with Michael the archangel, although nothing in the text actually says this. It does seem to make a distinction between the messiah and Melchizedek, otherwise we might suppose that "mlchzdk" should be interpreted as "king of righteousness" in relation to the messiah.

2. Melchizedek is called ELOHIM and EL, "god," which is the basis for seeing him as an archangel here. He brings judgment on Belial and other spirits (=angels) who rebelled, which supports the angelic theory.

3. Atonement seems associated in some way with Melchizedek, which again supports an association with Genesis 15. At the same time, we should remember that more than one scroll sees the messiah as a priest-messiah.

New Testament Intersections
1. Paul seems to understand Christ to lead the (good) angels in judgment of the world and (fallen) angels (e.g., 1 Cor. 6:2-3; 1 Thess. 4:16), which fits with the role of Melchizedek.

2. A couple NT texts are used here. Isaiah 61, used of Jesus in Luke 4, is used of Melchizedek. The programmatic verse of Jesus ministry, Isaiah 52:7 "how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the gospel, our God reigns [kingdom of God]" is evoked in relation to the messiah and Melchizedek, assuming the two are different.

3. There has been much speculation about a possible connection between 11QMelch and Hebrews 7. It may very well be that such Melchizedek traditions stand somewhere broadly in the background of Hebrews argument. However, Hebrews 7 does not equate Jesus with Melchizedek and virtually all of its argument can be explained as a "what is not in the Torah does not exist" argument (non in thora non in mundo).

The Book of War (4Q285)
I only mention this set of fragments because some have claimed that it foretells a murdered messiah. This, however, does not seem to be the case and is based upon extensively hypothetical reconstructions.

Messianic Rule (1QSa)
1. Gives the community's picture of the messianic community in the age to come. Pictures a single priest-messiah (2).

2. the assembly, again (2)

3. again, importance of purity "because the angels of holiness are with their congregation" (2)... remember Fitzmeyer's interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11 again (that I don't agree with)

War Scroll (1QM)
This is an extensive picture of the final eschatological battle. The matter of formation and weaponry bespeaks the Romans as the Kittim and chief enemy.

New Testament Intersections
1. Belial again (1...)

2. sons of light again (1), sons of darkness (3)

3. assembly again (2...)

4. mysteries again (3, 14)

5. sinful flesh* (4) Most of the references to flesh elsewhere have had more to do with weakness than sinfulness

6. righteousness of God again (4)

7. right hand of God (cf. Ps. 110:1; 4)

8. elect of God again (4, 12)

9. twelve tribes of Israel (5), reminder that Jesus chose 12 disciples

10. wrath of God (6)

11. importance of perfection of body, no nakedness, because angels with them in battle (cf. Fitzmeyer on 1 Cor. 11)

12. ranks of angels like 1 Enoch (9)

13. God's lovingkindness not in accordance with our works (11).

14. the messiah, with reference to Numbers 24 (11)

15. the sanctified (11)

16. Belial created for the Pit (13), sounds like predestination, sounds like "created for the Devil and his angels" in Matthew, eternal blaze for sinners (14)

17. poor in spirit (14)

18. In general, the final battle of the War Scroll reminds us of the final battle pictured in the final chapters of Revelation, including the fact that the final opponent is Rome or pictured in terms of Rome.

Copper Scroll (3Q15)
Of no real relevance to the New Testament but very interesting. Post-dates Qumran (ca. AD100), claims to tell where a mess of gold, silver, and massive wealth in general is stashed around Jerusalem. Some think it's all made up. Some think the wealth of the Essenes or of the temple. But no one has found any of it!

New Testament Intersections 7: Miscellaneous DSS

Previous posts in this series include:

Most Apocrypha and Alexandrian Literature
Enochic Literature and 4QMMT
Covenant of Damascus
Community Rule
Qumran Hymns
Pesher Commentaries

Maybe second to last post in run through the Dead sea Scrolls. I hope on Monday to summarize what I think the rather impressive take-away from this run through the Dead Sea Scrolls might be.

Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4QShirShab)
Elements
1. About heavenly worship but is coordinated with the offering of earthly sacrifices

2. Heavenly temple, including Holy of Holies

3. ministers of God’s presence make expiations (cf. TLevi 3)

4. called “elohim”—”gods” (e.g., 4Q403)

5. anticipates Merkabah mysticism (esp. 4Q405)

New Testament Intersections
1. Colossians 2:18— "worship of angels” might mean not worshipping angels but mystical participation with the angels in their worship

2. Hebrews 1—It has been suggested that behind Hebrews repeated contrasts of Christ with angels might be an over-preoccupation of the audience with angels.

