| 3 Two "Messiahs": the "Heavenly Messiah" Another of the Qumran fragments in which the figure of a heavenly "Messiah" appears is a midrash of eschatological content, in which a heavenly person, an elohim, called Melchizedek, is the divine instrument of salvation and executes justice. The central part of the fragment (col. II 6–19) can be translated as follows: 696 He (Melchizedek) will proclaim liberty for them, to free them from [the debt] of all their iniquities. And this will [happen] 7 in the first week of the jubilee which follows the ni[ne] jubilees. And the day [of atonem]ent is the end of the tenth jubilee 8 in which atonement will be made for all the sons of [God] and for the men of the lot of Melchizedek. [And on the heights] he will decla[re in their] favour according to their lots; for 9 it is the time of the "year of grace" for Melchizedek, to exa[lt in the tri]al the holy ones of God through the rule of judgment, as is written 10 about him in the songs of David, who said: "Elohim will stand up in the assem[bly of God,] in the midst of the gods he judges." And about him he said: "Above it 11 return to the heights, God will judge the peoples." As for what he sa[id: "How long will yo]u judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah." 12 Its interpretation concerns Belial and the spirits of his lot, who were rebels [all of them] turning aside from the commandments of God [to commit evil.] 13 But, Melchizedek will carry out the vengeance of God’s judges [on this day, and they shall be freed from the hands] of Belial and from the hands of all the sp[irits of his lot.] 14 To his aid (shall come) all "the gods of [justice"; he] is the [one who will prevail on this day over] all the sons of God, and he will pre[side over] this [assembly.] 15 This is the day of [peace about which God] spoke [of old through the words of Isa]iah the prophet, who said: "How beautiful 16 upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, of the mess[enger of good who announces salvation,] saying to Zion: "Your God [reigns.’ "] 17 Its interpretation: The mountains are the pro[phets . . .] 18 And the messenger is [the ano]inted of the spirit about whom Dan[iel] spoke [. . . and the messenger of] 19 good who announces salv[ation is the one about whom it is written that [. . .] (DSST, 139–140).In spite of the uncertainty of the reconstructions, the broad lines of the content seem clear enough and are well known. Here, therefore, we only need to note the details which they give concerning the messianic figures to whom the text refers. The weave of the text is formed by Leviticus 25:8–13 concerning the jubilee year, Deuteronomy 15 concerning the year of release and Isaiah 61. The author also applies to Melchizedek, the protagonist, other texts from Isaiah, the Psalms and Daniel, the interpretation of which allows him to develop his ideas. The eschatological content is evident through the execution of justice and the deliverance from Belial. It is also evident because the whole is set specifically in the first week of the tenth jubilee, the final jubilee in his chronological system. In this context, the author ascribes three fundamental functions to this exalted figure: to be an avenging judge (with reference to Psalms 82:1–2 and 7:1); to be a heavenly priest who carries out atonement for his inheritance on the "day of atonement"; and to be the ultimate saviour of "the men of his lot" who destroys the kingdom of Belial and restores peace. With the restoration of the day of peace, the text seems to introduce a new person, identified as "the messenger" of Isaiah 52:7, a text which the author combines with Isaiah 61:2–3. It defines this person as "the anointed by the spirit," clearly in the singular. Unfortunately, neither the text of Daniel nor further details have been preserved. All that we can assert about him, therefore, is that the text clearly distinguishes him from the prophets of the past, and seems to consider him as introducing the action of the "heavenly Messiah." His identification as the "eschatological Prophet," which we will study next, cannot be considered as completely proved, but is certainly the most probable. 70
Introduction | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 | Section 5 | Section 6 | Section 7 | Section 8 | Chapter Notes |