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Books by Benjamin Wold
In this book, Benjamin Wold builds on recent developments in the study of early Jewish wisdom lit... more In this book, Benjamin Wold builds on recent developments in the study of early Jewish wisdom literature and brings it to bear on the New Testament. This scholarship has been transformed by the discovery at Qumran of more than 900 manuscripts, including Hebrew wisdom compositions, many of which were published in critical editions beginning in the mid-1990s. Wold systematically explores the salient themes in the Jewish wisdom worldview found in these scrolls. He also presents detailed commentaries on translations and articulates the key debates regarding Qumran wisdom literature, highlighting the significance of wisdom within the context of Jewish textual culture. Wold's treatment of themes within the early Jewish and Christian textual cultures demonstrates that wisdom transcended literary form and genre. He shows how and why the publication of these ancient texts has engendered profound shifts in the study of early Jewish wisdom, and their relevance to current controversies regarding the interpretation of specific New Testament texts.
Reviews:
‘The fresh analysis of this significant study rests on the recent scholarly insistence that the majority of compositions found in the Qumran caves reflect wider intellectual and spiritual tendencies in late Second Temple Judaism than those associated with one sect alone. Through attention to fine details, Ben Wold discloses convincingly how several sections of James, Matthew and the Pauline Letters resonate with Jewish wisdom motifs broadly conceived. New light is shed on cosmology, perfection, poverty, humility, debt remission, flesh and household codes, both in well-known texts and also in those not so familiar. An exemplary presentation of how the Scrolls and the New Testament can illuminate one another.’
George J. Brooke - Rylands Professor Emeritus of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis, University of Manchester
‘In this volume, Wold offers a series of studies that treat early Jewish traditions and those found in some New Testament writings as conversation partners, in which each is given a welcome integrity while being allowed to function in a mutually illuminative way. In this regard, Wold’s work departs from making theological-religious significance depend on whether or not generative influence can be determined. This maturely written, winsomely readable contribution reflects the best of contemporary engagement with ancient sources and lays out paths that forthcoming research can follow. A challenging and constructive book!’
Loren T. Stuckenbruck - Professor of New Testament, University of Munich
‘In detailed studies enhanced with text-critical insight and linguistic acumen, Wold shows how reading Wisdom texts from Qumran published in the late 1990s together with the Epistle of James, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Romans, Colossians, and Ephesians advance understanding of how Jewish texts employ the language of poverty and perfection, how they received Genesis 2-3 in terms of both parents and children and husbands and wives, and how they understand particularism and universalism, cosmology and eschatology, belief and action. Careful, creative, clear, and compelling, the volume neatly complicates the traditional categories of Judaism and Hellenism, wisdom and apocalyptic, flesh and spirit, sin and debt, even the human and the divine.’
Amy-Jill Levine - Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies and New Testament, Emerita, Vanderbilt University
‘Wold's thoughtful and iconoclastic work begins to rethink everything we think we thought we already knew about wisdom in early Judaism and the New Testament. It's a tour de force of close reading, material philology, and big consequences for the study of ancient literature.’
Garrick Allen - Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies, University of Glasgow
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In 4QInstruction: Divisions and Hierarchies, Benjamin Wold addresses several different relationsh... more In 4QInstruction: Divisions and Hierarchies, Benjamin Wold addresses several different relationships in 4QInstruction, those of: speaker/sage to addressee/understanding one (Chapter 1), spirit and flesh (Chapter 2), and the "mystery of existence" (רז נהיה) to the Mosaic Torah (Chapter 3). These three chapters taken together help to assess this composition within the broader context of late Second Temple Jewish sapiential discourse and the development of wisdom in the period. One goal of this monograph is to argue against a prevailing view that sees 4QInstruction as as dualistic and deterministic composition. Instead, 4QInstruction sees people as having moral agency and they are expected to seek knowledge of good and evil as found in creation, which is expressed in part with the רז נהיה. The relationship of the "mystery of existence," which is conveyed with a tripartite division of time including the totality of creation from beginning to end, raises questions about the place of Sinai and Mosaic Torah in 4QInstruction. The final chapter turns to debates about Torah in this composition concluding that the reason Torah is never thematized nor mentioned is that the "mystery of existence" (equated with "truth") is given precedent over Sinai.