3. Hebrews 9-10-- the idea that God dwells in the Most Holy Place of heaven

4. mysteries again (4Q403)

Words of the Heavenly Lights (4Q504)
You sent your Holy Spirit on us (5)

4QTestimonia
Messianic expectation using Deut. 18 and Num. 24)

4QFlorilegium
1. Collection of texts generally connected to the Messiah, including 2 Samuel 7:14, Amos 9:11, and Psalm 2.

2. These three texts are all used in the New Testament (Acts and Hebrews) in relation to Jesus.

3. Might (although perhaps not) support collections of sayings such as Q is alleged to be and the Gospel of Thomas was. More accurately a set of related verses with pesher interpretation.

4. "works of the Law" related to the functioning of the sanctuary.

5. Belial, sons of light cont...

Son of God fragment (4Q246)
Predicts a “Son of God,” a “Son of the Most High” like Luke 1:32, 35

A Messianic Apocalypse (4Q521)
1. May not be sectarian

2. Speaks of reviving and raising the dead

3. Quotes Isaiah 61:1 as Luke 4

Pseudo-Ezekiel (4Q385)
1. not obviously sectarian

2. literal resurrection?

New Testament Intersections 6: Pesher Commentaries

Previous posts in this series include:

Most Apocrypha and Alexandrian Literature
Enochic Literature and 4QMMT
Covenant of Damascus
Community Rule
Qumran Hymns

The next installment of our run through intertestamental literature for its possible intersections with the New Testament leads us to the Habakkuk, Nahum, and Psalms commentaries at Qumran. Their principle intersection with the NT is their method of interpretation.

They are of immense value, however, in relation to the history of the Qumran community and the Essenes in general. They generally date to the first century BC and so were copied at Qumran. I locate them as sectarian documents of the Qumran community, therefore, and perhaps less documents of broader Essenism. The sense of Hab. and Nahum that the Kittim (Romans) have broad judgment on the wicked, without hardening into the view against them found in the War Scroll, speaks of a date somewhere around 60-50BC.

Habakkuk Commentary (4QHab)
Historical Data
1. Wicked Priest/Liar versus TR again (1, 2, 8, 9, 10); Wicked Priest (Jonathan Maccabeus) pursued the TR to the house of his exile on Day of Atonement (11); WP defiled temple (12)

2. TR called a priest (2)

3. Kittim=Romans (2), sacrifice to their standards (6)

4. Absalom=Pharisees? (5)

New Testament Intersections
1. Pesher method of interpretation quotes an OT Scripture and then applies it directly to the Qumran sect and its history is much like the way Matthew interprets OT Scripture in relation to the life of Jesus (e.g., Matt. 2:15), although Matthew does not format his interpretation in commentary form.

2. new covenant again (perhaps equated with Covenant of Damascus; 2)

3. Essenes as the elect (5)

4. Idea that they were in the final generation (7); judgment coming (13)

5. circumcise foreskin of heart (11)

Nahum Commentary (4Q169)
Historical Data
It mentions Demetrius III (1) and thus implies that the "seekers of smooth things" were the Pharisees who sided with Demetrius against the Hasmonean king-priest Alexander Janneus (103-76BC) around 88BC. Janneus, the "furious young lion" then crucified 800 Pharisees.

We also learn that "Ephraim" is symbolic for the Pharisees as well (2), as is "House of Separation" (4). "Manasseh" could refer to the Sadducees.

New Testament Intersections
same pesher method of interpretation

Psalms Commentary (4Q171)
Historical Data
1. Liar/Wicked Priest (Jonathan; 1, 2); tried to kill TR because he sent him a "law" (4; in ref. to 4QMMT?)

2. wicked of Ephraim and Manasseh (Pharisees and maybe Sadducees; 2)

3. TR a priest (2, 3)

New Testament Intersections
1. same pesher interpretive method

2. Belial again (2)

3. poor will inherit the world; cf. Matt. 5; Luke (3)

New Testament Intersections 5: Qumran Hymns

Previous posts in this series include:

Most Apocrypha and Alexandrian Literature
Enochic Literature and 4QMMT
Covenant of Damascus
Community Rule

Qumran Hymns
Some may come from the Teacher of Righteousness himself. Geza Vermes points to a comment in Philo's Contemplative Life that indicates hymns were sung after the exposition of Scripture. I am in my mind placing the core hymns between the founding of the Essenes around 150BC and the founding of Qumran around 100BC. For the numbering of the hymns, Vermes' number is first, followed by the older).

