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

126 FORMATION AND RE-FORMATION OF DANIEL
the expression likely represents seventy weeks of years, as in Daniel 9.
According to 4Q180 fragment 1, the document is a “commentary (pesher)
on the periods,” and all of this “is engraved on (heavenly) tablets”; as in
Daniel, events in history are thus predetermined. Unfortunately, not
enough of 4Q180–181 is extant for us to know how the scheme as a
whole is structured. It is, moreover, not clear to what the “seventy weeks”
(of years) refers, whether to an era from the activities of (Az)azel and the
other fallen watchers (see 1 En. 7:1–8:3; 10:1–16) before the great flood
until Abraham, or to some period subsequent to Abraham, or—analogous
to the book of Daniel—to a period of punishment or estrangement from
God, here one during which “Israel” was led astray under the influence
of (Az)azel, whose activities are thought to have continued after the time
of the great flood. 78
The chronological scheme adopted in 11QMelchizedek shares features
with both Daniel 9 and the Enochic Apocalypse of Weeks. As in the latter,
history is divided into ten periods, which in 11QMelchizedek are
termed “jubilees.” Although in the Apocalypse of Weeks the eschatological
age dawns during the eighth “week,” this Qumran text introduces the
final period of redemption and judgment during the tenth jubilee (11Q13
2.6–9). If one “jubilee” represents 49 years, then the ten jubilees add up
to 490 years, the same duration found in Daniel 9. That the author of the
document was aware of and drew upon Daniel 9 directly is likely from
the explicit mention of the chapter later on column 2 (2.18; see under sec.
D, above). The chronological use of Daniel, however, is creative and is
best explained as a combination of the length of time in Daniel 9 with the
tenfold structure found in the Apocalypse of Weeks.
Angelification of the Faithful
In Dan 7:18–29 the faithful people of God are given the designation “holy
ones” (v. 21) and “holy ones of the Most High” (vv. 18, 22, 25, 27). 79 This
is in contrast with the usage of the noun adjective qdws ]among the Hebrew
Scriptures, where as such it is restricted to heavenly beings (Job 5:1; 15:15;
Zech 14:5; cf. Sir 42:17). In this way, the elect are allowed to participate in
an “eternal kingdom” (v. 27; cf. v. 18), similar to what in Daniel 7 has
78. This is according to the restoration of Milik, The Books of Enoch, 251. On the
texts, see further Devorah Dimant, “The ‘Pesher on the Periods’ (4Q180) and
4Q181,” Israel Oriental Studies 9 (1979): 77–102.
79. In Dan 7:27, the phrase is “the people of the holy ones of the Most High.”