4 Maccabees<\/p>\n
David A. deSilva<\/p>\n
4 Maccabees is a philosophical demonstration of the thesis that \u201creason\u201d (the rational faculty of the human mind) is able to gain the upper hand over the emotions, cravings, and physical sensations (collectively, the \u201cpassions\u201d) that exert such powerful force over the will of human beings. The author seeks to prove that it is particularly the training and formation provided by close observance of, and thoughtful reflection upon, the Torah that enables such ethical self-mastery. He does this in two ways.
\nIn the first main section of the text (1:13\u20133:18), he discusses the ways in which particular commandments of Torah restrain particular passions, and he provides examples from the Jewish Scripture of individuals who have mastered those passions in particular circumstances. In the second and longer section (3:19\u201317:6), he revisits the story of the repression of Judaism under Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167\u2013166 BCE and, in particular, the martyrdoms of Eleazar (5:1\u20137:23), seven brothers (8:1\u201314:10), and their mother (14:11\u201317:6), first told in the earlier book of 2 Maccabees. Faced with the alternatives of giving in to fear and pain or remaining loyal toward the covenant and their God through fearsome tortures unto death, each figure shows his or her self-mastery by choosing the virtuous course of action. The author praises each in turn, commending these martyrs as examples for his audience to imitate in their own struggles against enticements (or compulsions) to compromise the Jewish way of life.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
The 4th-century Christian authors Eusebius and Jerome attributed the work to Josephus, but it does not match his style or his more indulgent attitude toward assimilation. The anonymous author was a devout, Torah-observant, Diaspora Jew. He was a master of the Greek language and shows a high degree of facility in Greek philosophy, literature, and rhetoric. He puts this knowledge to full use in the service of promoting adherence to the Jewish way of life. The author clearly knows 2 Maccabees, which functions as his source. He has thoroughly recast the story found in 2 Macc. 3\u20137, however, to serve his own rhetorical goals. He shows a sweeping familiarity with the Torah and returns several times to the exemplary behavior of Daniel and his three companions.
\nThe work is thoroughly integrated, the product of a single hand, with the possible exception of the mother\u2019s second speech in 18:6\u201319. If 4 Maccabees originally circulated with a title, that is now lost. It is associated with the other books of the \u201cMaccabees\u201d since it recounts events also known from 1 Macc. 1 and 2 Macc. 3\u20137, even though the family of Judas Maccabaeus and its exploits are never mentioned. The work was perhaps more appropriately known as \u201cOn the Supremacy of Reason\u201d in the early church (Hist. eccl. 3.10.6; Vir. ill. 13).
\nThe author does not write in response to a new or special crisis besetting the Jewish community. Rather, he addresses the everyday challenge of maintaining pride in, and commitment to, the Jewish way of life in an environment that often criticized that way of life as \u201cbarbaric,\u201d provincial, and somehow deficient in comparison with the Greek cultural achievement. 4 Maccabees may have been composed for delivery on a special occasion (1:10; 3:20), perhaps Hanukkah or a festival connected with the giving of the Torah (Simchat Torah or Pentecost), perhaps a day commemorating the nine martyrs.
\nElias Bickerman argues that 4 Maccabees was written during a period when Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia were all administered as part of a single province (see 4 Macc. 4:2), hence sometime between 18 and 72 CE. Others argue on the basis of literary style and vocabulary that the work comes from the late 1st or early 2nd century CE. A date between 50 and 100 CE is probably to be preferred.
\nEarlier generations of scholars supposed the work to have been written in Alexandria, Egypt, the city that produced Philo of Alexandria, the famous Jewish philosopher. However, there were large Jewish populations in many centers with lively philosophical culture. This author, indeed, completely avoids the allegorizing tendencies so closely associated with Alexandria. The literary epitaph proposed for the martyrs in 17:9\u201310 reflects wording used on real Jewish epitaphs in Cilicia, in southeastern Asia Minor (modern Turkey), and suggests that the author wrote from that region. The greater interest shown these martyrs in and around Antioch would tend to support this view.
\nThe work was composed in Greek, a language in which the author demonstrates native proficiency. 4 Maccabees was preserved by the early church. The earliest manuscripts that preserve the complete text are Codex Sinaiticus (4th century CE) and Codex Alexandrinus (5th century CE).<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
4 Maccabees offers a strikingly innovative interpretation of the Torah-observant way of life in terms of the ethical goals and models prized among Greek and Roman philosophers. Among the surviving corpus of extracanonical literature, the author shows the greatest affinity with Philo and the author of the Letter of Aristeas. Unlike them, however, he avoids defending the Torah by means of offering allegorical explanations of its distinctive commandments. Rather, he presents the regimen of the Torah-observant life as a training program that fits reason to gain the upper hand over the passions, and thus to nurture the (Greek) cardinal virtues of justice, courage, self-control, and wisdom. Perhaps the most striking feature is the author himself, who can embrace Greek language, thought, and ideals so fully without ever sacrificing his commitment to the traditions of the elders. 4 Maccabees promotes the Jewish way of life in close dialogue with, rather than isolation from, the Greek cultural milieu.
\n4 Maccabees appears not to have achieved canonical status in any early Jewish group. If the early Christian codices in which it appears represent canonical collections, then it may have enjoyed canonical status in the early Eastern churches, at least by the 4th century, though that status was not to last. The work exerted no discernible influence within Rabbinic Judaism. The story of the mother and her seven sons would be retold in Rabbinic circles, set during the reign of Hadrian, but their story was more readily available in 2 Maccabees, the work that helped establish Hanukkah as part of the liturgical calendar. The most enduring influence of 4 Maccabees would be within the early Christian movement, particularly in the 2nd and 3rd centuries as martyrdom became a more pressing issue for Christians. After the conversion of Constantine, it continued to be cited for its praise of the power of religious reason.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
The author gives two important cues concerning how to read his work. First, he asks us to read it as an essay that offers both argumentation and exemplary evidence for the proposition that the religiously trained mind can gain the upper hand over all the contrary forces within us and outside us that drag us away from doing what we know to be best before God. Second, he invites us to join him in admiring the outstanding achievements of nine Jewish martyrs, whose courageous and praiseworthy example rivals that of the heroes of any other culture or tradition and can encourage us to hold fast to virtue in our lesser contests. Both strands are woven together throughout the work, as the author moves from restatements of his thesis to expansive praise of the martyrs, whose extreme endurance proves the rule. These two strands come together in the climactic exhortation of the work (18:1), which beckons the \u201cseed of Abraham\u201d to continue to devote themselves to the Torah-observant way of life, certain that, by so doing, they will achieve those ideals of excellence prized\u2014but never so well attained\u2014by their neighbors.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Bickerman, Elias J. \u201cThe Date of Fourth Maccabees.\u201d In Studies in Jewish and Christian History, 1.275\u201381. Leiden: Brill, 1976.
\nBoyarin, Daniel. Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism. Palo Alto CA: Stanford University Press, 1999.
\ndeSilva, David A. 4 Maccabees: Introduction and Commentary on the Greek Text in Codex Sinaiticus. Septuagint Commentary Series. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. 4 Maccabees. Guides to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance. Grand Rapids MI: Baker, 2002.
\nGutman, Y. \u201cThe Story of the Mother and Her Seven Sons in the Agadah and in II and IV Maccabees\u201d (Hebrew). In Commentationes Iudaico-Hellenisticae in Memoriam I. Levy, 25\u201337. Jerusalem: Magnes, 1949.
\nHadas, Moses. The Third and Fourth Books of Maccabees. New York: Harper, 1953.
\nKlauck, Hans-Josef. 4 Makkab\u00e4erbuch. J\u00fcdische Schriften aus hellenistisch-r\u00f6mischer Zeit 3.6. G\u00fctersloh: Gerd Mohn, 1989.
\nMoore, S. D., and J. C. Anderson. \u201cTaking It Like a Man: Masculinity in 4 Maccabees.\u201d Journal of Biblical Literature 117 (1998): 249\u201373.
\nvan Henten, Jan W. The Maccabean Martyrs as Saviors of the Jewish People: A Study of 2 and 4 Maccabees. Leiden: Brill, 1997.
\nYoung, Robin D. \u201cThe \u2018Woman with the Soul of Abraham\u2019: Traditions about the Mother of the Maccabean Martyrs.\u201d In \u201cWomen Like This\u201d: New Perspectives on Jewish Women in the Greco-Roman World, ed. Amy-Jill Levine, 67\u201381. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1991.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
1:1. most philosophical The author of the Letter of Aristeas regarded the primary goal of philosophy to be mastering oneself so as to perform one\u2019s duty consistently rather than be driven by one\u2019s passions and impulses (Let. Aris. 221\u201322, 256). Josephus (J.W. 2.119\u201366) and Philo (Embassy 156, 245) also speak of Judaism as a kind of philosophy, comparing the different sects within Judaism with different philosophical schools. 4 Maccabees reflects this wider tendency to promote the value of Torah observance in terms readily acceptable among Jews who have thoroughly internalized Hellenistic values.
\ndevout reason \u2026 emotions The Gk. word pathos, here translated \u201cemotion,\u201d includes cravings, impulses, and physical sensations as well as emotional responses. Greek and Latin philosophers regularly promoted mastery of these experiences, or self-mastery, as the path to a consistently virtuous life (Phaedr. 93\u201394; Tusc. 2.22.53; Ep. 116.1; Mor. 440D). This author seeks to demonstrate that it is \u201cdevout reason,\u201d the mind shaped by training in and obedience to the Jewish Torah (4 Macc. 2:21\u201323; 5:19\u201326; 18:1\u20132), that best achieves this Greek ideal of virtue.
\n1:3\u20134. self-control \u2026 justice \u2026 courage The author will cover these topics sequentially (1:30b\u20132:6a; 2:6b\u20133:18; 5:1\u201317:6), treating anger as an obstacle to justice, not courage (2:6b, 16\u201320).
\n1:5\u20136a. some might perhaps ask The author anticipates an objection to his thesis based on reason\u2019s inability to master such experiences as forgetfulness and ignorance that assail the mind. The author shares with Philo (see Migration 206) the view that such experiences, being beyond human control, are also beyond human responsibility. People do not incur moral blame for forgetting their keys, but they do for forgetting themselves and acting contrary to virtue.
\n1:6b. not for the purpose of destroying Hard-line Stoic philosophers argued that the goal of the wise person should be to eliminate the experiences of emotion, desire, and sensation (Tusc. 3.22; 4.38, 57). Plato, Aristotle, and more moderate Stoics argued that the goal should be no more than the moderation, or control, of the passions (Ep. 11.1; 116.1; Mor. 442D, 443D). The author of 4 Maccabees, like the author of the Letter of Aristeas (221\u201322), agrees with the second position, since he believed that God made the passions to be part of the human experience. A similar position is also articulated by Rabbi Ben Zoma in Pirke Avot 4:1: \u201cWho is strong? The person who subdues his or her passion, as it is written, \u2018The person who is slow to anger is greater than the powerful, and the person who rules himself or herself than the one who captures a city.\u201d The harmonious relationship between the mind and the passions, with the subjugation of the latter, fulfilled God\u2019s design (see 4 Macc. 2:21\u201323; 3:2\u201318).
\n1:7\u20139 Examples provide here, as in Greek rhetoric generally, an important form of inductive proof. The Jewish martyrs from the period preceding the Maccabean Revolt (see 2 Macc. 6:18\u20137:42) will provide the strongest evidence for the author\u2019s claims about the power of the mind trained by piety.
\n1:10. on this anniversary The Gk. reads \u201con this day.\u201d
\nnobility and goodness Kalokagathia was the highest Greek ideal. The author claims it to have been attained by those who were most committed to the Jewish way of life.
\n1:11. courage and endurance Suffering physical abuse might appear weak and degrading. The author will present the martyrs engaging their torturers not as passive victims, but as active, aggressive competitors who overcome their opponents by being able to withstand more than they can dish out (see Good Person 26\u201327).
\nthey conquered the tyrant The author avoids mentioning the Maccabean revolutionaries throughout the speech, focusing attention completely on the martyrs\u2019 effective, nonviolent resistance to imperialism as the cause of Judea\u2019s liberation.
\n1:12. all-wise A description of God not found in the Scripture, but shared by Philo (Planting 28).
\n1:13\u201314. our inquiry The author is more concerned with what enables reason to achieve mastery, not whether it is able. The topics announced in 1:14, with the exception of actually defining \u201cwhat emotion is,\u201d are taken up in 1:15\u20132:23.
\n1:16\u201317. knowledge of divine and human matters The author shares this definition of wisdom both with Greco-Roman philosophers (Tusc. 4.26.57; Ep. 89.5) and with Philo (Prelim. Studies 79), but claims that Torah observance is the path to such wisdom. This is entirely in keeping with the extracanonical Jewish wisdom tradition, which equates following Torah with walking in wisdom (Sir. 1:26; 19:20; Wis. 6:17\u201320).
\neducation (Paideia) distinguished the civilized Greek from the barbarian. The author claims that the training provided by Torah observance cultivates equal, if not superior, nobility and virtue.
\n1:18\u201319. rational judgment \u2026 self-control The cardinal virtues of Platonic and Stoic ethics also permeate Jewish ethics of the period (see Wis. 8:7; Alleg. Interp. 1.71). These become keywords throughout this oration, consistently linking Torah observance to the nurture and embodiment of the ethical virtues.
\n1:20. pleasure and pain The author follows Aristotle\u2019s twofold classification of the emotions rather than the fourfold Stoic classification (desire, pain, pleasure, and fear), though see 1:22\u201323 (Rhet. 2.1\u20132.11; Diogenes Laertius 7.110; Tusc. 4.9\u201322).
\n1:21. consequences Better \u201cattendants.\u201d
\n1:24. embracing pleasure and pain This definition of anger again follows Aristotle (Rhet. 2.2.1\u20132).
\n1:28\u201329. plants \u2026 offshoots \u2026 cultivator Both Jewish and Greco-Roman authors found agricultural analogies particularly apt when discussing the cultivation of the well-ordered soul (Tusc. 4.26.57; Mor. 451C). Reason\u2019s object is not to uproot pleasure (or the other passions), but to prune away or weed out what is excessive and to cultivate and moderate what remains (see Worse 105; Alleg. Interp. 1.47). The author thus leaves room for the legitimate enjoyment of pleasures within their divinely prescribed limits.
\nhabits Better \u201cinclinations,\u201d like predispositions particularly associated with the different stages of life. The author will treat these tangentially in 2:3; 7:13\u201314.
\n1:33\u201334. forbidden foods The devout Jew\u2019s ability to obey the dietary restrictions of Torah (here specifically Lev. 11:4\u201323, 41\u201342; Deut. 14:4\u201321), rather than indulge any cravings that might arise for those meats, offers the first proof of the power of self-control over desire. The commandments, however, also provide the training necessary to develop such self-control.
\nwhen we crave The cravings are not sinful, but only yielding to them contrary to the Torah.
\nwe abstain because of \u2026 reason The author gives the Jewish audience strong ground for self-respect as they follow the distinctive dietary restrictions that are a consistent target of Gentile criticism, even ridicule, as signs of the barbarism and superstition of the Jewish people (Hist. 5.4.3; Sat. 14.98\u201399; Mor. 169C; Apion, as represented in Ag. Ap. 2.137). Like Philo and the author of the Letter of Aristeas, the author defends the dietary laws of the Torah on the basis of their moral benefits, specifically the cultivation of self-control. Unlike them, he does not engage in allegorical speculation concerning the significance of these laws. See especially Let. Aris. 128\u201329, 144\u201369, where abstinence from the meat of some animals is read allegorically as instruction to abstain from the vices supposedly associated with each forbidden animal.
\n2:2. the temperate Joseph See Gen. 39:7\u201312. Testament of Joseph 2:7\u201310:4 also remembers Joseph primarily as an example of temperance for his ability to resist the enticements of Potiphar\u2019s wife.
\n2:3. young See comment on 1:29.
\n2:5\u20136. you shall not covet The author presumes that the Torah commands nothing beyond a person\u2019s capabilities (see Deut. 30:11\u201314). Philo also elevates the tenth commandment as a safeguard against desire, the only passion that attacks reason from within and is entirely voluntary (Decalogue 142\u201344; Spec. Laws 4.84). Paul, by contrast, refers to this same commandment, claiming that the Law awakens sin, rather than proving that sin can be mastered (Rom. 7:7\u201324).
\n2:6b. justice Greek ethicists normally define justice as giving to others their due, including honoring God\u2019s right to regulate human economic and social relationships. The specific commandments to which the author refers show how Torah provides exercise regimens that remedy specific vices (cf. Diatr. 3.12.7\u201311).
\n2:8\u20139. lend without interest See Exod. 22:24; Deut. 23:20\u201321. One\u2019s excess is a trust from God with which to supply the need of others, creating bonds of friendship rather than profit.
\nthe seventh year See Deut. 15:1\u20132, 9.
\nneither gleans Farmers were thus to leave something behind from the harvest for the poor (Exod. 23:10\u201311; Lev. 19:9\u201310).
\n2:10\u201313. even over affection Some emotions are inherently praiseworthy, such as love for one\u2019s family and friends, but even these can become blameworthy if they deter one from the virtuous course. The Torah teaches that justice and covenant loyalty trump even affection for spouse and children (Deut. 13:7\u201312), but in so doing perfects love for spouse and children. The author will return to this topic at length (4 Macc. 13:19\u201314:1; 14:13\u201320; 15:4\u201323).
\n2:12. punishes See Prov. 13:24; 19:18; 23:13\u201314; 29:15, 17.
\n2:14. even over enmity The author refers specifically to the stipulations in Exod. 23:4\u20135; Deut. 20:19\u201320. Like Philo (Virtues 116\u201319), Josephus (Ag. Ap. 2.121\u201322), and the author of the Letter of Aristeas (169), he affirms that the Torah promotes humaneness and kindness toward one\u2019s enemies. This is an important answer to widespread prejudice against the Torah as a law that promotes hatred of foreigners (see Library 34\/35.1.1\u20134; Hist. 5.5; Ag. Ap. 2.121). The Torah teaches observant Jews to do good to outsiders, thereby creating the opportunity to turn enmity into friendship through acts of kindness (see Virtues 116\u201319, also commenting on Exod. 23:4\u20135).
\n2:17. when Moses was angry Challenged by the power-hungry Dathan and Abiram, Moses embraced a just course of action by acknowledging God\u2019s right to decide the outcome (Num. 16:1\u201335).
\n2:19\u201320. \u201ccursed be their anger\u201d On his deathbed, Jacob rebuked Simeon and Levi (Gen. 49:7) for irrationally refusing reconciliation with the Shechemites (see Gen. 34), giving free reign to their anger and thirst for satisfaction. The author regards this as another indication that reason should be expected to master anger. While the author stands in line with the biblical tradition, other Jewish authors praised Simeon and Levi for their passionate defense of Israel\u2019s honor and purity, even regarding their act as divinely commissioned and suggesting that Jacob was at fault for not recognizing this (Jdt. 9:2\u20134; T. Levi 5\u20136).
\n2:21\u201323. emotions and inclinations These are part of God\u2019s design for the human being and therefore to be brought in line with God\u2019s intentions rather than eliminated. The author does not include the \u201cevil inclination\u201d (yetzer hara) here, but rather those neutral dispositions and inclinations of an individual that can be nurtured in either a moral or an immoral direction.
\nwill rule a kingdom The author promises the enjoyment of \u201ckingship\u201d over oneself (a typically Stoic idea), the exercise of perfect rule over the passions and enjoyment of the fruits of virtuous self-governance, to the devotee of Torah (Diogenes Laertius 7.122; Migration 152).
\n2:24\u20133:2a. forgetfulness and ignorance See comment on 1:5\u20136a.
\n3:2\u20135. no one of us can eradicate See comment on 1:6b. Philo would disagree that humans are unable to uproot the passions, for he credits Moses, the \u201cperfect human being,\u201d with this achievement (Alleg. Interp. 3.129\u201332). He would agree, however, that it is enough simply to attain Aaron\u2019s mark of mastery of the passions.
