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

HENRY W. MORISADA RIETZ 225
blessing (Songs 6–8) to the description of the heavenly temple and its
praise, and especially of the merka4ba and the heavenly high priests (Songs
9–13; anticipated in Song 7). 104 The first Song calls the angelic priesthood
105 to praise God:
Praise [the God of…]h, O godlike beings of all the Most Holy Ones. And
in divinity […] among the eternally holy, the Most Holy Ones. And they
have become for him priests of [the inner sanctum…]ministers of the presence
in his glorious inner room. In the congregation of all the divine being
of [knowledge…] godlike beings. 106
Later in the same Song, reference is made to the “[G]o[d of] the divine
beings, priests of the highest heights who [draw n]ear […].” 107
One of the themes that is sounded in the Angelic Liturgy is the predestinarian
idea that God has appointed the times for various events:
A[l]l these things he has done wondrously according to his merciful plan.
[…] all the words of knowledge. For from the God of
knowledge comes all that exists forever. And from his knowledge [and] his
[plan]s have come into existence all eternally fixed times. He makes the former
things [in] their [time]s and the latter things in their appointed times.
And there are none among those who have knowledge (who can) discern
the [wondrous] revealed things before he acts. And when he acts none of
the […of] God can comprehend what he plans. For they are part of his glorious
works. Before they existed [(they were) part of] his [desig]n. 108
Unfortunately, the context of this passage from the end 109 of Song 5 cannot
be reconstructed with certainty. There are references to the “war of
God” (Myhwl) tmxlm) and “godlike beings in the war of the clouds”
(Myqx# tmxlmb Myhwl)) as well as “wondr[ous] new works”
([)]lp tw#dx y#(m), 110 which may be the antecedent of “all these
things” (hl) lwk) at the beginning of the earlier quotation. If so, then
this passage may refer to the war, described in the War Scroll, which is to
occur synchronistically in the heavens and on the earth. 111 Moreover, two
of the lines make reference to one who is unclean and probably to his
104. Charlesworth and Newsom, The Dead Sea Scrolls (PTSDSSP 4A), 288.
105. For discussion of the various terms used for angels and in the description of
the heavenly Temple, see Newsom, Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, 23–58.
106. Sabbath Song 1: A Composite Text, lines 15 (Charlesworth and Newsom, The Dead
Sea Scrolls [PTSDSSP 4A], 139).
107. Sabbath Song 1: A Composite Text, line 20 (ibid., 141).
108. Sabbath Song 5: A Composite Text, lines 14–18 (ibid., 153).
109. Indicated by the vacat (see Mas1k 1.3 1.6).
110. Lines 10, 13, and 14, respectively, of the Composite Text.
111. See Newsom, Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, 158–59.