Review Quotes:
"This very important work is to be shelved next to the major commentaries, translations, and text editions of Instruction. No study of Instruction is complete without treating both its proposed readings and its hypotheses." Jonathan Kampen, Dead Sea Discoveries, 2021.
"Wold is to be commended for a meticulous and careful analysis of 4QInstruction. This is a significant contribution to Qumran studies that is both thought‐provoking and replete with fresh insights." The Journal of Theological Studies, Seulgi L. Byun, 2020.
"With a close textual reading and some comparative contexts in Second Temple and early Christian texts, Wold questions a reading of 4QInstruction as deterministic, (consistently) dualistic, apocalyptic and elitist. In fact, 4QInstruction proclaims the universal challenge of actualizing and maintaining wisdom in life.…Wold yields findings significant for both early Jewish and Christian studies." Lindsey A. Askin, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2019.
"Wold hat eine erfrischende, anregende und dabei sehr sorgfältig argumentierte Studie vorgelegt, deren Thesen man eine entsprechende Verbreitung wünscht... In jedem Falle illustriert das Werk gewinnbringend die große Bedeutung der Weisheit für das Verständnis der Schriften und den theologischen Ort der Qumrangemeinschaft." Peter Porzig, Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 2019.
"Di proficua lettura per chi desideri approfondire l’antropologia dell’antico Israele, la ridefinizione di «Israele» tra le nazioni, o si interessi alla prima recezione di taluni scritti della Bibbia ebraica." Marco Settembrini, Gregorianum, 2019.
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How did the use of biblical traditions shape theology? Benjamin Wold focuses on allusions to trad... more How did the use of biblical traditions shape theology? Benjamin Wold focuses on allusions to traditions from Genesis in 4QInstruction (Musar leMevin) from the Dead Sea Scrolls and explores implications for the document's understanding of women, men and angels. Cosmology and anthropology are conceived of in light of creation and ethical instruction provided on this basis. The nature of creation is reflected upon and alluded to in the document to educate and exhort the addressees about who they are and how they should live. The behaviour between the addressee and members of the family, society and angelic beings are formulated on the basis of interpretations of creation stories. Creation is also related to the esoteric 'mystery of being', angels and the apocalyptic worldview of the author(s). This is a sustained study on both explicit and non-explicit uses of Genesis creation traditions in 4QInstruction .
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Co-edited Books by Benjamin Wold
This collection of essays, in both English and German, focuses on the question of “evil” in relig... more This collection of essays, in both English and German, focuses on the question of “evil” in religious traditions that may be described as “monotheistic” or for which at least the rule of one main god over all other deities and powers is a key concern. The emphasis of this volume moves from the Hebrew scriptures to nascent Judaism and Christianity, and concludes with attention to the reception of traditions in Targumic literature and medieval legends. The articles in this volume demonstrate the wide variety of ways in which “evil” manifested itself in the literature of ancient Judaism and Christianity. Authors address continuities, innovations, and divergences within these different but related traditions, with questions about the location of evil externally, as a demon or a devil, or internally, as the human capacity for evil. Additionally, when dualism is formative for constructions of evil in Jewish and Christian literature, care is taken to develop forms in which evil is ultimately subordinated to God and the good.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The volume brings together essays that explore the topic of memory and remembrance in the ancient... more The volume brings together essays that explore the topic of memory and remembrance in the ancient world, taking into account the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomy, 1 and 2 Kings), ancient Judaism (1 and 2 Maccabees, Psalms of Solomon, Dead Sea Scrolls), the classical world, the New Testament (Jesus, Synoptic Gospels and Acts, Gospel of John, Pauline letters) and Early Christianity (Petrine tradition). The essays, which focus on a wide range of sources from antiquity, open up new questions about the social and religious function of memory. As a collection, they demonstrate how much social memory theory can contribute to the understanding of the ways ancient texts were, on the one hand, shaped by conventions of memory and, on the other hand, participated in and contributed to evolving strategies for reading " the past".