\n3:6\u201318. the story of King David\u2019s thirst Cf. 2 Sam. 23:13\u201317; 1 Chron. 11:15\u201319. The author takes substantial liberties with the story. The biblical narratives do not say that David had been in battle all day, nor that water was available where David was encamped. The author embellishes the story to highlight the severity of David\u2019s thirst, as well as the irrational quality of his longing for the water beyond his reach, in order to shape it into a strong proof from example for the position he takes in 4 Macc. 3:2. At the close of the story, David is still in the grip of thirst. He does not, however, allow his craving to lead him into injustice and pride by drinking water that was procured at the risk of human life, acknowledging that only God is worthy of such a drink. Thus he masters his craving without eradicating it. Josephus (Ant. 7.12.4, 311\u201314) also revisits this story, though with a very different purpose, namely enhancing the courage of the \u201cThree\u201d of David\u2019s \u201cThirty.\u201d The episode is transformed even further in some Rabbinic texts, where the reason for the expedition to fetch the water is no longer David\u2019s thirst at all, but either the need to fetch water for use in the libations associated with Tabernacles or to break through enemy lines to present a petition to the Sanhedrin on David\u2019s behalf (see J. Sanh. 2, 20b\u201320c; BK 60b; Shemuel 20, 105; Ruth Rab. 2.9).
\n3:12. respecting Or perhaps \u201cashamed of.\u201d
\n3:19. narrative demonstration The story of the martyrs\u2019 resistance is the principal proof from historical example for the philosophical thesis, as the author continues to remind the hearers throughout the address (see 6:31\u201335; 13:1\u20135; 16:1\u20132).
\n3:20\u201321. at a time when 4 Macc. 3:19\u20134:26 is a highly condensed version of 2 Macc. 3:1\u20136:11.
\nenjoying profound peace Jerusalem exhibited the ideal of the Greek city-state, of which peace, lawful observance of civic customs, and public harmony are all facets (Eth. nic. 3.5 1112b; Eth. eud. 1.5 1216b; Dio Chrysostom, Or. 48.15\u201316), when its life was ordered by Torah (see also the promises of Deut. 28:1\u201314). Ironically, the attempt on the part of members of its elite to hellenize Jerusalem actually destroys this ideal.
\nSeleucus Nicanor Actually Seleucus IV Philopator (king of Syria 187\u2013175 BCE).
\n4:1. Simon See 2 Macc. 3:4; 4:1\u20136.
\nOnias Onias III was the legitimate high priest and the son of the high priest Simon celebrated in Sir. 50:1\u201321.
\n4:3. private funds Because of the inviolable sanctity of temples, the rich often deposited wealth in temples for safe keeping (4:7). Simon argues that a distinction can be made between Temple property (which would be inviolable) and personal funds (which a king could legally confiscate). Rome imposed heavy tribute upon the Seleucid kings, which led the latter to raid several Temple treasuries despite the taboo against sacrilege (1 Macc. 6:9\u201313; 2 Macc. 1:11\u201317; 9:1\u20132, 13\u201316).
\n4:9\u201312. angels on horseback God\u2019s forces act to protect the Temple and God\u2019s people when they observe the covenant faithfully (see 3 Macc. 1:8\u20132:24). Contrast 4 Macc. 4:19\u201321.
\n4:11. the Temple area \u2026 open to all The author refers thus to the area commonly called \u201cthe Court of the Gentiles.\u201d
\n4:13. he had scruples The verse is better translated: \u201cMoved by these words, although in other respects concerned lest King Seleucus suppose that Apollonius had been overcome \u2026, the high priest Onias prayed for him.\u201d Onias does not have religious doubts about praying for the penitent general. Rather, he has two motives for doing so.
\n4:15. Antiochus Epiphanes Antiochus IV reigned from 175 to 164\/163 BCE. He was actually the son of Antiochus III (the \u201cGreat\u201d) and the brother, not son, of Seleucus IV.
\n4:16\u201317 Jason was Onias\u2019s younger brother and an avid reformer. Born Yeshua, he changed his name in keeping with his own hellenizing inclinations (Ant. 12.239). The author surely exaggerates the amount of the bribe Jason paid to have the king\u2019s authorization to supplant his brother, but it still signals the breadth of support among Jerusalem\u2019s elite for his hellenizing agenda.
\n4:19\u201320. altered its form of government Jason refounds Jerusalem after the pattern of the Greek city, with a Greek constitution, Greek institutions, and a new roster of citizens drawn up from among his political supporters. Hellenization advanced across the Mediterranean and Levant in large measure through such planting of cities patterned after the Greek model.
\ngymnasium This institution served as the center for education and enculturation in the Greek way of life, not only as an athletic facility.
\nthe Temple service According to 2 Maccabees, the prescribed sacrifices were not abolished until Menelaus took the high priesthood (2 Macc. 6:1\u20135). Under Jason, it was simply neglected (2 Macc. 4:10\u201315).
\n4:21. divine justice was angered The acts of Jason and his party constitute a revolution against God\u2019s covenant. As a result, God uses the Gentile King Antiochus IV to punish the disobedient nation just as he had used Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BCE (see Deut. 28:49\u201350). The author thoroughly affirms Deuteronomy\u2019s theology of history both in terms of the blessings that accompany loyalty (4 Macc. 3:20\u201321) and the curses that follow disloyalty. The story will continue to follow this pattern, as the martyrs\u2019 display of obedience initiates widespread return of zeal for the Torah and the restoration of the nation (17:22; 18:4; see Deut. 30:2\u20133).
\n4:22\u201323. a rumor of his death In 2 Macc. 5:5\u201312, Antiochus\u2019s persecution is motivated by his desire to suppress rebellion against Menelaus, his appointed representative. This author eliminates mention of the revolt, portraying Antiochus\u2019s persecution instead as a heated, irrational punishment for their delight at the rumor of his death. The Greek Antiochus and his lackeys are portrayed throughout as lacking in the self-mastery that Greek ethics prized and that the Jewish martyrs display (see also 4 Macc. 8:2; 9:10\u201311).
\n4:24\u201325. women \u2026 circumcised their sons See 1 Macc. 1:60\u201361; 2 Macc. 6:10.
\n4:26. eat defiling foods The violation of kashrut was also the means by which the martyrs would symbolically renounce their loyalty to the covenant and, thus, publicly shame the covenant God (hillul hashem).
\n5:1. the tyrant Antiochus Antiochus fulfills the stereotype of the tyrant, devising cruel tortures, displaying arrogance, and suppressing time-honored laws (Thucydides 6.57.4; Diogenes Laertius 9.26, 58\u201360; Ira 2.23.1; Lucian, Tyr. 10, 26; Ant. rom. 4.41.2). The opening paragraph sets the stage for the scene to follow, familiar in Greco-Roman philosophical texts, in which a tyrant confronts a sage and attempts to compel the sage to bend to his will through arguments, threats, and pain (Constant.; Diogenes Laertius 9.26\u201328, 58\u201359; Tusc. 2.22.52; Diatr. 1.19.7\u201310; 1.29.5\u20138; Good Person 106\u20137). Here, the author casts an aged Jewish priest in the role of the sage. The duel of words that follows gives the author a chance to name and refute popular arguments against Judaism.
\n5:4. leader of the flock, was brought before the king Or \u201cwas the first of the flock to be brought before the king.\u201d
\nhis philosophy Or \u201chis advanced age.\u201d
\n5:7. the religion of the Jews Philosophers claimed that enlightened people followed the universal law of nature above and beyond the imperfect, parochial, often inexplicable laws and customs of any one people (Dio Chrysostom, Or. 80.5\u20137; Diatr. 1.13.5). Antiochus criticizes the Jewish Torah as just such a flawed body of laws and treats Eleazar as one whose mind is enslaved to superstition.
\n5:8. why should you abhor Gentiles frequently targeted the prohibition of pork for ridicule as a barbaric peculiarity of the Jewish Law that flew in the face of nature (Let. Aris. 128\u201330; Ag. Ap. 2.137; Mor. 669E\u2013F; Sat. 14.98\u201399).
\n5:9. senseless \u2026 wrong Antiochus argues that the meat of the pig, every bit as much as the meat of the cow and lamb, is a gift of nature given for legitimate human enjoyment. Avoiding pork is therefore unjust (\u201cwrong\u201d), as it shows ingratitude toward the gifts of nature, and ignorant (\u201csenseless\u201d), as it fails to make a distinction between what is truly permissible and what is truly shameful. Philosophers spoke of this ignorance as a form of slavery (see Dio Chrysostom, Or. 14.18).
\n5:13. it will excuse you Human courts frequently excused transgression of a law committed under duress (Eth. nic. 3.1.7; 3.5.7) Later Rabbinic law would mandate transgression under compulsion except for the three cardinal sins of murder, adultery, and idolatry. See the expression \u201cthe merciful one exonerates duress\u201d (B Avod. Zar. 54a).
\n5:15. address the people The respectability of the Jewish way of life is on public trial in this exchange. Eleazar\u2019s response seeks as much to embolden the other Jewish captives who are looking on (5:2, 4) as to refute the arguments of the tyrant.
\n5:18. not truly divine The view attributed to the Gentile Antiochus could also be attributed to apostate Jews, who justified their decisions by embracing the view that the Torah was a flawed, human, ethnic body of laws with no ultimate value (see Moses 1.31; Confusion 2).
\n5:20\u201321. matters \u2026 small or great Eleazar does not subscribe to the view that there are \u201clight\u201d and \u201cheavy\u201d transgressions. Rather, like the Stoics, he considers all sins to be \u201cof equal seriousness\u201d since all transgressions of the Torah show equal disregard for God, whether or not an outsider would consider the particular act grievous. Pirke Avot 2:1 also calls for equal attention to minor commandments as to major ones, since the precise rewards for obedience and punishments for disobedience in regard to each commandment are unknown.
\n5:23\u201324. it teaches us Eleazar responds to Antiochus\u2019s challenge that the Jewish way of life hardly deserves the status of a philosophy (5:7, 11) by countering that Torah observance nurtures the cardinal virtues recognized also by Greek philosophers. \u201cPiety\u201d replaces \u201crational judgment\u201d in this list (cf. 1:18). Philo had also spoken of Jewish synagogues throughout the Diaspora as \u201cschools of wisdom, and courage, and temperance, and justice, and piety, and holiness, and every virtue, by which human and divine things are appreciated, and placed on a proper footing\u201d (Moses 2.215\u201316 [trans. Yonge]; see also Good Person 80).
\n5:25\u201326. in the nature of things This is a poor translation of the Gk. kata physin (\u201caccording to nature\u201d), which is a well-known Stoic catchphrase. Stoics sought out the divine order inherent in creation as a guide to life. Eleazar responds to Antiochus\u2019s criticism that Torah contradicts nature (5:8\u20139) by affirming that Torah came from the mind of the Creator of nature and thus provided an even more reliable guide to right living.
\nto eat what will be most suitable Philo regarded the dietary laws of Torah as a safeguard against the most succulent foods that would promote overeating, indigestion, and the ill health of the body (Spec. Laws 4.100). The author of 4 Maccabees may have such an explanation in mind as he speaks of kosher meats as the \u201cmost suitable\u201d foods for the human body.
\n5:29. sacred oaths By which the ancient Hebrews bound themselves and their posterity to show covenant loyalty toward God. See Exod. 24:3, 7; Josh. 24:18, 21, 24.
\n5:32. get your torture wheels ready Like many a sage confronting a tyrant (see Good Person 25), Eleazar challenges Antiochus to take his best shot, assuming the dignity of a contender rather than allowing himself to remain simply a victim.
\n5:37. my ancestors will receive me Torah speaks of Abraham or another of the patriarchs being \u201cgathered to his kin\u201d (see Gen. 25:8, 17; 35:29; 49:29). The author interprets this as a true reunion, since the patriarchs live to God (see 4 Macc. 7:19; 16:25) and the righteous will live beyond death as well, to be welcomed by their ancestors (cf. 13:17).
\n5:38. you shall not dominate my religious principles Eleazar exhibits the moral freedom prized by Stoic philosophy (Constant. 5.6\u20136.8; Diatr. 1.25.21; 3.24.71; 4.1.1, 60\u201387), a state achieved by a lifetime of pious devotion to God and Torah. Philo (Good Person 25, 30, 60, 97) also used this image to speak of the value of not being liable to compulsion to act against one\u2019s conscience.
\n6:1. made eloquent response In this scene, Eleazar will have to prove those words by his stalwart endurance (see 7:9). Throughout the work, the author makes the scenes of torture far more vivid than found in his source (2 Macc. 6:18\u20137:42). He seeks to help the audience imagine the sufferings more fully, so that they will also be the more appreciative of the Jewish martyrs\u2019 self-mastery for the sake of Torah (see 4 Macc. 14:9).
\n6:2. he remained adorned Though the guards\u2019 treatment of Eleazar was meant to degrade and disgrace him, the author affirms that Eleazar\u2019s honor remained undiminished by their abuse.
\n6:5. like a true Eleazar The name \u201cEleazar\u201d means \u201cGod has helped,\u201d hence, \u201clike someone truly helped by God.\u201d
\n6:7. he kept his reason upright Such was the goal of the Greek philosopher under any duress (Diatr. 4.8.12), even as it is for Eleazar.
\n6:10. a noble athlete Greco-Roman philosophers often used images from athletic contests as a way to turn the endurance of pains into active engagement of an antagonist (Dio Chrysostom, Or. 8.11\u201318; Prov. 2:2\u20134; Diatr. 1.18.21; 1.24.1\u20132). This author will return to such imagery throughout as a way of ennobling the experience of the martyrs.
\nvictorious over his torturers The victim becomes the victor by enduring more than the torturers can inflict before giving in to their demands (Constant. 9.4; Good Person 26\u201327).
\n6:13. some of the king\u2019s retinue Their long acquaintance with Eleazar indicates that these would be hellenized Jews who have advanced politically through apostasy.
\n6:15. save yourself by pretending The acquaintances suggest a ruse whereby Eleazar could actually eat some kosher meat provided by them and pretend he was eating the pork, thus remaining pure himself. A similar ruse appears in 2 Macc. 6:21\u201322.
\n6:16. more bitterly tormented Eleazar rejects this ruse just as Socrates had rejected his friends\u2019 plan of escape from the unjust sentence of death. Neither sage would agree to buy a few more years of life at the cost of preserving the exemplary virtue of that life unblemished (Diatr. 4.1.163\u201365; Crito 52A\u201354C). Eleazar does not separate his private integrity from his public witness and example.
\n6:28. be merciful to your people God had promised to restore the fortunes of God\u2019s people after they repent of their disloyalty to the covenant (Deut. 30:1\u20135) and to end the punishment incurred as part of the curse for breaking the covenant (28:47\u201357). Eleazar offers his own life as an act of absolute loyalty to the covenant, asking this to count before God as the covenant obedience that would restore God\u2019s favor toward the people.
\n6:29. take my life in exchange The author evokes the language of the Greek version of Lev. 17:11, where the blood of a sacrificial animal atones for a life (anti tes psyches), to interpret the significance of the martyrdoms as the life-in-exchange (antipsychon) offered to satisfy God\u2019s honor, affronted by the revolt against God\u2019s covenant (see also 4 Macc. 17:21\u201322). The particular combination of this interpretation of the death of an obedient, righteous person with the expectation that a display of covenant loyalty would reconcile God to God\u2019s people (see comment on 6:28) would also be brought together in Paul\u2019s reflection on the execution of Jesus as an act of atonement (the righteous on behalf of the unrighteous; see Rom. 3:23\u201325a; 5:18\u201319). Greek drama also frequently features voluntary deaths as sacrifices that allow others to live or a nation to survive.
\n6:31. devout reason is sovereign The author returns to his main thesis, for which the story of Eleazar\u2019s resistance serves as a proof from historical example (1:7\u20139). See comment on 3:19.
\n6:35. mastered agonies \u2026 masters pleasures Though Eleazar\u2019s example is relevant only to the mastery of pain, the author reminds the audience that he has also proven reason\u2019s mastery over pleasurable sensations in 1:31\u20132:6.
\n7:1\u20135. pilot \u2026 city \u2026 cliff Philo (Alleg. Interp. 3.223\u201324; Migration 6) also used these familiar images from popular ethical philosophy and classical literature (Tro. 686\u201396; Constant. 3.5; 6.4\u20138). The author uses them to praise the steadiness of Eleazar\u2019s resolve in the face of the strong, contrary emotions and sensations that assailed him.
\n7:6. you neither defiled \u2026 nor profaned Eleazar does not devalue his body in his steadfastness, but rather most honors it by choosing endurance rather than giving in.
\n7:9. you made your \u2026 philosophy credible The standard test of a philosophy\u2019s value and feasibility in the ancient world was the degree of consistency shown in word and deed by those who claim to represent that philosophy or way of life (Sir. 3:8; Moses 1.29; Col. 3:17; 1 John 3:18).
\n7:11\u201312. Aaron See Num. 17:6\u201315; Wis. 18:20\u201325. The point of similarity between the actions of both priests is that Eleazar, like Aaron, took a courageous stand in a place of great danger in order to perform an act of expiation for the sake of the nation (see 4 Macc. 6:27\u201329).
\n7:14. many-headed rack Eleazar\u2019s contest with the instrument of torture is compared to a hero fighting against a monster with many heads, like the Hydra known from Greek mythology.
\n7:15. seal \u2026 perfected Prior to dying, Eleazar might have marred his virtuous resolve in a moment of weakness. Since he preserved this intact to the end, death renders it unassailable forever. The topic was common in Greek literature (Thucydides 2.42; Diatr. 3.2.4\u20136; Oed. tyr. 1528\u201330).
\n7:16. devout reason is governor The author continues to combine both praise of the martyrs and attention to his primary thesis, as he led his audience to expect in the introduction (1:1\u20132, 7\u201310). The audience can enjoy the same praise to the extent that they remain committed to Torah and to the virtues it nurtures.
\n7:18. religion The author means specifically the Torah-observant life, which he affirms as prerequisite to achieving the ethical goal of the Greco-Roman philosophers.
\n7:19. since they believe Those who are free from the fear of death are able to make the sacrifices that virtue sometimes demands (Constant. 8.3). Josephus (Ag. Ap. 2.217\u201318) agreed that the belief that God grants new life to those who die faithful to God\u2019s covenant supplies this freedom, even to the point of accepting martyrdom. This conviction appears throughout the stories of the martyrs.
\n8:1. even the very young Aristotle (Rhet. 2.12.3\u20135) characterized the young as driven by their passions, which naturally gained the upper hand over the mind. The ability of the young Judeans to exhibit such complete self-mastery is thus a powerful witness to the value and effectiveness of the moral education that Torah provides.
\n8:2. conspicuously defeated Eleazar\u2019s effective resistance unto death publicly shamed the king, who was publicly shown powerless against the old man.
\nin violent rage Antiochus does not master his own emotions, which drive him to more atrocities. Here, a Greek king falls short of the Greek ideal of virtue, which the non-Greek martyrs embody to perfection (see 9:10\u201311). Philosophers held self-mastery to be prerequisite to ruling others well (Gorg. 491D; Dio Chrysostom, Or. 62.1).
\n8:3. accomplished in every way The youths embody the Greek ideal of male beauty and skill and so do not lack the potential for success in the Greek world.
\n8:4. chorus A group of actors speaking in unison and representing a single role was a consistent feature of Greek drama. The image highlights the brothers\u2019 harmonious agreement (see 8:29\u20139:9; 13:8\u201318), which is appropriate among people sharing the same ideals (Eth. nic. 8.1.4; 9.6.2\u20133; Dio Chrysostom, Or. 48).
\n8:5. enjoy my friendship The king offers his personal patronage, guaranteeing the young men positions of power and influence in his government (8:7).
\n8:9. you will compel me As a slave to his emotions, the king is less free than his subjects, who cannot be compelled to any action even by his worst coercive tortures.
\n8:14. transgress under compulsion See comment on 5:13. The martyrs do, however, have a real choice between two courses of action, as the narrative will show, making the excuse on account of compulsion hollow after all.
\n8:16. what arguments might have been used The author composes a response that the brothers might have made, but refused, in order to throw the brothers\u2019 resolve into sharper relief. In 8:17\u201326, the speakers take up Antiochus\u2019s arguments in order one by one. While their deliberations may seem reasonable enough, their considerations are based wholly on comfort and safety rather than honor and virtue, as is typical for the \u201ccowardly and unmanly\u201d (Virt. vit. 6.5\u20136; cf. Ismene\u2019s speech in Sophocles, Ant. 58\u201368). The author presents a subtle challenge to any members of the audience who might have similarly rationalized the loosening of adherence to Torah\u2019s commandments.
