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

CRAIG A. EVAN S 81
Dan 2:47—kai\ a)pokriqei\j o9 basileu\j ei]pen tw|~ Danih/l: e0p 0 a)lhqei/aj
o9 qeo\j u9mw~n au0to/j e0stin qeo\ \j qew~n kai\ ku/rioj tw~n basile/wn kai\
a0pokalu/ptwn musth/ria, o3ti h0dunh/qhj a0pokalu/yai to_ musth/rion tou=to.
And answering, the king said to Daniel, “Of a truth your God is the God of
gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries [MT: Nyzr hlgw],
seeing that you were able to reveal this mystery [MT: hnd hzr )lgml].”
A passage from Amos might also be cited:
Amos 3:7—dio/ti ou0 mh\ poih/sh| ku/rioj o9 qeo_j pra= gma e0a\n mh\
a)pokalu/yh| paidei/an au0tou= pro\j tou\j dou/louj au0tou= tou\j
profh/taj.… Surely the Lord God will do nothing, except he reveal his
instruction [MT: dws—counsel or secret] to his servants the prophets.…
Finally, we should also cite a passage from the Wisdom of Solomon:
Wis 2:22—kai\ ou0k e1gnwsan musth/ria qeou= ou)de\ misqo\n h1lpisan
o9sio/thtoj ou0de\ e1krinan ge/raj yuxw~n a0mw&mwn. And they did not know
the mysteries of God, nor hoped for the wages of piety, nor discerned
reward for blameless souls.
There are Jewish traditions from our period in which musth/ria are
viewed as potentially dangerous, if taught to the unworthy. Illustrative of
this idea is 1 En. 9:6, which criticizes an evil angel for having revealed
mysteries to the unworthy: “You see what Azazael has done; how he has
taught all iniquity on the earth and disclosed the mysteries of eternity
which are in heaven [musth/ria tou= ai0w~noj ta\ e0n tw|~ ou0ranw|~], which
humans practice and have learned?” (cf. 10:7–8). Because of these
mysteries, men and women multiply evil deeds on the earth (16:3).
Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the closest parallels were
those found in Daniel and in the Wisdom of Solomon. Although inexact,
these parallels are useful, for they illustrate the world of thought that
Mark 4:11–12 reflects: the “mystery” of the kingdom of God has been
disclosed to some, but not to others. 9 For the “outsiders” it and other things
remain mysterious. But Daniel has no disciples. He is not principally a
9. For pertinent bibliography, see Ernst Vogt, “‘Mysteria’ in Textibus Qumran,” Bib
37 (1956): 247–57; Raymond E. Brown, The Semitic Background of the Term ‘Mystery’ in
the New Testament (FBBS 21; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1968); Joel Marcus, The Mystery of
the Kingdom of God (SBLDS 90; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986); Bruce D. Chilton,
“Commenting on the Old Testament (with Particular Reference to the Pesharim,
Philo, and the Mekilta),” in It Is Written: Scripture Citing Scripture; Essays in Honour of
Barnabas Lindars, SSF (ed. D. A. Carson and H. G. M. Williamson; Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1988), 122–40, esp. 122–27; Craig A. Evans, To See and
Not Perceive: Isaiah 6.9–10 in Early Jewish and Christian Interpretation (JSOTSup 64;
Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1989).