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Papers by Benjamin Wold
Similar ideas and tropes found in the Wisdom of Solomon and 4QInstruction (4Q415-418, 423; 1Q26) ... more Similar ideas and tropes found in the Wisdom of Solomon and 4QInstruction (4Q415-418, 423; 1Q26) have considerable significance for the study of early Jewish sapiential literature. One feature shared by both compositions is teaching about "mysteries." Previous studies on these two wisdom writings conclude that there are distinct differences in what these mysteries are and how they function in the thought world of each composition. This article argues for an alternative understanding of mysteries in 4QInstruction to those presented in previous comparative studies. In light of this reassessment of mysteries, the Wisdom of Solomon and 4QInstruction are seen to participate within an intellectual space much closer to one another than previously perceived.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Echoes from the Caves: Qumran and the New Testament, 2009
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, 2020
In early Jewish wisdom literature, a Hebrew idiom occurs that combines "hands" with "wisdom." Thi... more In early Jewish wisdom literature, a Hebrew idiom occurs that combines "hands" with "wisdom." This construct has been overwhelmingly translated along the lines of "manual wisdom" and implying craftsmanship or the work of an artisan. This article examines "wisdom of the hands" and argues that its meaning relates to acting wisely, as distinguished from merely acquiring knowledge or cognitive assent, and is used especially in the context of wielding authority. As such, this idiom may inform another rare expression, namely being "doers of the word" and not only "hearers" in James 1:22. A rare Hebrew construction, occurring only three times in early Jewish literature, relates "ḥokma" (wisdom) to "hands." Two of these occurrences are in the previously unknown sapiential compositions 4QInstruction-like Composition B (4Q424) and 4QInstruction (4Q415-418, 423), where "wisdom of the hands" occurs alongside "wisdom of the heart," and the third is in Ben Sira. Before the discovery of these two Cave 4 compositions , wisdom of the hands was only known from the book of Ben Sira (Sir 9:17). Gershon Brin first suggested that in 4Q424 "hand wisdom" relates to action and "heart wisdom" to that which is internal and not acted upon. 1 Although these terms are very rare and only paired together in these two compositions, Brin's translation has gone largely undiscussed despite its publication well before the respective critical editions in the DJD series. 2 Instead, ḥokma of the hands has been translated as an idiom for manual labor and skilled artisanship based primarily upon one occurrence in Ben Sira. 1. Gershon Brin, "Studies in 4Q424, Fragment 3," VT 46, no. 3 (1996): 271-95. 2. John Strugnell, Daniel J. Harrington and Torleif Elgvin, Qumran Cave 4 XXIV. Sapiential Texts, Part 2: 4QInstruction (Mûsār lĕ Mēvîn): 4Q415ff. with a Re-edition of 1Q26 (DJD 34; Oxford:
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This is the first of two thematic editions of the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha ded... more This is the first of two thematic editions of the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha dedicated to exploring Jewish Wisdom from the Judean Wilderness to Diaspora
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
In the letter of James, 'law' (νόμος) is mentioned in three passages: 1.21-25, 2.8-12 and 4.11-12... more In the letter of James, 'law' (νόμος) is mentioned in three passages: 1.21-25, 2.8-12 and 4.11-12. This article focuses on Jas 1.21-25 and the relationship of λόγος at the beginning of the passage (1.21-23) with νόμος at the end (1.25; cf. 2.12). The question asked is whether James reflects Stoic views or not by analyzing this passage alongside occurrences of the expression נהיה רז ('mystery of existence') in 4QInstruction, the Community Rule and 1QMysteries. The broader aim is to consider how this passage of James may be situated within both Jewish Hellenistic literature and sapiential traditions discovered at Qumran in order to challenge straightforward identifications of Jas 1.21-25 with Stoicism. In conclusion, it is not simply that James is seen to align with these Qumran discoveries over and against Stoic thought, but rather all of these traditions are operating with comparable bridging concepts.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The “firstborn son” in 4Q369 1 ii line 6 is interpreted by the vast majority of scholars as refer... more The “firstborn son” in 4Q369 1 ii line 6 is interpreted by the vast majority of scholars as referring to a Davidic Messiah vis-à-vis an allusion to Psalm 89:27–28. The minority view is that “firstborn son” in 4Q369 refers to “Israel,” which is supported by multiple attestations to such a tradition in early Jewish literature. However, neither side in this debate have assessed the significance of “firstborn son” in 4QInstruction to determine what significance, if any, there may be for understanding 4Q369. This study argues that 4QInstruction uses the expression “firstborn son” in relationship to God and when this conclusion is set in conversation with 4Q369 1 ii it problematizes the identification of an allusion to Psalm 89:27–28 and, therefore, a reference to a Messiah.
