Temple, Sacrifice And Priesthood In The Epistle To The Hebrews And The Dead Sea Scrolls

Abstract

Hebrews has been subjected in modern times to a string of panaceas, as Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Gnosticism has each been used to develop mega-theories that have been the basis of scholarly commentaries. Qumran scholars may be surprised to learn that parallels that they take as a given have been either rejected or severely nuanced as a result of detailed study by New Testament colleagues not part of the Qumran cabal. This chapter focuses on the questions of temple, sacrifice, and priesthood in this text. It compares the approaches of Hebrews to those of scrolls, and sees what can be learned about the knowledge, understanding and interpretation of sacrificial worship by the author of Hebrews. The chapter explains his interpretation of the Judaism that in his view Christianity superseded. It then sees how they relate to the general views of eschatology in Hebrews and the scrolls. Keywords: Dead Sea Scrolls; eschatology; Jerusalem Temple; Judaism; New Testament; priesthood; Qumran; sacrifice; the Epistle to the Hebrews