the-bible-and-the-dead-sea-scrolls

JOHN J. COLLINS 77
Zerubbabel as “my servant, the Branch,” in an allusion to Jeremiah’s
prophecy (Zech 3:8; cf. 6:11–12). He also referred to Zerubbabel and the
High Priest Joshua as “two sons of oil,” or anointed ones (Zech 4:14). But
Zerubbabel was never crowned king in Jerusalem. In Zech 6:11–12, the
prophet is told to place a crown on the head of the High Priest Joshua.
The passage continues, however: “say to him: Thus says the Lord: Here
is a man whose name is Branch…he shall bear royal honor and shall sit
and rule on his throne. There shall be a priest by his throne, with peaceful
understanding between the two of them.” It seems clear that this passage
originally instructed the prophet to place a crown on the head of
Zerubbabel, the Branch who is distinguished from the priest, but the reference
to Zerubbabel was excised from the text, presumably for reasons
of political caution. 20
The hope for a restoration of the monarchy gradually receded into the
future. In Jer 33:14–16 the prophet reassures his listeners: “The days are
surely coming says the Lord when I will fulfill the promise I made to the
house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I
will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David…” 21 We occasionally
find similar messianic oracles in other prophetic writings of the
Second Temple period (e.g., Zech 9:9–17: “Rejoice greatly O daughter
Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo your king comes to you;
triumphant and glorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt,
the foal of a donkey”). These texts are difficult to date, and we do not
know what segment of Jewish society they represent.
It is possible that hope for a restoration of the monarchy persisted; it
could certainly be found in the Scriptures, which became increasingly
important in Jewish life in this period. 22 But messianic hope is remarkably
lacking at the time of the Maccabean revolt, in a context where we
might have expected to find it. Ben Sira praises David at some length (Sir
47:1–11) but does not speak of the restoration of the Davidic line. 23
Neither is there any place for the Davidic messiah in the early Enoch
20. See David L. Petersen, Haggai and Zechariah 1–8 (Philadelphia: Westminster,
1984), 275–76. The Masoretic text says that the prophet is told to make crowns, in
the plural. The ancient versions correct this to the singular “crown.” See John J.
Collins, “The Eschatology of Zechariah,” in Knowing the End from the Beginning (ed. L.
L. Grabbe and R. D. Haak; Library of Second Temple Studies 45; London: T & T
Clark International, 2003), 74–84.
21. On the relationship of this oracle to Jeremiah 23, see Michael Fishbane, Biblical
Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1985), 471–74.
22. So especially William Horbury, Jewish Messianism and the Cult of Christ (London:
SCM, 1998), 36–63.
23. Pomykala, The Davidic Dynasty, 131–52.