Jewish Apocalyptic Writings:
The "Dead Sea Scrolls"
OF THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE, ZEALOTS & PELLA-BOUND CHRISTIANS

Pesher Psalms
Dead Sea Scroll 4Q171
C14 Age: 1) AD 22-78 ; 2) AD 5-111 (Subrange)

The Pesher of Christ

4Q171 Fragment 1

Column 2 - "The Way" Terminology

1-4 "Renounce your anger and abandon your resentment, don't yearn to do evil, because evildoers will be wiped out" (37:8-9a).  

This refers to all who return to the Law and do not hesitate to repent of their sin, because all who refuse to repent of their faults will be wiped out.

"But those who trust in the LORD are the ones who will inherit the earth" (37 9b).

This refers to the company of His chosen, those who do His will.

Column 2 - "Forty Years" from Teacher to Desolation

2:5-9 Yet a little while (Heb: me'at, mem-ayin-tet) and the wicked one will be no more. I will discern his place but he will not be there (Psalm 37:10).

"Its pesher refers to all wickedness at the end of 40 years (Heb:Mem = 40). They will be finished and no wicked man will be found on the earth."

"Then the meek will inherit the earth and enjoy all the abundance that peace brings" (37:11).

This refers to the company of the poor who endure the time of error but are delivered from all the snares of Belial. Afterwards they will enjoy all the [ . . . ] of the earth and grow fat on every human luxury.

Column 2 -  Vs "Temple Establishment" Position

The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes [his teeth against him. But the LO]RD laughs at him; for he knows his day is coming" (37:12-13).

13 This refers to the cruel Israelites in the house of Judah who
14 plot to destroy those who obey the Law who are in the society of the Yahad. But God will not leave them in their power.

"The wicked have drawn a sword, they have bent their bows, to strike down the poor and needy, to slaughter those who live honestly. May their sword pierce themselves, may their bows break!" (37:14-15).

This refers to the wicked of "Ephraim and Manasseh," who will try to do away ' with the Priest and the members of his party during the time of trial that is coming upon them. But God will save them from their power and afterwards hand them over to the wicked Gentiles for judgment.

All shall vanish like smoke (37:20c) 

This refers to the wicked princes who oppressed His holy people, and who shall scatter like smoke that dissipates in the wind.

"The wicked borrow and do not repay; 9but the righteous give generously, for those whom God blesses will inherit the earth, but: those whom He curses will be exterminated" (37:21-22).

This refers to the company of the poor, w[ho will ge]t the possessions of all [ . . . ], who will inherit the lofty mount of Is[rael and] enjoy His holy mount. ["Those whom He curses] will be exterminated": these are the cruel Jews, the w]icked of Israel who will be exterminated and destroyed forever.

Column 3 -  "Teacher of Righteousness" in present tense

["A man's path] is ordained by the LORD; he delights in all His ways. If he stu[mbles, he shall not] fall, because the L[ORD holds his hand"] (37:23-24).

This refers to the priest, the Teacher of R[ighteousness, whom] God [ch]ose to be His servant [and] ordained him to form Him a company [ . . . ] [his] way He smoothed for the truth.

["I have been young], and now I am old, but I have not [seen a righteous man] abandoned and his children begging food. [Al1 the time] he is lending generously, and his chil[dren are blessed"] (37:25-26).

[This] refers to the Teacher of [Righteousness . . . ]

Column 4 -  Vs "Wicked Priest" (Perhaps Ananus)

"The wicked man observes the righteous man and seeks [to kill him. But the LO]RD [Will not leave him in his power and will not co]ndemn him when he comes to trial" (37:32-33).

This refers to the wicked [Pri]est who ob[serv]es the [Teach]er of Righteous[ness and seeks] to kill him [ . . . ] and the Law that he sent to him, but God will not le[ave him in his power] and will not [condemn him when] he comes to trial. But to the [wicked God will give] his just [de]serts, by putting him into the power of the cruel Gentiles to do with him [what they want].

["Look to the L]ORD and obey his rules; then He will honor you so that you will inherit the earth. You will look on] while the wicked are: exterminated" (37:34).

[This refers to . . . ] who will see judgement passed on the wicked with [the company of] His chosen they will rejoice in a sure heritage [forever].

"Holy Spirit"

My heart is [astir] with a good message: [I address my poem to: the king"] (45:1a).

[This refers to . . . ho]ly spirit, for[ . . . ] books of [ . . . ]

WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID

G.A. Rodley
"The documents called 4QpPsa (4Q171) and 1QpHab are examples of a genre of which a number of instances were found in the caves. Each is a pesher (plural, pesharim), that is, a commentary on a book of the Old Testament, claiming that its wording predicts events in the life of the Teacher and his opponents. Significantly, only one copy of each pesher was found in the caves, whereas multiple copies of other documents were found. The pesharim are an ephemeral genre of literature, referring to events in the author's own immediate circumstances, with the claim that they fulfilled prophecies. Once events changed, and the prophecies were seen to fit subsequent events better, the earlier document would be regarded as invalid. This would mean that no copies were made, each of the pesharim being an original.

4Q171 is a pesher on some Psalms. At the time it was composed, the Teacher of Righteousness was still alive, and under threat from his opponents. The pesharist, his supporter, turned to Psalm 37 and found there the teaching that even though the righteous person may suffer now, he will soon be vindicated and his enemies punished. He applied this, using his technique of turning universals into particulars, to the Teacher, who, he said, would soon be vindicated, while the opponents would be destroyed.

