Qumran Research Articles

The Gospel of Matthew and the Pesher Interpretation

This study explores the pesher interpretation, a method of biblical exegesis used by the Qumran community, and whether early Christians like the author of Matthew's Gospel employed similar techniques. Since the 1950s, scholars have analysed the so-called “formula quotations” in Matthew, finding parallels with the pesharim commentaries found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Krister Stendahl argued Matthew comes from a “school” using pesher to radically reinterpret Old Testament passages as fulfilled in Jesus. Others like Richard Longenecker also find Matthew employing this Second Temple Jewish method, especially in texts with “fulfilment formulae”. However, objections have been raised. Joseph Fitzmyer notes the differences between Qumran pesharim and Matthew's use of scripture. Norman Hillyer wonders if the fulfilment formula indicates a distinct hermeneutic, not pesher. Ulrich Luz stresses Matthew proclaims fulfilment, not hidden meanings like pesharim. In conclusion, applying the ideas of pesher from Qumran to the New Testament raises problems. Similarities between pesher and Patristic exegesis are noted, but determining dependence requires examining the original historical meaning versus the contemporary application of prophecies. More analysis of whether early Christian use of scripture mirrors Qumran pesher or develops its fulfilment hermeneutic is needed. Keywords: pesher, fulfilment, formula quotations, Midrash, exegesis, Qumran, Eschatology, Second Temple, Matthew's Gospel, hermeneutics

하박국 페셰르에 나타난 의(義)의 교사의 역할과 쿰란 공동체의 정체성

하박국 페셰르에 나타난 의(義)의 교사의 역할과 쿰란 공동체의 정체성

Festschriften and Collected Essays

Festschriften and Collected Essays Christopher T. Begg, Fred W. Guyette, and Thomas Hieke 894. [The Hebrew Bible Manuscripts] Élodie Attia and Anthony Perrot (eds.), The Hebrew Bible Manuscripts: A Millennium (Supplements to the Textual History of the Bible 6; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022). Pp. xxiv + 461. $179. ISBN 978-90-04-49872-3. In this collective volume, scholars from different fields and dealing with different material sources seek to consider the Hebrew Bible as a whole. As they note, the development of new databases and other technological tools have had an increasing impact on research practices. By inviting doctoral students, young researchers, and established scholars to contribute, the editors have produced an interdisciplinary volume which showcases methods and perspectives which can support scholarly collaboration in the Hebrew Bible field. [Adapted from published abstract] The volume comprises a total of 14 articles, all of which are in English and each of which comes with its own bibliography. These articles are preceded by the editors' preface which provides summaries of the articles that follow. The volume comes with indexes of modern authors, sources, and manuscripts. For abstracts of the articles, see ##98, 113, 116, 123, 133, 134, 140, 143, 150, 152, 155, 798, 805, 827.—C.T.B. 895. [Studies in Qumran Law and Thought] Joseph M. Baumgarten (ed. by Ruth A. Clements and Daniel R. Schwartz, with an introductory essay by Lawrence H. Schiffman), Studies in Qumran Law and Thought (STDJ 138; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022). Pp. xxviii + 413. $159. ISBN 978-90-04-50548-5. B. (1928–2008) was a much-published scholar known especially for his study of the legal issues posed by the Qumran materials in relation to the wider Jewish legal tradition. The front-matter of this memorial volume comprises an editors' foreword, a list of abbreviations, a bibliography of B.'s contributions, and an introduction by L. H. Schiffman entitled "The Contribution of Joseph M. Baumgarten to the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ancient Judaism." The 32 essays by B. selected for inclusion in this volume have all been previously published in some form in the years 1979–2006. They are partitioned among five overarching headings as follows: Part 1 General Essays on Qumran Law includes: "The Religious Law of the Qumran Community" (this is the English original of the French translation that appeared in print in 1996) and "Recent Qumran Discoveries and Halakhah in the Hellenistic-Roman Period" (originally published 1991). Part 2 Rabbinic Literature and Qumran Law features three items: "The Relevance of Rabbinic Sources to the Study of Qumran Law" (1999); "The Laws of the Damascus Document—Between Bible and Mishnah" (2000); and "Tannaitic Halakhah and Qumran—A Re-evaluation" (2006). The volume's next segment, Part 3: Pharisees and Sadducees, Essenes, and Qumran, contains a total of 9 essays: "4Q502: Marriage or Golden Age Ritual?" (1983); "The Qumran-Essene Restraints on Marriage" (1983); "The Pharisaic-Sadducean Controversies about Purity and the Qumran Texts" (1980); "Immunity to Impurity and the Menorah" (2006); "Sadducean Elements in Qumran Law" (1994); "The Heavenly Tribunal and the Personification of Ṣedeq in Jewish Apocalyptic" (1979); "The 'Sons of Dawn' in CD 13:14-15 and the Ban on Commerce among the Essenes" (1983); "The Disqualification of Priests in 4QFragments of the Damascus Document: A Specimen of the Recovery of Pre-Rabbinic [End Page 308] Halakhah" (1992); and "Halakhic Polemics in New Fragments from Qumran Cave 4" (1985). Part 4 Halakhic Topics is made up of ten essays: "On the Non-Literal Use of Maʿāśēr/Dekatē" (1984); "The First and Second Tithes in the Temple Scroll" (1985); "The Law of ʿOrlah and First Fruits in the Light of Jubilees, the Qumran Writings, and Targum Ps.-Jonathan" (1987); "The Use of for General Purification" (2000); "Yom Kippur in the Qumran Scrolls and Second Temple Sources" (1999); "Exclusions from the Temple: Proselytes and Agrippa I" (1982); "Hanging and Treason in Qumran and Roman Law" (1982); "The Avoidance of the Death Penalty in Qumran Law" (2005); "Qumran and the Halakhah in the Aramaic Targumim" (2005); and "Some 'Qumranic' Observations on the Aramaic Levi Document" (2004). Finally, Part 5 Theology and...

