Two Notes

on theMidrash

on 2 Sam. vii
D.FLUSSER
Hebrew

i. the

The

'Fragments

University,

Jerusalem

made

temple

'not

with

in the

qumran

doctrine

of a Qumran

Scroll

of Eschatological

tenet,

widespread

hands*

Midr?s?m',

recently

published byAllegro!, provide anotherpiece of evidence for the ancient roots

of theJewishmedieval belief that the futureeschatological templewill 'not
be built by human hands, but will descend ready built and whole from
heavens'.2

This

though

in medieval

Judaism,

did

not

originatewith the destructionof theSecond Temple ; itgoes back to the time

an ideal
was still
standing. The exalted vision of
Temple
at the end of days did not arise either from the people's mourning
for
temple
or from the
crisis which
the
the destroyed Temple
accompanied
protracted
It arose rather in
movement
in the
of the Second Temple.
period
apocalyptic
exile felt keenly
earlier times, when the Jews returning from the Babylonian

when

the Second

the contrast between

the real or

imagined

the poverty of the house which

of the Solomonic
splendours

they

were

Temple.

and
building
The prophet

Haggai (ii, 3) voices this sentiment.The hope of the people that theywould
to the belief that the tabernacle, the ark, and other holy
eventually return led
vessels would
be revealed at the end of days (2 Mace,
ii, 5-8).3 The author
of his time was not 'like the first one',
also knew that the Temple
of Tobit

and he believed that at the end of days the sons of Israel 'will build Jeru
salemwith honour and theHouse of God shall be built in her, even as the
her (Tob. xiv, 5).
prophets of Israel spoke concerning
The next step is thebelief that the eschatological templewill not be built
to be done with the existing
by men, but by God himself. But what is
1

JBL, 77, 1958, pp. 350-354.

Shabetai Zewi. Jerusalem,
G. Sholem:
1957, p. 223 (Hebrew).
3
See L. Ginzberg:
1947,
Legends of the Jews, III. Philadelphia,
*

p. 48; VI,

1946, p. 112.

99

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100

D.

FLUSSER

Temple? An answer to thisquestion is supplied by theBook of Enoch (XC,

'And I stood up to see till they folded up that old house...

28-29):

and they

carried itoffand laid it in a place in the south of the land.And I saw till the
a new house greater and loftier than that first, and set it
brought
up
in the
the first which had been folded
of
place
up...'

Lord...

The

has no

author of this vision

against the Temple of his time;

complaint
with
the
of
Hasmonean
rulers, but he nevertheless
speaks
sympathy
a
at the end of
hopes for better, God-made,
days. This shows that the
temple
belief in the eventual
removal of the actual
and its supernatural
Temple
not
its
in
to
had
the actual sanctuary, but
any antagonism
origin
replacement
even

he

a more
in the
later, however,
simply
hope for
splendid future. Somewhat
when external and internal conditions
became more
oppressive, many Jews
saw in their
a den of thieves, and the Qumran
went so
Covenanters
Temple
far as to declare

it unclean.

Some,

like the

as a
fitting punishment
Temple
disaster.
it, or as the result of a general national
was
destruction
Jesus.
destruction

of old, even
predicted the
for the sins committed in

prophets

of the

One

of these

prophets

of

Evidently, the older legend of thehouse to be built at the end of dayswas

interpretedand broadened by the added forebodingof doom for the existing

we
Of this combination4
to the
of the frag
Temple.
had-?up
publication
ments of our 'midrash'?-but
one
the words of the
will
example,
Gospel:
that ismade with hands and in three
this
down
build
another
pull
temple
days
not made with hands'5
Matt,
61
;
58;
xiv,
xxvi,
19; see also
(Mark
Johnii,
Mark

xv, 29; Matt,

xxvii, 40

and Acts
believe ?

vi, 14).

many
Nowadays
rightly, in our opinion?'that
a kind of
verse
represents
quoted
eschatological
apocalyptic
prophecy
of the time.6 I also agree with those who
think that these words

typical
are an

and not a false testimony

(as the

scholars

the

authentic sayingofJesus (according to John, in a somewhatmodified form)

before

the High

Priests

and the Sanh?drin

SynopticGospels have it).This view can be supportedby the storyof the trial
of

Stephen,

On

against whom

the supernaturally

built

false witnesses

eschatological

temple

testified:

in Jewish

'We heard him

literature,

to the Aggadah,
2, 1931, pp. 270-272
Tarbiz,
Heavenly
Temple
According
5
to C. H. Rieu:
Translation
The Four Gospels. 1956.
according
6
See R. Bultmann:
Die Geschichte der synoptischen Tradition.
G?ttingen,
1958,
pp. 17-18.
Erg?nzungsheft,

say that

see A. Aptowitzer:

The

(Hebrew).
1957,

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pp.

