Robert Eisenman the New Testament Code
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4Q521 and What It Might Mean for Q 3–7
Chapter 20 4Q521 and What It Might Mean for Q 3–7 Gaye Strathearn am personally grateful for S. Kent Brown. He was a commit- I tee member for my master’s thesis, in which I examined 4Q521. Since that time he has been a wonderful colleague who has always encouraged me in my academic pursuits. The relationship between the Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian- ity has fueled the imagination of both scholar and layperson since their discovery in 1947. Were the early Christians aware of the com- munity at Qumran and their texts? Did these groups interact in any way? Was the Qumran community the source for nascent Chris- tianity, as some popular and scholarly sources have intimated,¹ or was it simply a parallel community? One Qumran fragment that 1. For an example from the popular press, see Richard N. Ostling, “Is Jesus in the Dead Sea Scrolls?” Time Magazine, 21 September 1992, 56–57. See also the claim that the scrolls are “the earliest Christian records” in the popular novel by Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code (New York: Doubleday, 2003), 245. For examples from the academic arena, see André Dupont-Sommer, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Preliminary Survey (New York: Mac- millan, 1952), 98–100; Robert Eisenman, James the Just in the Habakkuk Pesher (Leiden: Brill, 1986), 1–20; Barbara E. Thiering, The Gospels and Qumran: A New Hypothesis (Syd- ney: Theological Explorations, 1981), 3–11; Carsten P. Thiede, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Origins of Christianity (New York: Palgrave, 2001), 152–81; José O’Callaghan, “Papiros neotestamentarios en la cueva 7 de Qumrān?,” Biblica 53/1 (1972): 91–100. -
The Covenant Renewal Ceremony As the Main Function of Qumran
religions Article The Covenant Renewal Ceremony as the Main Function of Qumran Daniel Vainstub Department of Bible, Archaeology and Ancient Near East, Ben‑Gurion University, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel; [email protected] Abstract: Unlike any other group or philosophy in ancient Judaism, the yahad sect obliged all mem‑ ˙ bers of the sect to leave their places of residence all over the country and gather in the sect’s central site to participate in a special annual ceremony of renewal of the covenant between God and each of the members. The increase of the communities that composed the sect and their spread over the en‑ tire country during the first century BCE required the development of the appropriate infrastructure for hosting this annual gathering at Qumran. Consequently, the hosting of the gathering became the main function of the site, and the southern esplanade with the buildings surrounding it became the epicenter of the site. Keywords: Qumran; Damascus Document; scrolls; mikveh 1. Introduction The subject of this paper is the yearly gathering during the festival of Shavuot of all members of the communities that composed the yahad sect.1 After close examination of the Citation: Vainstub, Daniel. 2021. The ˙ evidence for this annual gathering in the sect’s writings and analysis of the archaeological Covenant Renewal Ceremony as the data on the development of the site of Qumran, it became evident that in the generation Main Function of Qumran. Religions 12: 578. https://doi.org/10.3390/ following that of the site’s founders, the holding of the annual gathering became the main ¶ rel12080578 raison d’ tre of the site and the factor that dictated its architectural development. -
Here Is a Renewed Interest in Studying the Messianic Beliefs of the Qumran Community
THE EARLY HISTORY OF QUMRAN'S MESSIANIC EXPECTATIONS In recent years there is a renewed interest in studying the messianic beliefs of the Qumran Community. During the nineties many new texts have been pub- lished which help to set this topic in a new and more comprehensive light1. We note, however, that a great number of unsolved questions remain concerning the texts known to the scholarly public since the very beginning of the Dead Sea Scrolls research. The exact teaching of these works has not been so far unanimously clarified. Based on the data provided by the recently published material, many scholars want to revise earlier established views on several gen- eral questions of the Qumran Community, including their messianic expecta- tions2. This essay will focus on the messianic loci of two texts, the Damascus Doc- ument and the Rule of the Community. These are the texts that have been most frequently cited in discussing the messianism of Qumran3. Generally, scholars refer to both texts to support the general Qumranic picture of the expectation of the double messiah4. Working on my doctoral dissertation on the Qumranic * This paper was written during a scholarship at K.U. Leuven provided by the Soros Foundation. I would like to thank Prof. Johan Lust for his valuable suggestions on the ear- lier form of the paper, and Beáta Tóth for the grammatical revision. 1. To mention only some major examples, see the following texts: 4Q521: E. PUECH, Qumrân Grotte 4. XVIII. Textes hébreux (4Q521-4Q528, 4Q576-4Q579) (DJD, 25), Oxford, Clarendon, 1998, pp. 1-38; 4Q246: G.J. -