The New Archaeological Definition of the Earliest Synagogues in Judaea and Galilee Applied to the Site of Khirbet Qumran

The New Archaeological Definition of the Earliest Synagogues in Judaea and Galilee Applied to the Site of Khirbet Qumran

Star of Jacob, and a Sceptre of Israel: King David’s Image in Priest Ideology

This article examines the peculiarities of royal power’s representation in the ideology of priests in early Judaism. Researchers of Judaism deem this period important since it is then that the basic ideas about the power institutions of society, their attributes, functions, and features were laid. The institution of the royal power appears to be the most significant here: this power transforms from purely secular to religious, and the priest becomes the king. This research is devoted to the aspects of these transformations that were not previously given due attention: the reflection of the authors who lived during this epoch upon the biblical king David’s image and his place in the new doctrine of power. Besides the understanding of the image within the scope of secular power, it also played an important role in the formation of priestly ideology in the period examined. Exploring the data from three sources (The 1st Book of Maccabees, The Book of Sirach, and The Damascus Document), the author concludes that the development of King David’s image perception took place in the following directions. The first one did not deny the possibility of the Davidic dynasty heir’s return but focused its attention on building a new doctrine of power, which would center around the figure of the elected priest. The second direction represented King David as a figure of the past, creating a new doctrine of power, where only a priest could lead the society. The third direction, represented by Qumran, radically revised the prophecies about the return of David’s bloodline to the throne: in their view, the Qumran community becomes King David by itself and receives primacy in Israel.

Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT Use: Qumran

Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT UseQumran Christopher T. Begg, Brian J. Meldrum, and Thomas Hieke 2382. [The DSS and Qumran Connection] Kenneth Atkinson, "Are the Dead Sea Scrolls from Khirbet Qumran?" QC 28-29 (2020-2021) 35-59 [see #2498]. A. discusses his title question—to which he gives a largely negative answer—under four headings: (1) The Nature of the Collection; (2) The Qumran Caves and Their Connection with Khirbet Qumran's Occupational Phases; (3) The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Library of Various Sectarian Communities; and (4) Are the Dead Sea Scrolls from Khirbet Qumran? In the course of his discussion, A. highlights what he sees as problematic scholarly uses of the Qumran materials, e.g., the distinction between "sectarian" and "non-sectarian" scrolls, and the attempt to reconstruct a "master text" of a given document, e.g., the Community Rule, by conflating elements from different copies of the document deriving from different caves and dating to different times. He concludes (pp. 58-59, adapted): The size of the DSS collection is unprecedented for an ancient library. Although there is a scribal focus to the collection, the presence of multiple copies of texts of different dates suggests that the Scrolls emanated from several communities. Khirbet Qumran appears to have been the location where a small number of residents practiced a form of animal sacrifice in relative isolation. Those who lived there had some relationship with earlier like-minded groups and shared many of the same writings. Each group, as evident in the multiple recensions of texts such as the Community Rule, shared certain documents, but interpreted them differently. Each was undoubtedly influenced by different historical experiences or understood the impact of their experiences differently. Because the scrolls are not from Khirbet Qumran, the site was likely not the center for a group of related sectarian communities. Nor was it the site of original thinking: most theological developments can be traced to the pre-Maccabean era. Because relatively few scrolls were produced in the period between 63 b.c.e. (the Roman conquest of Judea) and 68 c.e. (the Roman destruction of the Qumran site), the Scrolls communities seem to have largely died out during this period. Khirbet Qumran appears to have merely been the place where those who lived elsewhere but shared a similar ideology with its residents hid the contents of their libraries in the hope of retrieving them after the expected defeat [End Page 883] of the invading Roman army. Were it not for the tragic events of the First Jewish Revolt, relatively few scrolls would have been found at or near Khirbet Qumran.—C.T.B. 2383. [1QS] Melissa Sayyad Bach, "How Hard Is It to Get into the Community Rule? Exploring Transmission in 1QS from the Perspective of the Modes of Religiosity," SJOT 35 (2, 2021) 159-86. The Community Rule from Qumran (1QS) communicates its message to its recipients by employing a variety of genres (e.g., instructions, rules, rituals, myth, hymns). B.'s article attempts to explore some of the underlying cognitive mechanisms involved in the process of transmission by drawing on insights from cognitive science, Harvey White-house's Modes of Religiosity theory in particular. According to this approach, certain religious ideas and concepts are "cognitively optimal" (i.e., relatively simple and straightforward, often minimally counterintuitive) and therefore easy to remember, while others are "cognitively costly" (i.e., requiring greater conscious effort to be preserved and transmitted). Two different "modes" are the typical ways to preserve and transmit such contents: The "imagistic" mode relies on low-frequency and high-arousal rituals, whereas the "doctrinal" mode is associated with high-frequency and low-arousal rituals. Its use of different genres, each of which sheds light on 1QS's agenda, serves to highlight the costly and demanding nature of the 1QS content. Analyses of selected passages from 1QS show how elements of the doctrinal and the imagistic modes are employed in facilitating the transmission of the content. [Adapted from published abstract—B.J.M.] 2384. [DSS Research in Oxford] Markus Bockmuehl, "Introduction: Dead Sea Scrolls Research in Oxford," RevQ 32 (2, 2020) 165-69. In his capacity...

The New Covenant at Qumran

This paper discusses what the community at Qumran thought about a new covenant. It covers three manuscripts (Temple Scrolls [11Q19], The Rule of the Community [1QS, 4Q255-264a, 5Q11, 5Q13] and The Damascus Document [4Q266-273, 5Q12, 6Q15]) because they use the phrase “new covenant” and present ideas about this covenant. The proper contexts of the three aforementioned manuscripts, and the phrase “new covenant” found in the OT only once(Jer.31:31), including their theological, political and social values are discussed. In addition, the emphasis on the concept of covenant in each manuscript and how it relates them to each other is explained. This paper concludes that the Qumran community reinterpreted the concept of covenant in a new way influenced by the theological, political and social issues of its time.

Rhetoric and Hermeneutics: Approaches to Text, Tradition and Social Construction in Biblical and Second Temple Literature by Carol A. Newsom

