Eschatology, Messianism, and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature, V. 1) (Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls & Related Literature) by Craig A. Evans

Author:Craig A. Evans [Evans, Craig A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2017-04-12T06:00:00+00:00

Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran Cave 4

CRAIG A. EVANS The rapid progress of research on Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls can be quickly illustrated by reference to the summarizing essay by Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, which appeared in an authoritative survey of New Testament scholarship published in 1989.1 Murphy-O'Connor was able to cite five areas in which the Scrolls have shed light on various aspects of Jesus' teaching and ministry. These include Jesus' eschatology (cf. 1QH), his attitude toward riches (cf. Josephus, Jewish War 2.8.3 §122-23, in reference to the Essenes), his practice of laying on hands (cf. 1QapGen 20:22,29), his strict views regarding divorce and remarriage (cf. CD 4:20-21; 11QT 57:17-19), and the date and meaning of the Last Supper.2 Murphy-O'Connor also discussed a few important instances of the use of Aramaic, the language most scholars believe to be Jesus' principal language. One of the texts that he discussed in this connection will be taken up in greater detail below.

Although most of the essays in the anthology in which Murphy-O'Connor's is found are still more or less up to date, his is not. And this is through no fault of his own. His essay appeared in 1989; two years later, the remaining unpublished and previously inaccessible scrolls of Cave 4 were released. Photographic plates, not all of good quality, were quickly made available,3 and

1. J. Murphy-O'Connor, "Qumran and the New Testament," in The New Testament and Its Modern Interpreters, ed. E. J. Epp and G. W. MacRae (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989) 55-71, esp. 57-60. It should be noted that several of the contributions to this volume were completed almost a decade or so before its publication and that their surveys extend only to 1979 or 1980.

2. Although much defended by Annie Jaubert (for bibliography, see Murphy-O'Connor, "Qumran and the New Testament," 68), this last alleged parallel lias not won widespread support. The calendar of the Essenes really does not answer questions surrounding the date of the Last Supper.

3. R. H. Eisenman and J. M. Robinson, eds., A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls (2 transcriptions of these texts were shortly published.4 A flurry of studies have appeared in the last five years or so. If Murphy-O'Connor were to revise his essay today, he would have a great deal more to say about Jesus and the Scrolls.5 The purpose of the present essay is to review four of these recently published texts and show how they help us better understand aspects of Jesus' teaching and the environment in which he lived and ministered.6

4Q246 an d th e Title "Son of God " The frequent appearance of the title "Son of God" in the biblical period, usually in reference to a monarch, has led some scholars to suspect that the New Testament's usage of it in reference to Jesus is largely due to Graeco-Roman influence. Rudolf Bultmann thought that early Christianity's confession of Jesus as "Son of God" and as begotten through the "power of the Most High" arose in the Hellenistic (i.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.