| 2 Two "Messiahs": the "Prince of the Congregation" Together with texts which mention the two "Messiahs" of Aaron and of Israel we find others which also mention two messianic figures called by other names. We must try and establish their identity. 2.1 CD VII 18–2161 . . . Blank And the star is the Interpreter of the law 19 who will come to Damascus as is written: (Numbers 24:13) "A star moves out of Jacob, and a sceptre arises 20 out of Israel." The sceptre is the prince of the whole congregation and when he rises he will destroy 21 all the sons of Seth. Blank (DSST, 38). The "Prince of the whole congregation" is familiar to us and apart from 4Q376, where his character cannot be determined, always denotes a "messianic" figure. As in the previous texts, here he is equated with the sceptre. There is no doubt, therefore, about his identity with the "Messiah-king," the davidic "Messiah" of Jewish tradition and the "Messiah of Israel" of the other texts where the davidic character of such titles is muted. This text only tells us about the one who "will destroy all the sons of Seth," using the expression of Numbers 24:17, but without specifying its meaning (which in the original biblical text is not very clear either). But who is the "Interpreter of the Law" who here appears in parallel with him? Is he a figure from the past or from the future? The ambiguity of the text is well known and, ultimately, everything depends on the value of past or future given to the participle used. The authors who are convinced that in this Amos-Numbers Midrash only one messianic figure is spoken about 62 consider the "Interpreter of the Law" as a figure from the past. Whereas, those who see in our text an allusion to two "messianic" figures see a figure of the future in this same "Interpreter of the Law," contemporary with the "Prince of the whole congregation."63The strict parallelism between the two figures, the fact that both are interpreted starting from the same biblical text (to which later tradition was to give a clear messianic value) and, above all, the details which 4Q174 give us about this "Interpreter of the Law" who will come in the final times together with the "shoot of David," a figure whom 4Q174 explicitly identifies with the "Prince of the congregation," are enough, in my opinion, to resolve the ambiguity of the text in favour of the interpretation which sees reflected here hope in two messianic figures. It seems more difficult to determine who this "Interpreter of the Laws" is. Two interpretations have been suggested. Starcky 64 identified him with the expected eschatological prophet although this identification starts from a false premise, the non-separation of the two "Messiahs" of Aaron and of Israel in CD. The more prevalent opinion, following van der Woude,65 identifies this "Interpreter of the Law" with the "Messiah of Aaron." I.e., the "priest-Messiah" who should be identified with the eschatological figure of Elijah. Van der Woude’s reasoning essentially is as follows. The "Interpreter of the Law" of the passage is a person from the future and thus distinct from the "Interpreter of the Law" who occurs in CD VI 7 and is a person from the past. This person is found in parallel with the "Prince of the whole congregation," who is a messianic figure identical with the "Messiah of Israel," so that he must also be a messianic figure. The title given him, "Interpreter of the Law," is very general and can denote various figures, but the specification "who will come to Damascus" (meaning Qumran) is more significant. The clause comes from 1 Kings 19:15, where Elijah receives from God the order to go to Damascus to anoint the king of Syria, the king of Israel, and the prophet Elisha. In later tradition (attested in Justin, Dialog. 4966 and in the Karaite material collected by N. Wieder67) Elijah is portrayed as the eschatological High Priest who performs the anointing of the Messiah. In rabbinic tradition, Elijah is also portrayed as one who will resolve the halakhic problems the rabbis are unable to solve, when he returns at the end of times as a forerunner of the "Messiah." This permits van der Woude to conclude that the "Interpreter of the Law" denotes Elijah whose coming is expected at the end of times. This figure is seen as a "priestly Messiah" and thus is identical with the "Messiah of Aaron" of the other Qumran texts.My problem with this reasoning is that the two texts which mention the eschatological figure of the "Interpreter of the Law" tell us absolutely nothing about his priestly character; the features of "prophet" seem more characteristic of Elijah than those of "priest." Accordingly, for very different reasons from those of Starcky, I feel more inclined to identify this messianic figure of the eschatological "Interpreter of the Law" with the messianic figure about whom we have not yet spoken. He is the "Prophet" expected at the end of times, whose identification with Elijah redivivus can be accepted without problems. The reasons for this inclination will be set out when dealing in more detail with this figure of the "eschatological Prophet."
2.2 4Q174 (4QFlorilegium) The other text which mentions these same two "messianic" figures is known as Florilegium. 68And "YHWH de[clares] to you that he will build you a house. I will raise up your seed after you and establish the throne of his kingdom 11 [for ev]er. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me." This (refers to the) "branch of David," who will arise with the Interpreter of the law who 12 [will rise up] in Zi[on in] the last days, as it is written: "I will raise up the hut of David which has fallen," This (refers to) "the hut of 13 David which has fallen," who will arise to save Israel. Blank (DSST, 136). This text refers to the "Interpreter of the Law" by name. Together with him it speaks about the "branch of David," a familiar expression to denote the "Messiah-king," named "Prince of the whole congregation" in the preceding text. His identity with the "Messiah of Israel" presents no problem. Apart from their future coming, it tells us nothing about both figures. The requirement that this coming would take place in "the last days" remains important since it stresses his clear eschatological character.
Introduction | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 | Section 5 | Section 6 | Section 7 | Section 8 | Chapter Notes |