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

258 THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN
The proper implication of the above, according to Perrin, is that “we
have to investigate each case on its merits.” 8
While there may be some value in conceptualizing symbolism as
“steno” or “tensive,” these distinctions are not clean alternatives, but
rather two ends of a continuum. The depth with which one understands
the meaning of the symbolism is a matter of interpretation and appreciation,
and authorial intent is especially elusive at this point. In other
words, tensive is in the eye of the beholder, the interpreter, who is attempting
to understand and interpret the creative direction the author is taking
the reader. 9
One further cautionary note may be in order. As Otto Böcher has
pointed out in his article on Qumran and the Apocalypse in ANRW,
some of the comparisons of the Apocalypse and the Dead Sea Scrolls in
the past have been overly enthusiastic and uncritical in their identifications
of genetic parallels. 10 What has occasionally appeared to be evidence
of direct influence of the Qumran writings on the Apocalypse has
usually proved to be only comparable parallel material reflecting similar
interests. Although various arguments about direct literary dependence
by John on the scrolls at this or that point continue to be promoted, I
offer no such argument here, but leave the discussion open at this point.
Caution about confusing genetic parallels with generic parallels is
essential. 11 Nevertheless, the search for both kinds of parallels is valid
and valuable for understanding the history and literature of the time.
Whether we have genetic parallels that can plausibly suggest “direct influence”
or only generic parallels that witness to common worldviews,
languages, and understandings—in either case those parallels help us to
gain a fuller appreciation of the types of symbol systems being used and
a broader understanding of religion in the period.
8. Perrin, Jesus and the Language of the Kingdom, 31.
9. For a fuller discussion of method in symbol analysis, see Loren L. Johns, The
Lamb Christology of the Apocalypse of John: An Investigation into Its Origins and Rhetorical Force
(WUNT 2.167; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003), 109–20.
10. Otto Böcher, “Die Johannes-Apokalypse und die Texte von Qumran,” ANRW
25.5: 3894; cf. also 3896, where Böcher denies that any of the Apocalypse of John
parallels provide evidence of any “direct derivation” from the Qumran texts.
11. A good example of the lack of this caution is illustrated in a section from an
essay by Barbara Thiering, who lists numerous parallels between Revelation and the
Temple Scroll and then concludes that it is “probable” that Revelation “shows dependence
on” the Temple Scroll and that “Revelation is consciously altering the Temple Scroll”;
Barbara Thiering, “The Date of Composition of the Temple Scroll,” in Temple Scroll
Studies: Papers Presented at the International Symposium on the Temple Scroll, Manchester,
December 1987 (ed. G. J. Brooke; JSPSup 7; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1989), 102–3.