126-127;

and

TWO

NOTES

Jesus

the Nazarene

Jesus

said these words

will

ON

THE

MIDRASH

destroy this place'

when overturning

ON

2 SAM. vii

101

to
(Acts vi, 14). According
John,
the moneychangers'
tables. This

on
to the
to
according
Jesus' last visit
Jeru
Synoptic Gospels,
happened,
one of
announcement
the
the
of
the
destruction of
salem.7 Could
be
Temple
the main reasons for Jesus' execution?
seems to be
event from A.D. 62.
supported by another
possibility
'a rude
tells us of another Jesus, Jesus the son of Ananias,
peasant',
Josephus
at
that
the
the
destruction of
'Therefore the
time, prophesied
who,
Temple.
as itwas indeed the case, that the man was under some
magistrates,
supposing,
This

him before theRoman governor ; there, although

supernatural impulse, brought
to the bone with scourges, he neither sued for mercy nor shed a tear,
flayed
into his ejaculation,
but, merely introducing the most mournful of variations
to
to each stroke with:
'Woe
the
Albinus,
Jerusalem'. When
responded
governor, asked him who and whence he was, and why he uttered these cries,
him never a word, but unceasingly reiterated his dirge over the city,
him amaniac, and let him go' (Bell. Jud., VI, 300-309).
until Albinus
pronounced
If a prophecy of doom was sufficient, in this later case, for the magistrates
of
to the Roman
the Jews to hand over the
there is no
governor,
'blasphemer'
an
case
reason to doubt that in
some
analogous
thirty years earlier, Jesus
tells us.
suffered the same fate for the same reason, as the
Gospel

he answered

This is only a rough sketchof theproblem ofJesus' prophecyof destruction.

not examine

the question
the
in Mark
further, because
prophecy
an
to the new Qumran
instructive and relevant
xiv, 58 is in any case
parallel
a
the
the
of
of
this
authenticity
fragment;
saying is irrelevant to
question
two texts, which is the proper subject of this
study.
comparison between the

We

need

The

new

a
part of midrash

fragment contains

on

the

prophecy

of Nathan

(2 Sam. vii, 6-16) and the beginning of anothermidrash on the firstchapters

of Psalms.

The

first midrash

the future temple (lines

includes

1-7). The

between the present and

comparison
future temple 'will move him no more neither

will a son of wickedness afflicthim (or: it) anymore as at first' (based on

2 Sam. vii, 1 ).? The future
'is the House
temple
flesh there is a permanent
any one in whose

where
blemish

to have transposed
the deed and the saying*to
John is well known
and to have interpreted the saying allegorically.
8
to Y. Yadin,
see above, p. 95.
Text restored according

there shall not enter

and

an Ammonite

the beginning

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of Jesus'

career

102
and

D.

a Moabite

and

a bastard

FLUSSER

and

an

alien

for ever

and

ever for His

ones there will be for ever; and He

shall be seen continually upon
holy
as
at first
it desolate,
it, and strangers shall not again make
they desolated
the Sanctuary of Israel because of their sins.' The present
is evidently
Temple
in
the
and polluted
contained
desecrated
(a meaning
'desolate'9),
expression
therefore in the future there will be revealed 'the House which He shall make in
: the sanctuary of the Lord
the Lord shall reign for ever and ever' (Exod.
established,
verse
to
is quoted
The
from
Exodus
the text of 2 Sam.
XV, 17-18).
explain
vii, 11 : 'for a house shall the Lord make for thee' :10 the house of the future
the End of Days,
thy hands have

as it iswritten

in the Book

own hands,
by God's
the distinction
text, our author makes

ofMoses

not

his
by human hands.
Interpreting
between the 'sanctuary of Israel' and the
17
this eschatolo
xv,
snp?). Concerning

shall be made

'sanctuary of the Lord' of Exod.