\n8:25. not even the Law itself Torah contains provisions for unintentional sins (Num. 15:22\u201329) and holds women who are violated outside of wedlock by force innocent of wrongdoing (Deut. 22:23\u201327). The young men, however, will not allow themselves to be put in the unmanly position of being \u201cforced\u201d by Antiochus.
\n8:29. with one voice See comment on 8:4.
\n9:1. why do you delay Cf. 2 Macc. 7:2, which the author takes as his starting point for developing a much longer address.
\ndie rather than transgress The brothers announce their commitment to die with honor by holding to the just course of keeping faith with God and the covenant, rather than to life with the disgrace of preferring safety to virtue.
\n9:4. more grievous than death Antiochus\u2019s advice would put the brothers in danger of dishonoring God and incurring divine wrath beyond death (see 13:14\u201317).
\n9:6. even more fitting Aristotle observed that the young, even though ruled by their passions, were physically more capable and more courageous than the elderly (Rhet. 2.12.9, 13).
\n9:7. do not suppose that you can injure us The martyrs evoke a well-known Greek ethical topic. Philosophers acknowledge no injury from some external force or loss of some external good (property, reputation, even life) (Epictetus, Diatr. 3.24.71; 4.1.60, 70, 87). Real injury can be only self-inflicted, if the philosopher were to fall into immoral choices. Socrates gave this its classic expression: \u201cAnytus and Meletus may kill me, but they cannot injure me\u201d (Apol. 30C; see also Ench. 53.4; Constant. 2.1, 3; Mor. 475E).
\n9:8\u20139. shall be with God The martyrs\u2019 commitment to the covenant is empowered by their firm anticipation of postmortem reward and punishment. They are certain that, if they die for the sake of preserving God\u2019s honor, God will also vindicate their honor in endless life (see T. Moses 9.6\u20137). Antiochus had urged Eleazar to make his decisions on the basis of \u201cthe truth of what is beneficial\u201d (4 Macc. 5:11). In light of eternity, only faithfulness unto death could be considered advantageous.
\n9:10\u201311. indignant \u2026 infuriated Aristotle observed that people would indeed be angry when their attempts at kindness and generosity met with contempt (Rhet. 2.2.8). In the fictitious story in 3 Maccabees, Ptolemy also responded with anger and punitive measures when the Jews of Alexandria resisted his \u201coffer\u201d to make them equal citizens\u2014but at the cost of participating in the local Greek rites (3 Macc. 3:21\u201323). Nevertheless, the author paints a picture of a king ruled by his passions, driven by anger to ever more cruel atrocities.
\n9:12. worn themselves out See comment on 6:10.
\n9:15. not because I am a murderer Torture and execution are the penalties for criminal behavior, but the first brother refuses to accept Antiochus\u2019s judgment that his behavior is, in some way, criminal. He is in the right, and the king is acting unjustly (cf. Constant. 16.3\u20134; Diatr. 1.29.50\u201354).
\n9:17. not so powerful Philosophers refused to let physical abuse give an enemy leverage on their will and sought to maintain this inner freedom inviolable (see also 11:21, 27; see Diogenes Laertius 9.28, 59; Ep. 67.16).
\n9:18. children of the Hebrews alone The author encourages his audience to prize their own, distinctive heritage in the midst of Greek cultural imperialism by portraying Jewish sages fulfilling the Greek philosophical ideal so completely (see also 7:18\u201319).
\n9:21. did not groan Silence under duress was a familiar topic of courage (Mor. 234A, 498E).
\n9:23. do not leave your post The oldest brother uses military images to turn the endurance of degrading torture into the defense of a battle line to be held at all costs, hence an opportunity to display courage honorably (cf. Apol. 28D\u2013E; Constant. 19.4).
\n9:24. may become merciful The pattern of Deut. 30:1\u20133 and 32:36\u201343 is again invoked as a framework for understanding obedience unto death. See comment on 6:28.
\n9:25. thread of life The image comes from Greek mythology. The three Fates would determine the length of a person\u2019s life by measuring and cutting a length of thread.
\n9:28. these leopardlike beasts Those who represent Greek civilization become increasingly more like barbarians and animals as the story progresses.
\n9:29. how sweet Cf. Horace, Odes 3.2.13: \u201cSweet and fitting it is to die for one\u2019s country.\u201d The martyrs die for the sake of the way of life that gives their nation its distinctive identity and strength.
\n9:30. most savage tyrant The Greek has become the \u201csavage\u201d barbarian, and the \u201cbarbarian\u201d Judean dies defending the Greek ideal of the freedom of the will.
\n9:31\u201332. the joys that come from virtue Plato taught that virtue brought its own sweetness, and vice its own punishment (Gorg. 470E\u201371A; 507B; see also Tusc. 5.51\u201367; Mor. 498C\u2013E). The author accepts this teaching, in part, but combines it with the belief in reward and punishment after death.
\n10:3. my brothers Codex Alexandrinus adds: \u201cSo, if you have any instrument of torture, apply it to my body; for you cannot touch my soul, even if you wish.\u201d
\n10:5. enraged The lackeys share in their king\u2019s failure to master the passions (see 8:2; 9:10\u201311).
\nboldness Frank speech (parrh\u0113sia) was a Greek political ideal, especially prized as a means of resistance and critique when a city was threatened by tyranny (Dio Chrysostom, Or. 6.57; 32.26; Philodemus, \u201cOn Frank Criticism\u201d).
\n10:7. in a Scythian fashion The Scythians were known for their cruelty. Once again, those who represent Greek rule are the real barbarians, while the Judeans exhibit the political virtue of \u201cboldness\u201d prized by Greek philosophers.
\n10:14. a fire hot enough The tyrant cannot access the will of the well-trained philosopher by means of abusing the body. See comment on 9:17.
\n10:15. blessed death This brother counters the torturers\u2019 assessment of the first three brothers\u2019 conduct as \u201cinsanity\u201d (10:13), affirming that they died nobly, preserving their integrity to the end.
\n10:21. God will visit you The brother has been a loyal client of the covenant God, honoring and obeying God with his whole being, and expects his divine patron to vindicate him against the tyrant.
\n11:3. of my own accord The fifth brother seizes the little initiative that is available to him, springing forward as a contender to engage the tyrant\u2019s power rather than as a victim being dragged to the instruments.
\n11:4. hater of humankind Non-Jews frequently accused the Jewish people of exhibiting \u201chatred of humanity\u201d or \u201chatred of foreigners\u201d (Library 34.1.1\u20133; Hist. 5.5.1; Ag. Ap. 2.121, 258). The author turns the charge back upon those who persecute the Jews because of their different religion and way of life.
\n11:6. these deeds deserve honors See comment on 9:15.
\nnot tortures Codex Alexandrinus adds: \u201cIf you but understood human feelings and had hope of salvation from God\u2014but, as it is, you are a stranger to God and persecute those who serve him.\u201d
\n11:12. splendid favors Philosophers engage hardships as a means of proving their commitment to virtue, showing it to be genuine. This is the only favor the pious brothers will accept from Antiochus on the terms he offered (see 4 Macc. 8:6\u20137). In the climactic speech on Masada, Eleazar ben Yair commends suicide as a God-given favor, allowing the refugees and revolutionaries to die in freedom and dignity (J.W. 7.325).
\n11:20. contest \u2026 arena See comment on 6:10. The martyrs were undefeated insofar as the tyrant could not overcome their will (cf. Constant. 5.6\u20137; Ep. 67.16).
\nbefitting holiness Or \u201cbefitting a sacred place.\u201d The alternative translation suggests that the tortures took place in the Temple enclosures, where the pagan sacrifices that provided the defiling food would also have been made (see 5:2b).
\n11:24\u201325. paralyzed your tyranny Antiochus has so far utterly failed to achieve his goal of enforced assimilation, despite having the upper hand in every political and physical way. The martyrs\u2019 nonviolent resistance effectively unraveled the cords of tyranny.
\n11:26. your fire is cold The tyrant\u2019s tortures are powerless to undermine will. The martyr is not claiming to have extinguished the awareness of pain, as a hard-line Stoic might strive to do, but proves his resolve precisely in the midst of excruciating pain (11:11; 14:9\u201310).
\n12:2. vehemently reproached Better \u201cfrightfully abused.\u201d The author is a master of irony, suggesting that it is Antiochus who has been beaten down by the first six brothers, and not the reverse.
\n12:6. to show compassion At the same time, Antiochus is desperate to turn this last surviving brother, which would effectively cancel the previous seven defeats in this public arena. The first Judean to capitulate makes it easier for more to follow.
\n12:7. in the Hebrew language Speaking in her native tongue both hides the meaning of her speech from the king and itself represents an act of resistance against Greek imperialism and the hellenization of Jerusalem. In a slight blunder, when it comes time for the author to provide the speech, the mother addresses all her sons during Eleazar\u2019s trial (16:15\u201325).
\n12:10. running to \u2026 the braziers The last brother seizes what little control over his life that he can by preparing to commit suicide, robbing the tyrant of that power over him (12:19). This would have been considered a noble act (cf. 1 Sam. 31:4; 2 Macc. 14:41\u201342).
\n12:11, 13. were you not ashamed? Antiochus has behaved unjustly toward the God who gave him his kingdom and authority (Dan. 4:22; John 19:11), using his power to harm God\u2019s loyal clients rather than protect them. He has also violated the universal bond of humanity that joins all people together, by brutally torturing fellow human beings (Diatr. 1.13.3\u20135; Wis. 7:1\u20133; Acts 14:15; Trall. 10). Once again, the charges normally leveled against Jews (not giving the gods their due, violating the universal bond of humanity) are turned back upon the Gentile powers.
\nthose who practice religion Better \u201cthe athletes of piety.\u201d See comment on 6:10. Philo frequently used the term \u201cathlete\u201d to describe rigorously Torah-observant Jews like the Essenes (Good Person 88) and Therapeutae (Contempl. Life 69).
\n12:16. excellent example Most Greek manuscripts read \u201cexcellence,\u201d while Codex Alexandrinus reads \u201cwitness.\u201d
\n12:17. to be merciful See comments on 6:28 and 9:24.
\nto our nation Or \u201cto our race.\u201d
\n12:19. so ended his life Literally \u201cso paid back [the debt of his life].\u201d See comments on 13:13 and 16:19.
\n13:1. devout reason is sovereign See comment on 3:19.
\n13:2. slaves to their emotions Philosophers considered slavery of the will to the passions to be far more dishonorable than the economic and political state of slavery (see Good Person 17). The martyrs exhibit the praiseworthy freedom of the will that holds the upper hand over the passions.
\n13:8. a holy chorus The brothers are harmoniously united in their commitment to the Torah, which, in turn, helps each one individually to remain steadfast in his resolve. Such harmony was a valuable civic virtue, reinforcing each person\u2019s commitment to the group\u2019s rules and values through unanimity (Dio Chrysostom, Or. 48.6). See comment on 8:4.
\n13:9. the three youths The stories of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (see Dan. 3, especially 3:17\u201318), as well as Daniel himself (Dan. 6), provide the brothers with sacred examples of resisting a tyrant\u2019s threats and laws for the sake of preserving their native piety. See also 4 Macc. 16:21; 18:12\u201313.
\n13:12. Isaac See Gen. 22:1\u201319. The brothers identify with Isaac in his willingness to suffer death for the sake of obedience to God\u2019s command. Their mother will be compared to Abraham, since both put obedience to God\u2019s command above the lives of their children (4 Macc. 14:20; 15:28).
\n13:13. with all our hearts The phrase comes directly out of the Greek translation of the Shema (Deut. 6:5). The martyrs exemplify what it means to love God with the whole heart, mind, body, and strength.
\nwho gave us our lives The brothers understand that God\u2019s gift of life to each of them demands, in return, that they use their lives completely in grateful service to God, even if that service should involve death (Eth. nic. 8.14.1; Rhet. Her. 3.3.4). See also 4 Macc. 16:18\u201319.
\n13:14. who thinks he is killing The author combines the idea that the wise person cannot be injured by external assaults (see comment on 9:7) with the awareness that God\u2019s power to kill and give life extends to eternity, and so the martyrs must keep pleasing God as their first priority (cf. Matt. 10:28).
\n13:17. will welcome us See comment on 5:37.
\n13:19. the affection of family ties Literally \u201cthe affections among siblings.\u201d Nearly every detail in the author\u2019s discussion of the love nurtured between sisters and brothers (13:19\u201326) has a counterpart in near-contemporary Greek philosophical discussions of this topic (especially Mor. 478A\u201392D; Eth. nic. 8.12.3\u20136), another indication of how fully immersed the author was in Greek culture and learning without abandoning commitment to the Jewish way of life. The author develops the topic of sibling love so fully in order to highlight the power of the emotion the brothers had to master in order to watch one another die.
\n14:1. they encouraged them The height of the brothers\u2019 mastery of fraternal love is shown in their even being able to encourage one another to accept grisly torture and death rather than violate their commitment to God\u2019s Law. Such mutual support in regard to walking in line with virtue fulfills the Greek ideal of friendship (Eth. nic. 8.8.5).
\n14:2. royal \u2026 free The martyrs, like the ideal Greek sage, cannot be forced to abandon their virtue by any pressure applied from without, and so they remain free and rule over themselves with the absolute power of monarchs (Diatr. 1.25.21; 3.24.71; 4.1.1, 60\u201387, 152; Constant. 5.6\u20136.8; Diogenes Laertius 7.122; Good Person 17).
\n14:5. running the course toward immortality Early Christians often used such an image to speak of their own perseverance in a way of life that often met with hostility (Phil. 3:12\u201314; Heb. 12:1\u20132; 2 Tim. 4:7).
\n14:6. hands and feet are moved Plutarch had also spoken of siblings acting in harmony comparable to the movement of a single body (Mor. 478E).
\n14:7. most holy seven Philo associated seven with the harmony of God\u2019s creation and created order, such that the number mystically permeates astronomy, geometry, physiology, and other sciences associated with the physical universe (Creation 90\u2013128). The brothers are an incarnation of this harmony with God\u2019s order.
\n14:8. chorus See comment on 8:4.
\n14:9. we ourselves shudder The author has mastered the technique of \u201cvivid description\u201d and knows he can make his audience squirm. He has sought by this means to sharpen the audience\u2019s ability to imagine the sensations the martyrs withstood, so as to make them bolder in their commitment to the Jewish way of life in the face of far lighter trials.
\n14:11. since the mind of woman More accurately \u201csince even the mind of a woman.\u201d Classical authors held women to yield to their emotions and sensations more readily than men (Pol. 1.13; Alleg. Interp. 2.44\u201350). The author regards the mother\u2019s mastery of overwhelming emotions, therefore, as the ultimate proof of Torah\u2019s ability to nurture ethical excellence and empower the mind for self-mastery.
\neven more diverse agonies The author stresses that the mother, though never physically touched herself, suffered seven times over, feeling the pains of each of her sons (14:12; 15:16, 24; 16:3).
\n14:13. a mother\u2019s love for her children The author speaks about parental love (14:13\u201320) using topics that would have been familiar from near-contemporary Greek discussions about the same topic (see comment on 13:19; see especially Mor. 493B\u201396A; Eth. nic. 8.12.2\u20133). Plutarch, for example, also speaks about the activities of birds caring for and protecting their young as an illustration from nature of the intense ardor that parents have for their children and attests to the popularity of the topic of bees in such discussions as well (Mor. 494A\u2013F). This line of argumentation appears in Rabbinic texts as well. For example, Rav Hisda attempts to use the care that birds provide for their offspring to shame fathers into supporting their children (B Ket. 49b).
\n14:20. sympathy \u2026 did not sway The examples from nature all suggest that a mother\u2019s inclinations would be to defend her children from any peril, take their place if that could spare them, or, at the very least, scream out to them to save themselves by any available means, including eating the pork. The peril of her young involves a mother in their plight as if afflicted herself. This mother, however, masters those instinctive drives and does what she knows to be best for her children in light of eternity, as Torah has shaped her reasoning.
\n15:1. O reason \u2026 O religion \u2026! The author frequently uses the rhetorical device of apostrophe, or speech directly addressed to an ideal or person not physically present, in order to heighten the emotional power of his address.
\nreason of the children The reference to the seven brothers\u2019 well-developed and powerful reasoning faculty is not out of place here in the praise of the mother, since it is a testimony to the excellence of her parenting.
\n15:2\u20133. for a time \u2026 for eternal life The belief in an afterlife in which the pious are rewarded with endless life before God and the impious punished in ways that, perhaps, they escaped during life is essential to the author\u2019s understanding of the well-functioning mind informed by \u201creligion.\u201d Those who are able to take the long view in regard to virtue\u2019s rewards are better able to embrace temporal loss and hardship for virtue\u2019s sake.
\naccording to God\u2019s promise Literally \u201caccording to God.\u201d
\n15:5. the weaker sex Women were routinely regarded as \u201cthe weaker vessel\u201d in antiquity (Oec. 7.22\u201328; Musonius Rufus, \u201cShould Daughters Receive the Same Education as Sons?\u201d; 1 Pet. 3:7). The Greek makes clearer that the author\u2019s point is not simply that women are physically weaker and produce many children, but more precisely that the more pregnancies and deliveries women endure, the more of their own strength they are pouring into the lives of others (hence, becoming weaker themselves) and, therefore, the more deeply invested they are in their children.
\n15:10. loved their brothers and their mother These virtuous qualities were celebrated on many Jewish grave inscriptions and are reflected in several of the throne names assumed by the Ptolemies, the Greek rulers of Egypt (e.g., Philometor [\u201cdevoted to his mother\u201d] and Philadelphus [\u201cdevoted to his brother\u201d]).
\n15:11. pervert her reason The author\u2019s purpose in underlining the power of maternal love is always to heighten appreciation for Torah\u2019s ability to equip reason to master the emotions (see 16:1\u20132).
\n15:15. she watched In the verses that follow, the author provides a concentrated summary of the brothers\u2019 sufferings in order to convey more fully the barrage of assaults that tortured the mother, weighing upon her to weaken, cry out, and beg her sons to save themselves (see 12:6; 16:12).
\n15:19. gazing boldly Literally \u201cgazing bull-like,\u201d an image from classical Greek literature (Ran. 804; Phaedr. 1176).
\n15:20. the place filled with many spectators Possibly \u201cthe mass grave.\u201d
\n15:21. the melodies of sirens An allusion to Greek mythology. The sirens were sea nymphs who captivated sailors with their song, causing them to run afoul of the reefs off their island (Od. 12.158\u2013200).
\n15:23. a man\u2019s courage See comment on 15:30.
\n15:25. nature The Stoic principle of living \u201cin accordance with nature\u201d is inferior to the Jewish principle of living \u201cin accordance with Torah,\u201d for nature can be an imperfect guide to virtue, as would have been the case here. See comment on 5:25\u201326.
\n15:26. two ballots This is a judicial image (see Apol. 36A\u2013B), according to which judges held white and black stones, one for acquittal, one for condemnation, to be deposited into an urn or box at the conclusion of a trial.
\n15:30. more courageous than men This is an effective pun in Greek. \u201cCourage\u201d (andreia) is a noun derived from the word for \u201cmale\u201d (an\u0113r, andros; cf. English \u201cmanly\u201d). The mother\u2019s achievement resembles at many points that of the heroines in Plutarch\u2019s collection of stories celebrating women who exemplified courage exceeding that of men (Mor. 242E\u201363C).
\n15:31\u201332. Noah\u2019s ark The author contextualizes the familiar Greek image of reason as a ship steering through the troubled waters of the passions (see comment on 7:1\u20135) in terms of his own Jewish cultural heritage. Philo gives a similar interpretation of Noah\u2019s Ark (QG 2.18).
\n16:1. devout reason is sovereign See comment on 3:19.
\n16:2. also that a woman See comment on 14:11.
\n16:3. Daniel \u2026 Mishael See Dan. 3:1\u201330; 6:2\u201325. These are prominent examples throughout the address (4 Macc. 13:9; 16:21; 18:12\u201313).
\n16:5\u201311. perhaps spoken as follows As in the case of the brothers (see 8:16\u201326), the author composed a hypothetical lament reflecting the attitude of grief and self-pity that the mother refused to adopt. Almost every element in this speech resonates with laments uttered by bereaved mothers on the Greek stage, showing yet again the author\u2019s broad and long acquaintance with Greek culture.