The Concept of Atonement in the Qumran Literature and the New Covenant
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Liberty University Digital Commons Liberty University DigitalCommons@Liberty University Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate Faculty Publications and Presentations School 2010 The onceptC of Atonement in the Qumran Literature and the New Covenant Jintae Kim Liberty University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lts_fac_pubs Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Other Religion Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Kim, Jintae, "The oncC ept of Atonement in the Qumran Literature and the New Covenant" (2010). Faculty Publications and Presentations. Paper 374. http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lts_fac_pubs/374 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School at DigitalCommons@Liberty University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Liberty University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. [JGRChJ 7 (2010) 98-111] THE CONCEPT OF ATONEMENT IN THE QUMRAN LITERatURE AND THE NEW COVENANT Jintae Kim Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, Lynchburg, VA Since their first discovery in 1947, the Qumran Scrolls have drawn tremendous scholarly attention. One of the centers of the early discussion was whether one could find clues to the origin of Christianity in the Qumran literature.1 Among the areas of discussion were the possible connections between the Qumran literature and the New Testament con- cept of atonement.2 No overall consensus has yet been reached among scholars concerning this issue. -
Sons of the Pit in CD 13
Christopher Stroup [email protected] 24 April 2009 A REEXAMINATION OF THE ‘SONS OF THE DAWN’ IN CD 13:14-15A INTRO/ISSUE (slide 1) The level of exclusivity within the Essenes, generally, and the Qumran community, specifically, remains debated.1 Scholars have long portrayed the Essenes as an exclusive, nearly utopian community characterized by the mutual exchange of goods and services between sectarian members and the avoidance of financial interaction with outsiders.2 This depiction is perpetuated through an equation of the Essenes with the Qumran community, thus highlighting an isolationist tendency, and the privileging of the Community Rule (1QS) as an interpretive frame by which other Essene documents are read. Though I cannot address such broad themes in this paper, I hope to nuance the discussion of such topics by exploring an enigmatic rule from the Damascus Document. (slide 2) In the midst of the rules for introducing new members to the community, the authors informs us that “everyone who joins his congregation, [the Inspector] he should examine, concerning his actions, his intelligence, his strength, his courage and his wealth; and they shall inscribe him in his place according to his inheritance in the lot of light. None of the members of the camp should have authority to introduce anyone into the congregation without the permission of the Inspector of the camp. And none of the ones entering the covenant of God should lend to or give to the sons of the dawn/pit except from hand to hand. And no-one should make a deed of purchase or of sale (הׁשחר/ת) without informing the Inspector of the camp.” Determining what is prohibited by the emphasized regulation of transactions and to whom the rule even applies is problematic. -
The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations
386 BOOK REVIEWS 65, n. 128:the wrongclause fromDaniel 7:9 is transcribed;it does not match the translationprovided. JohnC. Reeves WinthropUniversity RockHill, S.C. James H. Charlesworth, ed. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations. Vol. 1: Rule of the Community and RelatedDocuments. Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls Project.Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr(Paul Siebeck), and Louisville: Westminster JohnKnox Press, 1994. xxiii, 185 pp. The work under review is the first volume in a series designed to be "the first comprehensiveedition of texts, translations,and introductionsto all the Dead Sea Scrolls that are not copies of the [biblical]books" (p. xi). Accordingly,we are dealing with a massive project,especially since every fragment,no matterhow small in size, is to be includedin the series. Projectdirector James H. Charlesworthhas assembleda fine andwide array of scholars(the list of contributorsto the entireproject includes forty-five names)to assist him in this undertaking. Ten volumes are planned,as follows: (1) Rule of the Communityand Related Documents (i.e., the present volume); (2) Damascus Document, War Scroll, and Related Documents; (3) Damascus Document Fragments, More Precepts of the Torah, and Related Documents; (4) Angelic Liturgy, Prayers, and Psalms; (5) ThanksgivingHymns and Related Documents; (6) Targumon Job, Pesharim, and Related Documents; (7) Temple Scroll and Related Documents; (8) Genesis Apocryphon, New Jerusalem, and Related Documents; (9) Copper Scroll, Greek Fragments, and Miscellanea; and (10) Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. The division of the texts into these volumesseems generallysound, but one mustquestion why the CairoGeniza text of the DamascusDocument (along with two fragments5Q12 and 6Q15) will appearin volume2, while the nine DamascusDocument fragments from Cave 4 will appearin volume 3 (this explicit informationis suppliedon p. -