a
to build Him
he says further: 'And He
gical
Sanctuary
temple
purposed
in
which
will
Him
sacrificed
be
before
Law'
deeds
of
men,11
amongst
(i.e.
sacrifices).12

In my
the
this sectarian midrash
and the saying
opinion,
parallel between
a new
inMark xiv, 58 is very striking indeed. In both texts the
expectation of
a
negative attitude to the existing sanctuary. Jesus called
temple is linked with

theTemple a 'den of thieves' (Mark xi, 17; Matt, xxi, 13; Lukexix, 46) and

our midrash

says that it is 'desolate', viz. polluted. Even if the small fragment

is to be
of the midrash does not in so many words say that the actual Temple
The

word

in 1 Mace,

does
i, 39;

not mean
iv, 38;

and

glory have been desecrated

the root d?p in our midrash

as e
'to destroy'-?the
is still standing!?but
is used
Temple
our sanctuary and our beauty and
ii, 12: 'And behold

especially
(
and

) and the heathen

in the Hebrew
(probably)

have

our

them.' The

of
profaned
meaning
is identical with one
original of 1Mace,
oq?p? ppar in Dan.
ix, 27; xii, 11.

of the meanings
into play in the expression
brought
10
translation.
My
11
It would
has suggested)
Sheschar
be easy to amend
(as my pupil M.
of qeri and ketiv in Joshua
Col. II, 1.26; and the variations
v, 1; cf. also

cnx to ^is
(see DST
2 Kings
xxii, 4 with
text adjoining
the inter

oik is made
certain by the biblical
xxxiv, 9). But the reading
' '
min
?ixn
reads:
which
combination
passage,
(2 Sam. vii, 19). The
apparent
preted
'jnx Diari seems to have enabled
to call the ?
the author of our midrash
?ip? of Exod. xv by
he mean
that this temple will be built for the Davidic
the cryptic name oik anpa. Could
messiah?
2 Chron.

in view of his messianic

of 2 Sam. vii, 12 (
is possible
interpretation
?as). The next verse
a house
a house
our com
'he (evidently:
the messiah)
for my name'
shall build
of which
says
can only suppose
verse (11)
mentator
the preceding
that it is identical with the house of which
shall God make
for thee'; see also Y. Yadin,
says 'a house
above, p. 96, n. 13.
12
statement
The
to future sacrifices in DSW
is meant
the
cf.
attitude
II, 5-6;
positively,
positive
cf. also Ecclesiasticus
xlv, 24-29 (Segal's
ed.).
This

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TWO

NOTES

ON

THE

ON

MIDRASH

2 SAM. vii

103

must have had an idea of this kind in mind. The old

destroyed, its author
if a new one is to be erected in its
house has to be done away with somehow,
we saw this even in the
in the Book
of Enoch
place;
apocalyptic
prophecy
as
not
to
as our
is
cit.
which
hostile
the
above, p. 100),
(Joe.
existing Temple
ascribed to Enoch, the words put into Jesus'
apocalypse
our midrash,
mouth
in the
and the late Jewish legend
Gospel,
amply attested
a
new
not
in talmudic literature, all share the belief in
made with hands.
temple,
to link Exod.xv,
It was this belief that led the author of our midrash
17 'a
midrash.

Thus

the

sanctuary of the Lord thy hands have established', with the prophecy of Nathan
in 2 Sam. vii, 11 on the future house.13 It is therefore
that the
quite possible
saying of Jesus
Exod. XV, 17.

is also

ultimately

dependent

on

a similar

interpretation

of

The belief in a future,divinely-builttemple consoled theJewish people for

hundreds

of years after the destruction

of the real edifice. We

cannot

in this

paper pursue the various literary forms which this belief assumed through the
centuries. Even so, the following
from the late Midrash VayoshafU
quotation
saw the love of the
should be interesting in our context:
'When Moses
Holy

Blessed One (=God) to Israel, he said beforeHim: O Master of theWorld,

Thou wilt bring them there and plant them there,15and with this planting
there shall be no
to come
pulling-up for ever, and Thou wilt make Jerusalem
down for them from heaven, and will not
destroy it for ever, and the Exiles of
Israel shall be gathered in her and they shall dwell there in
security. Therefore
it is written:
Lord Thine

