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

CRAIG A. EVAN S 95
the very least) has intentionally contradicted this strict interpretation.
The implication of this is that Jesus apparently did not see physical
defects as indicative of either divine punishment or disapproval.
Similarly, in the Nazareth sermon (Luke 4:16–30), which appears to be
a rewrite and expansion of Mark 6:1–6, Luke’s Jesus appeals to Isaiah
61 and apparently contradicts the congregation’s exegetical understanding
and eschatological expectations (“Doubtlessly you will quote to me
the proverb…”). Jesus’ midrash suggests that the blessings anticipated
by Isaiah will not be limited to the pious of Israel, but will be extended
to Gentiles (Luke 4:25–26), even to Israel’s traditional enemies (4:27).
The congregation is understandably angry. The function of Isaiah 61 in
Melchizedek (11Q13) helps us understand why Jesus’ neighbors reacted
the way they did. In this scroll, the element of judgment is emphasized
(as seen in Isa 61:2b: “the day of vengeance of our God” [NRSV]), and
this very element is what has been omitted in Jesus’ sermon. The
Scriptures provide the common ground, but the respective hermeneutics
of Jesus (or Luke) and the scribes of the renewed covenant are significantly
different.
CONCLUSION
It is important to consider that in the case of almost every principal topic
in the Synoptic Gospels, there is significant overlap with distinctive
emphases in the Dead Sea Scrolls, especially with regard to the “core”
scrolls. At the very least this recognition underscores the Palestinian, as
well as Jewish, dimension of the Gospels. This is not to say that they give
no evidence of Greco-Roman or Diaspora ideas. But comparison with the
scrolls should serve to warn interpreters against too quickly drawing parallels
with sources and ideas remote from the world of first-century
Palestine.
These interesting and significant parallels between the Gospels and
the Dead Sea Scrolls could also suggest that the ideas found in the core
scrolls are not as sectarian as has often been assumed. Just as the parallels
draw the Gospels back to Jewish Palestine, so also the parallels pull
the scrolls closer to mainstream Jewish ideas.