\n16:13. rebirth for immortality Firmly convinced that God rewards the faithful with life beyond death, the mother withstands the onslaught of these pains not as if they meant the loss of her sons and the undoing of her parenting, but as if they represented a new experience of labor pains that would result in the perfection of her children for eternity and unto eternal life. Encouraging them on the death for the sake of piety toward God was, for her, truly the advantageous course for them and for her. Early Christians would speak of martyrdom also as a new birth (Rom. 6:1; Mart. Pol. 18).
\n16:15. Hebrew language See comment on 12:7. The author\u2019s source has the mother addressing only the youngest son (2 Macc. 7:25\u201326), a detail the author had followed in 4 Macc. 12:7. Here, however, he magnifies the mother\u2019s achievement, since she now stands behind the resistance of all seven sons.
\n16:16. noble is the contest See comment on 6:10. The martyrs bear witness to the value of the Jewish way of life and the nation\u2019s character (i.e., as a nation of courageous, pious, resolute people) in this very public arena. By encouraging her sons to \u201cfight zealously,\u201d the mother turns the passive experience of being victimized into active, bold resistance.
\n16:19. you ought to endure See comment on 13:13. On costly gratitude, see Seneca, Ep. 81.27.
\n16:20. Abraham \u2026 Isaac See Gen. 22:1\u201319.
\n16:21. Daniel \u2026 Mishael See comment on 13:9.
\n16:22. have the same faith in God Possibly \u201cshow the same loyalty toward God.\u201d The examples invoked in 16:20\u201321 are notable both for their trust in God and their faithfulness toward God.
\n16:25. live to God See comments on 7:19 and 9:8\u20139.
\n17:1. she threw herself So complete was her devotion to modesty and chastity (see 18:6\u20139), the mother chooses suicide rather than allow strange men to handle her inappropriately. Under such circumstances, suicide would have been regarded as a noble death (1 Sam. 31:1\u20136; 2 Macc. 14:41\u201346; J.W. 7.324\u201334, 377; Mor. 253D\u2013E).
\n17:3. roof on the pillars The weight of the roof pushing down stabilizes stone columns during earthquakes.
\n17:5. stand in honor The author invites the audience to visualize the martyrs enjoying their reward beyond death in a blessed reunion, confirming the validity of their hope.
\n17:6. your children were true descendants of father Abraham Literally \u201cyour childbearing was from Abraham, the father.\u201d
\n17:7. as an artist might Roman lawyers were known occasionally to bring an artist\u2019s depiction of the crime into a courtroom to play upon the jury\u2019s feelings, a tactic some orators deplored (Inst. 6.1.32). The author does not regard this to be permissible (more precisely, \u201cnot possible\u201d), though it is unclear whether this is due to scruples about painting images (Exod. 20:4) or to his good taste.
\n17:8. proper to inscribe Greek speeches honoring the dead often included the proposal for a fitting epitaph (Tro. 1188\u201391; Lysias, Or. 2.1; Demosthenes, Or. 60.1). This particular literary epitaph uses an opening formula known from Jewish tombs in the northeast Mediterranean.
\nas a reminder to Or \u201cas a memorial for.\u201d
\n17:11. the contest \u2026 was divine See comment on 6:10. 4 Macc. 17:11\u201316 exhibits the most extensive use of athletic metaphors in the address.
\n17:12. immortality in endless life Better \u201cin a life of long duration.\u201d Deuteronomy had promised long life to those who were loyal to the covenant (Deut. 6:2; 32:47), but here loyalty to the covenant leads specifically to an early, bitter death. The author reaffirms the reliability of Deuteronomy\u2019s promises by transferring \u201clong life\u201d to immortality beyond death.
\n17:17. their endurance Codex Sinaiticus reads \u201ctheir virtue and endurance.\u201d
\n17:19. Moses says The author offers Deut. 33:3 (quoted from the Septuagint) as evidence for the claim he makes in 4 Macc. 17:18, suggesting that he read the verse from Deuteronomy as a text about God\u2019s protection of the faithful on the way to their eternal homeland.
\n17:20\u201322. our enemies did not rule The martyrs\u2019 deaths are ennobled further by stressing the benefit they brought to their nation (see comments on 1:11 and 18:4).
\n17:21\u201322. a ransom for \u2026 sin See comment on 6:29.
\natoning sacrifice Or possibly \u201cpropitiatory offering.\u201d This phrase translates the Gk. hilast\u0113rion, a term Paul would use to interpret the significance of Jesus\u2019s violent death (Rom. 3:25; see also 1 Tim. 2:6; 1 Pet. 1:19; 1 John 1:7). Reflection on the obedient deaths of the martyrs may have had a significant impact on early Christian reflection on the death of Jesus.
\n17:23. proclaimed them \u2026 as an example Josephus (J.W. 7.388) also bears witness to the idea that even one\u2019s enemies would recognize and admire one\u2019s exemplary courage and commitment to honor. While historically improbable in the case of the martyrs, the author\u2019s claim is nevertheless rhetorically effective.
\n17:24. conquered all his enemies The author embellishes history here in order to underscore the power of the martyrs\u2019 example of courage. In reality, Antiochus suffered crushing defeat in the east shortly after leaving Jerusalem and died shortly thereafter (see 1 Macc. 6:1\u20134; 2 Macc. 9:1; 4 Macc. 18:5).
\n18:1. exercise piety The demonstration of the thesis, restated again in 18:2, ultimately serves a behavioral goal. The author intends for his address to promote continued or intensified commitment to the Jewish way of life and to the commandments of Torah at its very center. Eulogies often conclude with an exhortation to imitate the virtuous conduct of the fallen (see Thucydides 2.43.1\u20134; Dio Chrysostom, Or. 29.21). The martyrs\u2019 suffering sets the mark of endurance for the sake of God\u2019s covenant far beyond the moderate disadvantages that the Jewish audience might encounter and should embolden them to embrace them for the sake of loyalty to their Jewish heritage without thinking the cost too high.
\n18:4. reviving observance By saving their own lives, the martyrs would have weakened their compatriots\u2019 commitment to the covenant. By putting the virtue of pious loyalty ahead of life itself, they made the covenant a rallying point for effective resistance against the tyrant.
\n18:6. expressed also these principles This section is not tied into the story line as was the mother\u2019s first speech (16:15) and may well be a later addition. It was nevertheless well crafted to suit the larger text.
\n18:7. a pure virgin While the mother has been chiefly celebrated for \u201cmanly\u201d courage, this passage develops her attention to preserving her modesty and chastity throughout her life (see comment on 17:1). These were essential female virtues in the ancient world (Spec. Laws 3.169; Thucydides 2.45.2; Sir. 42:9\u201312; Tro. 645\u201353).
\nrib The mother refers to the Creation story (Gen. 2:22), interpreting the fact that Eve was created from Adam\u2019s rib as a call to a woman to preserve her chastity for her future husband, whom and whom alone she physically completes (as \u201chis\u201d rib) when the \u201ctwo become one flesh.\u201d
\n18:8. desert plain A reference to the case of rape envisioned in Deut. 22:25\u201327.
\nserpent The language recalls Gen. 3:13. Satan comes to be associated with seduction (as in 2 Cor. 11:2\u20133).
\n18:10. he taught you The father fulfilled Torah\u2019s obligations to teach one\u2019s children the meaning of the covenant (Deut. 4:9; 6:7; 11:19). The summary of his instruction allows the author of this passage to remind the audience of the lessons of their own heritage as well.
\n18:11. Abel As Cain attacked Abel, so the ungodly continue to assault the pious (see Worse).
\nIsaac See comment on 13:12.
\nJoseph endured imprisonment rather than transgress virtue (Gen. 39). The examples in this verse teach that pious loyalty to the covenant God may indeed lead to deprivation and death rather than unmitigated blessing.
\n18:12 Phinehas exemplified zeal for the Law (Num. 25:1\u20139; Sir. 45:23\u201324). He was a prototype for violent revolution and purging (1 Macc. 2:26, 54), but the martyrs show the same vigilance (if not vigilantism) against assimilation.
\nHananiah See comment on 13:9.
\n18:13. Daniel See comment on 13:9.
\n18:14. Isaiah The author recites Isa. 43:2. Belief in an afterlife allows this promise to remain ultimately true. The fires tormented the martyrs, but did not deprive them of their existence before God. This chain of Scripture quotations encourages perseverance in hardship for the sake of covenant loyalty.
\n18:15. David See Ps. 34:20. The author may assume that the hearers will supply the refrain from the context: God delivers the righteous from every trial (Ps. 34:5, 7, 8, 18, 20).
\n18:16. Solomon\u2019s proverb See Prov. 3:18, slightly altered. The author presumes that the \u201ctree of life\u201d can be accessed beyond death.
\n18:17. the query of Ezekiel See Ezek. 37:2\u20133. The question is as appropriate in the courtyard where the tortures occurred as it was in Ezekiel\u2019s valley of skeletons. The father confirms the positive answer to Ezekiel\u2019s question. God will provide life beyond death, so that even the one who was \u201cburned to his very bones\u201d (4 Macc. 6:26) will not fail to enjoy God\u2019s reward.
\n18:19. I kill and I make alive See Deut. 32:39. The word order is crucial and climactic. God will give new life to those righteous ones whom he has permitted first to be killed.
\nthe length of your days See Deut. 32:47 and 30:20. The promise of length of days is fulfilled now in eternity. Covenant loyalty is the basis for this extended life in the original context of both quotations. See comment on 4 Macc. 17:12.
\n18:20. tyrant of the Greeks This is a bitterly ironic criticism of Greek imperialism in the age of Alexander and following, since the Greeks prided themselves on perfecting democracy.
\n18:22. divine justice The author confirms the eternal fate of both tyrant and martyrs, foundational to the martyrs\u2019 logic of resistance, in these closing sentences.
\n18:23. immortal souls Codex Sinaiticus reads \u201cvictorious souls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wisdom Literature from the Qumran Library<\/p>\n
Armin Lange<\/p>\n
From Egypt to Mesopotamia a shared school philosophy can be observed in the ancient Near Eastern cultures, one that is called \u201cWisdom\u201d today. Wisdom philosophy expressed itself differently in various ancient Near Eastern cultures and exerted a significant influence on Greek (e.g., Hesiod) and Greco-Roman thought (e.g., the Stoa). In the preexilic kingdoms of Israel and Judah, sages and sapiential literature were at home in the royal courts (cf. Prov. 25:1), where court officials, diplomats, and politicians were trained as scribes and sages. After the Davidic monarchy ceased to exist, Wisdom found its new home in the postexilic Temple and developed strong ties with the priesthood.
\nWisdom philosophy was didactic in its intent. Originally, Wisdom gained its insights through experience, which were articulated in the form of proverbs that were in turn gathered in collections such as Prov. 10:1\u201322:16. That Wisdom gained its knowledge out of experience explains why early as well as late Jewish Wisdom Literature gives practical advice for all areas of life, be it how to motivate workers or how to deal with loans (e.g., 4Q416 Instructionb 2 i\u2013iii). Out of this heuristic, or experience-based, approach, Wisdom developed a whole system of thought characterized by the idea of a structured and ordered universe. The central element of the universal order is the act-consequence correlation; that is, the idea that those who do good will fare well. Prov. 10:2 was written in this spirit: \u201cIll-gotten wealth is of no avail, but righteousness saves from death.\u201d God is perceived as the guarantor of the act-consequence correlation. Hence, Wisdom employs experience to construe the universe.
\nAfter Wisdom reached its heuristically developed system, the sages used it as a tool to understand new experiences. But when these new experiences did not agree with the construed order of the universe, Wisdom suffered cognitive crises. To cope with these crises, the sages developed new understandings of the universe\u2019s order, resulting in paradigm shifts in Wisdom thought.
\nSeveral of these paradigm shifts are documented in the Hebrew Bible and other ancient Jewish literature. In Persian times, proverb collections changed in character. Preexilic compilations of proverbs were more or less unstructured, but such collections from Persian times on are organized more thematically and point to a rethinking of wisdom philosophy. The sapiential order of the universe is now thought of as preexistent and is manifest both in the ethical and in the natural order (Prov. 3:19\u201320; 8:22\u201331). God is perceived not just as the guarantor of the universe\u2019s order but as actively rewarding the just and punishing the wicked (cf. 3:33\u201335). Hence, the fear of God becomes an ethical key to knowledge: \u201cThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge\u201d (1:7). This theologization of sapiential thought finds its way into authoritative literature. In this new worldview, the suffering of the just is understood as a trial (Job 1\u20132; 42:7\u201317).
\nThe famous dialogues of the book of Job (3:1\u201342:6) go beyond such an easy answer to the question of theodicy. After several debates with his friends, Job abandons the idea of an act-consequence correlation and demands a personal relation of the just with God instead of a successful life. Accordingly, God reveals himself to Job in Job 38\u201341. In Hellenistic times, the book of Ecclesiastes purports a more pessimistic approach to theodicy. Ecclesiastes perceives God as unpredictable. The sapiential order of the universe exists but remains inaccessible to humans. What is left for the wise is to be scared of the incomprehensible Deity and to enjoy the few chance events of joy granted to humans.
\nWhile both Job and Ecclesiastes mark an epistemological crisis of Wisdom thought, most Wisdom texts advocate a different solution to this crisis, which is characterized as Torah Wisdom today. Unlike Job, they do not opt for a personal relation or encounter with God but refer to the Torah instead. For this Torah Wisdom, the Torah becomes the revelation of Wisdom at Mount Sinai as the ethical and natural order of the universe. A prominent example is Sir. 24. After a long passage in which Wisdom as the personified and preexistent order of the universe praises itself, Ben Sira explains: \u201cAll this is the book of the covenant of the Most High God, the law which Moses commanded us as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob\u201d (Sir. 24:23 RSV).
\nThis identification of Wisdom with the Torah is very much evident in the Wisdom texts from the Qumran library, although the idea is not set forth as explicitly as it is in Sir. 24. But the Qumran Wisdom texts refer to Jewish Scripture more often than does sapiential literature from Persian times.
\nBoth personal and political experiences conflicted with the idea of Torah Wisdom: in neither one\u2019s own life nor in the history of Judah did adherence to the Torah result in prosperity and peace. Although Ps. 73 does not mention the identification of Wisdom and Torah, it foreshadows the answers given in Qumran Wisdom texts in several ways. The psalmist claims that a visit to the Jerusalem sanctuary showed him how the seemingly prosperous and successful life of the wicked will end: \u201cUntil I go into the sanctuary of God; then I will perceive their end. Indeed, you will put them in slippery places; you will let them fall to ruin\u201d (Ps. 73:17\u201318, author\u2019s translation). While the psalm speaks only of an unqualified future during the lifetime of the wicked, the Wisdom texts from the Qumran library expect the punishment of the wicked and the rewards for the pious in the eschaton (time of judgment). This eschatologization of Torah Wisdom is characteristic of all of the better preserved Wisdom texts from Qumran.
\nBy way of the end of times, history is introduced as a new element into sapiential thought, and merged for the first time with cosmology. Now the course of history as well as the cosmological and eschatological conflict between good and evil become part of the sapiential order of the universe. But Ps. 73 foreshadows another aspect of the Wisdom Literature found in Qumran. In Ps. 73, the psalmist gains his knowledge about the future punishment of the wicked in the Jerusalem Temple. The Qumran Wisdom texts display an atypical cultic interest.
\nThe Qumran Wisdom texts respond to epistemological problems of Ecclesiastes also in another way. They developed the idea of the raz nihyeh, the \u201cmystery of being and becoming\u201d (see comment on 4Q417 1 i 6). The skeptic Ecclesiastes did not deny the existence of the sapiential order of the universe but claimed that humans do not have access to it. Texts like Musar leMevin and Book of Mysteries from the Qumran library describe the order of the universe as a mystery that is not easily understood; only sages like the mevin (who have special knowledge or expertise) have access to it.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
Wisdom texts from the Qumran library are almost all of non-Essene origin; that is, they were not composed by the community that lived at Qumran. But they exerted a significant influence on Essene thought. A good example is the Teaching of the Two Spirits (1QS 3:13\u20134:26), a non-Essene treatise incorporated into the famous Rule of the Community. This work develops the thought of Musar leMevin and Book of Mysteries into a dualistic worldview that in turn influenced the Qumran community.<\/p>\n
In total, 27 manuscripts of 17 Wisdom texts were found in the 11 caves from Qumran and one copy of the book of Sirach at Masada:<\/p>\n
Musar leMevin (1Q26 Instruction; 4Q415\u201318, 418a Instructiona\u2013e; 4Q418c Instructionf?; 4Q423 Instructiong)
\nBook of Mysteries (1Q27 Mysteries; 4Q299\u2013300 Mysteriesa\u2013b; 4Q301 Mysteriesc)
\nBen Sira (Sirach; 2Q18 Ben Sira; Mas1h Ben Sira)
\n4Q184 Wiles of the Wicked Woman
\n4Q185 Sapiential Work
\n4Q298 Words of the Maskil to All Sons of Dawn
\n4Q302 Admonitory Parable
\n4Q303 Meditation on Creation A
\n4Q305 Meditation on Creation C
\n4Q411 Sapiential Hymn
\n4Q412 Sapiential-Didactic Work A
\n4Q413 Composition Concerning Divine Providence
\n4Q424 Instruction-like Composition B
\n4Q425 Sapiential-Didactic Work B
\n4Q426 Sapiential-Hymnic Work A
\n4Q473 The Two Ways
\n4Q525 Beatitudes<\/p>\n
Most of these texts are very damaged. Even in the case of the better preserved ones, often only one or two fragments provide a coherent text. For this reason only some fragments of the better-preserved manuscripts are translated and commented in the pages that follow. In the translations, single, double, and dotted underlines indicate overlaps between various manuscripts.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Crenshaw, James L. Education in Ancient Israel: Across the Deadening Silence. Anchor Bible Reference Library. New York: Doubleday, 1998.
\nGarc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez, Florentino, ed. Wisdom and Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Biblical Tradition. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 168. Louvain: Peeters, 2003.
\nGoff, Matthew J. Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Vetus Testamentum Supplement 116. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
\nHarrington, Daniel J. Wisdom Texts from Qumran. Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls. London: Routledge, 1996.
\nHempel, Charlotte, Armin Lange, and Hermann Lichtenberger, eds. The Wisdom Texts from Qumran and the Development of Sapiential Thought. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 159. Louvain: Peeters, 2002.
\nVon Rad, Gerhard. Wisdom in Israel. Translated by James D. Martin. Nashville TN: Abingdon, 1972.<\/p>\n
Wiles of the Wicked Woman<\/p>\n
Of this text only one fragmentary manuscript from the end of the 1st century BCE is extant (4Q184). Fragment 1 could preserve the beginning of the scroll, as its right hand margin was sewn into a small handle. The setting and date of Wiles of the Wicked Woman are very difficult to determine due to the general character of its deliberations, the lack of historical references, and the deterioration of its single manuscript. Its dualistic thought and its concerns with the commandments of the Jewish law are a combination that is typical for Jewish Wisdom texts from Hellenistic times.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
Many scholars think that this text should be interpreted allegorically or symbolically. It is true that Wiles paints the whore as a demonic power. She lures righteous men into fangs of a dark otherworld, which other ancient Jewish texts describe as the reign of Belial. But the main concern of Wiles is not the prostitute but the effect that prostitution has on the prostitute\u2019s clients, that is, it lures them into a life against the Torah. The text could hardly be more detached from the reality of prostitution in Hellenistic times. Most prostitutes, especially the street prostitutes and those working in bordellos, were forced into their trade either by social circumstances or by way of slavery. Wiles condemns the female victims of ancient sex trafficking. Prostitutes were the victims of a patriarchal society and were sexually exploited in most gruesome ways.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
Only frag. 1 is translated; all other fragments are poorly preserved. Fragment 1 is concerned with the harlot, while other parts of this Wisdom text might have addressed other topics. The description of the harlot in frag. 1 is based on the admonition about the adulteress in Prov. 7. Unlike Prov. 7, Wiles is concerned with a harlot and not with an adulteress. The text warns its addressees that visiting a harlot results ultimately in being lured into a negative otherworld, which is characterized by its opposition to the Jewish law. Especially lines 5\u201311 paint the harlot in demonic colors and make wickedness and prostitution part of a dualistic scheme, in which they belong to the negative side of the world.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Baumgarten, Joseph M. \u201cOn the Nature of the Seductress in 4Q184.\u201d RevQ 15 (September 1991): 133\u201343.