Reviewed by: Rhetoric and Hermeneutics: Approaches to Text, Tradition and Social Construction in Biblical and Second Temple Literature by Carol A. Newsom Davida Charney Carol A. Newsom. Rhetoric and Hermeneutics: Approaches to Text, Tradition and Social Construction in Biblical and Second Temple Literature. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 130. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019. 382 pp. ISBN 978-3-16-157723-9. In Rhetoric and Hermeneutics, Carol A. Newsom has collected eighteen of her essays that appeared between 1989 and 2016 and one previously unpublished essay. Unlike many volumes of this sort, the whole greatly exceeds the sum of its parts. Apart from its usefulness as a survey to scholars and students, the book advances Newsom’s scholarly agenda. Newsom works with texts circulating in and around Jerusalem during the late Second Temple period. This was a time of intellectual ferment: proto-gnostic sects proliferated; established religious practices were being challenged, defended, and modified. Newsom argues persuasively that these groups were led by sophisticated readers and rhetors. The leaders grasped that the Hebrew Bible, still undergoing canonization, is polyphonic and intertextual. Further, the texts that they created deployed polyphony, enargeia, and other rhetorical techniques to shape communal identity, attract adherents, and help individuals cope with the precarity of their status. These arguments are advanced in each of the book’s four topical sections. First are six essays that explain and apply Newsom’s methods of rhetorical criticism. Second are four essays illustrating how the Qumran community—responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls—shaped communal and individual identity. Third are three essays that lay out an ethno-psychological model for mapping conceptions of self and agency across cultures. The essays apply the model to the Hebrew Bible and a variety of Second Temple texts. Last are six reception studies that examine how narratives of the period are taken up and transformed both in antiquity and in modern times. Newsom, a chaired emerita professor of theology at Emory University, has published on so many aspects of Second Temple literature over her career that she has plenty of essays on method, theory, and application to choose from. As a result, even without additional commentary, the sections build coherent arguments. Each section opens with introductory issues of [End Page 322] theory, method, and scope and develops with close textual analysis and suggestive implications. The first section on methods reveals what Newsom means by rhetorical criticism and what theorists she relies on most. Like many biblical scholars, her immediate rhetorical touchstone is George Kennedy. But he does not inspire her to read widely in the Greco-Roman tradition. She is not concerned to trace possible cross-influences during the Hellenistic period. Instead Newsom turns to Bakhtin and Burke and the more literary strand of twentieth-century rhetorical criticism. For Newsom, rhetorical strategies in scripture reflect the identities and ontologies of their compositors and shape those of readers and writers to come. Accordingly, this section accomplishes two tasks for Newsom. First, the section launches Newsom’s larger claims that Second Temple communities deployed rhetorical strategies to shape individual and communal identities with case studies of Job (chapter 2), Proverbs 1—9 (chapter 3), Jewish apocalyptic texts (chapter 5), and texts from Qumran (chapter 6). Second, for biblicists new to rhetorical approaches, it introduces concepts and methods of rhetorical criticism, including Bakhtinian polyphony and dialogism (chapters 1 and 3), genre studies (chapters 2 and 4), and a variety of basic rhetorical concepts (chapters 5 and 6) such as epideictics, arrangement, enargeia, and kairos, though she doesn’t always employ these terms. While displaying nuanced rhetorical sensibilities, Newsom would clearly benefit from additional reading in rhetorical scholarship, particularly Carolyn Miller’s classic “Genre as Social Action”1 and William FitzGerald’s Spiritual Modalities for its use of Burke’s religious terministic screen to draw Burkean implications for prayer and religious practice.2 In Section Two, Newsom argues that the Qumran community—a break-away Jewish sect that deliberately positioned itself against the practices in the Second Temple—was “intentional and explicit in the formation of the subjectivity of its members” (159). First, she argues that the Dead Sea Scrolls served as a library for the community (chapter 7), based...

Sanctuary schematics and temple ideology in the Hebrew Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls: The import of Numbers

The temple schematics in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), that is, New Jerusalem and Temple Scroll, has often been comparatively examined with the sanctuary structures in the Hebrew Bible (HB) (Ezk 40–48 and Num 2). Typically, in scholarship, the irreconcilable differences between all accounts (regarding the size, shape, name-gate ordering, etc.) is underscored, thus rendering a literary conundrum. This article argues that New Jerusalem and Temple Scroll drew from both Ezekiel 40–48 and Numbers 2 in different ways, purporting the sect(s)’s theologies and ideologies which accords, further, with the life setting of the Qumran communities; the influence of Numbers in the DSS is underscored. These aspects include (1) the eastern orientation of sacred structures and the compound at Khirbet Qumran, (2) the precise locale of the communities at the Dead Sea vis-à-vis Ezekiel 47 and (3) the desert encampment configuration together with its militaristic overtones in Numbers, which corresponds to the DSS sect(s)’s apocalyptic expectations as indicated in the War Scroll. Consequently, the Qumran sect(s) truly saw itself as an alternative priesthood of the forthcoming restored temple of God, even as in the interim they functioned as an alternative sanctuary (4QFlor; 4QMMT; 1QS). The import of Numbers upon the DSS sect(s)’s temple ideologies and priestly theologies is, therefore, equivalent to that of Ezekiel.Contribution: This article traces theological themes of temple and priestly ideologies between and among the Qumran literature and Hebrew Scriptures; both the respective library or canon and methodological approach are core to the historical thought’s aim and scope of HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies.

