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

210 THE SCROLLS’ IMPACT ON SCHOLARSHIP ON HEBREWS
the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice illustrate the motif. 4QShirShabb d (4Q403)
2.7–16 portrays the activity of the angels in the heavenly inner sanctuary
or debir:
The spirits of the holy of holies […] 8 of the holy of holies, spirits of the
gods, eternal vision […] 9 and the spirits of the gods, forms of flames of fire
around […] 10 wonderful spirits. And the tabernacle of greater height, the
glory of his kingdom, the debir […] 11 And make holy the seven august
holy ones. And the voice of the blessing of the chiefs of his debir […] 12
And the voice of the blessing {is heard} is glorified when the gods hear it,
and the foundations of […] 13 of the blessing. And all the decorations of
the debir hurry with wonderful hymns…[…] 14 wonder, debir to debir, with
the sound of crowds of holy multitudes. And all their decorations […] 15
And the chariots of his debir praise together, and his cherubim and opanim
bless wonderfully […] 16 the chiefs of the structure of the gods.
The document’s fragmentary character prevents a totally clear picture
from emerging, but part of the text’s effect no doubt derives from the
complexity of the imagery, designed to convey a sense of the joy of those
who serve in heaven’s innermost sanctuary.
The second text describing a heavenly tabernacle, 4QShirShabb f
[4Q405] frags. 20–22.7–9, clearly displays the influence of Ezekiel 1:
and exalt him…the glory in the te[nt of the God] knowledge. The cherubim
lie prostrate before him, and bless when they rise. The voice of a
divine silence is heard, 8 and there is the uproar of excitement when they
raise their wings, the voice of a divine silence. They bless the image of the
throne-chariot (which is) above the vault of the cherubim, 9 and they sing
[the splen]dour of the shining vault (which is) beneath the seat of his glory.
Whatever the inspiration for the image of the heavenly tabernacle in
Hebrews, the text relies on generic presuppositions about the “heavenly
tabernacle” evidenced in these passages from the scrolls. 36 Heaven is the
“true” realm, where real worship takes place (Heb 8:1), where the real
and Liturgy in the Epistle to the Hebrews: The Achievement of Salvation in the Epistle’s Perspectives
(St. Meinrad, IN: Grail, 1960); and Craig R. Koester, The Dwelling of God: The
Tabernacle in the Old Testament, Intertestamental Jewish Literature and the New Testament
(CBQMS 22; Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association, 1989), esp. 26–40.
Apart from the scrolls, prominent attestations of the motif are in 1 Enoch 14:10–20;
71:5–10; T. Levi 3:2–4; 2 Enoch 55:2; 2 Baruch 4:2–6.
36. There are other allusions to the tabernacle in the scrolls, unrelated to the notion
of a heavenly tabernacle: CD 6.12–20; 4QDibHam a [= 4Q504] frag. 2, 4.2–12. 1QH
20 (Sukenik 12).2–3 has a fragmentary reference to “tents of glory” (dwbk ylh)),
which some have construed to be an allusion to a heavenly tabernacle, but too little
remains to be certain. On these texts, see Koester, Dwelling, 26–40.