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

CHAPTER TWO
ANOTHER STAB AT THE WICKED PRIEST
David Noel Freedman and Jeffrey C. Geoghegan
Attempts to identify the Wicked Priest have been numerous, with proposals
ranging roughly from Jason to Jesus. 1 There is one candidate,
however, who has not received much attention, yet whose tenure as High
Priest corresponds to the time period described by the Dead Sea Scrolls
1. Most scholars congregate around the Maccabaean High Priests Jonathan and
Simon. For Jonathan, see, Jozef T. Milik, Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judaea
(trans. J. Strugnell; SBT 26; London: SCM Press; Naperville, IL: Allenson, 1959),
65–71; Geza Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls: Qumran in Perspective (Cleveland: Collins
World, 1978; repr. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981), 151; Gert Jeremias, Der Lehrer der
Gerechtigkeit (SUNT 2; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1963), 36–78; Jerome
Murphy-O’Connor, “The Essenes and their History,” RB 81 (1974): 229–33. For
Simon, see Frank M. Cross, Jr., The Ancient Library of Qumran and Modern Biblical Studies
(Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1961); George W. E. Nickelsburg, “Simon—A Priest
with a Reputation for Faithfulness,” BASOR 223 (1976): 67–68. However, there is no
lack of proposals. For Alexander Jannaeus, see Mathias Delcor, “Le Midrash
d’Habacuc,” RB 58 (1951): 521–48; Bilhah Nitzan, Megilat Pesher Habakkuk: Mi-megilot
Midbar Yehudah (Jerusalem: Mosad Byalik, 1986), 132–33 [Hebrew]; Jean Carmignac,
Edouard Cothenet, and Hubert Lignée, Les textes de Qumran traduits et annotés (2 vols.;
Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1961), 2:361–68. For Hyrcanus II, see André Dupont-
Sommer, Les écrit esséniens découverts près de la mer Morte (Paris: Payot, 1980), 274. Adam
S. van der Woude, “Wicked Priest or Wicked Priests? Reflections on the Identification
of the Wicked Priest in the Habakkuk Commentary,” JJS 33 (1982): 349–59, has
argued that the Wicked Priest is no one person, but successive Jerusalem High Priests
from Judas Maccabaeus to Alexander Jannaeus, a theory now referred to as the
“Groningen hypothesis.” See also, Florentino García Martínez, “Qumran Origins and
Early History: A Groningen Hypothesis,” FO 25 (1988): 113–36; Florentino García
Martínez and Adam S. van der Woude, “A Groningen Hypothesis of Qumran Origins
and Early History,” RevQ 14 (1990): 521–41. William H. Brownlee, “The Wicked
Priest, The Man of Lies, and the Righteous Teacher—The Problem of Identity,” JQS
73 (1982): 1–37, has also suggested that the Wicked Priest refers to more than one person.
Similarly, Igor R. Tantlevskij, The Two Wicked Priests in the Qumran Commentary on
Habakkuk (The Qumran Chronicle Appendix C; Kraków-St. Petersburg: Enigma, 1995)
has identified the Wicked Priest with two figures: Jonathan and Alexander Jannaeus.
For a critique of the Groningen Hypothesis, see Timothy H. Lim, “The Wicked Priests
of the Groningen Hypothesis,” JBL 112/3 (1993): 415–25. For a rebuttal, see Adam S.
van der Woude, “Once Again: The Wicked Priests in the Habakkuk Pesher from
Cave 1 of Qumran,” RevQ 17 (1996): 375–84.
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