The Earliest Commentary on the Prophecy of Habakkuk

The Earliest Commentary on the Prophecy of Habakkuk

The Alleged Reference to the Tripartite Division of Jewish Law in 4QMMT

The article discusses Elisha Qimron’s suggestion that the syntagm חוק ומשפט וטהרה (B 52 = 4Q394 8 IV,2; 4Q396 1–2 II,3-4) from 4QMMT indicated the tripartite division of Jewish law in the understanding of the Qumran community. The first part presents the context of the use of חוק ומשפט וטהרה in 4QMMT, and briefly analyses the use of each of these terms in the literature of the Second Temple Period. The second part raises arguments refuting E. Qimron’s idea and proposes an alternative meaning of חוק ומשפט וטהרה.

Sacred Texts and Disparate Interpretations: Qumran Manuscripts Seventy Years Later; Proceedings of the International Conference Held at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, 24–26 October 2017 ed. by Henryk Drawnel

Reviewed by: Sacred Texts and Disparate Interpretations: Qumran Manuscripts Seventy Years Later; Proceedings of the International Conference Held at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, 24–26 October 2017 ed. by Henryk Drawnel Michael DeVries henryk drawnel (ed.), Sacred Texts and Disparate Interpretations: Qumran Manuscripts Seventy Years Later; Proceedings of the International Conference Held at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, 24–26 October 2017 (STDJ 133; Leiden: Brill, 2020). Pp. xiii + 478. €132/$159. This volume consists of a collection of conference papers delivered at the John Paul II Catholic University in Lublin, Poland, in honor of the seventieth anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Broad in scope, these contributions explore an array of themes within Qumran scholarship and are divided into five main thematic groupings: the text critical intersection between the Hebrew Bible and Qumran manuscripts (part 1), Qumran literature against the historical backdrop of the Second Temple period (part 2), issues of philology and paleography (part 3), wisdom and religious poetry (part 4), and studies addressing a singular issue within particular texts (part 5). Part 1 begins with two contributions from Adrian Schenker. The first, "Are There Mastercopies for Genealogically Related Biblical Texts in Qumran? The Question of Archetypes and Lineages of Biblical Text Witnesses," argues for the presence of unifying efforts within circles charged with the transmission of those texts that would later constitute the Hebrew Bible in the direction of a textual forerunner of the MT. The second, "Room for Further Investigation Opened by BHQ: Three Examples (Genesis 33:18, 20 and 35:7)," suggests understanding the differing OG readings as representing an earlier reading of the text in relation to the MT, which shows evidence of theologically driven corrections. Finally, Emanuel Tov, in "The Background and Origin of the Qumran Corpus of Scripture Texts," proposes that only one-third of the "biblical" texts at Qumran were copied locally while the remainder originated from outside Khirbet Qumran, further suggesting that texts with an affinity to either the MT, LXX, or SP derive from outside Khirbet Qumran. Opening part 2, Bartosz Adamczewski ("Are the Dead Sea Scrolls Pharisaic?") examines evidence for a possible connection between the Qumran and Pharisaic movements, if not a potential Pharisaic origin of at least some of the manuscripts at Qumran. Kenneth Atkinson ("The Changing Views of the Hasmoneans in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Examining Seventy Years of Research") surveys the scholarly debate regarding the relationship between the scrolls and the Hasmoneans, particularly with reference to paleography, archaeology, and history. In "The Wicked Priest, the Righteous Teacher, and the Yahad," Vasile Babota revisits the relationship of the "Teacher of Righteousness," the "Wicked Priest," and the emergence of the yahad. Claude Cohen-Matlofsky ("Women at Qumran? Reconsidering the Textual and Archaeological Data") reassesses the available evidence regarding the [End Page 155] presence of women at Qumran, concluding that the paucity of gendered material at Qumran, in line with other sites in the region, should not discount the potential presence of women at the Qumran site. Lastly, John J. Collins, ("The Historical Context of the Teacher and His Movement") suggests a date post-Alexander Jannaeus for the conflict between the Teacher and the Wicked Priest and thus a late second century b.c.e. date for the origin of the Qumran movement, which, according to Collins, lies within the growing sectarian disputes regarding Torah interpretation in the Hasmonean period, starting with the reign of John Hyrcanus. In part 3, Jeff S. Anderson ("Assembled Israel: Performativity in Rewritten Bible at Qumran") proposes that the performativity of the rewritten speeches of Moses constructs a shared communal identity as the fulfillment of the Mosaic covenant in the present age. Donald W. Parry ("Late Hebrew Forms in 1QIsaa") identifies thirty categories of linguistic elements in which Late Biblical Hebrew, Qumran Hebrew, or Mishnaic Hebrew is reflected in 1QIsaa, which, according to Parry, reveal the milieu and linguistic environment of the scribe at or near the time of the copying of the text (ca. 125-100 b.c.e.). Surveying past studies and suggesting areas of future engagement, Femke Siebesma-Mannens ("Qumran Hebrew from the Perspective of Verbal Valence Patterns...