New Testament parallels
1. glory of Adam again (1/23)

2. the righteousness of God as God's righteousness again, cf. Rom. 1:17 (2/24; 4/21; 5/22; 12/7 TR; 15/11 TR; 21/17; 22/18)

3. the depravity of humanity, righteousness by grace alone cf. Rom. 3-4 (3/25*; 5/22; 12/7 TR; 16/12; 17/13; 18/14*; 23/19)

4. God's word does not return empty, cf. logos in NT (3/25)

5. Holy Spirit again (4/21; 5/22; 15/11 TR; 18/14; 23/19)

6. demand for subsequent moral perfection (4/21; 6/1)

7. the congregation, assembly (5/22; 12/7)

8. radical predestination (5/22*; 19/15); foreknowledge (6/1* TR)

9. Belial again (7/2; 10/5; 12/7)

10. Messiah as marvelous mighty counselor (9/4); 14/10? 18/14?

11. Law written on heart (12/7 TR)

12. mysteries again (12/7; 18/14; 21/17; 23/19)

13. possible references to resurrection (14/10 TR; 21/17*); imprisonment of dead spirits (18/14; 20/16); everlasting abode illumined with perfect light (24/25)

Historical data
1. possible reference to Pharisees as seekers of smooth things (6/1 TR; 8/3; 12/7 TR)

2. others seeking after Teacher of Righteousness (TR)'s life (7/2 TR); banishing him from the land (12/7 TR)

3. plant imagery (14/10 TR; 18/14)

New Testament Intersections 4: Community Rule

In three previous posts I have attempted to catalog intersections between Intertestamental literature and the New Testament, as well as some basics.

They are:
Most Apocrypha and Alexandrian Literature
Enochic Literature and 4QMMT
Covenant of Damascus

Here are some basics relating to the Community Rule (1QS) of the Dead Sea Scrolls:

Only known from Qumran:

Entry process
1. Examination (done yearly; 1QS 5)
2. One year trial (no communal meal)
3. Examination; property turned over
4. Additional year trial (no communal drink)
5. Examination; property absorbed

Structure

• Guardian (1QS 6)
• Council of Community (12 men and three priests; 1QS 7); at least one priest for 10 elders (1QS 6)
• Interpreter of the Law (1QS 6, 8)

Possible NT Intersections
1. Sons of light and sons of darkness (cf. 1 Thess. 5:5; e.g., 1QS 1)

2. Belial cont (1QS 1).

3. Emphasis on perfect living (1QS 1); holiness in an ethical sense (e.g., 1QS 5)

4. Everlasting fire (1QS 2, 4; cf. Matt. 5, 13, 25)

5. Spirit of holiness (1QS 3, 4; cf. Rom. 1:3); Holy Spirit (1QS 8)

6. Sanctification, cleansing of sin by way of baptism (1QS 3)

7. God’s predestination of all things (1QS 3; cf. Rom. 9)

8. Two spirits, vice list proceeding from spirit of falsehood (1QS 4; cf. Gal. 5:9-21); evil inclination cont. (1QS 5)

9. Glory of Adam again (1QS 4)

10. Communal meal and drink (1QS 6; cf. Lord’s supper)

11. Communal holding of property (1QS 6; cf. Acts 2); lying in regard to property very serious (cf. Acts 5)

12. Council a “precious corner stone” (1QS 8; cf. 1 Peter 2:6)

13. Community in wilderness to “prepare the way of the Lord” (1QS 8, 9; cf. John the Baptist)

14. The Way again (1QS 9)

15. Now dual messiahs, one of Judah (king) and one of Aaron (priest); also a Prophet mentioned (1QS 9)

16. Mysteries again (1QS 9)

17. Category of salvation (1QS 10)

18. Category of justification (1QS 3, 11)

19. Righteousness of God as God’s mercy to justify (1QS 11; cf. Rom. 1:17)

20. Flesh as metaphor for humanness/sinfulness (1QS 11)

New Testament Intersections 2: Covenant of Damascus

In an earlier post I went through the "Enochic" literature up to 4QMMT, a document that possibly stands at the very moment of the birth of the Essenes as a distinct sect.