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Narratives about the Garden of Eden from Genesis 2‒3 were popular among both early Jewish and Chr... more Narratives about the Garden of Eden from Genesis 2‒3 were popular among both early Jewish and Christian interpreters. More than other compositions found at Qumran, 4QInstruction gives sustained attention to these chapters of Genesis when offering instruction. Observations about how creation traditions are used in 4QInstruction provides the opportunity to assess the intense debates about how these chapters were used among both the so-called " proto-orthodox " and " gnostic " Christians of, especially , the second-century CE. These competing interpretations of Genesis 2–3 in early Christianities display continuities with 4QInstruction and these interpretive strands offer perspective on later interpreters, most notably Augustine of Hippo.
Zu den Traditionen, die den paulinischen Gebrauch von " Geist " und " Fleisch " beeinflusst und g... more Zu den Traditionen, die den paulinischen Gebrauch von " Geist " und " Fleisch " beeinflusst und geformt haben könnten, gehört die palästinische Weis-heitsliteratur, vor allem 4QInstruction (4Q415–418; 4Q423; 1Q26). Dieser Aufsatz nimmt den negativen Gebrauch des Wortes " Fleisch " in den Blick, der sich sowohl in 4QInstruction als auch bei Paulus findet, stellt aber die These in Frage, dass dieser in 4QInstruction in eine dualistische Kosmologie eingebettet ist. " Fleisch " wird in 4QInstruction mit Verderbtheit und Sünde in Verbindung gebracht, was kosmische Dimensionen, inkl. quasi-dämonischer Mächte, einschließt, steht aber niemals in einem binären Verhältnis zum Begriff " Geist ". Die weitere Analyse, wie " Fleisch " und " Geist " in 4QInstruction aufgefasst werden, hat zudem Impli-kationen für das Verständnis der Anthropologie dieser Schrift sowie für das Ver-ständnis des Verhältnisses ihrer Trägergruppe zu göttlicher Offenbarung. Zudem werden neue Vergleichspunkte zwischen der Schrift und ausgewählten Passagen aus dem Corpus Paulinum eröffnet.
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In this book, Benjamin Wold builds on recent developments in the study of early Jewish wisdom lit... more In this book, Benjamin Wold builds on recent developments in the study of early Jewish wisdom literature and brings it to bear on the New Testament. This scholarship has been transformed by the discovery at Qumran of more than 900 manuscripts, including Hebrew wisdom compositions, many of which were published in critical editions beginning in the mid-1990s. Wold systematically explores the salient themes in the Jewish wisdom worldview found in these scrolls. He also presents detailed commentaries on translations and articulates the key debates regarding Qumran wisdom literature, highlighting the significance of wisdom within the context of Jewish textual culture. Wold's treatment of themes within the early Jewish and Christian textual cultures demonstrates that wisdom transcended literary form and genre. He shows how and why the publication of these ancient texts has engendered profound shifts in the study of early Jewish wisdom, and their relevance to current controversies regarding the interpretation of specific New Testament texts.
Reviews:
‘The fresh analysis of this significant study rests on the recent scholarly insistence that the majority of compositions found in the Qumran caves reflect wider intellectual and spiritual tendencies in late Second Temple Judaism than those associated with one sect alone. Through attention to fine details, Ben Wold discloses convincingly how several sections of James, Matthew and the Pauline Letters resonate with Jewish wisdom motifs broadly conceived. New light is shed on cosmology, perfection, poverty, humility, debt remission, flesh and household codes, both in well-known texts and also in those not so familiar. An exemplary presentation of how the Scrolls and the New Testament can illuminate one another.’
George J. Brooke - Rylands Professor Emeritus of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis, University of Manchester
‘In this volume, Wold offers a series of studies that treat early Jewish traditions and those found in some New Testament writings as conversation partners, in which each is given a welcome integrity while being allowed to function in a mutually illuminative way. In this regard, Wold’s work departs from making theological-religious significance depend on whether or not generative influence can be determined. This maturely written, winsomely readable contribution reflects the best of contemporary engagement with ancient sources and lays out paths that forthcoming research can follow. A challenging and constructive book!’
