Matthew and the Community of the Dead Sea Scrolls (original) (raw)
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Matthew and the community of Dead Sea Scrolls
A few years ago G.N. Stanton could write: "There is an urgent need for full-scale commentaries [on Matthew], for Matthew has not been as well served as have the other three Gospels'. 1 However, a steady stream of commentaries on Matthew has appeared since then. 2 Although all these commentaries differ from each other in purpose, scope, format and readership, they agree, at least, on one point: the question of Matthew (and his church) and the community of the Dead Sea * I should like to express my gratitude for Dr D. Wenham's critical comments on an earlier version of this paper, which greatly helped me to improve it. In addition, I must record my indebtedness to the editors of JSNT for suggestions for possible revisions. Needless to say, I am solely responsible for its content. For the complex situation which surrounds key terms and concepts in the area of the Dead Sea Scrolls, see P.R. Davies 'The Birthplace of the Essenes: Where is "Damascus"?', ITO Matthew and the Community of the Dead Sea Scrolls 25 community of the DSS belong to a broadly apocalyptic stream of the Judaism of the time. First of all I shall briefly survey the Matthaean parallels to the DSS, and then turn to the assessment of these parallels. The Possible Matthaean Parallels 1 Ì.Matthew 5.3 oi πτωχοί τφ πνεύµατι (the poor in spirit); rrn *w (1QH 14.3; 1QM 14.7) 2
It is well documented that the Book of Daniel was an influential text both in the Gospel of Matthew and among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Daniel's importance at Qumran is attested by its presence among Qumran manuscripts, its literary influence on distinct Qumran documents, 1 and the long shadow it casts upon Qumran sectarian ideology. By contrast, the singular text of Matthew has only a few allusions and still fewer quotations. Most scholars rightly recognize that other texts from the Hebrew Bible were more important for Matthew, and scholarly discourse on Danielic influence in Matthew is typically limited to coming of "son of man" (Dan 7:13; e.g., Matt 24:27, 30, 37, 39, 44; 25:31; 26:64) and the "desolating sacrilege" (Dan 11:31; Matt 24:15). Discussion of Danielic influence on both the Scrolls and Matthew is surprisingly sparse. The present paper examines the breadth of Danielic influence upon the Scrolls and Matthew to elucidate the ways in which Daniel informed and shaped the eschatological outlooks of the respective texts. It demonstrates that despite the Judaic and sectarian natures of the respective traditions in general and their mutual dependence on Daniel for facets of their respective eschatological outlooks in particular, Matthew and the Scrolls utilize texts from Daniel in their own contexts in a manner that exhibits sharp distinction in their communities' respective ideologies. 1 E.g., 4Q242; cf. Dan 4; 4Q243-245; cf. Dan 5; 4Q246. 2 §2. Daniel in the Dead Sea Scrolls 2 At a textual level Daniel's importance at Qumran is attested by the eight manuscripts discovered in Caves 1, 4, and 6. 3 Daniel is also noted for its literary influence on three distinct Qumran documents: The Prayer of Nabonidus (4Q242; cf. Dan 4), 4 the Pseud-Daniel texts (4Q243-245; cf. Dan 5), 5 and 4Q246, the so-called "Son of God" text (4QAramaic Apocalypse), not to mention numerous citations of Daniel attested among the Scrolls. 6 Daniel's influence has upon Qumran 2 The most complete analysis of Daniel among the Scrolls is that of Alfred Mertens, Das Buch Daniel im Lichte der Texte vom Toten Meer (SBM 12; Würzburg: Echter, 1971). 3 1QDan a-b , 4QDan a-e , 6QpapDan (E. Ulrich, "The Text of Daniel in the Qumran Scrolls," in The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception. Edited by J. J. Collins and P. W. Flint. VTSup 133. FIOTL 2. 2 vols (Leiden: Brill, 2001), 2.574). More recently fragments of two additional Daniel manuscripts were acquired by Asuza Pacific University (DSSF.155) and the Sources," in The Dead Sea Scrolls: Transmission of Traditions and Production of Texts. STDJ 92 (Leiden: Brill, 2010), 57-79. 5 L. DiTommaso, "4QPseudo-Daniel a-b (4Q243-4Q244) and the Book of Daniel." DSD 12 (2005): 101-133. 6 There are: Dan 2:1-49 (4QMyst b [4Q300] 1a ii-b 1);
The Dead Sea Scrolls: Insight into Traditioning Processes and the Growth of Gospel Traditions
Dead Sea Discoveries, 2016
This article proposes that parallel traditions among the Dead Sea Scrolls offer a comparative data-set by which to reassess “the Synoptic problem” in the New Testament gospels. The Dead Sea materials, not only shared traditions but also differences between them, whether in the manuscripts of the same work or overlapping portions of different works, show similarities to the ways in which the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and the putative “Q” overlap and depart from one another. The multiple degrees in which some Dead Sea texts evolved underscore the plausibility that, with or without the influence of oral tradition, texts could change and develop rapidly through literary activity in a relatively short period of time.
Dead Sea Discoveries, 2016
This article places the contributions of the thematic volume in the larger research context where the Dead Sea Scrolls and early Christian source texts have been juxtaposed and compared with each other. Whereas earlier scholarship was keen on identifying direct links and dependencies or, alternatively, underlining dissimilarities between the Scrolls’ Judaean priestly movement and the Galilean non-elite Jesus movement and its diaspora follow-up, this thematic volume represents more nuanced attempts to contextualise the similarities and differences in appropriate ways and find new ways of thinking that illuminate both textual corpora.