Next I want to look at the Covenant of Damascus, both for clues to the history of the period and for possible intersections with early Christianity. I have not yet thought of significant parallels between the Temple Scroll and the New Testament, other than a general sense that the current temple in Jerusalem was not legitimate as it stood.

Covenant of Damascus
History of Movement (all in I.)
1. A plant sprang up 390 years after the Babylonian captivity--corresponds to the founding of the Hasidim? in the early 100s BC, as also mentioned in the Apocalypse of Weeks (ca. 170BC).

2. Wander for twenty years (ca. 170-150BC)--period of Hasidim involvement in Maccabean crisis

3. Teacher of Righteousness gives leadership to movement about 150BC, presumably when the Scoffer (Jonathan Maccabeus) assumed the role of high priest. The seekers of smooth things are probably the Pharisees, other Hasidim who sided with Jonathan over the Teacher (cf. CD VII).

4. Perhaps flees to Damascus with many Hasidim, where this covenant is formed. Not sure if we should take Damascus literally.

New Testament Intersections
1. The expectation that one would walk "in perfection"? (CD II), although it is hard to find any NT writings that use the word "perfection" in relation to holiness or ethical behavior in general

2. Mention of following "the way" in association with Damascus (CD II; Mark 1:3; Acts 9:2)--very interesting!

3. Talk of a "guilty inclination" (CD II; cf. James 1:14)

4. Mention of Holy Spirit (CD II)

5. Mystery of God's forgiveness (CD III; Rom. 11; Eph. 4)

6. glory of Adam (CD III; Rom. 3:23; Heb. 2:10)

7. elect within Israel (CD IV; Rom. 9)

8. Use of the word "Belial" for Satan (CD IV; cf. 2 Corinthians 6:15)

9. Mention of the tradition of Jannes and Jambres (CD V; cf. 2 Tim. 3:8)

10. Expectation of a king messiah (e.g., CD VII) who is also a priest messiah (e.g., CD B II)

11. A new covenant (e.g., CD VIII; 1 Cor. 11:25)

12. “angels of holiness in their midst” (CD XV); some say relevance to head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11 (Fitzmeyer), although I don't see it

13. Jesus counters the saying “You shall keep your vow” (Matt. 5) with you should not swear. This saying is mentioned as binding in CD XVI, making one wonder if Jesus and James are reacting to some overemphasis on vows?

14. The collective group is called the “assembly” (e.g., XII), which is ekklesia (church) in Greek.

Very interesting. Very difficult to know the weight of any one parallel. How widespread, for example, was using Belial for Satan? But the more "blips" on the parallel screen, the more likely we should see early Christianity at least partially growing out of Essene soil.

Theology of the Dead Sea Scrolls

With this post and tomorrow's I want to finish my summaries of material related to the Dead Sea Scrolls for my intertestamental class. I've already discussed a possible history of the community. Here I will discuss the theology of the scrolls (notice I did not say of the community), and tomorrow I will point out possible intersections of the scrolls with the New Testament.

1. Theologies rarely if ever exist in a vacuum. In that sense, all theology is historical theology, whether it is in a systematic form or not. A precise theological description of the theology of the Dead Sea scrolls would need to dialog with the historical development of the communities that produced them.

For this reason, the first characteristic of the scrolls I mention is the call to purity and holiness. The antecedents of the Dead Sea community were formed by separation from the rest of Israel. The Enochic community was apparently born in reaction to the radical Hellenization of the early second century BC. The Teacher of Righteousness separated from what became the operations of the temple and further separated the Essene community from broader Israel and the Pharisees. Finally, the community at the Dead Sea appears to have become radically separated from the rest of Israel and, perhaps, the rest of the Essenes.

A good deal of this separation involved "works of law" (cf. 4QMMT, Some of the Works of the Law). In other words, what is the proper way to keep the Jewish Law. The Pharisees said unclean water whose path was broken did not make you unclean. The Teacher of Righteousness (and the Sadducees) said no--the water itself makes you unclean whether the path to you is broken or continuous. The Pharisees said an uncle could marry his niece because the Pentateuch does not forbid it. The Qumranites did not allow it, because an aunt could not marry a nephew.

So proper holiness is perhaps the most defining aspect of Dead Sea scroll theology. The Essenes are thus the strictest of all the Jewish sects we know of at this time.

