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

JOSEPH L. TRAFTON 433
1. The opponents in the Pss. Sol.—sometimes Hasmoneans, sometimes
Sadducees—are adversaries of Pharisees.
2. The specific criticism leveled against the Hasmoneans for their being
kings was distinctly Pharisaic.
3. The Messianic hope expressed in the Pss. Sol. is typically Pharisaic—there
is no trace of the priestly Messiah from the Scrolls.
4. The Pss. Sol. encourage political activity, which was characteristic of the
Pharisees, while the Essenes were political quietists.
5. The importance in the Pss. Sol. of living by the Torah is Pharisaic; there is
no trace of distinctly Essene concerns, such as radical rejection of Temple
cult, the importance of Zadokite priests, or calendar complaints.
6. The piety of the Pss. Sol. most closely approximates typically Pharisaic
conceptions.
7. The affirmation of both predestination and free will 19 in the Pss. Sol. is
consistent with what Josephus says about the Pharisees; contra O’Dell,
the Essenes have no place for human choice. 20
8. The flight into the wilderness described in Pss. Sol. 17:16–18 more plausibly
refers to Pharisaic, rather than Essene, exile.
While this is not the place to provide a detailed critique of Winninge’s
arguments, a few comments can be made. First, with respect to point 1,
Winninge can give no real evidence that the Sadducees as such are ever
in view as opponents in the Pss. Sol. His strongest argument centers
around the criticism of cultic malpractices, but the identification of the
Sadducees with the Temple priesthood, which is assumed by Winninge,
remains a matter of scholarly debate. 21 In any case, such a criticism could
easily be leveled by anyone opposed in principle to the non-Zadokite
Hasmonean priesthood. Second, evidence to support points 2, 3, and 4 is
19. Alongside of Pss. Sol. 5:3–4, which is quoted above as evidence of a concept of
predestination in the Psalms of Solomon, scholars typically cite 9:4 as evidence of a belief
in free will: “Our works (are) in the choosing and power of our souls,/to do right or
wrong in the works of our hands.”
20. With respect to predestination and free will Josephus, Ant. 13.172–73, describes
the positions of the Pharisees, the Essenes, and the Sadducees as follows: “As for the
Pharisees, they say that certain events are the work of Fate, but not all; as to other
events, it depends upon ourselves whether they shall take place or not. The sect of
the Essenes, however, declares that Fate is mistress of all things, and that nothing
befalls men unless it be in accordance with her decree. But the Sadducees do away
with Fate, holding that there is no such thing and that human actions are not achieved
in accordance with her decree, but that all things lie within our own power, so that
we ourselves are responsible for our well-being, while we suffer misfortune through
our own thoughtlessness.”
21. Such an identification is made in Schürer, History of the Jewish People 2:404–14.
For the opposing position, as well as an assessment of the current state of research on
the Sadducees, see Gary G. Porton, “Sadducees,” ABD 5:892–95. See also, J. Meier
A Marginal Jew, vol. 3, and G. Stemberger Jewish Contemporaries.