11

Thou
hands

shalt bring them in and plant

have established/16

them etc., a sanctuary of the

text is interpreted as speaking of the future temple;

thus 'a son of wickedness
will
to mean
not understood
afflict it any more' was
and inter
Israel, but the future temple,
It is therefore probable
that the word
'njrott in this verse served as a further
preted
accordingly.
link with Exod. xv. See also below, n. 15.
14
A. Jel nek, ed.: Beth ha-Midrash,
I. Jerusalem,
1938, p. 55.
15
are interpreted as meaning
Here
these words
the same work
Israel, but at another place
says :
:n nVya -\f?wb
? ina wiwn
\o\mi
pa
"jnVm -ini layoni iax>m :*iax2& ,n&aVmpn
mpn wp
The whole

not

And the temple, God will bring it down

as He
from Heaven,
as it is
has shown it to Moses,
written: Thou
shalt bring them in and plant them, etc.
18
anxp ivapn bv manx
rvasV -?ax b&w m
nxiv j?pd
(Hebrew
text): .vnm dp oyoni ox'aft yarn
> bv
> *> 0331
>
xVl D'?Dt^np
O^fflV Vilm
,?ViyV
D^1?V ,*W?Jl3 ?ViV xVP nr?i
liais *
, ^
mi
:iax3
laytmi lax'an
.n?iV ivVy las^i nai?iV
.y
?npa / ntyc inatti psa
'Vi naia ?npan
See also M. Friedmann,
ed.: Seder Eliahu Rabba. Wien,
1902, p. 150:
px Vl3'l3
?
iva xVx dix
.yv 13313 ?318 enp>a ? 3 ,

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104

D.

FLUSSiER

to Zunz, as late as the eleventh or even the

quoted is, according
material which is considerably older.
contains
century,17 but probably

The work
twelfth

so, there need be no direct connection

Even

medieval

midrash;

temple could have

two
separate and
II.

'THE

the basic belief

in a renewed,

taken the verse

in Exodus

independent
OF

divinely-built,
xv as a
scriptural

and the

eschatological
justification

on

occasions.
DAVID

WHO

INTERPRETER

OF

SHOOT

the Qumranic

between

WILL
THE

THE

WITH

STAND
LAW*

2 Sam. vii, 14
will be his father and he
interprets
shall be my son' as referring to the 'shoot of David',
i. e. as the Davidic
another eschatological
the Davidic
messiah
but combines with
messiah,
The

sectarian midrash

importance
although

was of such
personality
it necessary to include him,
this

the interpreter of the law. Evidently,

to the sect that the midrash
found

pesonality,

the biblical

passage

speaks

about

one man

only. As

is well

known,

the sectbelieved that therewould be three leaderson the last days18: ithoped

of the anointed
for the coming of the Davidic
messiah,
high-priest of the
in Israel. As we shall
last days and the prophet who will renew prophecy
is identical with the
see, the interpreter of the law in the sectarian midrash

eschatological high priest.Our problem is to explain why the anointed priest

of the last days should be called 'interpreter of the law'.

It is well known that Num.
xxiv, 17 : 'There shall come a star out of Jacob,
is regarded by Jewish tradition as a
and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel',
was
it
also the view of the sect; but, because
messianic
testimony. This
believed

in two anointed

ones,

different personalities. According

the Davidic
messiah
('the messiah

it saw

in the

two
'sceptre'
the 'sceptre' is evidently

'star' and

to its

the

interpretation,
of Israel') because it is written

inGen.xlix,

10

'the sceptre shall not

from Judah'. It follows logically that the 'star'
depart
to
the
of Aaron'),
the sect, the Aaronic messiah
is, according
('the messiah

high priest of the last days. This is also the interpretationof theTestaments
of the Patriarchs, a work apparentlycomposed on the peripheryof the sect
on

and based

sectarian

sources. The

star of the eschatological

shall arise in heaven as of a king (Test.LeviXVIII,

17
18
Van

L. Zunz:
See

Die

especially
der Woude:

'new priests'

3) ; theTestamentofJudah

gottesdienstlichen Vortr?ge der Juden. Frankfurt a/M, 1892, pp. 294-295.