2. In keeping with the above separation and distinction of practice is a sense of a "new covenant" God is establishing with Israel. It is no surprise that the Covenant of Damascus document, perhaps the charter of the Essenes, uses this sort of language of renewal. The Temple Scroll optimistically looks to a time of a renewed temple and city of Jerusalem.

3. The Thanksgiving Hymns (1QH) perhaps not surprisingly have a strong sense of humility and renewal to them. Perhaps giving the voice of the Teacher of Righteousness himself, we hear the acknowledgement of deep sinfulness and need for God's grace, coupled with the prospect of perfection in the rest of life. Most of the scrolls do not have this sort of humility to them, the majority of the scrolls are very concerned with perfection and do not have this sense of utter sinfulness.

4. It follows from what we have just said that the scrolls have an increasing sense of election and predestination the more sectarian they become. By the time we reach 1QS (the Community Rule), the sect exclusively constitutes the sons of light and the rest of Israel will be judged with the rest of the sons of darkness.

5. The scrolls perhaps expectantly become more and more vindictive toward the rest of the world and look for apocalyptic judgment. The pesher commentaries of Habakkuk and Nahum look to the destruction of the enemies of the community (principally the Hasmonean priest-kings). The War Rule (1QM) looks to the final battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. The angel Melchizedek or perhaps Michael (11QMelch) will lead the spiritual charge againts Belial, while the righteous Branch will lead the earthly fight. The Kittim, the Romans, will bite the dust, reflecting the new enemy of the community after the Romans took control in 63BC.

6. At the same time, messianic expectation arguably wanes as the community continues. While two or even three messianic figures are expected at one point--the messiahs of Aaron and Israel and the Prophet. At one point this was the messiah of Aaron and Israel, perhaps reflecting the fact that the Hasmonean rulers were priest-kings. Eventually that line is taken out (in the 4Q versions of the Community Rule) and we have just the Prophet, who may now retroactively have become equated with the Teacher of Righteousness now long dead.

7. In all this, there is little sense of the afterlife. There are hints here and there, but almost nothing. They were interested in vindication in this life, not in the next. There are images of eternal punishment, perhaps confirming Josephus' claim that the Essenes' beliefs were closer to the immortality of the soul, in contrast to the Pharisaic belief in resurrection. Only two fragments seem to imply physical resurrection. And given the fact that many scrolls must have come to Qumran from elsewhere, we cannot be sure at all that these two small fragments represent mainstream Qumran belief.

Monday Thoughts: A Brief History of Qumran

In this post I want to collect some of my thoughts concerning the history of the Dead Sea community at Qumran.

1. Let me first address the relationship between the Dead Sea scrolls and the archaeological site at Qumran. Norman Golb of course suggests that there is no connection. The Qumran site was perhaps a fortress, and the scrolls of the caves come from another source. Perhaps the scrolls were stashed from a library or libraries in Jerusalem as various individuals fled the city as the Romans approached.

What a coincidence this would be--so many scrolls stashed by coincidence in caves by a compound only a couple hundred feet away. Two data argue against this suggestion. The first is that the documents of the caves are not a cross-section of Jewish literature. We do not find, for example, Esther, let alone fragments of books like 1st or 2nd Maccabees or the Wisdom of Solomon. These books existed by the time of the Roman assault and were no doubt present in Jerusalem.

Even in the apocalyptic tradition of Enoch we do not find portions from the Similitudes or the bulk of the Epistle of Enoch, which perhaps date from after the time when the site of Qumran was founded. What we do find is a significant number of sectarian texts that are unattested elsewhere. The distribution of such books would indicate that the scrolls came from some sort of sectarian provenance rather than from more generic libraries in Jerusalem.

Finally, the site of Qumran is not a fortress. The nearby cemetery points to a community, and the baptismal pools at the entrances to the site point to a community that valued purity. We therefore go with the strong majority who connect the caves to the site and see the site as the location of some sort of sectarian community.

2. The prevalence of works in the Enoch tradition (portions of 1 Enoch, Jubilees) suggests a connection between whatever group created these and the group that landed along the Dead Sea. It seems significant that one of the "charters" of the Dead Sea "movement" dates its origins to about the time the Apocalypse of Weeks and the Dream Visions portions of 1 Enoch were written.

The so called "Covenant of Damascus" says, "in the age of wrath, three hundred and ninety years after He had given them into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, He visited them, and He caused a plant root to spring from Israel and Aaron... they perceived their iniquity and recognized that they were guilty men, yet for twenty years they were like blind men groping for the way" (CD 1.5-10, Vermes' translation).