Loren T. Stuckenbruck - Professor of New Testament, University of Munich
‘In detailed studies enhanced with text-critical insight and linguistic acumen, Wold shows how reading Wisdom texts from Qumran published in the late 1990s together with the Epistle of James, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Romans, Colossians, and Ephesians advance understanding of how Jewish texts employ the language of poverty and perfection, how they received Genesis 2-3 in terms of both parents and children and husbands and wives, and how they understand particularism and universalism, cosmology and eschatology, belief and action. Careful, creative, clear, and compelling, the volume neatly complicates the traditional categories of Judaism and Hellenism, wisdom and apocalyptic, flesh and spirit, sin and debt, even the human and the divine.’
Amy-Jill Levine - Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies and New Testament, Emerita, Vanderbilt University
‘Wold's thoughtful and iconoclastic work begins to rethink everything we think we thought we already knew about wisdom in early Judaism and the New Testament. It's a tour de force of close reading, material philology, and big consequences for the study of ancient literature.’
Garrick Allen - Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies, University of Glasgow
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
In 4QInstruction: Divisions and Hierarchies, Benjamin Wold addresses several different relationsh... more In 4QInstruction: Divisions and Hierarchies, Benjamin Wold addresses several different relationships in 4QInstruction, those of: speaker/sage to addressee/understanding one (Chapter 1), spirit and flesh (Chapter 2), and the "mystery of existence" (רז נהיה) to the Mosaic Torah (Chapter 3). These three chapters taken together help to assess this composition within the broader context of late Second Temple Jewish sapiential discourse and the development of wisdom in the period. One goal of this monograph is to argue against a prevailing view that sees 4QInstruction as as dualistic and deterministic composition. Instead, 4QInstruction sees people as having moral agency and they are expected to seek knowledge of good and evil as found in creation, which is expressed in part with the רז נהיה. The relationship of the "mystery of existence," which is conveyed with a tripartite division of time including the totality of creation from beginning to end, raises questions about the place of Sinai and Mosaic Torah in 4QInstruction. The final chapter turns to debates about Torah in this composition concluding that the reason Torah is never thematized nor mentioned is that the "mystery of existence" (equated with "truth") is given precedent over Sinai.
Review Quotes:
"This very important work is to be shelved next to the major commentaries, translations, and text editions of Instruction. No study of Instruction is complete without treating both its proposed readings and its hypotheses." Jonathan Kampen, Dead Sea Discoveries, 2021.
"Wold is to be commended for a meticulous and careful analysis of 4QInstruction. This is a significant contribution to Qumran studies that is both thought‐provoking and replete with fresh insights." The Journal of Theological Studies, Seulgi L. Byun, 2020.
"With a close textual reading and some comparative contexts in Second Temple and early Christian texts, Wold questions a reading of 4QInstruction as deterministic, (consistently) dualistic, apocalyptic and elitist. In fact, 4QInstruction proclaims the universal challenge of actualizing and maintaining wisdom in life.…Wold yields findings significant for both early Jewish and Christian studies." Lindsey A. Askin, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2019.
"Wold hat eine erfrischende, anregende und dabei sehr sorgfältig argumentierte Studie vorgelegt, deren Thesen man eine entsprechende Verbreitung wünscht... In jedem Falle illustriert das Werk gewinnbringend die große Bedeutung der Weisheit für das Verständnis der Schriften und den theologischen Ort der Qumrangemeinschaft." Peter Porzig, Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 2019.
"Di proficua lettura per chi desideri approfondire l’antropologia dell’antico Israele, la ridefinizione di «Israele» tra le nazioni, o si interessi alla prima recezione di taluni scritti della Bibbia ebraica." Marco Settembrini, Gregorianum, 2019.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
How did the use of biblical traditions shape theology? Benjamin Wold focuses on allusions to trad... more How did the use of biblical traditions shape theology? Benjamin Wold focuses on allusions to traditions from Genesis in 4QInstruction (Musar leMevin) from the Dead Sea Scrolls and explores implications for the document's understanding of women, men and angels. Cosmology and anthropology are conceived of in light of creation and ethical instruction provided on this basis. The nature of creation is reflected upon and alluded to in the document to educate and exhort the addressees about who they are and how they should live. The behaviour between the addressee and members of the family, society and angelic beings are formulated on the basis of interpretations of creation stories. Creation is also related to the esoteric 'mystery of being', angels and the apocalyptic worldview of the author(s). This is a sustained study on both explicit and non-explicit uses of Genesis creation traditions in 4QInstruction .
