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

GERBERN S. OEGEMA 393
Kilpatrick’s final conclusion is that h( e1leusij is a messianic term used
in the Pseudepigrapha and “taken over in Christian writings beginning
with Acts and employed in the same way as in the Jewish works, and in
most cases in literary dependence on them.” It differs from parousi/a,
which occurs in Christian writings “for the advent of the Messiah Jesus,
who is thus put on a level with God,” but, since Irenaeus, can be used at
the same time as parousi/a 50
2.3. A Comparison of 1 Enoch 89:52; 4Q215; 4Q252; and Acts 7:52 from
a Tradition- and Reception-Historical Perspective
In an English translation 1 Enoch 89:52 reads: “However, one of them
was not killed but escaped alive and fled away; he cried aloud to the
sheep, and they wanted to kill him, but the Lord of the sheep rescued
him from the sheep and caused him to ascend to me and settle down.”
This is one of many passages in 1 Enoch 1–36 and 81–108 in which a
“Righteous One” plays a prominent role in an eschatological context.
Other passages identify him with Noah (10:3–4), the sons of men
(10:21), Elijah (89:52), someone risen (91:10), Enoch (92:1), the sons of
righteousness (93:2), or a witness of righteousness (93:2). In all cases the
author(s) speak about the future, or the eschaton, which itself—as eighth
and ninth week—is also called the “time of righteousness,” as in
4Q215 frag. 2 2.4–11:
bw+h qdch l#mm )b )yk
[…] h )sk Mryw
This text speaks about the coming of the dominion of justice or goodness,
an age, in which “he will raise the throne of … and knowledge,” and
so on. We are, therefore, clearly dealing with an ideal period (at the end)
of history, called “the age of righteousness,” a concept found in the
prophetic writings of the Hebrew Bible, such as Jeremiah 46–51 and
Ezekiel 7; and also in Qumran writings, such as 4Q252 and 4QSapiential
Work A (4Q415–418), as well as in 1 Enoch and Jubilees, but as an expression
qdch is unparalleled. 51
50. Kilpatrick, “Acts,” 144–45.
51. See Chazon, “Case,” 113–21.