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

256 THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN
rhetorical criticism. At this level, a comparison of the symbolism in the
Apocalypse with that in the Dead Sea Scrolls is nothing less than a comparison
of the theologies, the worldviews, and the understandings of God
and of life that characterize these two bodies of literature. This latter,
broader focus is the more exciting and more fruitful endeavor for students
of early Judaism and students of Christian origins, even if it is the
more difficult one.
In this essay, I reflect on the nature of the pursuit itself, identifying
some challenges to and limitations of such a study, while defending its
value. I then briefly survey several attempts to understand Revelation in
light of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 2 Finally, I look briefly at several specific
symbols in an attempt to understand how the scrolls can help us understand
the New Testament Apocalypse.
LIMITATIONS
Comparative analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Revelation entails several
inherent problems. The first is the problem of unequal bodies of literature.
The Apocalypse of John is one unified piece of literature written
near the end of the first century C.E. 3 Its rhetorical situation is focused
enough to identify—at least to conceptualize. In contrast, the Dead Sea
Scrolls represent a library collection of biblical, parabiblical, and nonbiblical
writings written over a period of 1000 years and copied over a
period of 200 years. We limit our inquiry to what has usually been called
the “sectarian” literature, a term used almost universally, even if it is
somewhat misleading and imprecise. But even if we begin with what
most call “sectarian” at Qumran, we are still dealing with literatures
written over a span of many decades, with differing theologies, communities
or audiences, genres, and ways of using symbolism. 4
2. The comparative value is primarily in one direction: the value of the Dead Sea
Scrolls for understanding Revelation. There is little value in Revelation for understanding
the Dead Sea Scrolls, unless obliquely, insofar as Revelation does bear witness
to some of the trajectories certain symbols took in the history of early Judaism.
3. Here neither am I attempting to make a case for the compositional unity of this
document, nor am I simply assuming it. For a recent review of the various hypotheses
offered for the Apocalypse’s composition history, see David E. Aune, Revelation
1–5 (WBC; Dallas: Word Books, 1997), cv–cxxiv. However, regardless of the book’s
compositional history or the integrity or artificiality of its present unity, it remains a
single literary work, unlike the scrolls.
4. See, e.g., the cautions raised by Carol A. Newsom, “Knowing and Doing: The
Social Symbolics of Knowledge at Qumran,” Semeia 59 (1992): 139–53.