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This collection of essays, in both English and German, focuses on the question of “evil” in relig... more This collection of essays, in both English and German, focuses on the question of “evil” in religious traditions that may be described as “monotheistic” or for which at least the rule of one main god over all other deities and powers is a key concern. The emphasis of this volume moves from the Hebrew scriptures to nascent Judaism and Christianity, and concludes with attention to the reception of traditions in Targumic literature and medieval legends. The articles in this volume demonstrate the wide variety of ways in which “evil” manifested itself in the literature of ancient Judaism and Christianity. Authors address continuities, innovations, and divergences within these different but related traditions, with questions about the location of evil externally, as a demon or a devil, or internally, as the human capacity for evil. Additionally, when dualism is formative for constructions of evil in Jewish and Christian literature, care is taken to develop forms in which evil is ultimately subordinated to God and the good.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The volume brings together essays that explore the topic of memory and remembrance in the ancient... more The volume brings together essays that explore the topic of memory and remembrance in the ancient world, taking into account the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomy, 1 and 2 Kings), ancient Judaism (1 and 2 Maccabees, Psalms of Solomon, Dead Sea Scrolls), the classical world, the New Testament (Jesus, Synoptic Gospels and Acts, Gospel of John, Pauline letters) and Early Christianity (Petrine tradition). The essays, which focus on a wide range of sources from antiquity, open up new questions about the social and religious function of memory. As a collection, they demonstrate how much social memory theory can contribute to the understanding of the ways ancient texts were, on the one hand, shaped by conventions of memory and, on the other hand, participated in and contributed to evolving strategies for reading " the past".
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Similar ideas and tropes found in the Wisdom of Solomon and 4QInstruction (4Q415-418, 423; 1Q26) ... more Similar ideas and tropes found in the Wisdom of Solomon and 4QInstruction (4Q415-418, 423; 1Q26) have considerable significance for the study of early Jewish sapiential literature. One feature shared by both compositions is teaching about "mysteries." Previous studies on these two wisdom writings conclude that there are distinct differences in what these mysteries are and how they function in the thought world of each composition. This article argues for an alternative understanding of mysteries in 4QInstruction to those presented in previous comparative studies. In light of this reassessment of mysteries, the Wisdom of Solomon and 4QInstruction are seen to participate within an intellectual space much closer to one another than previously perceived.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Echoes from the Caves: Qumran and the New Testament, 2009
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, 2020
In early Jewish wisdom literature, a Hebrew idiom occurs that combines "hands" with "wisdom." Thi... more In early Jewish wisdom literature, a Hebrew idiom occurs that combines "hands" with "wisdom." This construct has been overwhelmingly translated along the lines of "manual wisdom" and implying craftsmanship or the work of an artisan. This article examines "wisdom of the hands" and argues that its meaning relates to acting wisely, as distinguished from merely acquiring knowledge or cognitive assent, and is used especially in the context of wielding authority. As such, this idiom may inform another rare expression, namely being "doers of the word" and not only "hearers" in James 1:22. A rare Hebrew construction, occurring only three times in early Jewish literature, relates "ḥokma" (wisdom) to "hands." Two of these occurrences are in the previously unknown sapiential compositions 4QInstruction-like Composition B (4Q424) and 4QInstruction (4Q415-418, 423), where "wisdom of the hands" occurs alongside "wisdom of the heart," and the third is in Ben Sira. Before the discovery of these two Cave 4 compositions , wisdom of the hands was only known from the book of Ben Sira (Sir 9:17). Gershon Brin first suggested that in 4Q424 "hand wisdom" relates to action and "heart wisdom" to that which is internal and not acted upon. 1 Although these terms are very rare and only paired together in these two compositions, Brin's translation has gone largely undiscussed despite its publication well before the respective critical editions in the DJD series. 2 Instead, ḥokma of the hands has been translated as an idiom for manual labor and skilled artisanship based primarily upon one occurrence in Ben Sira. 1. Gershon Brin, "Studies in 4Q424, Fragment 3," VT 46, no. 3 (1996): 271-95. 2. John Strugnell, Daniel J. Harrington and Torleif Elgvin, Qumran Cave 4 XXIV. Sapiential Texts, Part 2: 4QInstruction (Mûsār lĕ Mēvîn): 4Q415ff. with a Re-edition of 1Q26 (DJD 34; Oxford:
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This is the first of two thematic editions of the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha ded... more This is the first of two thematic editions of the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha dedicated to exploring Jewish Wisdom from the Judean Wilderness to Diaspora
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
In the letter of James, 'law' (νόμος) is mentioned in three passages: 1.21-25, 2.8-12 and 4.11-12... more In the letter of James, 'law' (νόμος) is mentioned in three passages: 1.21-25, 2.8-12 and 4.11-12. This article focuses on Jas 1.21-25 and the relationship of λόγος at the beginning of the passage (1.21-23) with νόμος at the end (1.25; cf. 2.12). The question asked is whether James reflects Stoic views or not by analyzing this passage alongside occurrences of the expression נהיה רז ('mystery of existence') in 4QInstruction, the Community Rule and 1QMysteries. The broader aim is to consider how this passage of James may be situated within both Jewish Hellenistic literature and sapiential traditions discovered at Qumran in order to challenge straightforward identifications of Jas 1.21-25 with Stoicism. In conclusion, it is not simply that James is seen to align with these Qumran discoveries over and against Stoic thought, but rather all of these traditions are operating with comparable bridging concepts.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The “firstborn son” in 4Q369 1 ii line 6 is interpreted by the vast majority of scholars as refer... more The “firstborn son” in 4Q369 1 ii line 6 is interpreted by the vast majority of scholars as referring to a Davidic Messiah vis-à-vis an allusion to Psalm 89:27–28. The minority view is that “firstborn son” in 4Q369 refers to “Israel,” which is supported by multiple attestations to such a tradition in early Jewish literature. However, neither side in this debate have assessed the significance of “firstborn son” in 4QInstruction to determine what significance, if any, there may be for understanding 4Q369. This study argues that 4QInstruction uses the expression “firstborn son” in relationship to God and when this conclusion is set in conversation with 4Q369 1 ii it problematizes the identification of an allusion to Psalm 89:27–28 and, therefore, a reference to a Messiah.
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Narratives about the Garden of Eden from Genesis 2‒3 were popular among both early Jewish and Chr... more Narratives about the Garden of Eden from Genesis 2‒3 were popular among both early Jewish and Christian interpreters. More than other compositions found at Qumran, 4QInstruction gives sustained attention to these chapters of Genesis when offering instruction. Observations about how creation traditions are used in 4QInstruction provides the opportunity to assess the intense debates about how these chapters were used among both the so-called " proto-orthodox " and " gnostic " Christians of, especially , the second-century CE. These competing interpretations of Genesis 2–3 in early Christianities display continuities with 4QInstruction and these interpretive strands offer perspective on later interpreters, most notably Augustine of Hippo.
Zu den Traditionen, die den paulinischen Gebrauch von " Geist " und " Fleisch " beeinflusst und g... more Zu den Traditionen, die den paulinischen Gebrauch von " Geist " und " Fleisch " beeinflusst und geformt haben könnten, gehört die palästinische Weis-heitsliteratur, vor allem 4QInstruction (4Q415–418; 4Q423; 1Q26). Dieser Aufsatz nimmt den negativen Gebrauch des Wortes " Fleisch " in den Blick, der sich sowohl in 4QInstruction als auch bei Paulus findet, stellt aber die These in Frage, dass dieser in 4QInstruction in eine dualistische Kosmologie eingebettet ist. " Fleisch " wird in 4QInstruction mit Verderbtheit und Sünde in Verbindung gebracht, was kosmische Dimensionen, inkl. quasi-dämonischer Mächte, einschließt, steht aber niemals in einem binären Verhältnis zum Begriff " Geist ". Die weitere Analyse, wie " Fleisch " und " Geist " in 4QInstruction aufgefasst werden, hat zudem Impli-kationen für das Verständnis der Anthropologie dieser Schrift sowie für das Ver-ständnis des Verhältnisses ihrer Trägergruppe zu göttlicher Offenbarung. Zudem werden neue Vergleichspunkte zwischen der Schrift und ausgewählten Passagen aus dem Corpus Paulinum eröffnet.
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This paper explores the possibility that John's Apocalypse is operating with a well-known idea th... more This paper explores the possibility that John's Apocalypse is operating with a well-known idea that the present time is a period of exile and that a new exodus is anticipated. In addition to exploring this concept within the Apocalypse, the notion of exile in several discoveries from Qumran are presented, these are exile in: the Damascus Document, 4Q462 ("Narrative"), and 4Q504 1-2 V ("Words of the Luminaries").
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