1959. pp. 117-140
of David.
J. Liver: The House
Jerusalem,
(Hebrew)
Die messianichen Vorstellungen der Gemeinde von Qumr?n. Essen,
1957.

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and A.

S.

TWO

NOTES

ON

THE

MIDRASH

ON

2 SAM. vii

105

1-6) speaks about the two anointed ones in the following manner:
like
'And after these things shall a star arise to you from Jacob in
peace,19
in meekness
the son of righteousness walking with the sons of men
and
of
shine
Then
shall
the
forth, and from
my kingdom
sceptre
righteousness...
(XXIV,

shall arise a stem.. / The

your root

of Num.
xxiv, 17 is evidently
'sceptre'
ruler of the last days and the 'star from Jacob' the eschatological

the Davidic
'new

priest'.

as
to two
in the
referring
interpreted
personalities
Damascus
document (CDC) VII ; 18-20 : '... the star is the interpreter of the
as it is written : 'There shall
came (or : shall come) to Damascus,
law who
a
out of Israel'?the
come a star out of
sceptre shall arise
sceptre
Jacob and
when
he arises, he shall strike
the
and
is the
congregation,
prince of all
Num.

violently
messiah,20

xxiv,

17

is also

all sons of Seth'. The

as is the

'sceptre'
therefore that the 'star' in CDC

the congregation
is the Davidic
prince of all
in the 'Testaments of the Patriarchs'.
It follows

is the messiah
from Aaron, the eschatological
to this source, to be identified with the
star is, according
The
high priest.
to the sect, stand with
the law as well, who shall, according
interpreter of
the 'shoot of David',
i. e. with the Davidic
messiah. The conclusion must be
as the new
texts the
will be manifested
interpreter of the law
our
that
The
sectarian
the
last
midrash
confirms
days.
priest of
supposition21
the
titles in the scrolls are not used merely with intent to mystify
personal
but rather as precise terms (with connotations known to the initiated), designat
that in both

the sacred history of the sect. It is thus highly

ing the chief dramatispersonae'm
same
sect
the
that
the
title to describe different persons.
used
unlikely
personal
to the
In our case it is clear that the interpreter of the law, who, according
to the
is (according
sectarian midrash will
stand with the Davidic
messiah,
e.
new
of
all
the
who
is
with
the
the
named
the 'star', i.
CDC)
prince
priest
i. e. with the Davidic messiah.
congregation,
There can be no doubt that the interpreter of the law is a historical
sonality.22 We

learn inter alia

from the text of CDC

VII,

per
19 that he came to

lf

in the Armenian
shall arise from my seed,' which are missing
The following words
'And a man
xxiv, 17
version, seem to be an interpretation formed on the basis of the Septuagint version of Num.
see Van der Woude,
ibid., p. 208.
,0
See Van der Woude,
ibid., p. 58.
J1
ans etc., in Kirjath Sepher, 33, 1958, p.457.
Dix
See our recension
of: J. T. Milik:
"
that the interpreter of the
Van den Woude,
op. cit. (above, n. 18), pp. 54, 185 et passim supposes
is the future sacerdotal
18 and of the sectarian midrash
and that this
law in CDC VII,
messiah,

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D. FLUSSER

106
Damascus23;

he is named

in CDC

VI,

those

5-6 with

'who went

out from the

It is almost certain that

land of Judah and sojourned in the land of Damascus'.24

the founder
the CDC was written after the death of the teacher of righteousness,
of the sect.25 If so, it seems that the interpreter of the law was the successor of
in Damascus.
Is it,
the founder and the spiritual leader of the community
as
a
18
in CDC VII,
the
is designated
real personality
that
therefore, possible
man
as
the
in
the
sectarian
midrash
and
'star', the eschatological
high priest,
who

will

stand with

the shoot of David?

is it

in other words,

Or,

possible
that the sect expected that one of its members would manifest himself in his
lifetime as the new priest of the last days ?
one of itsmembers
to be the messiah
that the sect
The hypothesis
expected

an inevitable
seems to us not merely a
of
postulate
possibility, but
of view, the chief aim of the sect was
its ideology. From the political
point
of
of the Temple
to conquer the Land of Israel, to take possession
originally
of Aaron

Terusalem
Zadokite

and to dethrone
priests

held

the wicked

priests.

