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

86 MESSIANIC EXPECTATION AT QUMRAN
messiah in 4Q246, then his role conforms well to that of the Davidic messiah
in Psalms of Solomon 17: “He will judge the earth in truth and all will
make peace. The sword will cease from the earth and all cities will pay
him homage. The great God will be his strength. He will make war on
his behalf, give nations into his hand and cast them all down before
him…” So while the language of this text is applied to Jesus in the Gospel
of Luke, the concept of messiah in the Gospel is very different. The
Aramaic text confirms the picture that has already emerged of the
Davidic messiah as the warrior liberator of Israel. The title “Son of God”
carries no implication of virgin birth or trinitarian (or binitarian) status
in a Jewish context. 43
A final question about the role of the Davidic messiah should be
addressed. Maier has argued persuasively that in Jewish understanding
the role or function is more important than the person of the messiah.
This holds true for the Davidic messiah. We are told nothing whatever
about his personality. (Presumably, he had not yet come.) It scarcely matters
whether the mission is accomplished by a single messiah, or whether
a new dynasty is imagined. The Scrolls do not discuss what happens to
the messiah after his mission is accomplished. Presumably, he establishes
a kingdom of Israel on earth. A few passages in the Scrolls suggest that
this is not the end. A hymn in the Hodayot anticipates a final conflagration,
when “the torrents of Belial shall reach to all sides of the
world…and shall consume the foundations of the earth and the expanse
of dry land” (1QH 11.29, 31). But in fact the Scrolls show little interest
in describing what will eventually take place on earth, and pay greater
attention to the fellowship that the elect enjoy with the angelic host. 44 It
is enough that the wicked are defeated, and that individuals are rewarded
or punished. It is not clear whether the messianic kingdom will last forever.
The analogy of other apocalyptic writings, such as 4 Ezra and
Revelation, suggests that it will not. (In 4 Ezra 7 the messiah reigns for
400 years and then dies. Revelation anticipates a 1,000 year reign of
Christ.) But this question is not clearly addressed by the Scrolls. It must
4Q246 and 4Q521 and Qumran Messianism,” in The Provo International Conference on
the Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. D. W. Parry and E. Ulrich; STDJ 30; Leiden: Brill, 1999),
545–65. The most developed argument for the negative view is provided by Edward
M. Cook, “4Q246,” BBR 5 (1995): 43–66. See my rejoinder, “The Background of the
‘Son of God’ Text,” BBR 7 (1997): 1–12.
43. While the expression “son of God” is sometimes used with reference to angelic
beings (cf. Genesis 6), it is also applied collectively to the people of Israel (Exod
4:22–23; Hos 11:1) and to the righteous man (Wis 2:13, 16).
44. See further John J. Collins, Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls (London:
Routledge, 1997), 110–29.