The importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the study of the explicit quotations in &lt;i&gt;Ad Hebraeos&lt;/i&gt;

Gert J Steyn

doi:10.4102/hts.v72i4.3410

Abstract

The important contribution that the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) hold for New Testament studies is probably most evident in Ad Hebraeos. This contribution seeks to present an overview of relevant extant DSS fragments available for an investigation of the Old Testament explicit quotations and motifs in the book of Hebrews. A large number of the explicit quotations in Hebrews were already alluded to, or even quoted, in some of the DSS. The DSS are of great importance for the study of the explicit quotations in Ad Hebraeos in at least four areas, namely in terms of its text-critical value, the hermeneutical methods employed in both the DSS and Hebrews, theological themes and motifs that surface in both works, and the socio-religious background in which these quotations are embedded. After these four areas are briefly explored, this contribution concludes, among others, that one can cautiously imagine a similar Jewish sectarian matrix from which certain Christian converts might have come – such as the author of Hebrews himself.

Highlights

For instance, the fact that the subject matter of Hebrews 1:1–5 agrees closely with that of 4QFlor,3 that three of the seven texts quoted there overlap with Ad Hebraeos (2 Sm 7:10–14; Is 8:11; Ps 2:7) and that Psalm 45:1–2 is quoted in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS)? apart from the Psalter, what does one do with the striking prominence of the Melchizedek motif shared in 11QMelch and Ad Hebraeos? one might differ on the detail of some similarities as briefly pointed out in the past, the special affinity to the DSS that is shown by Ad Hebraeos should be noted (Attridge 1989:28–29; Bruce 1985:li; Weiss 1991:381)
Among the Hebrew witnesses, the Masoretic Text (MT) could be compared with the DSS fragment 11QPsd (11Q8) (García Martínez & Tigchelaar 1998:1182–1183; García Martínez, Tigchelaar & Van der Woude 1998:70), which contains the section of Psalm 45:7–8, the passage used by the author of Ad Hebraeos for his quotation
Http://www.hts.org.za that there seems to be a common theology and common motifs that are shared by both the Qumran covenanters and the author of Ad Hebraeos – if not by the group to whom he wrote

Summary

Introduction

The relation between the text readings found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), those of the LXX witnesses and the quotations in Ad Hebraeos1 needs much more attention (Batdorf 1972:16–35; Bruce 1962/1963:217–232; Grässer 1964:171–176; Steyn 2003a:493–514; Wilcox 1988:647–656).2 How does one explain, for instance, the fact that the subject matter of Hebrews 1:1–5 agrees closely with that of 4QFlor,3 that three of the seven texts quoted there overlap with Ad Hebraeos (2 Sm 7:10–14; Is 8:11; Ps 2:7) and that Psalm 45:1–2 is quoted in the DSS? apart from the Psalter, what does one do with the striking prominence of the Melchizedek motif shared in 11QMelch and Ad Hebraeos? one might differ on the detail of some similarities as briefly pointed out in the past, the special affinity to the DSS that is shown by Ad Hebraeos should be noted (Attridge 1989:28–29; Bruce 1985:li; Weiss 1991:381).4 Added to this is the fact that the Hebrew equivalents of the introductory formulae in the New Testament (NT) are found in greater abundance in the Qumran literature than among all the known early rabbinic literature (such as the Mishnah) (Fitzmyer 1968:253; Metzger 1951:297–307; Terry 1975:504).5The DSS are of great importance for the study of the explicit quotations in Ad Hebraeos in at least four areas, namely their text-critical value, the hermeneutical methods employed, theological themes and motifs that surface, and the socio-religious background in which they are embedded.6Text-critical importanceThe role of the DSS in the reconstruction of the LXX Vorlage has become vividly clear in LXX studies in recent years.

Results

Conclusion