\nGoff, Matthew J. Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 104\u201321. VT Supplement 116. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
\nJones, Scott C. \u201cWisdom\u2019s Pedagogy: A Comparison of Proverbs VII and 4Q184.\u201d Vetus Testamentum 53 (January 2003): 65\u201380.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
1\u20133 Wiles describes the harlot and her trade, including how a harlot encounters her customers, but stops short of describing the actual sexual act. The text begins with a characterization of the harlot (lines 1\u20133). When line 2 explains that the harlot \u201cmockingly flatters\u201d it refers to how a harlot approaches a prospective client and tempts him into becoming her client.
\n2. mind The Hebrew word translated as \u201cmind\u201d refers to the heart. The heart was understood by the ancient Jews as a noetic (intellectual) center. See Heinz-Josef Fabry, \u201cl\u0113b; l\u0113b\u0101b,\u201d in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, trans. David E. Green (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 7.399\u2013437 at 419\u201323.
\n2. emotions The Hebrew word translated as emotions refers to the kidneys, which were understood by the ancient Jews as the seat of various emotions.
\n4\u20135 These lines picture the stage of the encounter when the client recognizes and engages the harlot. The rhetoric of describing the harlot\u2019s attire is highly metaphoric: \u201cmany are the sins in the hem of her skirt\u201d (line 4), she wears veils of \u201cthe darknesses of the twilight,\u201d and her jewels are \u201cplagues of the pit\u201d (line 5). Pits are mentioned repeatedly in lines 3, 5, 6, 17. But in lines 5\u20136 and 17 they do not refer to a cavity. The various Hebrew terms employed here are a metaphor for a threatening netherworld\u2014the pit being an opening to it. Wiles describes the adornments of the harlot as \u201cplagues of the pit.\u201d
\n5. plagues There is little doubt that an illness is meant. Ancient depictions of prostitutes point to the illnesses they incured due to their trade and the gruesome conditions many of them had to live in. But Wiles takes the symptoms of such diseases as signs of a wicked life that is part of a chthonic negative otherworld.
\n5\u20136 This describes the stage of the process when a client comes into the quarters of a harlot. Lines 5\u20136 continue the rhetoric of the previous passage when describing bed and lodgings of the harlot as \u201ccouches of the pit,\u201d \u201cdepths of the pit,\u201d and \u201cbeds of darkness.\u201d The imagery of darkness and night (\u201cthe depths of the nigh[t] are her [do]minions\u201d) introduces dualistic rhetoric into the characterization of the harlot that will become more dominant in the next passage.
\n6\u201311 Once the harlot and her customer enter her quarters, Wiles stops its description of the trade. Instead of the sexual act itself, the text provides a religious characterization of the harlot. This passage is basically an extensive warning about the religious dangers of visiting a harlot. The text continues and intensifies the chthonic and dualistic imagery of lines 5\u20136. For example, the harlot \u201chas no inheritance in the midst of all who gird themselves with bright light\u201d (lines 7\u20138), she dwells \u201cin the midst of everlasting fire\u201d (line 7). But not only is the harlot part of a demonic and destructive netherworld, she will draw anyone into it who becomes her customer (lines 8\u201311). Sheol\u2014a Hebrew designation for the dwelling of the dead\u2014is in her quarters: \u201cAll who possess her will go down to the pit\u201d (line 11).
\n11\u201317 After Wiles pointed to the dangers involved with visiting a harlot, the text gives a second description of the harlot\u2019s intentions and of how she looks for clients (lines 12\u201313). But in this passage Wiles employs neither chthonic nor cosmic dualistic language. The text speaks now in ethical categories that are dualistic in nature as well. The harlot wants to overtake a righteous man to lead him away to iniquity and rebellion against God. The language of lines 15\u201317 shows what is meant. The harlot keeps the righteous from observing the \u201cprecept\u201d and \u201cordinance\u201d of the Law. She lures the righteous to walk \u201cthe ways of the pit\u201d (line 17), that is, to live a life in opposition to the Torah. Although the Torah prohibits any form of prostitution (Lev. 19:29; Deut. 23:18), Wiles is not just concerned with the violation of these particular ordinances, but with the effects of prostitution on the clients of prostitutes, that is, enticement to a life against the Torah.<\/p>\n
Words of the Maskil to All Sons of Dawn<\/p>\n
Albeit rather damaged, this manuscript (also known as 4Q298) from second half of the 1st century BCE preserves an important text. The use of the word maskil and the phrase \u201csons of dawn\u201d show that it is one of the few Wisdom texts of Essene origin. The paleography of the manuscript argues for a date in the late 2nd century BCE or the first half of the 1st century BCE. Pfann and Kister make a plausible case that the few fragments preserved are the remnants of a more extensive instruction to new members of the Essene movement in general or the Qumran community in particular.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
The text is an exhortation for the acquisition of Wisdom. In what is preserved, this exhortation is mostly phrased in the general sapiential and ethical terms of Wisdom Literature such as understanding, knowledge, righteousness, and justice. Only in frags. 3\u20134 ii 9\u201310 does it become evident that Words of the Maskil to All Sons of Dawn is concerned with at least two of the main topics of the Qumran community rules, that is, calendrical and eschatological questions. For the Essenes, this type of knowledge was part of a special hidden knowledge about the meaning of the Torah (cf. 1QS 5:7\u201312; CD 3:12\u201316), which was not to be revealed to outsiders. Because the new members, to whom Words of the Maskil is addressed, were not entitled yet to the full secret knowledge of the Essenes, the manuscript was written in a cryptic alphabet, that is, the maskil could read it while teaching the new members, but the new members could not. Only the title of the text is written in the commonly used Hebrew square script of this time, to make it easier for a librarian to identify the manuscript.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Goff, Matthew J. Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 146\u201359. Vetus Testamentum Supplement 116. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
\nKister, Menahem. \u201cCommentary to 4Q298.\u201d Jewish Quarterly Review 85 (July\u2013October 1994): 237\u201349.
\nPfann, Stephen J. \u201c4Q298: The Mask\u00eel\u2019s Address to All Sons of Dawn.\u201d Jewish Quarterly Review 85 (July\u2013October 1994): 203\u201335.
\nPfann, Stephen J., and Menahem Kister. \u201cWords of the Maskil to All Sons of Dawn.\u201d In Qumran Cave 4.XV: Sapiential Texts, Part 1, 1\u201330. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 20. Oxford: Clarendon, 1997.
\nSwanson, Dwight D. \u201c4QcryptA Words of the Maskil to All Sons of Dawn: The Path of the Virtuous Life.\u201d In Sapiential, Liturgical, and Poetical Texts from Qumran: Proceedings of the Third Meeting of the International Organization for Qumran Studies Oslo 1998: Published in Memory of Maurice Baillet, ed. Daniel K. Falk, Florentino Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez, and Eileen M. Schuller, 49\u201361. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 35. Leiden: Brill, 2000.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
Fragments 1\u20132 i<\/p>\n
1. [Word]s of a Maskil that he spoke to all Sons of Dawn Written in the square script, this is one of the few titles of a text that is preserved among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Verbally translated the Heb. maskil means someone who causes understanding, a teacher. In the Essene texts from Qumran the maskil is a community official who has a variety of liturgical, exorcistic, and pedagogic functions. The word is used in a similar way in non-Essene texts as well. The closest parallel to the heading of this text can be found in 1QS 3:13, which is addressed to \u201call Sons of Light\u201d (cf. CD 13:14\u201315 where the phrase \u201csons of dawn\u201d is used outside a title). In a dualistic worldview, the Essenes perceived themselves as the sons of light who lived in an eternal conflict with the sons of darkness as the rest of humanity. In this scheme, the sons of dawn are people who left the darkness but are not yet Essene sons of light, that is, people on their way to membership in the Essene community.
\n1\u20133 The heading is followed by a typical opening (written in cryptic script) of a sapiential didactic speech, found in both non-Essene (e.g., Prov. 5:1\u20132; Sir. 3:1; 16:24; 4Q525 Beatitudes 24 ii 2) and Essene texts (e.g., CD 1:1). It asks for the attention of the addressees by employing language from Isa. 51:1; Jer. 5:1; and Job 34:10, 34.
\n3\u20134 The fragmentary text seems to point to the benefits of the maskil\u2019s teaching for the new members. Not enough text is preserved for more details.<\/p>\n
Fragments 3\u20134 ii<\/p>\n
3\u20134. and now give ea[r, O wise ones]; and you who know, listen! This is another classical opening formula of a sapiential didactic speech, which marks the beginning of an admonition of the sons of dawn.
\n4\u20138 These lines describe the sons of dawn as men of understanding and truth who seek justice and know the way. They are asked to increase learning, to pursue righteousness, to add modesty and strength. Although most of this rhetoric is characteristic of sapiential literature and although some of this language seems to be borrowed from Job 17:9 and Mic. 6:8, a close parallel in 1QS 5:4\u20135 points to the sectarian background of the text: \u201cTo do together truth and humility and righteousness and justice and love of kindness and modesty in all their ways.\u201d
\n8\u20139. appointed [t]imes, whose interpretation On first glimpse the appointed times could bring to mind the Essene calendrical interests and their great interest in the precise dates of religious festivals and events (cf., e.g., the many remarks about the appointed times in CD 3:12\u201316; 6:18\u201319). But a comparison with CD 13:7\u20138 points to a different interpretation. This text says about the maskil: \u201cHe must teach the general membership about the works of God, instruct them in his mighty miracles, relate to them the future events coming to the world with their interpretations.\u201d This passage in Words of the Maskil documents the application of the Damascus Document\u2019s rule. It is about the interpretation of future and past events by the maskil.
\n9\u201310. end of the ages and \u2026 for[m]er things This interpretation is confirmed by two phrases in lines 9\u201310. The maskil instructs his audience about both history (\u201cfor[m]er things\u201d) and the eschatological end of times (\u201cend of the ages\u201d).<\/p>\n
Book of Mysteries<\/p>\n
Four manuscripts of the Book of Mysteries have been preserved at Qumran (1Q27; 4Q299\u2013301). All of them are badly damaged and have been copied in Herodian scripts that date to the end of the 1st century BCE or the 1st century CE. An allusion to Dan. 2 in 4Q300 Mysteriesb 1a ii\u2013b 1 argues for a date not significantly earlier than the middle of the 2nd century BCE. The eschatology and dualism of the Teaching of the Two Spirits in 1QS 3:13\u20134:26 (to be dated to the second half of the 2nd century BCE) attest to a more developed version of the thought of Book of Mysteries. Hence, Book of Mysteries was most likely written around the middle of the 2nd century BCE. For a Wisdom text, it displays an exceptional interest in priestly matters, which points to a priestly setting of this text. It was probably written at the Jerusalem Temple.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
Book of Mysteries attests to the typical themes and forms of Jewish Wisdom Literature, for example, admonitions with a strong pedagogical interest, the act-consequence correlation, i.e., that proper ethical behavior leads to a successful life, and the idea of God as the creator of an ordered universe. But the Book of Mysteries combines sapiential thought with prophetic forecasts, an eschatological and dualistic worldview, and a strong interest in the Torah. Its thought can best be described as eschatological Torah Wisdom. It was given its name by modern scholars because of its prominent use of the term raz nihyeh (mystery of \u201cbeing and becoming\u201d), to designate the preexistent order of the universe. This order comprises ethical, cosmological, dualistic, historical, and eschatological components.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
Although manuscripts 4Q299 and 4Q300 include somewhat larger fragments, only a few undamaged lines are preserved of the Book of Mysteries. Due to the philosophical character of the text, its damaged fragments are obscure in meaning and are of interest only to specialists. The single exception is 1Q27 1 i, which is translated and commented on below.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Goff, Matthew J. Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 69\u2013103. Vetus Testamentum Supplement 116. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
\nKister, Menahem. \u201cWisdom Literature and Its Relation to Other Genres: From Ben Sira to Mysteries.\u201d In Sapiential Perspectives: Wisdom Literature in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 20\u201322 May, 2001, ed. John J. Collins, Gregory E. Sterling, and Ruth A. Clements, 13\u201347. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 51. Leiden: Brill, 2004.
\nLange, Armin. \u201cWisdom and Predestination in the Dead Sea Scrolls.\u201d Dead Sea Discoveries 2 (1995): 340\u201354, esp. 343\u201346.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. Weisheit und Pr\u00e4destination: Weisheitliche Urordnung und Pr\u00e4destination in den Textfunden von Qumran, 93\u2013120. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 18. Leiden: Brill, 1995.
\nSchiffman, Lawrence H. \u201cMysteries.\u201d In Qumran Cave 4.XV: Sapiential Texts, Part 1, 31\u2013123. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 20. Oxford: Clarendon, 1997.
\nTigchelaar, Eibert J. C. \u201cYour Wisdom and Your Folly: The Case of 1\u20134QMysteries.\u201d In Wisdom and Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Biblical Tradition, ed. Florentino Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez, 69\u201388. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 168. Louvain: Peeters, 2003.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
The preserved text begins in the middle of a more extended argument. What is still readable consists of three paragraphs. The first two paragraphs (lines 2\u20134 and 5\u20137) are prophecies of an eschatological future and are addressed to an unspecified audience. The third paragraph (lines 8\u201312) tries to verify these two prophecies by way of a long chain of rhetorical questions.
\n2\u20134 These lines speak about an unspecified group, which in an eschatological future will be able to distinguish between good and evil but knows now only the \u201cmysteries of transgression\u201d (line 2).
\n2. mystery This word (Heb. raz) is prominent in Book of Mysteries and occurs in various combinations. The \u201cmysteries of transgression\u201d and the \u201cmysteries of wonder\u201d (line 7) refer to negative arcane knowledge. The criticism of the magicians of Dan. 2 in 4Q300 Mysteriesb 1a ii\u2013b 1 shows that Book of Mysteries attacks apocalyptic visionaries who claim to have access to heavenly wisdom by way of divination\u2014Dan. 2 uses the word \u201cmystery\u201d prominently\u2014but these \u201cmysteries of wonder\u201d are \u201cmysteries of transgression.\u201d Only in the eschaton (time of judgment) will the apocalyptic visionaries learn the difference between good and evil. The true mystery, \u201cthe mystery of being and becoming,\u201d remains hidden to them. Contrary to the claims of ancient Jewish apocalypses the apocalyptic visionaries do not know either \u201cthe former things\u201d (line 3), that is, they do not understand history, or \u201cwhat will come upon them\u201d (line 4), that is, they do not know the (eschatological) futures.
\n3\u20134. they did not understand the former things and they did not recognize what will come upon them An explanation of the \u201cmystery of being and becoming\u201d (raz nihyeh) that is hidden to the apocalyptic visionaries.
\n4. mystery of being and becoming Encompasses both past and future components. It is the sapiential order of being that provides both the ethical and historical structure of the universe. In an eschatological version of the act-consequence correlation, this mystery of being and becoming will destroy the apocalyptic visionaries because they live their life against this universal order (line 4).
\n5\u20137 These lines give proof for the first prophecy by way of a second one. The reader will recognize the truth of the preceding predictions when in the time of the eschaton all wickedness and darkness is destroyed, when only righteousness and knowledge will fill the world, because in this time \u201call who adhere to the mysteries of wonder\u201d (line 7) will be destroyed as well. Their eschatological destruction is the final proof that they belong to the evil sphere of the world.
\n7. \u201call who adhere [tomkhei] to the mysteries of wonder The phrase is a strange designation for a group of wicked people that will be destroyed in the eschaton as it does not imply iniquity. It can be found nowhere else in the preserved part of the Book of Mysteries. But in 4Q301 Mysteriesc 1 2 \u201cthose who adhere to mys[teries]\u201d are also described as \u201cthose who search for the roots of understanding.\u201d The latter group is described in 4Q300 Mysteriesb 1a ii\u2013b 1\u20133 as magicians (hahar]tumim) \u201cwho relate the riddle before it was spoken.\u201d Only one ancient Jewish text tells about such an achievement, that is, Dan. 2. In this text, Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s dream before he related it to him. This means that Book of Mysteries attacks apocalyptic visionaries\u2014such as the group responsible for the book of Daniel\u2014and claims that they will be destroyed in the eschaton with the rest of the negative sphere of being.
\n8\u201312 These lines are proof for the eschatological destruction of wickedness and evil. They argue by way of rhetorical questions. Book of Mysteries observes that all people hate iniquity yet it is in all their hands (lines 8\u20139), that all nations want to adhere to truth yet all people lie, that every nation despises oppression yet all nations oppress their neighbors, and that nobody wants to be robbed yet all nations rob the property of other people. For the Book of Mysteries, that nobody wants evil yet everybody acts evil implies the absolute need for the destruction of all evil in the eschaton. This observation implies in turn the destruction of the apocalyptic visionaries criticized in the Book of Mysteries.<\/p>\n
Beatitudes<\/p>\n
Only one heavily damaged manuscript of this text, known also as 4Q525, is preserved. Except for frags. 2\u20133 ii, no fragment contains whole lines, resulting in often incomprehensible text. Therefore, only frag. 2\u20133 ii is translated and interpreted. But this brief passage is only a small part of a much larger text and does not give an accurate impression of the thought expressed in Beatitudes. That Beatitudes doesn\u2019t use the Tetragrammaton argues for a date after 150 BCE, while its influence on Thanksgiving Hymns (Hodayot) and Damascus Document excludes a date later than the second half of the 2nd century BCE.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
Despite the damage to the text, it can still be discerned that Beatitudes identifies wisdom as the sapiential order of the universe, as the Torah. The laws of the Torah articulate the laws of the universe. The more fragmentary parts of the manuscript might document eschatological ideas as well. Beatitudes has influenced Essene writings like Hodayot and the Damascus Document but is not a sectarian text, because it designates God as Elohim, which is atypical for Essene texts.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Goff, Matthew J. Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 198\u2013229. Vetus Testamentum Supplement 116. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
\nPuech, \u00c9mile. \u201cThe Collection of Beatitudes in Hebrew and in Greek (4Q525 1\u20134 and Mt 5, 3\u201312).\u201d In Early Christianity in Context: Monuments and Documents: Essays in Honour of E. Testa, edited by Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Manns and Eugenio Alliata, 353\u201368. Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Collectio maior 38. Jerusalem: Franciscan, 1993.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. Qumr\u00e2n Grotte 4.XVIII: Textes H\u00e9breux (4Q521\u20134Q528, 4Q576\u20134Q579), 115\u201378. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 25. Oxford: Clarendon, 1998.
\nWise, M., M. Abegg, E. Cook, and N. Gordon, \u201c4Q525 (4QBeatitudes).\u201d In The Dead Sea Scrolls Reader, Part 4: Calendrical and Sapiential Texts, ed. Donald W. Parry and Emanuel Tov, 246\u201365. Leiden: Brill, 2004.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
Fragment 2\u20133 ii consists of a series of beatitudes, of which only five are preserved (lines 1\u201310). The fifth beatitude (lines 3\u201310) is significantly longer than the first four and represents the focus of the text. Line 12 begins with an opening formula typical of sapiential didactic speeches: \u201c[And] now my sons, li[sten to instruction and do n]ot turn aside [from].\u201d Of the speech itself hardly any text is preserved. Due to Christian use, the word \u201cbeatitude\u201d implies in contemporary English a state of blessedness by God. But the word is common in ancient Jewish texts and has a more secular meaning. Here, the word \u2018ashrei expresses a form of congratulation. The one who is praised or happy has done something right. This is especially true for sapiential texts (e.g., Prov. 20:7: \u201cThe righteous walk in integrity\u2014happy are the children who follow them\u201d [author\u2019s translation]). The beatitude is thus the sapiential act-consequence correlation in a nutshell. Do it right and you are happy. This more secular meaning of the ancient Jewish beatitude implies especially in later texts that God guarantees the act-consequence correlation, that is, the happiness of the one who is doing it right.
\n1\u20133 The beatitudes of lines 1\u20133 involve an \u201cit\u201d that is not specified in the preserved text. People are praised or happy if they \u201chold to its statutes\u201d (line 1), \u201crejoice in it\u201d (line 2), \u201cseek it with pure hands\u201d (lines 2\u20133) but \u201cdo not search for it with a deceitful mind\u201d (line 3). The word \u201cmind\u201d translates here (and in lines 1 and 8) the Heb. for \u201cheart\u201d (lev), as the heart is often conceived in ancient Hebrew literature as a noetic (intellectual) center.
