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John J. Collins here offers an up-to-date review of Jewish messianic expectations around the time of Jesus, in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls.He breaks these expectations down into categories: Davidic, priestly, and prophetic. Based on a small number of prophetic oracles and reflected in the various titles and names assigned to the messiah, the Davidic model holds a clear expectation that the messiah figure would play a militant role. In sectarian circles, the priestly model was far more prominent. Jesus of Nazareth, however, showed more resemblance to the prophetic messiah during his historical career, identified as the Davidic “Son of Man” primarily after his death. In this second edition of The Scepter and the Star Collins has revised the discussion of Jesus and early Christianity, completely rewritten a chapter on a figure who claims to have a throne in heaven, and has added a brief discussion of the recently published and controversial Vision of Gabriel.
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THE SCEPTER AND THE STAR The Scepter and the Star Messianism in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls SECOND EDITION John J. Collins WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN / CAMBRIDGE, U.K. John J. Collins All rights reserved © i995> 2010 First published 1995 by Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. This second edition published 2010 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 / P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K. Printed in the United States of America 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Collins, John Joseph, 1946The scepter and the star: messianism in light of the Dead Sea scrolls / John J. Collins. — 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes. ISBN 978-0-8028-3223-8 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Dead Sea scrolls. 2. Messiah — Prophecies. 3. Messiah — Judaism. I. Title. BM487.C57 2010 296.3'36 — dc22 2010034528 www.eerdmans.com Contents Preface to the Second Edition viii Preface to the First Edition ix Durer's Illustration of Christ Messiah xii Map of Palestine: Location ofQumran Caves xiii 1. Messianism and the Scrolls 1 A Common Jewish Hope? 3 The Dead Sea Scrolls 6 The Terminological Issue 16 2. The Fallen Booth of David: Messianism and the Hebrew Bible 21 The Emergence of a Canon 21 The Royal Ideology 24 Predictions of an Ideal King 26 A Gentile "Messiah" 32 A Messianic Movement in the Persian Period? 34 The Absence of Messianism in the Second Temple Period 37 The Transformation of Messianism in Daniel 42 The Savior King in Egyptian Judaism 46 Conclusion 50 v CONTENTS 3. A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse 52 The Psalms of Solomon 52 The Political Context 54 The Davidic Hope 57 The Davidic Messiah in the Scrolls 61 The Pesher on Isaiah 62 The Messiah in the War Rule 64 Diverse Titles of the Messiah 68 Star and Scepter in the Damascus Document 71 Exegetical Traditions 73 The Character and Role of the Davidic Messiah 77 4. The Messiahs of Aaron and Israel 79 One or Two Messiahs? 79 Theories of Development 84 EXCURSUS: The Damascus Document, Col. 7 87