The Two Messiahs and Melchizedek in 11QMelchizedek

Abstract

11QMelch identifies several eschatological figures in Isa 52:7: prophets, a first and second herald, the community, and (probably) Melchizedek. The heralds are differentiated from one another, something that has been largely overlooked in discussions of 11QMelch. They are also differentiated from the “mountains”/“prophets,” another significant point that is rarely emphasized. That the first herald is a Davidic Messiah is suggested by the author’s apparent quote from the “seventy weeks” prophecy in Dan 9:24–27, a passage that was often used to calculate the advent of the Davidic Messiah. If the lacuna in line 18 contained a clause from Dan 9:25 this would provide further support for interpreting the first herald as the Davidic Messiah since this verse refers to “the prince Messiah.” Moreover, in the history of interpretation, Isa 52:7 was understood, at least by some Christians and Jews, as referring to the Davidic Messiah. Hence, there are grounds for seeing the first herald not as an angel or a Prophet-Messiah but as a royal Messiah. Melchizedek – who goes by the aliases “the Prince of lights” and “Michael” in other works – is distinguished from the two heralds. He is not a Messiah but a chief patron angel who fights on behalf of the sons of light against Belial in the great eschatological war. The second herald is described as a teacher and may therefore be the “Messiah of Aaron”/“Interpreter of the Law” found in other sectarian works. The interpretation proposed in this article allows for parallels to be drawn between 11QMelch and other sectarian works. Against what is commonly supposed, 11QMelch does not seem to reflect a form of messianism that is notably distinctive but one that conforms to the diarchic messianism found in other sectarian writings.