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

CRAIG A. EVAN S 83
“He has circumcised their hearts’ foreskin” [cf. Deut 10:16], and delivered
them for the sake of His kindness. He has set their feet firmly on the path,
and has not abandoned them in their great distress. (4Q434 frag. 1 1.3–4)
The latter texts are especially interesting, for they constitute the flip side
of Mark 4:11–12. In the Markan text the mystery of the kingdom of God
is disclosed to the disciples of Jesus, but to outsiders (i.e., nondisciples)
kingdom teaching is little more than riddles, for their eyes are closed and
their ears are stopped up (paraphrasing Isa 6:9–10). In 1QH and 4Q434
the author thanks God for having opened the eyes and ears of himself
and his colleagues to the mysteries of wonder. At least two more passages
elaborate on this theme:
You have appointed me as a banner for the chosen of righteousness, and
an informed mediator of wonderful mysteries [)lp yzrb]. (1QH 10.13)
The implication here is that the person appointed as “banner” (the
Righteous Teacher?) understands the mysteries and is able to convey
them to his disciples. And again:
You have opened within me knowledge in the mystery of
Your insight [hklk# zrb t(d]. (1QH 20.13)
In the famous Habakkuk Pesher the hermeneutical dimension of the
concept of revelation is rendered explicit, as in 1QpHab 7.1–5:
Then God told Habakkuk to write down what is going to happen to the generation
to come; but when that period would be complete he did not make
known to him. When it says, “so that with ease someone can read it,” this
refers to the Righteous Teacher to whom God made known all the mysteries
of the words of his servants the prophets [My)bnh wydb( yrbd yzr lwk].
The idea here that the words of the prophets are mysterious is consistent
with the raz/pesher interpretation often encountered in the
commentaries of Qumran. Jesus’ appeal to the Scriptures, as potentially
shedding light on the nature and purpose of his ministry (e.g., Mark 7:6;
9:12–13; 14:21), fits this pattern, at least as the Markan evangelist understands
it. The appeal to Isa 6:9–10 (in Mark 4:11–12) is especially illustrative.
The mystery of the kingdom of God is revealed to those to whom
God wills it to be revealed, and it is withheld from those from whom God
wills it to be withheld. Texts like Isa 6:9–10 (and Jer 5:21; Ezek 12:1–2;
Deut 29:1–3) provide scriptural support for this idea. There is nothing in
Mark’s development of this theme that must be explained by appeal to
texts and traditions that fall outside of the Jewish world of late antiquity,
or—thanks to the Dead Sea Scrolls—fall outside of Palestine itself.