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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