Agents of Resurrection in 4Q521, the Sayings Source Q and 4Qpseudo-Ezekiel*
Agents of Resurrection in 4Q521, the Sayings Source Q and 4QPseudo-Ezekiel* Benjamin Wold, Trinity College Dublin For presentation at Durham University’s Seminar for the Study of Judaism in Late Antiquity (Nov. 11, 2010) Since its publication in 1992, 4Q521 (“Messianic Apocalypse”) has become one of the most discussed discoveries from Qumran.1 The reasons for this are not difficult to understand when fragment 2 column ii is read alongside Matthew 11,1-6 and Luke 7,18-23 (from the sayings source Q). The Hebrew fragment 4Q521 2 ii preserves a reference to a messiah (ln. 1) and shortly thereafter refers to Isaiah 61,1-2 with only one significant addition: the dead are raised (ln. 12). The document 4Q521 is preserved in sixteen fragments and several other references to messiah(s) and resurrection are found among them. The largest fragment is 4Q521 2 ii and reads: Column ii [](1) [](2) vacat (3) (4) (5) (6) [(7) [](8) ][][](9) ][ ](10) []<>(11) [](12) [][][ ](13) * I would like to thank the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung for helping make this research possible. 1 É. PUECH, Une Apocalypse Messianique (4Q521), RevQ 15 (1992) 475-519. There is no clear reason that 4Q521 should be seen as originating with the Qumran community, but rather stems from a broader Palestinian Jewish tradition. See R. BERGMEIER, Beobachtungen zu 4Q521 f 2, II, 1-13, ZDMG 145 (1995) 44-45. Pace PUECH, a late second cent. BCE date of the autograph (4Q521 is likely not the autograph) is possible, but the provenance of the document lacks characteristics that would identify it as Essene; see his, Some Remarks on 4Q246 and 4Q521 and Qumran Messianism, in The Provo International Conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls (STDJ 30), hg. -
A Study on the Teacher of Righteousness, Collective Memory, and Tradition at Qumran by Gianc
MANUFACTURING HISTORY AND IDENTITY: A STUDY ON THE TEACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, COLLECTIVE MEMORY, AND TRADITION AT QUMRAN BY GIANCARLO P. ANGULO A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Religion May 2014 Winston Salem, North Carolina Approved By: Kenneth G. Hoglund, Ph.D., Advisor Jarrod Whitaker, Ph.D., Chair Clinton J. Moyer, Ph.D. Acknowledgments It would not be possible to adequately present the breadth of my gratitude in the scope of this short acknowledgment section. That being said, I would like to extend a few thanks to some of those who have most influenced my academic and personal progression during my time in academia. To begin, I would be remiss not to mention the many excellent professors and specifically Dr. Erik Larson at Florida International University. The Religious Studies department at my undergraduate university nurtured my nascent fascination with religion and the Dead Sea Scrolls and launched me into the career I am now seeking to pursue. Furthermore, a thank you goes out to my readers Dr. Jarrod Whitaker and Dr. Clinton Moyer. You have both presented me with wonderful opportunities during my time at Wake Forest University that have helped to develop me into the student and speaker I am today. Your guidance and review of this thesis have proven essential for me to produce my very best work. Also, a very special thank you must go out to my advisor, professor, and friend, Dr. Ken Hoglund. -
The Eschatology of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Eruditio Ardescens The Journal of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary Volume 2 Issue 2 Article 1 February 2016 The Eschatology of the Dead Sea Scrolls J. Randall Price Liberty University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/jlbts Part of the Jewish Studies Commons Recommended Citation Price, J. Randall (2016) "The Eschatology of the Dead Sea Scrolls," Eruditio Ardescens: Vol. 2 : Iss. 2 , Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/jlbts/vol2/iss2/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in Eruditio Ardescens by an authorized editor of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Eschatology of the Dead Sea Scrolls J. Randall Price, Ph.D. Center for Judaic Studies Liberty University [email protected] Recent unrest in the Middle East regularly stimulates discussion on the eschatological interpretation of events within the biblical context. In light of this interest it is relevant to consider the oldest eschatological interpretation of biblical texts that had their origin in the Middle East – the Dead Sea Scrolls. This collection of some 1,000 and more documents that were recovered from caves along the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea in Israel, has become for scholars of both the Old and New Testaments a window into Jewish interpretation in the Late Second Temple period, a time known for intense messianic expectation. The sectarian documents (non-biblical texts authored by the Qumran Sect or collected by the Jewish Community) among these documents are eschatological in nature and afford the earliest and most complete perspective into the thinking of at least one Jewish group at the time of Jesus’ birth and the formation of the early church. -