The principles of hypothetical document C apply to this work, the Teacher being person X. He was still alive at the time it was recorded, and the document we have, being a pesher, is an original, not a copy. These exceptional circumstances mean that the earlier date of the 14C range (Table 1) for the manufacture of the writing material gives us a probable date after which the Teacher was alive.

Both sets of 14C ranges, that based on the 1986 curve, and that derived from the 1998 curve (Table 1), give a date in the 1st century CE for this document: respectively, 22-78 CE and 29-81 CE. If it is the case that the 14C dating is a reliable indicator, this result gives good evidence that the document was composed and recorded after the twenties CE, and, since the Teacher was alive and active at the time of composition, he lived in the first Christian century, being contemporary with the early Christians. It would be clear evidence against the view held by the first generation of Scrolls scholars, that the Teacher lived in the second century BCE.

The handwriting of this piece is a Herodian semiformal (Cross 1961, note 134; Strugnell 1970, p 211), a fact that is omitted in the Tucson report. The handwriting of all the pesharim is Herodian, that is, a class of handwriting used from 30 BCE to 70 CE.

This finding agrees with one possible interpretation of the indirect datings given for the Teacher in the Damascus Document (CD). They are not overt, and their interpretation has been disputed, but when the usages of the Scrolls are applied consistently, they may be seen to mean that the Teacher began his work in 26 CE and died about 30 CE. The reasons in brief summary are as follows:

1. The wording of CD 1:5-11, concerning "the Period of Wrath, 390 years for his giving them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon" is more correctly and consistently seen as a prediction of the length of the Roman occupation of Judea, the figure of 390 years being drawn from Ezekiel 4:5, treated as a prophecy in the habitual Qumran manner. In the pesharim it is asserted that "Babylon" of the Old Testament is an equivalent for Rome, a view found also in the New Testament, where "Babylon" is used as code for Rome (1 Pet 5:13, Rev 18). On this understanding, the ruler of Rome is being referred to by the writer of CD in a disguised way through a pseudonym, for political reasons. The usual translation of the phrase following "390 years" is "after his giving them", but it should be "for his giving them", consistently with the normal meaning of the preposition. The Roman occupation of Judea, an event that could well be called "the Period of Wrath", took place in 6 CE (see further below). Since, according to the text, the Teacher came 20 years after the Period of Wrath, he began working in 26 CE.
2. The writer of CD 20:13-15 calculates that the death of the Teacher occurred about 40 years before a certain destruction of enemies. The destruction would result from a Visitation, an event expected in the near future. The Visitation is described in CD 19:10-16 using the language of the first fall of Jerusalem (Ezek 9:4). The passage may be understood as referring to another fall of Jerusalem, very shortly expected at the time of the writer. Jerusalem did fall in 70 CE; hence, on this interpretation, the Teacher died about 30 CE. (See Thiering 1979).  (Use of Radiocarbon Dating)

James Tabor
"Here we find a period of "about 40 years" tied to the demise of the Teacher. There is a fragment from Cave 4 (4Q171) that refers to the same period: "A little while and the wicked shall be no more; I will look towards his place but he shall not be there" (Psa 37:10). Interpreted, this concerns all the wicked. At the end of the forty years they shall be blotted out and not an man shall be found on earth." Here things get a bit prophetically complicated, unless one is steeped in the chronological schemes of the book of Daniel (and Ezekiel)-- particularly the "70 weeks" prophecy of Daniel 9. It essentially sets forth a 490 year period, which the DSS community understood neatly as Ten Jubilees, 49 years each. We then find references in various fragments (11QMelch; 4Q390) that attempt to fit the history of the community within this time scheme. The Teacher himself is to arise, as one would expect, "in the first week of the Jubilee that follows the nine Jubilees" (11QMelch), or just over 40 years from the End.

In the DSS commentary on Habakkuk (1QpHab) we find that the community has obviously lived through this past this 40 years "countdown" period with the Teacher long gone and the apocalyptic expectations of the arrival of the Kingdom of God anything but fulfilled. The Romans have by now invaded the country and propped up the puppet priests that the community despised as utterly corrupt (Hyrcanus II). Col I interprets the cry of the prophet Habakkuk of "How long?" as referring to the "beginning of the final generation." (Dead Messiahs)
 

Dr. Barbara Thiering
"The major Qumran pesharim, on Psalms, Nahum and Habakkuk, together with the fragmentary pesher of Micah and that on Hosea, may be shown to fit neatly into the events that the gospels and Acts record." (The Pesher of Christ)

Unknown
"In the Qumran commentaries on the Psalter, the Teacher of Righteousness, the Wicked Priest, and the Man of the Lie are on center stage (see the Introduction for an initial discussion of these figures). The largest surviving fragments of 4Q171 preserve a running commentary on Psalm 37, which deals with the necessity of the righteous to keep faith in God despite the apparent successes of the wicked. God will ensure that both righteous and wicked get their due: for the righteous, a reward for their faithfulness; for the wicked, punishment.

The Yahad members and their leader, the Teacher of Righteousness, represent the righteous of the psalms, while their enemies, the Wicked Priest and the Man of the Lie, who have persecuted them, represent the wicked. The psalm and its attendant commentary are shot through with a passionate desire to see the injustices of the world put right, tempered with a recognition that patience is required for the suffering that is inevitable while waiting for God to act. These commentaries, then, have an eschatological fervor that the more historical commentaries, such as text 4 (A Commentaries on Habakkuk) and text 21 (A Commentary on Nahum) only occasionally display. "

Date: 29 Sep 2006
Time: 04:50:30

Comments:


after examination of the text, it is shown that it yield to a pesher. The main proof that is offered and in my view, incontravertable, is the mathematical evidence