a very
prominent

It is also well

in the sect. The

position

that the

known26

community

a
hoped evidently that priest of this family,which ruled in theTemple before
the Hasmoneans,
logical
branch

to assume

the wicked priests of the present

replace
come
that the future Zadokite
high priest would

and

would

it is

from the

of this family which had joined the sect. The sect was an apocalyptic
movement
that the re-enthroning of a Zadokite
and believed
high priest would
would
be the eschatolo
be realized in the last days. The legitimate high priest

is an historical personality.
is not identical with the interpreter of the law of CDC VI, 7, who
is an historical
that the interpreter of the law in CDC
op. cit. (above, n. 18) p. 126, supposes
new
term
the
same
in
midrash
the
sectarian
and
that
the
priest of the last
designates
personality
person

Liver,

to demonstrate
in the present
days. I hope
also the next note.
"
xan could also be
of
The meaning
in assuming

that the

of

interpreter
an historical
leader

the

article
'who

that these

shall

to Damascus,'

come

law, mentioned

suppositions

in CDC

VI,

are not necessary.

but
8 with

scholars
the

are

sojourners

See

right
in

was
of the sect in this locality.
Damascus,
24
term or a name for
is a real geographical
whether Damascus
It is not important to our purpose
to the city in Syria, because
there is
am
that
refers
'Damascus'
I
convinced
personally
Qumr?n.
was
to
sect
the
Damascus
to
the
that
exodus
of
the
of
no absolute
assertions
CDC,
deny
necessity
is situated
'from the land of Judah' (IV, 2-3 ;VI, 5) 'to the land of north' (VII, 13-14)?and
Qumr?n
in the Judean desert.
21
At the time when

document was composed,

the Damascus
13-5), and it is probable
already dead (VIII, 21; XX,
10-11
As regards CDC VI,
with the teacher of righteousness.
"
n.
220.
cit.
See e. g. Van den Woude,
(above,
18), p.
op.
) was

the teacher

(
of the community
that he is identical

but not certain

see note

29 below.

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TWO

NOTES

ON

THE

MIDRASH

ON

2 SAM. vii

107

sects believe
new
from Aaron. But all apocalyptic
the messiah
gical
priest,
to our sectarians that
that the last days are imminent, and it seemed probable
from
would be very soon revealed as the messiah
priest
the
that
the
in
fact
CDC
is
therefore nothing astonishing
Aaron. There
(VII,
e.
as
'new
the
law
i.
the
the
the
of
describes
'star',
18-20)
priest'
interpreter
is on the contrary quite natural, ifwe assume that the
of the last days?it
seems obvious,
Our supposition
of the law was a Zadokite
priest.
interpreter
a
was
movement
movements
sect
and
messianic
messianic
because the
regularly
one of their Zadokite

to
messiahship.
pretenders
the coming
that the same document
But how is it possible
speaks of
as
two anointed ones, the messiahs
of Aaron
and of Israel,
something

have

their

of the
about

2 3 XIV,
tohappen in thefuture(CDC VII, 21 XII,
19 XX,
;
;
;
l)? It seems that

of the law was only a pretender to the messianic

interpreter
he will arise' ? naya,
messiah
when
the Davidic
appeared ('when
the law become the messiah
of Aaron
the
20) would
interpreter of
'the shoot of David will stand with the interpreter of the law'.
the

The

use of messianic

titles for the actual

role ; only
CDC VII,

; only then

living leaders of the sect seems to

of the two anointed ones. Yet the

for a future revelation

hope
can be resolved by theological
From the strictly
considerations.
difficulty
no man can be defined as a messiah
view
of
before he has
theological
point
the task of the anointed. From this point of view there can exist
accomplished
some doubt whether the
only messianic pretenders and there is always
pretender
seems
that in the time of the
and
will really succeed in his task. It
Temple
contradict

the

after its destruction

such theological doubts and restrictions had their practical

Thus Bar-Kochba
called himself nasi
and not king
consequences.
(prince),27
or messiah,
the task traditionally assigned
because he had not yet completed
as the
that Jesus did not
proclaim himself explicitly
can find another
that a
Christ before his death for the same reason. We
proof
to the messiah;

it seems

was not yet a messiah

in the story of Judas of Galilee who
'rose up
pretender
in the days of the taxing and drew away much
after him, he also
people

name is found in theActs in a list of men who

perished' (Acts v, 37). His
boasted themselves 'to be somebody.'We learn fromJosephus (B.J. II, 444)
17

See e. g. Van den Woude,

ibid., p.116,
to the messianic
icant parallel
connotation
is designated
for the present
Zerubbabel
will be God's
servant, 'for I have chosen

is a signif
op.cit. (above., n. 18), p. 146. There
of the interpreter of the law in Haggai
ii, 20-23, where
time as 'governor of Judah,' but in the day of Lord he
and Liver,

thee,

saith the Lord

of hosts.'