\n3\u20134 These lines refer both to the Torah and to Wisdom as the ethical and perhaps cosmological order of the universe. The parallelism of lines 3\u20134 equates Wisdom and Law. Such an identification of Wisdom and Torah is common in Jewish texts from Hellenistic times (a prominent example is Sir. 24) and can still be found in Rabbinic midrashim (cf. Gen. Rab. 1). In this line of thought the Torah is understood as the written version of the universe\u2019s sapiential order as it was revealed to Israel. It is Wisdom in the shape of the Torah that a happy person obtains, practices (i.e., walks in), is controlled, punished, and afflicted by and does not reject in a time of crisis (lines 3\u20136). His whole life is coined and influenced by it. Interestingly enough, the respectful treatment of the sapiential Torah is expressed in lines 1 and 3 in the priestly rhetoric of purity.
\n6\u20138 These lines emphasize how the person who leads a happy life is concerned with the Torah in every aspect and moment of his life. In doing this, line 6 employs a phrase that can be found similarly in Josh. 1:8 (\u201cand you will murmur about it day and night\u201d; my translation) and Ps. 1:2 (\u201cand about his Torah he murmurs day and night\u201d; my translation). The word \u201cmurmur\u201d translates the Heb. hgh. In these cases, it describes the reading of a text in a low voice and also thinking about it, which is why in Josh. 1:8 and Ps. 1:2 it is often translated as \u201cmeditating.\u201d But hgh does not imply the more spiritual connotations of the English word \u201cmeditation.\u201d
\n9\u201310 These lines are typical for the sapiential act-consequence correlation. If someone follows the Torah as described in the preceding lines he will enjoy royal honors. That the beatitudes of 4Q525 end in such a promise also shows that the text is pedagogic at heart. The promise of a royal life bears the admonition to follow the Torah as described in the preceding beatitudes if the reader wants to enjoy royal bliss.<\/p>\n
Instruction-like Composition B<\/p>\n
Instruction-like Composition B (4Q424) is preserved in only one badly damaged manuscript. It dates to the end of the 1st century BCE, and its scribe might have also copied 4QapocrJere (4Q390), which could suggest a Qumran origin of the copy. Despite the name Instruction-like Composition B, this text bears little resemblance to the so-called 4Q Instruction text (Musar leMevin). What is preserved attests to a collection of proverbs that resembles the ones collected in Prov. 1\u20139 and Prov. 10\u201331. But some of the proverbs in Instruction-like Composition B tend to be longer and more elaborate than the ones from Prov. 10\u201331. In the line of traditional wisdom, the individual proverbs offer practical advice on such things as how to deal with money and how to interact with others. Instruction-like Composition B lacks the usual rhetoric of theological texts. Terms like \u201cjustice\u201d are legal in meaning and bear no further implications. Almost all proverbs speak about two kinds of people, those who cannot be trusted with any task and those who are virtuous.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
That Instruction-like Composition B advises its addressee concerning the one who should collect money for him (1 10\u201312) points to a wealthy and politically influential if not powerful milieu in which the text was written and argues against an Essene origin of this text. Brin dates it after 200 BCE. The sapiential texts preserved from this time are not simple collections of proverbs but combine individual proverbs with sometimes lengthy instructions; examples include Ecclesiastes and Sirach as well as Musar leMevin from the Qumran library.
\nThe textual form of Instruction-like Composition B does not resemble any extant wisdom text that was written after 200 BCE but is comparable to collections such as Prov. 1\u20139. This suggests a setting in early postexilic times, which would make Instruction-like Composition B the earliest nonbiblical text from the Qumran library.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Brin, Gershon. \u201cStudies in 4Q424 1\u20132.\u201d Revue de Qumr\u00e2n 18 (April 1997): 21\u201342.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cStudies in 4Q424, Fragment 3.\u201d Vetus Testamentum 46 (September 1996): 271\u201395.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cWisdom Issues in Qumran: Types and Status of the Figures in 4Q424 and the Phrases of Rationale in the Document.\u201d Dead Sea Discoveries 4 (1997): 297\u2013311.
\nGoff, Matthew J. Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 179\u201397. Vetus Testamentum Supplement 116. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
\nLange, Armin. \u201cDie Bedeutung der Weisheitstexte aus Qumran f\u00fcr die Hebr\u00e4ische Bibel.\u201d In Weisheit in Israel: Beitr\u00e4ge des Symposiums \u201cDas Alte Testament und die Kultur der Moderne\u201d anl\u00e4sslich des 100. Geburtstags Gerhard von Rads (1901\u20131971), Heidelberg, 18\u201321. Oktober 2001, ed. David J. A. Clines, Hermann Lichtenberger, and Armin Lange, 129\u201344. Altes Testament und Moderne 12. M\u00fcnster: Lit-Verlag, 2003.
\nMart\u00ednez, Florentino Garc\u00eda, and Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar. \u201c4Q424 4QSapiential Text.\u201d The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, 2.888\u201391. Leiden: Brill, 1997\u201398.
\nTanzer, Sarah. \u201c424: 4QInstruction-like Composition B.\u201d In Qumran Cave 4.XXVI: Cryptic Texts and Miscellanea, Part 1, 333\u201346. DJD 36. Oxford: Clarendon, 2000.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
Fragment 1<\/p>\n
3\u20134 The image of whitewashing a wall is also found in Ezek. 13:10\u201312. The Heb. hitz is a technical term that describes a partition wall of a house. Because this type of wall was built out of loose stones without mortar, it was not able to withstand rough weather. Smeared with plaster it would create the false impression of a strong wall. Ezek. 13:10\u201312 compares misleading and weak prophets to such a wall. Instruction-like Composition B is more general in its use of the image and argues that a deceiver is as treacherous as a plastered partition wall. It seems likely that both Ezek. 13:10\u201312 and Instruction-like Composition B draw on the same proverb in their use of this image. That Ezek. 13:10\u201312 is very specific while Instruction-like Composition B is rather general argues against a direct dependence of the latter on the former. But the postexilic date of Instruction-like Composition B argues against a dependence of Ezek. 13:1\u201312 on Instruction-like Composition B.
\n4\u20135 These lines continue the topic of the deceiver. They warn against taking legal advice from a deceiver. For this use of the phrase lakahat hok, see also 4Q460 Narrative Work and Prayer 9 i 9. To have legal support from a deceiver equals walking into a furnace unprotected.
\n6\u20138 This proverb warns against entrusting property or insight to a lazy man. The feared consequences of economic losses and lacking support in business affairs show that Instruction-like Composition B does not speak of theological insights but of economic ones.
\n8\u201310 Goes back to the area of legal advice and repeats the warning of lines 3\u20134.
\n10\u201312 Warns against employing greedy or stingy people. The phrase \u201cevil eye\u201d describes a miser in Prov. 23:6; 28:22. A miser cannot be trusted to administer property. Lines 11\u201312 give similar advice concerning the harvest. A miser will limp to it (cf. Ps. 35:16 on the root h-n-p) but will not give real support.<\/p>\n
Fragment 3<\/p>\n
1\u20133 The proverb uses technical terms from the legal world. The phrase \u201cto declare righteous the righteous and to declare wicked the w[icked]\u201d is known from Deut. 25:1, where it clearly refers to the sentencing in a lawsuit (cf. Prov. 17:15). Unlike 4Q299 Mysteriesa 8 7 and 4Q418 Instructiond 69 ii 10\u201311, this legal rhetoric argues against a theological understanding of the phrase \u201cthose who pursue knowledge\u201d in line 2. The knowledge pursued is a legal decision. Lines 1\u20133 argue against a judge who makes hasty judgments without proper investigation.
\n3\u20134 This passage continues to describe bad judges. Also disqualified are \u201ca man of blind eyes\u201d and \u201c[a man] hard of hearing.\u201d Line 6 also mentions \u201ca man of a dull mind\u201d (lit., \u201ca fat heart\u201d). This combination (blind eyes, hard hearing, dull mind) occurs elsewhere only in Isa. 6:9\u201310. Because Instruction-like Composition B does not group the three terms as closely together as Isaiah and because it is written later than Isa. 6, it seems unlikely that the two texts depend on each other. Instruction-like Composition B demonstrates that the prophet Isaiah employs sapiential language otherwise used in a legal context to disqualify bad judges.
\n4\u20135 This proverb explains that a bad judge cannot be educated, as he will not listen to advice. He is like someone who stays soundly asleep while a tale is told to him.
\n6\u20137 These lines conclude with another proverb on the issue of bad judges. A stupid man is not able to investigate plots, as he has neither practical wisdom (\u201cwisdom of his hands\u201d) nor intellectual capacities (\u201cwisdom of his mind\u201d).
\n7\u20139 The last preserved saying moves on to describe a good judge. He accepts instruction, obtains wisdom, and rejoices in a proverb, that is, he is open to sapiential instruction and will accept a judgment. Such a man will be a good prosecutor (ba\u2019al riv) of those who \u201cmove the boundary.\u201d The Heb. ba\u2019al riv refers to the master of a lawsuit (cf. 4Q417 Instructionc 2 i 12). Originally, the expression referred to the moving of boundary markers (Deut. 19:14; 27:17). In prophetic and sapiential literature (cf. Hosea 5:10; Prov. 22:28; 23:10), it gained a more metaphorical meaning and implies going beyond God\u2019s laws or beyond one\u2019s intended station and way of life. In Instruction-like Composition B it remains unclear whether the phrase denotes someone who tries to extend his property illegally or someone who breaks God\u2019s laws in a more general sense.<\/p>\n
Musar leMevin<\/p>\n
The text called Musar leMevin (MLM) is also designated 4Q Instruction in scholarly literature. In its form, MLM is comparable to other ancient Jewish Wisdom texts from Hellenistic times and can best be classified as an instruction. Its pedagogical tone and the long admonitions mixed with more reflective passages resemble texts like Ecclesiastes and the book of Ben Sira. The admonitions of MLM can be divided into teachings about philosophical and practical issues. But when it comes to the more practical instructions, MLM sometimes resembles the structure of proverbs, in the biblical book of Proverbs. Wisdom instructions like the MLM were widespread in the ancient Near Eastern literatures and are still preserved from ancient Egypt (e.g., Instructions of Amenemope and Instruction of Ani), Coile-Syria (e.g., Ahikar), and Mesopotamia (e.g., Instructions of Shuruppak and Counsels of Wisdom). As a collection of typical wisdom instruction, MLM provides its readers with both practical advice and philosophical reflections.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
Of MLM, seven or maybe eight damaged manuscripts were found in Caves 1 and 4 from Qumran: 1Q26 Instruction, 4Q415 Instructiona, 4Q416 Instructionb, 4Q417 Instructionc, 4Q418 Instructiond, 4Q418a Instructione, perhaps 4Q418c Instructionf, and 4Q423 Instructiong. All manuscripts are written in Hebrew and were copied in the late 1st century BCE or the early 1st century CE. That 4Q416 was written on a low-quality skin is illustrated by the big round hole in 4Q416 2 i\u2013ii, which was already part of the original. An unpublished material reconstruction by Annette Steudel and Birgit Lucassen shows that 4Q416 and 4Q417 have different beginnings. 4Q417 attests to the shorter and hence earlier version of MLM.
\nUnlike other Jewish Wisdom Literature, MLM is interested in priestly questions and concerns, including sacrifice of the firstborn (4Q423 3\u20134 || 1Q26 2 4), mixing things (4Q418 103 ii 6\u20139; cf. Deut. 22:9\u201311), feasts and seasons (4Q418 118 3; 4Q416 1 3), and impurity (4Q417 4 ii 2; 4Q418 20 2). This interest in priestly matters argues that MLM was written in a priestly milieu connected with the Jerusalem Temple.
\nSeveral passages of MLM engage with the skeptical wisdom of the book of Ecclesiastes. A good example is 4Q418 69 ii. Its criticism of the book of Ecclesiastes means that MLM must have been written later than the book of Ecclesiastes, which comes from the 3rd century BCE. That Thanksgiving Hymns (Hodayot) from the Qumran library allude to MLM several times provides further information on its date. As the Hodayot were written in the middle of the 2nd century BCE or slightly later, MLM must have been composed between the later part of the 3rd century BCE and the first half of the 2nd century BCE. In comparison to texts like the Book of Daniel which responds with its dualism to the Hellenistic religious reforms, the eschatology and dualistic thought of the two versions of MLM do not document any direct response to historical events. This kind of ahistoric eschatology and dualism are untypical for Jewish literature after the Hellenistic religious reforms (175\u2013164 BCE) and the following Maccabean wars. It seems likely that MLM\u2019s revision comes from the early 2nd century BCE, while its earlier version was written in the late 3rd century BCE.
\nThe bad stage of preservation of MLM\u2019s manuscripts makes it difficult to decide whether the earlier version of MLM incorporated source material in turn. Such a possibility cannot be excluded in the case of the more practically oriented admonitions of 4Q416 2, but cannot be proven either.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
MLM is the best-preserved Wisdom text from the Qumran library. It marks an important paradigm shift in ancient Jewish sapiential thought, combining approaches of traditional Wisdom instructions with a predestinarian worldview characterized by eschatology and dualism. MLM gives practical advice about how to cope with life. Questions like how to deal with loans and property, how to interact with the powerful, how to treat one\u2019s parents, and spousal relationships are addressed (see 4Q416 2). 4Q418 81+81a 15 even speaks of manual skills (\u201cwisdom of the hands\u201d). Although earlier Wisdom Literature attests to the same interest in practical advice, its in-depth discussion in MLM is unprecedented. Other passages of MLM are more theological or philosophical in character (e.g., 4Q417 2 i and 4Q418 69 ii). For MLM, the sapiential order of the universe includes more than ethical principals. MLM calls this order \u201cmystery of being and becoming\u201d (see comment on 4Q417 1 i 6). MLM conceives the mystery of being and becoming as a blueprint of both creation and history. Dualistic and eschatological in character, this mystery was revealed to humanity in the form of the Vision of Hagoh and to Israel in the form of the Torah. That MLM quotes and alludes to authoritative literature more often than it quotes other Jewish Wisdom texts is a reflection of this increased importance of the Torah.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
The Hebrew of MLM is among the most difficult of the Dead Sea Scrolls, since it uses rare terminology. Depending on context, several terms may carry both a religious and a secular meaning. Furthermore, MLM uses some words in both metaphorical and nonmetaphorical ways. The existing English translations of MLM differ significantly from each other. In my translation, I have tried to take MLM\u2019s oscillating use of its vocabulary into account. When MLM engages with practical advice I have rendered it in a more secular way, while in the more philosophically orientated passages I have emphasized the religious connotations of its vocabulary.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Burns, Joshua Ezra. \u201cPractical Wisdom in 4QInstruction.\u201d Dead Sea Discoveries 11 (2004): 12\u201342.
\nGoff, Matthew J. Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 9\u201368. Vetus Testamentum Supplement 116. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. The Worldly and Heavenly Wisdom of 4QInstruction. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 50. Leiden: Brill, 2003.
\nHarrington, Daniel J. \u201cRecent Study of 4QInstruction.\u201d In From 4QMMT to Resurrection: M\u00e9langes qumraniens en hommage \u00e0 \u00c9mile Puech, ed. Florentino Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez, Annette Steudel, and Eibert Tigchelaar, 105\u201323. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 61. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. Wisdom Texts from Qumran, 40\u201359. Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls. London: Routledge, 1996.
\nJefferies, Daryl F. Wisdom at Qumran: A Form-Critical Analysis of the Admonitions in 4QInstruction. Gorgias Dissertations: Near Eastern Studies 3. Piscataway NJ: Gorgias, 2002.
\nTigchelaar, Eibert J. C. To Increase Learning for the Understanding Ones: Reading and Reconstructing the Fragmentary Early Jewish Sapiential Text 4QInstruction. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 44. Leiden: Brill, 2001.
\nWold, Benjamin G. Women, Men, and Angels: The Qumran Wisdom Document Musar leMevin and Its Allusions to Genesis Creation Traditions. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2.201. T\u00fcbingen: Mohr, 2005.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
Although it is not well preserved, 4Q417 1 is very important for the understanding of MLM. The stitching remnants in the right margin are part of a particular technique to begin a scroll without a handle sheet. The leather of the small margin was rolled into a small beading and then stitched together to provide a grip for holding the beginning of a scroll. 4Q417 1 i marks the beginning of the earlier version of MLM (see \u201cIntroduction\u201d). This means that this column preserves the programmatic introduction of MLM\u2019s earlier version.
\nLines 1\u201313 contain two admonitions to gain understanding (lines 1\u20137 and 7\u20138). Each admonition is followed by a consecutive clause introduced with \u201cand then\u201d (ve\u2019az). Lines 8\u201312 follow a hymnlike description of the deeds of the God of knowledge. At the end of this paragraph, lines 12\u201313 form an inclusion with lines 2\u20133 by way of reference to the opening admonitions to perceive. This inclusion is further emphasized by the repetition of the phrase \u201cwondrous mysteries\u201d (lines 2 and 13). In lines 1\u20137, the teacher is promised various types of privileged knowledge: \u201cthe wondrous mysteries of the God of the fearful ones\u201d (line 2), \u201cthe mystery of being and becoming\u201d (lines 3), \u201cthe deeds of old, why something will be and what will be\u201d (line 3). Lines 7\u201313 then explain how the teacher can obtain this privileged knowledge. A key term in these deliberations is the phrase \u201cmystery of being and becoming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fragment 4Q417 1 i<\/p>\n
1. [and] you, teach[e]r The preserved text begins \u201cand you, teacher\u201d (we\u2019atah mevin). Before this first address the leather of the manuscript broke away. Most probably the few lost words of this gap represented the ancient title of the work. Because of the prominence of the teacher (mevin), Strugnell and Harrington speculate that it was \u201cInstruction for the Teacher\u201d (musar lemevin). Other ancient Jewish Wisdom texts are entitled \u201cThe proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel\u201d (Prov. 1:1), \u201cThe proverbs of Solomon\u201d (Prov. 10:1), and \u201cThe words of Koheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem\u201d (Eccles. 1:1). A reconstruction of a two- or three-word heading along those lines seems equally possible for 4Q417 1 i 1. \u201cAnd you teacher\u201d is a well-known address that repeatedly introduces the admonitions of MLM. 4Q418 81+81a shows that the collocations \u201cand you\u201d and \u201cand you, teacher\u201d mark the beginning of new admonitions in this text. While the term mevin itself does occur outside of MLM, the address \u201cand you, teacher\u201d is characteristic for MLM. The use of this address in lines 1, 13\u201314, 18 structures the first column of 4Q417 1. That line 18 uses a slight variation of the phrase\u2014\u201cand you, son of a teacher,\u201d i.e., a student,\u2014shows that lines 1\u201318 are addressed to one person, while the following lines admonish another figure. Here only lines 1\u201318 can be commented on, as the remaining lines are too damaged to yield an intelligible text. As the first line of MLM is addressed to the mevin, it stands to reason that he is the principal addressee of MLM. Mevin is a Hiphil participle of the root byn, which literally translated means \u201cto cause understanding.\u201d Outside of MLM this participle indicates special knowledge or expertise in the sense of an \u201cexpert\u201d (e.g., 1 Chron. 25:7; 2 Chron. 34:12) or acknowledges the possession of wisdom, knowledge, and intelligence in a broader sense. The key to the use of mevin in MLM is 4Q417 1 i 18, which speaks of the son of a mevin, that is, a student. This means that in MLM the participle mevin designates a wisdom teacher. A similar use of the word is attested in 1 Chron. 25:8: \u201ca teacher with a student\u201d (mevin im talmid). Although 1 Chron. 25:8 does not employ the word ben (\u201cson\u201d) it shows beyond doubt that mevin can carry the signification \u201cteacher.\u201d
\n4Q417 1 i 6. mystery of being and becoming The phrase \u201cmystery of being and becoming\u201d (raz nihyeh) is common in MLM and occurs also in Book of Mysteries and Rule of the Community (1QS 9:3\u20134). It is one of the most extensively debated issues in the study of MLM. The phrase sounds like a term taken from a Greek philosophical treatise. Translated to Greek it would read mysterion tou einai. It seems as if the mystery of being and becoming was a philosophical concept not originally inherent in Hebrew thought. According to MLM, the mystery of being and becoming can be studied. This study leads to knowledge of truth and iniquity, wisdom and folly. According to 4Q416 2 iii 17\u201318, the commandment to honor father and mother (Exod. 20:12; Deut. 5:16) is part of the mystery of being and becoming, and so the Torah is part of the mystery of being and becoming. Other references to the mystery of being and becoming show that it goes beyond the Torah. In 4Q418 77 2, this mystery includes the history of humans (\u201c[recognize the m] ystery of being and becoming and grasp the history of humans\u201d). This historical dimension agrees well with the use of the phrase in Book of Mysteries (1Q27 1 i 3\u20134), where it encompasses both past and future components and includes even the eschatological judgment of the wicked. When 4Q417 1 i 8\u20139 claims \u201cand in the mystery of being and becoming he separated its foundation and its deeds,\u201d the mystery functions even as an instrument of creation in MLM. To summarize: the raz nihyeh describes the sapiential order of being. It functioned as a blueprint for creation, encompasses the history of the universe from creation to the eschaton, is an instrument of eschatological punishment, includes ethical standards, and articulates itself in the form of the Torah. The term raz (mystery, secret) indicates that, unlike in earlier Wisdom thought, the sapiential order of being is not openly accessible to the trained sage any more. The participle nihyeh (being and becoming) indicates a historic dimension of the sapiential order of being that is lacking in other Wisdom texts.