The Context of 4Qmmt and Comfortable Theories*
THE CONTEXT OF 4QMMT AND COMFORTABLE THEORIES* Charlotte Hempel I. Introduction Six copies of the so-called Halakhic Letter 4QMMT were found in Qumran Cave 4, and palaeographers have suggested that they were copied over a period of about 100 years or more (ca. 75 BCE–50 CE). Whether or not the work was composed at Qumran, it was obviously copied over a long period of time and must, therefore, have been regarded as important. The document falls into three parts: a calen- dric section, a halakhic section, and a homiletic section presented as sections A, B, and C in the editio princeps published as volume 10 of the Series Discoveries in the Judean Desert.1 It is a matter of dis- pute whether or not the calendric section A at the beginning of the work forms an integral part of the document or not.2 The halakhic section B forms the central part of the document and lists a number of legal issues where a ‘we’ group addresses a you plural group to try and convince them of their legal standpoint. Apart from the writers (we) and the addressees (you plural) the document also refers to a ‘they’ group who adopt different, and in the authors’ views intolerable, legal practices. The last part C is usually referred to as the homiletic epilogue. This last part at times addresses an individual, often thought to be a political ruler, who is asked to consider the kings of Israel. The * Outside of the Birmingham conference that gave rise to this volume I presented the material contained in this chapter to the Senior New Testament Seminar in Cam- bridge, UK, and at the Centre for Judaic Studies at Yale University, USA. -
THE DAMASCUS DOCUMENT 2.1 Introduction Recovered at The
CHAPTER TWO THE DAMASCUS DOCUMENT 2.1 Introduction Recovered at the end of the nineteenth century from the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo, the Damascus Document and its contents were first published in 1910 by the Talmud scholar Solomon Schechter.1 After receiving financial support from a colleague at Cambridge University, Schechter travelled to Cairo in 1896 in order to locate an ancient manuscript rumoured to contain the original He- brew of Ben Sira.2 While searching for the Ben Sira text, Schechter came across two copies of a previously unknown document in the genizah (a storeroom for worn-out texts) of the Ben Ezra Syna- gogue.3 Schechter dubbed this document Fragments of a Zadokite Work in accordance with its fragmentary state and with the authors of the work who seem to have understood themselves as being syn- onymous with, or related to, the “sons of Zadok” (CD 4.3).4 Although some of Schechter’s contemporaries questioned his identification of the text as Zadokite,5 the title Zadokite Fragments 1 S. Schechter, Documents of Jewish Sectaries. I. Fragments of a Zadokite Work (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910). 2 S. C. Reif, “The Damascus Document from the Cairo Genizah,” in The Damas- cus Covenant: A Centennial of Discovery. Proceedings of the Third International Symposium of the Orion Center, 4-8 February, 1998 (ed. J. M. Baumgarten, E. G. Chazon, and A. Pinnick; STDJ 34; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2000), 109-31. 3 A third manuscript from the Cairo genizah containing nine lines of text has also been identified as having a possible connection with the Damascus Document. -
METHODS of INVESTIGATION .OF the DEAD SEA SCROLLS and the KHIRBET QUMRAN SITE: a CONFERENCE REPORT by Michael O
THE oi.uchicago.edu ORIENTAL I NEWS & NOTES NO . 137 SPRING 1993 ©THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO METHODS OF INVESTIGATION .OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND THE KHIRBET QUMRAN SITE: A CONFERENCE REPORT By Michael O. Wise, Assistant Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations The New York Academy of Sciences tions), and Michael Wise (Department case. Three papers, delivered by AI and the Oriental Institute co-sponsored a of Near Eastern Languages and Civiliza Wolters, P. Kyle McCarter and Peter conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls, tions), the actual organizers of the Muchowski, focused on the Copper "Methods of Investigation of the Dead conference. William Sumner, Director of Scroll, a Qumran "treasure map" Sea Scrolls and the Khirbet Qumran the Oriental Institute, delivered the inscribed on metal. Describing places in Site: Present Realities and Future opening remarks in which he empha the Judaean Wilderness where various Prospects," held at the Murray Sargent sized the significance of a conference on treasures as well as scrolls were buried, Auditorium of the New York Blood the Dead Sea Scrolls that was sponsored it is a text of great importance for an Center from December 14 through 17. by organizations of a scientific nature. understanding of the nature of the scroll Numerous participants, including thirty cache, but its study has been unfortu This was the first major international speakers from a dozen nations, met for nately neglected. meeting devoted to the Dead Sea Scrolls <our days of papers and discussions. The since full scholarly access to all related James Charlesworth brought new University of Chicago was represented materials became the rule late in 1991.