See Liver,

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ibid.

pp. 96-7.

108

D. FLUSSER

was murdered
that Judas'
in the
son, Menahem,
being 'arrayed in
Temple,
royal robes/ It seems that afterJudas' death, his partisans transferred the status

of pretender to the kingship to his son. It is clear that ifa pretenderdid not
a real messiah

in being

succeed

that he had

after his death

in his lifetime, his adherents would

revealed

himself

as an anointed

case of
and his son Menahem
Judas of Galilee
the teacher of righteousness was once
of whether

question
been a

is by no means
The
sure, but it is quite possible.
was the founder of the sect, and a
priest {Commentary

toPsalms III, 15, see II, 4 andDSH

alive,

to have

believed

This

pretender.

teacher of righteousness
was

one.28

leads us to the

The

messianic

not believe

the sect could believe

date as the sacerdotal messiah.

II, 8), possibly a Zadokite priest :while he

that he would
As

at some

reveal himself

in the case of
Judas of Galilee

future

and his son,

this claimwas naturally abolished by his death and could then be transferred
to the

two
of the law. Admittedly much of this is
interpreter
hypothetical, but
sure :
seem to be
a
real
Firstly the interpreter of the law,
practically

points

as a
was
to the task of the sacerdotal messiah
;
regarded
pretender
personality,
that in the time of the resurrection the teacher
and secondly, if the sect believed
have a special task,29 this task could not be that of
of righteousness would
he had not shown himself to be the messiah
the messiah,
because
in his
lifetime.
some relevance for the
line of reasoning has possibly
study of the
the sectarian ideas about the
To my mind
Gospels.
interpreter of the law
to the so-called
furnish an interesting parallel
is
Messiasgeheimniss. Jesus, who
Our

to be the Christ, nevertheless

sometimes
by the Gospels
supposed
speaks
the Saviour
in the third person. The
situation in CDC
about
is basically
invests a concrete historical person with the titles
similar; the same document
and announces
of the
the future
nevertheless
priestly messiah,
coming of the
of Aaron.

messiah
?8
19

of course,

Jesus,
CDC

VI,

offered here, namely

that the

interpreter of the

to be the Christ not after his death, but because of his death.
there shall arise the teacher of righteousness*
is difficult to interpret; it seems
is the teacher of righteousness
after his resurrection;
of course, that
assuming,
is believed

10-11'until
is meant

that what

solution

The

in a general
resurrection
in the end of times ; inwhich context one should compare
'And after these things shall Abraham
of the Patriarch Judah:
and Isaac and Jacob arise
shall be chiefs to the tribes of Israel
life, and I and my brethren
'{Test. Jud. XXV,
1). If we

the sect believed

the words
unto
assume
messiah,
revealed

that the resurrected

teacher

there is no contradiction
in his

of righteousness

lifetime

of righteousness
the claim
between

as the sacerdotal

messiah

could

not assume

the function

of the Aaronic

that the interpreter of the law could be possibly

and the belief in the resurrection
of the teacher

at the end of times.

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TWO
law was

NOTES

in a way a
pretender

ON

THE

MIDRASH

ON

to the task of a messiah,

2 SAM. vii
who

109

could not be clearly

designed as suchbeforebeing definitelyrevealed,might possibly apply also to

can say that in them
uses the same manner of
the Synoptic Gospels. We
Jesus
the third
of the coming Saviour, but nevertheless implies
speaking (in
person)
that he himself is to be theMessiah.

considers the interpreter of the law to be still a

apparently
itmust have been composed
during his lifetime. Unless
potential messiah,
thus be one of the early
other
is forthcoming to the contrary, itwould
proof
documents of the sect.
As

our midrash

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