\n1\u20137 The first exhortation begins with an admonition from the teacher (lines 1\u20136) to seek, perceive, understand, recognize. The objects of this demanded cognitive process and suffered textual damage in the fragment. What can still be identified are \u201cthe wondrous mysteries of the God of the fearful ones\u201d (line 2), \u201cthe mystery of being and becoming\u201d (line 3), \u201cthe deeds of old\u201d (line 3), \u201cwhy something will be and what will be through them\u201d (lines 3\u20134), \u201cwhy something exists and why it will be through them\u201d (lines 4\u20135). The list leaves the impression that the teacher is asked to contemplate the whole creation from beginning to end in the (eschatological) future. Line 6 forms the end and hence pinnacle of this admonition. In an allusion to Ps. 1:2 (cf. Josh. 1:8), it asks the teacher, \u201c[Day and night murmur the mystery of b] eing and becoming, seeking it continuously.\u201d The Hebrew word h-g-h (murmur) refers to a pronounced reading of a text. That Ps. 1:2 speaks about reading the Torah day and night shows that MLM asks the teacher to think about the whole creation through studying the mystery of being and becoming as it articulates itself in the Torah. The consecutive clause of lines 6\u20137 (\u201cand then\u201d) promises that this study will enable the teacher to understand truth and iniquity as well as wisdom and folly. The teacher is promised that his study of the natural, historical, ethical, future, and eschatological aspects of being will lead to an increased understanding of the dualistic character of the universe, that is, of being. The sapiential order of being itself is dualistic in character.
\n7\u20138 Having gained the knowledge commanded in lines 1\u20136, lines 7\u20138 ask the teacher in a second epistemological admonition to understand the character of the wicked on a new level. The teacher should perceive the behavior of the wicked in light of their eternal punishment (line 7). That MLM qualifies the punishment of the wicked as \u201cfor all eras of eternity\u201d (line 7) and \u201ceternal\u201d (line 8 in the Hebrew) introduces a temporal aspect into the sapiential act-consequence correlation. The punishment of the wicked stretches over eternity but it does not necessarily begin in the present. The teacher\u2019s better understanding of the sapiential dualistic order of the universe and the future component of the act-consequence correlation enables him to discern between good and evil. MLM points the teacher to the coming punishment of the wicked.
\n8\u201313 After this conclusion, lines 8\u201312 direct the attention of the reader to God himself. God was understood in earlier Wisdom Literature as the guarantor of the universe\u2019s sapiential order in general and the act-consequence correlation in particular. Ecclesiastes doubted this philosophy: \u201cAlongside justice there is wickedness, alongside righteousness there is wickedness\u201d (Eccles. 3:16). After the skepticism of Ecclesiastes, MLM is now able to reassert God as the guarantor of the sapiential order of being. MLM emphasizes that the act-consequence correlation does exist and that wickedness will reap its just eternal punishment in the future. In hymnal language MLM can describe the God of knowledge as the one who is the foundation of truth, who through the mystery of being and becoming has separated truth\u2019s foundations and truth\u2019s deeds. He has formed truth and its dominion forever. MLM uses the word \u201ctruth\u201d (emet) here as an antonym of \u201cwickedness.\u201d Having demonstrated the punishment of wickedness before, MLM concludes that God established truth as an opponent to wickedness and gave truth its own realm. These conclusions allow MLM to counter another argument of Ecclesiastes in lines 10\u201312. Ecclesiastes 3:11 complains: \u201cHe [God] also puts eternity in their mind, but without man ever guessing, from first to last, all the things that God brings to pass\u201d (cf. 8:17). Ecclesiastes claims that God made it impossible for humans to understand him, although he gave them the longing to do so. On the contrary, argues MLM. Far from being incomprehensible, God not only established truth but he explained its acts to humankind (line 10) so that humans can walk in it, that is, live a truthful life (line 11). God made the secrets of his plan known so that it could be followed by God\u2019s creations (lines 11\u201312). Lines 12\u201313 conclude and summarize the first admonition of the teacher by way of recourse to its first exhortations. If the teacher seeks these things continuously and gains understanding in all their consequences, then\u2014MLM uses ve\u2019az in line 13\u2014he will understand the glory of God\u2019s might, his wondrous mysteries, and the mighty acts of this deeds.
\n13\u201318 Having admonished the teacher to understand the mystery of being and becoming and through it the character of the universe, MLM focuses in the second paragraph on God himself. While the dominant mode of lines 1\u201313 was imperative, lines 13\u201318 are phrased in the indicative. In comparing the work of the teacher with the work of God, the second paragraph continues the theme of the hymnal passage in lines 8\u201312. Although lines 13\u201318 do not use hymnal language themselves, they employ a rhetorical scheme that is often used to praise God in late Second Temple Jewish literature, that is, the comparison between the poor achievements of humans and the glory of God (e.g., (Thanksgiving Hymns [Hodayot]). MLM argues that the teacher\u2019s achievements diminish in comparison to Gods deeds: \u201cPoor is your work in the memory of ti[me]\u201d (line 14).
\n14. poor MLM uses a range of Hebrew terms to describe need and poverty. Evyon (poor, needy), mahsor (need, poverty), reish (poverty; alternate spellings are resh and re\u2019sh), and rwsh (to be poor) are the most frequent ones. MLM employs its poverty terminology both metaphorically and nonmetaphorically. A good example for the metaphorical use is 4Q417 1 i 14, where the word r-w-sh describes the poor performance of the teacher as compared to works of God. 4Q417 2 i 17 provides an example for the nonmetaphoric use of MLM\u2019s poverty rhetoric. Here the word evyon is connected with a person who lacks food. Most often poverty is connected with MLM\u2019s addressee, supposedly the teacher. Even when MLM speaks of material poverty it is relative. Although MLM\u2019s poor addressee lacks food in 4Q417 2 i 17, he is the fiduciary of someone else\u2019s property in 4Q416 2 iii 6\u2014a position hardly given to a pauper but to a successful businessman.
\nThis means that in MLM poverty is a relative term and can describe the need of someone already relatively wealthy.
\n13\u201318 In referring to two texts, lines 13\u201318 explain how God gave humankind in general and Judaism in particular his laws, that is, how he gave access to the sapiential order of the universe. Lines 14\u201315 describe how God brought the command incised (harut) and all punishment engraved (hakuk). The word \u201cincised\u201d refers to Exod. 32:16, where it is said that the laws of God were \u201cincised upon the tablets.\u201d MLM reasons that the sapiential order of the world can be known only because God revealed it in the form of the Torah. By identifying the Torah with this order of being, MLM is comparable to Sir. 24 and Bar. 3:9\u20134:4, which claim that wisdom is revealed through the Torah. In line with the preceding argumentation, MLM is more interested in the punishments prescribed by the Torah, which shows that God ordained the punishment of the wicked a long time ago, therefore, the sons of Seth will suffer the consequences of their acts (line 15). Lines 15\u201316 mention a second text with a similar function. In allusion to Mal. 3:16, the Torah is described as the \u201cbook of remembrance.\u201d MLM identifies it as the \u201cvision of Hagoh.\u201d According to line 16 it was written before God as a heavenly book. The vision of Hagoh is a still unknown halakhic text mentioned in 1QSa Rule of the Congregation 1:6\u20137; CD 10:6; 13:2\u20133; 14:6\u20138 under the name \u201cbook of Hago.\u201d The halakhic character of the book of remembrance or the book of Hago is also confirmed by the claim that it was written for those who observe God\u2019s commandments, that is, \u201ckeep his word\u201d (line 16). Line 17 specifies this group as \u201cEnosh\u201d who is identified in Gen 4:26 as the son of Seth, and \u201cthe people of the spirit.\u201d Not only do they observe God\u2019s laws, God created them according to \u201cthe blueprint of the holy ones\u201d or angels (line 17). It is this angelic character that privileges Enosh and the nation of the holy ones to be worthy of receiving the gift of a text revealing the heavenly Law, that is, the sapiential order of the universe. As a group, Enosh and the nation of the holy ones are opposed to the spirit of flesh. As in a later part of MLM, the phrase \u201cspirit of flesh\u201d does not describe a demonic being but a way of life, a mind-set, against the Law. Those living in the spirit of flesh cannot distinguish between good and evil because they lack access to and understanding of the sapiential order of the universe. That is, they live against the Torah and the vision of Hagoh through which this order of being was revealed.
\n18 In line 18, the addressee changes again. The new addressee is called \u201cson of a teacher,\u201d that is, a student (see comment on line 1). The phrases \u201cperceive the mystery of being and becoming and know\u201d (line 18) indicates the beginning of a new paragraph. The following text is so badly damaged that no coherent text emerges. But fragments like \u201cperceive the mystery of being and becoming and know\u201d (line 18), \u201cmystery of being and becoming\u201d (line 21), \u201cvision of knowledge\u201d (line 22), and \u201cyour mystery\u201d (line 25) show that the topic of the two preceding instructions is continued. After the teacher, his student is asked to engage with the mystery of being and becoming.
\n4Q416 2 i\u2013iv The four columns of 4Q416 2 are dedicated to practical matters, such as how to interact with nobles, how to behave as a poor person, how to deal with debt both as a lender and a borrower, how to treat one\u2019s parents, how to interact with a wife, and so on. This part of MLM reminds of the instructions found in Prov. 1\u20139 or the book of Sirach. Unlike typical sapiential proverb collections like Prov. 10:1\u201322:16, in 4Q416 2 i\u2013iv MLM does not collect only loosely connected individual proverbs. These four columns are part of an extended admonition, which provides well-argued advice phrased in the imperative mode.
\n4Q417 2 i 1\u20135 and 4Q416 2 i 1 The fragment begins in the middle of an instruction how to interact with a noble. The Hebrew noun kosher is rare, and its meaning can be deduced only from its present context. It refers to a person of power who is also involved in legal activities\u2014hence, the translation \u201cnoble.\u201d This does not imply, however, a concept of medieval nobility. The use of the word \u201cprince\u201d (sar) in lines 2 and 5 shows that MLM means a person of political power. MLM advises to address this powerful person according to his disposition and not to rebuke him, to speak calmly with him, and to come to him without guilt. If you are guilty of anything, do not ignore it but accept his rebuke. The noble is exceedingly righteous and unique among God\u2019s creations. He will therefore forgive the transgression.
\n4Q416 2 i 2\u20133 Warns against having wicked persons and those who hate you among one\u2019s friends. One should be aware down which path such a friendship leads. The lines are too damaged for further interpretation.
\n4Q417 2 i 2 Reads hinnak. The correct form for an imperative masculine singular would be hinnakeh. This is either a case of scribal corruption or this form is wrongly construed according to the paradigm of a root mediae geminatae.
\n4Q416 2 i 4\u20137 Addresses a new topic, that is, how to deal with one\u2019s own poverty. Lines 4\u20135 remind the addressee that poverty should not make him feel special, as nothing is more marginal than a poor person. There is no reason to rejoice in one\u2019s sorrow and toil. Instead, contemplating the mystery of being and becoming will reveal that present sorrows will lead to future (eschatological) reward of eternal joy (lines 5\u20137).
\n4Q416 2 i 7\u20138 and 4Q417 2 i 14\u201315 Gives more advice on proper conduct. Line 7 might be best summarized with the well-known colloquialism \u201cmind your own business.\u201d It also tackles the issue of how to deal with one\u2019s own wrongdoings, but textual damage has resulted in an incomprehensible text. Lines 7\u20138 show that however impoverished the addressee might be he still wields some legal power and is hence asked to use it like a just ruler. He should not ignore his own wrongdoings. If he needs to contend somebody else\u2019s judgment\u2014textual damage makes the identification of this person impossible, though it might be the noble mentioned earlier\u2014MLM advises to do it like someone who is miserable\u2014probably to evoke pity.
\n4Q417 2 i 15\u201317 The address \u201cand you\u201d (we\u2019atah) in 4Q417 2 i 17 signals the beginning of a new admonition. It seems as if 4Q417 2 i 1\u20135; 4Q416 2 i 1\u20138; and 4Q417 2 i 14\u201317 are part of a longer passage of advice and admonition. It is very likely that the brief theological reflection of lines 15\u201317 concludes the whole passage and not just 4Q416 2 i 7\u20138 and 4Q417 2 i 14\u201315. The conjunction \u201cand then\u201d (ve\u2019az) shows that MLM points to benefits that the addressee will gain from following its advice. God\u2019s anger with the addressee\u2019s failures will cease, and he will gain God\u2019s forgiveness. Lines 16\u201317 show that without this forgiveness no one will be regarded as righteous in God\u2019s (eschatological) judgment. That is, lines 15\u201316 promise that the conduct advised by MLM will gain the addressee God\u2019s forgiveness and out of this forgiveness righteousness.
\n4Q417 2 i 17\u201323 and 4Q416 2 i 16\u2013ii 14 Only the occurrence of \u201cand you\u201d (we\u2019atah) in 4Q416 2 ii 14 points to the beginning of a new textual unit. This means that 4Q417 2 i 17\u201323 and 4Q416 2 i 16\u2013ii 14 should be regarded as one large admonition. 4Q417 2 i 17\u201321 recommends sharing surplus food and eating only according to one\u2019s needs. The rationale behind this advice is that everything comes into being according to God\u2019s command. To take more food than one needs means to violate the divine order of being and will result in a shortened life. With concern to food, MLM argues an ethics of moderation.
\n4Q417 2 i 21\u201323 and 4Q416 2 i 16\u201322 Gives advice how to take a loan and how to interact with a lender. As for taking a loan, 4Q417 2 i 21\u201322 emphasizes that it should be paid back as quickly as possible. The borrower should neither rest nor sleep at night until it is accomplished. This sound advice is followed by a lengthy passage of how to deal with the lender. If the borrower lies to the lender he will carry guilt (lines 22\u201323). Such a lie has severe impacts on the life of the borrower. He cannot trust even the neighbors of the lender, and the lender will not help the borrower (\u201cshut his hand like a hook\u201d) if the borrower is in need (4Q416 2 i 16\u201317). The borrower should always know who will gather the loan (line 17). Should the borrower encounter difficult circumstances in his life while paying back the loan (i.e., \u201cif an affliction befalls you\u201d), he should not conceal this from the lender (lines 18\u201319). In what follows the text is heavily damaged but lines 19\u201320 refer to a ruler and to beating with a rod. This should probably be understood as referring to a punishment by an official if the borrower violates the conditions of the loan, for example, by concealing his inability to pay. Lines 20\u201322 are too damaged for interpretation. Line 20 could emphasize that as assurance the borrower has nothing more to give as his good name.
\n4Q416 2 i 22\u2013ii 3 With this passage, MLM digresses back to the question of food. The damaged text of 4Q416 2 i 22 most probably contained an admonition to give one\u2019s food to a needy person. This admonition started either in line 21 with the phrase \u201cif you urge your hand\u201d or in line 22. 4Q416 2 i 22\u2013ii 3 provides a theological reason why someone like the needy borrower of 4Q417 2 i 21\u201323 and 4Q416 2 i 16\u201322 should share his food with somebody else. God is compassionate (4Q416 2 ii 1), he provides for all needs of his property, that is, his creation, and gives food for all life (lines 1\u20132). But if God would ever shuts his hand all life will vanish. Textual damage makes definite interpretation of line 2 impossible, but the phrase \u201cnor hide your face\u201d could hint at an admonition to support the one who is in shame and the captive.
\n4Q416 2 ii 4\u20137 MLM now returns to the topic of lending. MLM urges the borrower to pay back his loan quickly. A borrower risks his life if to buy bad goods he pledges the purse with his treasures as collateral for a loan. Again the borrower is urged to pay back the loan and take his purse. The last admonition shows that the threat to the borrower\u2019s life has religious implications for MLM. A loan gone wrong endangers the borrower\u2019s holy spirit, which is worth more than any riches.
\n4Q416 2 ii 5 on behalf of your bad goods For ra\u2019 as a description of bad goods, cf. Prov. 20:14.
\n4Q416 2 ii 7\u201315 The main concern here may be deduced from lines 8\u201311, which speak about a person of power, either in business or in service. If such a person does not like you, speak according to his language. Although this phrase often refers to the languages peoples speak (Esther 1:22; 3:12; 8:9; Neh. 13:24), MLM uses it metaphorically. Tell the person who does not like you what he wants to hear (lines 7\u20138). The benefit of this behavior is expressed with the phrase timtza hefetz. Only in 4Q416 2 ii 8 and Isa. 58:3 (\u201cyou see to your business\u201d) is the noun hefetz paired with the verb mtz\u2019. It is very likely that the phrase has the same meaning in MLM as in the book of Isaiah, that is, to look after or find one\u2019s business. The addressee is to tell the powerful what they want to hear. In this case, he will do good business. But there are limits to this advice. One should neither abandon one\u2019s laws nor endanger one\u2019s secrets (lines 8\u20139). If on the other hand a person of power appoints one to serve him, MLM advises to do what is asked without rest but to do no more than asked (lines 9\u201310). While serving the powerful, it is good to be modest. Nothing should remain to complain about (line 10). One should even pay tribute while in service, to avoid the impression of despising those in power (lines 10\u201311). This brief mention of tribute shows that MLM speaks not just of the relationship between a servant and his master but about someone who has political power over MLM\u2019s addressee and can hence ask for taxes. Especially in a situation of dependence it is important to be aware of human jealousy and the treachery of the human mind. If on the other hand a servant succeeds in strengthening the service and the wisdom behind the master\u2019s wealth and if he counsels him, the servant will become for the master like a firstborn\u2014that is, the servant can inherit from his master. The master will pity him like an only child (lines 11\u201314). To achieve such a desirable status, MLM recommends not to trust one\u2019s hate (i.e., of the service) or to have sleepless nights over the hardships connected with serving a master. One should appear like a learned servant instead (lines 14\u201315).
\n4Q416 2 ii 15\u201321 In line 15 the word \u201cmoreover\u201d (wegam) signals the beginning of a new textual unit. The next \u201cmoreover\u201d (wegam) can be found in line 21, where this unit ends. As \u201cmoreover\u201d suggests, it is loosely connected to the preceding paragraph by discussing various situations of dependency and need. The hierarchical worldview of MLM clearly shows in lines 15\u201316, when it advises the addressee not to lower himself to someone who is not his equal. With this recommendation MLM wants to make its addressee like a father to the one in a lower position, i.e., it put its addressee into a positino of power. Being in such a position of power requires the responsibility not to abuse it, not to oppress or act violently toward a person below oneself (line 16). In line 17 MLM advises the addressee not to become a paid servant; instead he should be a servant in spirit and serve those who oppress for nothing. MLM regards selling one\u2019s honor or pledging it on one\u2019s inheritance even worse than being a paid servant (lines 17\u201318). In lines 18\u201320 MLM addresses another situation of need, that is, poverty. It recommends not to eat if you do not have clothing, not to drink wine if you do not have food, and not to seek pleasure when you do not have bread. This advice should not be understood as a list of priorities of what to do and what not do. That line 19 mentions wine and pleasure shows that MLM is concerned with profligate spending. In a situation of need, focus on what is essential. Line 20 closes this passage with the admonition not to be proud of one\u2019s poverty. Need is not an achievement. Such pride is life threatening, as it keeps one in need. This reminds us of a similar admonition in 4Q416 2 i 4\u20135.