While the numbers here are most likely symbolic, they do come out about right--the first part of the second century BC for the origins of the movement and mid-second century for the rise of the so called "Teacher of Righteousness." The Apocalypse of Weeks (1 Enoch 93, 91) dates to just before the Maccabean crisis (around 170BC) and the Dream Visions to just after (around 160BC).

We don't know who the members of this movement were, although the Hasidim of 1 Maccabees are sometimes suggested.

3. The Covenant of Damascus then mentions the arrival of a Teacher of Righteousness at this point: God "raised for them a Teacher of Righteousness to guide them in the way of His heart" (CD 1.11).

Who was this Teacher of Righteousness? At this point a number of other Qumran sectarian texts come to our aid. Key is a text sometimes called the Halakhic letter, 4QMMT: "Some of the Works of the Law." This seems to be a letter concerning priestly matters from a disempowered priest to an empowered one. In the light of other texts such as the Habakkuk and Nahum commentaries, it is easy to see this as a letter from the individual who would become known as the Teacher of Righteousness to the one who would become known as the Wicked Priest.

James VanderKam suggests that we may be witnessing in 4QMMT the transition between the unknown priest who presided over the temple from 160-152BC and the assumption of that office by Jonathan Maccabeus. Strangely, we have no record of who was priest during that time.

The Maccabean crisis in part was sparked by the removal of priests who were descendants of Zadok from the high priesthood and the imposition of Syrian puppets like Menelaus and Alcimus, who died of a stroke in 160. Yet it was not until 152 when Jonathan--who was not from the line of Zadok either--assumed the role. VanderKam suggests plausibly that the Teacher of Righteousness was an unknown priest from this transition.

Here we find ourselves perhaps at the juncture in history where the three best known Jewish sects were born. The Sadducees are perhaps the continuation of the line of Zadok who are no longer in charge. The Essenes are perhaps those "doers" of the law who follow the Teacher of Righteousness but who have been part of a purity movement since the early part of the second century. Perhaps the Pharisees are another part of that purity movement who nevertheless do not follow the Teacher of Righteousness or his sectarian ways.

At this point we should mention the hypothesis of Lawrence Schiffman who also resists associating the Dead Sea community with the Essenes. He notes certain similarities between positions the Mishnah says the Sadducees held and views on purity found in documents like the Halakhic letter 4QMMT. However, even Schiffman would distinguish such Sadducees from the aristocratic Sadducees we know otherwise. VanderKam asks what is the point then of calling them Sadducees, especially when so many of their views differed from the known Sadducees.

In the end, the introduction of the possibly "Sadducean" Teacher of Righteousness into the Enochian group might easily account for Sadducean elements in an otherwise apocalyptic tradition.

4. So the Teacher of Righteousness may have been a priest who flourished in the mid-second century, who left the temple establishment when Jonathan became high priest. Jonathan of course did it his way. So the Teacher of Righteousness gathered his own following, a following that apparently numbered about 4000 at its peak (this is the number of Essenes around 100BC according to Josephus).

Where he went we do not know, although it does not appear to be Qumran. It is now more and more agreed that the site of Qumran was not inhabited until around 100BC. That leaves about 50 years for Essenism before the site was settled. Frankly, Damascus is very tempting.

The writing known as the Covenant of Damascus may represent this early period. It is the only sectarian text from Qumran known to us before Qumran was discovered (found in Cairo--we think of Philo's Therapeutae). So one wonders if it represents this early Essenism. The Temple Scroll may also come from this time, as well as some of the Thanksgiving Hymns, some of which may actually come from the Teacher of Righteousness.

At one point Jonathan tracks down the Teacher of Righteousness on the day he celebrated the Day of Atonement. Apparently he was following a different calendar than the temple--another point of disagreement. It does not seem as if Jonathan was successful, although he "tempts" the community to sin.

We have a picture from other sources of Essenes that live throughout the cities and villages of Israel. Some marry and some do not.

5. Around 100BC, a structure is built at Qumran. This particular group of Essenes seems to produce a more sectarian literature even yet. Another "community rule" is established there (1QS) with the clear sense that this is a group living together in isolation from the outside world.

It is presumably here that the best known pesher commentaries are produced like the Habakkuk and Nahum commentaries. Absent from the Dead Sea corpus are Enoch writings apparently produced by other groups.

6. Whatever is left of the community is destroyed around 68 by the Romans. Presumably the scrolls are stashed in the caves about that time.