Perspectives on the Qumran Community: From the Essenes to the Yaḥad, and Beyond

Perspectives on the Qumran Community: From the Essenes to the Yaḥad, and Beyond

Scribes and Scrolls at Qumran, by Sidnie White Crawford

Scribes and Scrolls at Qumran, by Sidnie White Crawford

Catching John in Four Nets? Competition, Qumran, Sacramentalism and Messianism

Abstract In his recent study on John the Baptist Joel Marcus suggests that John founded a sect that was in competition with the early Jesus movement. Marcus also suggests that John himself was a former member of the 'Qumran community'. His baptism is considered as a kind of sacrament in which the Holy Spirit was imparted. How secure are these proposals? In this discussion, we conclude that in the oldest literary witnesses – Q, Mark and Matthew – the relationship between John and Jesus is seen in terms of mutual agreement (despite Jesus’s obvious superiority) and there are no recognizable traces of serious competition with John’s disciples, even less a ‘Baptist sect’. The evidence used by Marcus to suggest that John was once a member of the ‘Qumran community’ connects John with broader patterns of thought in Second Temple Judaism, not simply sectarians at one location. That John imparted the Holy Spirit in a sacramental rite can only be supported by radically altering biblical readings. However, Marcus has suggested that in light of all this that John thought of himself not only as Elijah but as a kind of Messiah, with the role of his successor, the Coming One, being to destroy the chaff. In doing this, Marcus redesigns John as a kind of alternative Christ of Faith. However, the underlying ‘competition model’ needs to be rejected and replaced with one that sees Jesus as claiming to be a successor to John, his highly esteemed teacher.

Reflections on John the Baptist in History and Theology by Joel Marcus

Abstract In this article, I engage with Joel Marcus’s recent book on John the Baptist, focusing on the relationship between John and the Dead Sea Scrolls. While I appreciate many parts of his detailed study, I question the claim that John was a former member of the Essenes. Although there are intriguing similarities, the question is how far reaching conclusions we may draw concerning such a relationship. I problematize some aspects of the comparison between the sources. Like many scholars, Marcus refers in particular to 1QS and the site of Khirbet Qumran for reconstructing the Essenes and hence John’s background. In response, I highlight the uncertainty about the Sitz im leben of 1QS in relation to Khirbet Qumran and ask why this particular manuscript should be privileged over others. Not least when it comes to purity halakhah there are many other documents than 1QS from Qumran that are highly relevant to the issue. Finally, I critically evaluate Marcus’s view that John the Baptist had a favorable attitude towards Gentiles, which according Marcus differed from the views of the Essenes.

John the Baptist in Memory, Judaism and Historical Materialism

Abstract Joel Marcus’s JBHT argues that John would have seen himself not as forerunner to Jesus but rather that he, and not Jesus, was the proclaimer and inaugurator of God’s apocalyptic kingdom. The historical Baptist, originally part of the Qumran community, broke away from this group due to his belief that he himself was the prophet Elijah and that his own ministry was central to God’s purposes. This article raises three methodological and historiographical questions concerning where Marcus might reconsider and/or expand the results of his study. First, can we really get at John’s self-understanding beyond the subjective memory impressions left in our extant sources? Second, does Marcus’s connection of John to the Qumran community rely on (mis)characterizations of the community as a marginal sect? Third, what social and economic forces prompted John’s ‘individual decision’ to relocate to the wilderness?

Response to the Respondents: Competition, Qumran and Supersessionism

Abstract The critics of JBHT in this issue have questioned three main aspects of the book: its assertion that early Christians competed with people who believed that John the Baptist was the principal figure in the history of salvation, its assertion that early in his career the Baptist was a member of the Qumran community, and the way in which the book situates the Baptist in relation to Second Temple Judaism in general. The article addresses these concerns, rebutting certain objections but acknowledging areas in which the book could have been more nuanced or further developed.

Qumran, Early Judaism, and New Testament Interpretation

Qumran, Early Judaism, and New Testament Interpretation

Methodology in the Use of the Old Testament in the New: Context and Criteria

Methodology in the Use of the Old Testament in the New: Context and Criteria