Doctrines of the Dead Sea Scrolls: The Doctrine of the Community
This paper examines the origin and history of the Qumran community. Who were the Jews who lived in Qumran? Dead Sea Scroll scholars have argued for Sadducees (Schiffman), Pharisees (Girzberg), Zealots (Malik, Driver), unknown Jewish group (Talmon), early Christian sect (Eisenman), and Essenes (Sukenik). The Manual of Discipline now called Rule of the Community (1QS) has many parallels with the description of the Essenes by Josephus. A list of 36 items is given and referenced. The problems with identifying the Essenes as the Qumran community are also listed. Next, some summaries are given of the sectarian writings of the Qumran community: The Rule of the Community (1QS), The Damascus Document (CD), the Rule of the Congregation (1QSa), and the Temple Scroll (11QT). Finally a comparison is made between the Qumran community and the early church described in the book of Acts.
The Scrolls and the New Testament: An Overview
Since the first discoveries in a cave near Khirbet Qumran in 1947, the analogies and differences between the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) and New Testament texts as well as the relevance of the Scrolls for the study of the early Jesus movement have been intensely debated. The Scrolls have deeply influenced NT scholarship and opened up new paths for perceiving Early Christianity in line with contemporary Judaism. Due to the delayed publication of the majority of fragmentary texts, the full range of insights could only be gained since the 1990s, when public access to all manuscripts had been granted, and scholars critically revisited earlier theories and popular views on the basis of the evidence of the entire corpus. Although some premature speculations about direct personal connections between Qumran or 'the Essenes' and the Jesus movement had to be rejected as unsustainable, the information gained from the Scrolls has had enormous effects on the understanding of John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, the Synoptics, the Johannine writings, and other texts. Apart from that, there are substantial insights from the Scrolls regarding the language and literary genres used in the NT, contemporary techniques of transmission, forms of Scrip-tural interpretation, processes of authorization and canonization, eschatological expectations and mes-sianic imaginations, and other theological topics. In all these fields, the evidence from the Scrolls has substantially changed our perception of emerging Christianity. As the impact on the study of Jesus, Paul, the Synoptics and John is discussed in separate chapters in this volume, 1 this overview will assemble some important insights from the Scrolls for the various fields mentioned. Before that, I will provide some information about the scholarly context of the discovery and publication of the Scrolls within the development of NT scholarship and briefly review some preliminary issues of relating the Scrolls with 'Christian' figures, groups, or texts.
The Dead Sea Scrolls in Their Hellenistic Context
Dead Sea Discoveries, 2017
This introduction aims at situating the contributions of the Thematic Issue into wider debates on Hellenism and Hellenisation and changes taking place in scholarship. Essentialist notions of Hellenism are strongly rejected, but how then to study the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran site during the Hellenistic period? Each contextualisation depends on the (comparative) material selected, and themes here vary from literary genres, textual practices, and forms of producing knowledge, to material culture, networks, and social organizations. All contributors see some embeddedness in ideas and practices attested elsewhere in the Hellenistic empires or taking place because of changes during the Hellenistic period. In this framework, similarities are overemphasized, but some differences are also suggested. Most importantly, the question of Hellenism is a question of relocating Jewish and Judaean evidence in the study of ancient history.
Journal for the Study of Judaism, 2013
TheDeadSea Scrolls and Contemporary Culture is a superb collection of essays that makes original contributions to the understanding of the scrolls on the 60th anniversary of their discovery. The volume focuses on progress made in research over the last decade and highlights promising areas for fiiture research. The book is highly recommended to all those interested in the DSS, the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Judaism, early Christianity, and rabbinic Judaism. It would be especially useful for graduate students in the fields listed above since it provides broad insights into recent research as well as timely advice on which questions might be most promising to pursue in the future. The book is a model for the type of rich, interdisciplinary interactions that many colleges and universities yearn to foster in the humanistic disciplines. Emanuel Tov opens the volume with a review of some aspects of the history and current status of the DfD publication project. The first section addresses "Identity and History of the Community." Florentino Garcia Martinez revisits the Groningen hypothesis and suggests that it can still help us explain the textual data from Qumran. Charlotte Hempel examines lQS 6:2c-4a and suggests that when it is read in light of CD i3:2b-3a, one must conclude that S' s use of the preposition in (indicating the existence of a larger or parent group) is a later development or interpolation in the text. Eyal Regev compares features of the Yahad with modem religious sects such as the Quakers, Shakers, Hutterites, Mennonites, and Amish in order to suggest several likely (and unlikely) characteristics of the Yahad. James VanderKam reassesses the early or prehistory of the people associated with the scrolls. He reaches the sober conclusion that we can know very little about the community described in CD 1 and finds no evidence that the Qumran group began or existed as a splinter group that broke away from the group described in CD 1 (à la the Groningen Hypothesis). Section 2a examines scriptural texts. Jonathan Ben-Dov compares scribal practices for writing the divine name in the Elohistic Psalter (Psalms 42-89) and in the DSS and suggests a common explanation for the phenomenon. Peter Flint provides a carefiil summary of non-masoretic variant readings in lQIsa'' and finds that while the majority of the 622 variants are minor and of little consequence, around ten percent (66) are significant and involve clear changes in the meaning of the text. His results overturn preliminary descriptions of lQIsa"» as an exemplar of the Proto-Masoretic text. Eugene Ulrich summarizes some contributions of the study of the DSS for understanding the Bible. If the reviewer might be so bold, I suggest that Ulrich's essay should be required reading for anyone who presumes to study the