The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The ... - josephprestonkirk

154 IMPACT OF QUMRAN TEXTS ON PAULINE THEOLOGY
research in any detail, for example such questions as the problem of
dualism, or to delve further into New Testament research, e.g., the problem
of Paul’s understanding of Jewish Law. For a critical evaluation of
“parallels,” we even sometimes have to transgress the borders of Paul and
other early Christian writers or the borders of Qumran and its early
Jewish context (I gave an example of this in my paper on “The Qumran
Meal and the Lord’s Supper” [see n46, below]).
Since general statements about two areas of religious matters, which
are supposed to have some kind of similarity in a number of subjects,
often tend toward quite subjective interpretations, it is the goal of this
project to look especially for literal correspondences between the
Qumran texts and New Testament writings, in this case the authentic letters
of Paul. It is certainly not always easy or even possible to escape the
traps of Strack-Billerbeck or the Neuer Wettstein, 2 especially since the
Qumran writings are not only of different ages, but also of different origins.
“Parallelomania,” 3 of which some scholars seem to have great fear,
would help nobody, but leaving the correspondences aside would help
even less. The conclusions at the end of the paper have more weight
when they are reached by research of literal details and not only by general
assertions. Out of an already large collection, here I select interesting
“parallels” between Paul in seven authentic letters and the Qumran
library (whether the writings originated in Qumran or not). I speak of
“parallels” in a twofold way: I mean Qumran texts that (1) are helpful for
a better understanding of Paul, and (2) also texts in the letters of Paul that
seem to suggest a certain relationship with Qumran traditions, though
not necessarily a direct one. In both cases I have included “parallels” that
show a contrast between Paul and the Qumran texts, such as the understanding
of Hab 2:4. 4 Nevertheless, facile parallels can be misleading.
Two similarities may have no relationship when examined in a detailed
study, or they may not be in the scope of this project, e.g., two parallels
may be too widespread in many writings of different origins outside the
2. Hermann L. Strack and Paul Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament: Aus
Talmud und Midrasch (6 vols.; Munich: Beck, 1922–61); Georg Strecker and Udo
Schnelle, eds., Neuer Wettstein: Texte zum Neuen Testament aus Griechentum und Hellenismus,
vol. 2, Texte zur Briefliteratur und zur Johannesapokalypse (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,
1996).
3. Cf. Samuel Sandmel, “Parallelomania,” JBL 81 (1962): 1–13; James R. Davila,
“The Perils of Parallels” (University of St. Andrews, Scotland, April 2001 [cited Jan.
17, 2005]); online: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_sd/parallels.html. See also the
careful remarks of Hans-Josef Klauck, “Wettstein, alt und neu,” BZ NS 41 (1997):
89–95.
4. See below, C 1.