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

ADELA YARBRO COLLINS 247
of the temple. If this reconstruction is correct, near the work’s beginning
the angel shows the visionary the twelve gates of the city, named after the
twelve patriarchs, the sons of Jacob (4Q554 frag. 1 1–2). The angel then
led the visionary into the city and measured each of the blocks of houses
and the widths of the main streets that run from east to west, and the
widths of the other streets that run from south to north (4Q554 frag. 1
2.12–22). 75 The street that passes to the left (north) of the temple is the
widest, 126 cubits. But it is not in the center of the city; the street in that
location measures 67 cubits. All the streets of the city are paved with white
stone (4Q554 frag. 1 2.18–22). 76
Further in the work, in an unfortunately fragmentary and thus unclear
context, the speaker makes the following statement:
And all the buildings in it are of sapphire and rubies, and the windows (?)
(are) of gold, and (have) one thousand [four hundred] and thirty-two
towers. (4Q554 frag. 2 2.14–16) 77
This passage suggests that the city being described is the fulfillment of the
prophecy of Isa 54:11–12. As noted above, this passage was interpreted
in the Commentary on Isaiah as a prophecy or figure of the community. In
the Description of the New Jerusalem, the allusion to the same passage implies
its fulfillment in an actual city. 78 Since the text of Isaiah portrays God as
saying, “I will make,” it is likely that the city envisaged is the eschatological
Jerusalem that, like the eschatological temple, will be created by God
himself. This conclusion is supported by the mention of “living waters”
and “water from” in another fragmentary context (11Q18 frag. 24 lines
1 and 3). 79 These phrases suggest that the text described the fulfillment
of the prophecy of Ezekiel 47 that water will come forth from the door of
the temple facing east and flow eastward, nourishing living creatures and
75. According to Ezek 48:30–34, the twelve gates, named after the sons of Jacob,
are to be the exits of the city. The Temple Scroll specifies that twelve gates shall give
entrance to both the outer court and the middle court of the temple. Both sets of gates
are to be named after the sons of Jacob; Temple Scroll (11Q19) 38–41.
76. According to 5Q15 lines 6–7, all the streets of the city are paved with white
stone; alabaster and onyx are also mentioned. And 11Q18 frag. 22 line 7 mentions
ebony.
77. Trans. from García Martínez, DSS Translated, 130–31. See also 2Q24 frag. 3,
which mentions a sapphire gate or door.
78. In support of the idea that a passage from Scripture could have two different
fulfillments, see Klaus Koch, “Spätisraelitisch-jüdische und urchristliche Danielrezeption
vor und nach der Zerstörung des zweiten Tempels,” in Rezeption und Auslegung
im Alten Testament und in seinem Umfeld: Ein Symposion aus Anlass des 60. Geburtstags Odil
Hannes Steck (ed. R. G. Kratz and T. Krüger; OBO 153; Freiburg, Schweiz:
Universitätsverlag; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997), 93–123.
79. Trans. from García Martínez, DSS Translated, 135.