\n4Q416 2 ii 21\u2013iii 5 This passage seems to be another unit of loosely connected admonitions. Lines ii 21\u2013iii 3 are almost impossible to interpret due to textual damage. In light of 4Q416 2 iv 5 and Deut. 13:7; 28:56, the phrase \u201cvessel of your bosom\u201d (keli hekekha) in line 21 could refer to the wife of the addressee. In this case MLM would ask him to respect his wife. Lines 2\u20133 seem to continue the topic of how to deal with one\u2019s own poverty. In lines 3\u20135, some sort of precious matter is entrusted to the addressee, but textual damage makes its identification impossible. The addressee is advised not to touch this matter but to return it unaltered and undiminished to its owner. In this case the act-consequence correlation will ensure a joyous outcome, but if he doesn\u2019t follow the advice catastrophic consequences loom that are described with metaphors like \u201cburned in its fire\u201d (line 4).
\n4Q416 2 iii 5\u20138 Although \u201cmoreover\u201d (ve-gam) signals the beginning of a new textual unit, it does not introduce a new topic but carries what was discussed before into the new passage. The new admonition begins with a variation of the last exhortation of the preceding paragraph. Taking property from an unknown man will increase the addressee\u2019s poverty (lines 5\u20136). In light of the preceding and following context, this refers probably to taking property into custody and not to taking a loan. In lines 6\u20138 MLM discusses what to do if taking foreign property into custody cannot be avoided. It seems as if capital punishment is threatened in case something happens to the foreign property (line 6). The advice of MLM is to take charge of the property in question and not to despair (\u201cif your spirit is not crushed\u201d; line 6). The despair implied by the Hebrew veruhekha\u2019al tahbol is well illustrated by the use of a similar phrase in Job 17:1: \u201cMy spirit is crushed, my days run out; the graveyard waits for me.\u201d But, advises MLM, if you do not despair you will sleep well and when you die your remembrance will flower forever and your descendents will inherit joy (lines 7\u20138). With the promise of eternal remembrance and joy for the descendants of the addressee, MLM expresses a concept of immortality that is prominent in Wisdom Literature. In this line of thought, Eccles. 2:16 laments that the wise and the fool are equally forgotten (cf. 1:11; 9:5) while Prov. 10:7 claims that \u201cthe name of the righteous is invoked in blessing, but the fame of the wicked rots\u201d (cf. 22:1). Such a positive remembrance of the successful custodian, argues MLM, will be a joy to his descendants.
\n4Q416 2 iii 8\u201312 The phrase \u201cyou are poor\u201d (lines 8 and 12) opens two new textual units in MLM. As compared to the preceding practical advice, lines 8\u201312 offer more ethical reflections. In his poverty the addressee should not desire what is beyond the share allotted to him by God (line 8); such a desire could result in moving his boundary (lines 8\u20139). Originally, this expression referred to the moving of boundary markers (Deut. 19:14; 27:17), but in prophetic and sapiential literature (Hosea 5:10; Prov. 22:28; 23:10), it gained a more metaphorical meaning and implies going beyond God\u2019s laws or beyond one\u2019s intended station and way of life. To aim for more than is allotted to one implies a violation of God\u2019s will, because God allotted everyone their station in life. This does not mean, though, that God cannot restore the addressee to a former, more glorious station in life. If God turns around the addressee\u2019s fate, he should enjoy it (line 9). But if God might reverse the addressee\u2019s poor fate, how can the share be identified that God allotted to each person? To answer this question, MLM reminds its readers of earlier deliberations. The origin of each person needs to be studied through the mystery of being and becoming. This study will show which share God allotted to each person (lines 9\u201310). No more explanation is given beyond this rather cryptic advice. Instead, the addressee is asked to lead a righteous life, which will result in God\u2019s appearance shining on his ways (line 10). Here MLM distinguishes between God\u2019s appearance and God himself. It is only God\u2019s appearance and not God himself who will be present in the addressee\u2019s life. This distinction reminds of the concept of the Shekhinah. Because God\u2019s appearance shines on his life, the addressee should praise God\u2019s name. God raised him out of poverty, placed him among nobles, and gave him a glorious share in life (lines 11\u201312). He should hence look for God\u2019s will continually (line 12).
\n4Q416 2 iii 12\u201315 This passage tries to answer a possible objection of MLM\u2019s addressee to this exhortation. He could argue, I am poor, why should I search for knowledge, that is, the will of God (lines 12\u201313)? On the contrary, MLM argues, you should seek as much instruction as possible (\u201cbring your neck under all instruction\u201d; line 13). This is an interesting remark, as it shows that in MLM\u2019s perception, to search for the will of God means to undergo sapiential instruction. The knowledge gained in this instruction should result in a refined heart and refined thoughts (lines 13\u201314). What is meant is not an emotional refinement. The parallelism with the refinement of one\u2019s thoughts shows that, as is often found in ancient Hebrew literature, the heart is conceived as a noetic (intellectual) center. Such a refinement will enable the addressee to search for the mystery of being and becoming and through it to understand good and evil and the difference between these two concepts (line 14). In this brief remark MLM alludes to its more detailed discussion of the mystery of being and becoming in 4Q417 1 i 1\u201318. In the end, the improved understanding of the addressee enables him to understand what is good and what is bad for a man (line 15).
\n4Q416 2 iii 15\u201319 No textual marker like \u201cpoor are you\u201d or \u201cmoreover\u201d indicates the beginning of a new paragraph. But the admonition \u201chonor your father in your poverty and your mother in your steps\u201d (lines 15\u201316) marks the beginning of a new topic. Lines 15\u201319 can best be understood as an example of how the principles unfolded in lines 8\u201312 and 12\u201315 should be ethically realized. Lines 15\u201316 are an allusion to the fourth commandment, with a somewhat altered text (parallels are underlined):<\/p>\n
Exod. 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that the LORD your God is assigning to you.
\nDeut. 5:16 Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may long endure, and that you may fare well, in the land that the LORD your God is assigning to you.
\n4Q416 2 iii 15\u201316 Honor your father in your poverty and your mother in your steps.<\/p>\n
The insertions that MLM makes into the text of the fourth commandment are either a qualification of the addressee\u2019s life, that is, he is poor, or point to the acts of the addressee (\u201cin your steps\u201d) but do not change the meaning of the commandment.
\nWhat follows in lines 16\u201319 is an elaboration on why the addressee should adhere to the fourth commandment. Father and mother are like ancestors and lords to a man (line 16). He should honor them \u201cbecause they are a furnace that was pregnant with you\u201d (line 17). In this line, pregnancy serves as a metaphor for the whole process of raising children and providing for them. God has put the parents in charge over their children like he grafted humans on \u201cthe spirit\u201d (haruah). \u201cThe spirit\u201d refers neither to a human disposition nor to a righteous, or antidivine way of life. Although the statement that God \u201cformed you upon the spirit\u201d is not a verbal allusion to Gen. 1:27, a comparison between the two nevertheless illuminates the meaning of \u201cthe spirit\u201d in 4Q416 2 iii 17:<\/p>\n
Gen. 1:27 And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him.
\n4Q416 2 iii 17 so he formed you upon the spirit<\/p>\n
As MLM\u2019s author clearly knows the Pentateuch, it is difficult to imagine that he did not know Gen. 1:26\u201327. It seems as if \u201cthe spirit\u201d equals for MLM in some way the image of God as one of God\u2019s attributes. These attributes of God developed an independent existence in antiquity. The best-known example for this is God\u2019s Shekhinah (see comment on 4Q416 2 iii 8\u201312). \u201cThe spirit\u201d refers to another attribute of God, like God\u2019s appearance in line 10. As God patterned humans according to \u201cthe spirit,\u201d so he put his parents in charge over the addressee and so the addressee is to serve them (line 17). God has opened the addressee\u2019s heart for the mystery of being and becoming (line 18) so that he could better understand God\u2019s plan and God himself. Like God revealed the mystery of being and becoming to the addressee for his own sake, so is the addressee supposed to honor his parents for the sake of his own honor. Furthermore, because honoring one\u2019s parents is part of the sapiential order of being, the act-consequence correlation necessitates honoring parents for the sake of one\u2019s own life and lifespan (lines 18\u201319). This last part of the passage brings the reader back to the fourth commandment. Like an inclusio, the passage begins and ends with the fourth commandment. The phrase \u201cfor the sake of your life and the length of your days\u201d (line 19) represents a personalized application of the \u201cthat you may long endure, and that you may fare well\u201d in Deut. 5:16 (cf. 6:2). In Deuteronomy, it is Israel that will endure long and fare well in the Promised Land if it follows the fourth commandment. In MLM, it is the addressee whose life and whose length of days benefit from adherence to the fourth commandment.
\n4Q416 2 iii 19\u2013iv? MLM provides a second example for the ethical principles developed in 2 iii 8\u201315. The beginning of this passage is marked by the changed topic (marriage) as well as by \u201cand if you are poor like a sheep\u201d (line 19). The end of MLM\u2019s deliberations on marriage is lost due to textual damage. On the whole, this part is one of the more chauvinistic passages in the literature of the Qumran library.
\n4Q416 2 iii 19\u201322 Textual damage makes the interpretation of the last three lines of column iii difficult. Line 20 speaks about taking a wife \u201cwithout commandment\u201d \u201cin your poverty.\u201d This seems to refer to a marriage without a proper ketubah. Is the addressee unable to pay the mohar and lives with his wife without a formal wedding? This interpretation would be recommended by the phrase \u201cin your poverty.\u201d But although MLM speaks about poverty nonmetaphorically the term can be quite relative in its meaning. 4Q416 2 iii 6 speaks about the poverty of a fiduciary\u2014a person who most probably owned considerable wealth in his own right. It is quite possible that in 2 iii 20 \u201cin your poverty\u201d has no further implication on the type of marriage involved. Another possibility would be to understand the phrase \u201cwithout commandment\u201d in the context of Jewish marriage contracts that were executed according to non-Jewish law, as attested among the documents from Nahal Hever and Wadi Murabba\u2019at. In any case, MLM stipulates that the children that come out of such a marriage should be accepted by the addressee as his own. This might indicate a practice that regarded such children as illegitimate.
\n4Q416 2 iii 21\u2013iv 7 The next unit places the relation between husband and wife into a wider social context and argues for the husband\u2019s authority over his wife. Inspired by Gen. 2:18, 20, line 21 presents the wife as the husband\u2019s helper (ezer) in a marriage. Based on the parallel formulation in 4Q416 2 iv 3\u20134, the few preserved words of 2 iii 21\u2013iv 1 can be reconstructed according to Gen. 2:24 (\u201chence a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, so that they become one flesh\u201d). MLM argues that for this reason God has given not her father but her husband authority over his wife. God has separated the wife from her mother so that she may love her husband (\u201cand to you is her heart\u201d; line 3) and become one flesh with him (lines 3\u20134; cf. Gen. 2:24). And like the husband and wife were separated from their parents, the addressee\u2019s daughter and sons will be separated from him for other men and women (line 4). Line 5 reemphasizes just as his daughters and sons are for other men and women, so should the addressee be with the woman of his bosom because she is flesh of his nakedness. The latter phrase brings the rhetoric of flesh, which is so prominent in this passage, into the realm of sexual relationship. 4Q416 2 iii 21\u2013iv 5 emphasizes the priority of the spousal relationship over the parental relationship. In this priority, MLM argues for Jewish values as opposed to Greek culture in which a male relative of the bride administers her dowry and shares authority over her with her husband. For MLM, the husband\u2019s absolute authority over his wife is part of the divine order. God has separated men and women from their parents to become a couple (cf. line 3). For this reason, line 6 claims that anyone except the husband who wants to have authority over a husband\u2019s wife \u201chas moved the boundary of his life\u201d\u2014a metaphor for violating God\u2019s laws (see comment on 4Q416 2 iii 8\u201312). If a person who falsely claims authority over someone else\u2019s wife moves the boundary of his life, it means his whole life is a life against God\u2019s Law and hence in danger. After all, God has put the husband in authority over his wife\u2019s spirit and wants her to live according to her husband\u2019s will (lines 6\u20137).
\n4Q416 2 iv 7\u20139 Gives an example for this divinely predestined authority of the husband over his wife by way of a radicalized version of the laws of annulment of a wife\u2019s vows from Num. 30:6\u201315. \u201cWhereas Numbers allows some of the wife\u2019s vows to stand or suggests that if there is a delay between the husband\u2019s discovery of the vow and his annulling of it that he should bear consequences, in both subsequent passages, the law is simplified and made more severe, by suggesting that all vows made by a wife should be annulled and directly. This is a process of simplification and clarification that restricts the rights of the wife but reduces the likelihood of misunderstanding.\u201d For MLM, the (increased) power of the husband to annul his wife\u2019s vows is another demonstration of the husband\u2019s absolute God-given authority over his wife. It is even stronger than the vows made by her to God. Hence, MLM can advise the addressee in line 9: \u201cAnd according to your will forbid [her].\u201d
\n4Q416 2 iv 9\u201310 continue MLM\u2019s deliberations about husband and wife but seems to open a new topic inside this area. MLM asks its addressee to forgive his wife for his own sake (line 10), although he should think about it well before doing so. But as lines 10\u201313 are too damaged for interpretation, this remark remains difficult to understand without further context.
\n4Q418 69 ii The first three lines of 4Q418 69 ii are so badly preserved that hardly anything can be said about them. The question \u201cdo not in truth walk all their [seas] and in knowledge all their waves?\u201d (lines 3\u20134) points to a somewhat argumentative passage whose style seems to be continued with the rhetorical questions of lines 4\u20135. Nevertheless, the phrase \u201cand now, foolish-minded ones\u201d marks the beginning of a new paragraph. Similarly, in lines 10 and 15, the phrases \u201cand you, who are the chosen ones of truth\u201d and \u201cand you son of [\u2026]\u201d mark the beginnings of two further paragraphs. Each of the four paragraphs preserved in 4Q418 69 ii address different groups or individuals. The addressee of lines 1\u20134 cannot be identified. Lines 4\u20139 address the foolish-minded ones, lines 10\u201315 the chosen ones of truth, and the remaining lines the student of a sage. Due to textual damage, a line of argument can be reconstructed for only the second and third paragraphs. The text of the two more completely preserved paragraphs forms an admonition that both condemns the foolish of heart by referring to their eschatological punishment and encourages the chosen ones of truth not to become weary in seeking knowledge. The overlap of 4Q417 5 with 4Q418 69 ii shows that regardless of its eschatological references this passage was already part of the earlier version of MLM (see introduction).
\n4Q418 69 ii 4\u20139 The admonition of the foolish-minded ones begins in lines 4\u20135 with a chain of rhetorical questions that are polemic in character. That line 5 uses forms of the roots ytzr and ysd shows that at least the first (\u201cwhat is good for [a man] who has not been created?\u201d) and the third rhetorical questions (\u201cand what is judgment to [a man] who has not been founded?\u201d) are concerned with the issue of creation. The second question links the issue of creation with tranquility: \u201cAnd what is tranquility for (a man) who did not come into being?\u201d No denial of creation like this is known from other Jewish sources of the Second Temple period. But such a denial of the idea of creation does occur in Hellenistic Greek philosophy. A good example is the letter of Epicurus to Herodotus: \u201cNothing comes into existence from non-existence. For if that were possible, anything could be created out of anything, without requiring seeds. And if things which disappear became non-existent, everything in the universe would have surely vanished by now. But the universe has always been as it is now, and always will be, since there is nothing it can change into. Nor is there anything outside the universe which could infiltrate it and produce change.\u201d Although Epicurus and his school were not alone in their denial of the idea of creation (cf., e.g., the ideas of Democritus), the use of the rare Hebrew word hashket (tranquility) in line 5 points toward the rejection of Epicurean ideas in 4Q418 69 ii 4\u20139. It is a Hebrew representation of the Greek word ataraxia. The status of ataraxia or tranquility was one of the main goals of Epicurean philosophy. The foolish ones of heart are hence 3rd-century BCE Jews who were attracted by Epicurean thought. Against this attraction MLM argues that nothing can be good for a man who has never been created. He cannot be judged and cannot even enjoy tranquility because he would not exist. He would be like a dead person who groans over his death (line 5). Beyond MLM\u2019s criticism of Epicurean thought, the first rhetorical question shows that MLM engages critically with a fellow Jewish sage in this passage as well. \u201cWhat is good?\u201d (mah tov) is asked several times in the Hebrew Bible (Mic. 6:8; Job 34:4; cf. Prov. 15:23; 16:16). Both in prophetic and sapiential literature the meaning of this question is absolute and unqualified. There is good and there is evil. This attitude to the question \u201cwhat is good?\u201d changes only in the book of Ecclesiastes and in MLM. The book of Ecclesiastes does not ask \u201cwhat is good?\u201d but \u201cwhat is good for a man?\u201d: \u201cWho can possibly know what is best for a man [mah tov la-adam] to do in life\u2014the few days of his fleeting life? For who can tell him what the future holds for him under the sun?\u201d (Eccles. 6:12). In the skeptic thought of Ecclesiastes, the implied answer is no one can know. When MLM asks the qualified question \u201cwhat is good for?\u201d (4Q418 69 ii 4), its implied answer is clearly more optimistic than the one in the book of Ecclesiastes. This means that in 4Q418 69 ii, MLM criticizes not only Epicurean thought but the book of Ecclesiastes and its fascination with Hellenistic skepticism as well. A more detailed criticism of the skepticism Ecclesiastes will follow in lines 10\u201315. Lines 6\u20139 visualize the fate that awaits Jews fascinated by Hellenistic philosophy. In line with MLM\u2019s predestinarian worldview (see introduction), the text argues that Epicurean Jews are created, that is, predestined, for iniquity and will be subject to eschatological judgment. Those Jews who are foolishly attracted to Greek thought will be destroyed and found no more. MLM attests here to an eschatologization and cosmologization of the originally ethical dualism of wisdom thought. Even the \u201cfoundations of the sky\u201d (line 9) will participate in the final judgment of the foolish of heart. Of particular interest is the phrase \u201cthe ones who seek truth will arise for yo[ur] judgment\u201d in line 7. The seekers of truth\u2014in MLM a group mentioned only in 4Q418 69 ii 7\u2014refers to sages opposing the foolish-minded ones (cf. the phrase \u201cthe chosen ones of truth\u201d in line 10). When line 7 envisions them as arising to their eschatological judgment, MLM presupposes the idea of an eschatological resurrection of the dead.
\n4Q418 69 ii 10\u201315 But the purpose of lines 4\u20139 is not just to warn those Jews attracted to Greek thought of their unavoidable fate. These lines prepare the following admonition of the sages, too. The idea is that if the sages know the terrible fate of the fools they might be all the more inclined to seek knowledge. The admonition of lines 10\u201315 addresses therefore a different group than the foolish-minded ones. They are described as those \u201cwho are the chosen ones of truth, who pursue [knowledge and] who see[k understanding and] who watc[h] over all knowledge\u201d (lines 10\u201311). The terms \u201ctruth,\u201d \u201cknowledge,\u201d and \u201cunderstanding\u201d are three different designations of the concept of Wisdom. It is hence likely that the phrases like \u201cchosen ones of truth\u201d and so on are self-designations of a group of ancient Jewish sages. These sages have extensively sought for Wisdom (line 11) but claim to have exhausted their options. The latter is implied vice versa by the statement that God becomes never weary but \u201cdelight[s] in truth forever\u201d (line 12). And like God but unlike the criticized sages, the sons of heaven never complain, \u201cWe toil with the works of truth and [we] are weary (of them) in all times\u201d (lines 13\u201314). This statement preserves the attitude of the criticized sages. They claim to have exhausted all options of Wisdom thought without success. MLM reminds us here of the book of Ecclesiastes, which agrees that a sapiential order of being underlies the universe (e.g., Eccles. 3:1\u20138). But Ecclesiastes claims that human beings cannot understand this sapiential order of being, although God put the longing for understanding into the hearts of humans: \u201cHe brings everything to pass precisely at its time; He also puts eternity in their mind, but without man ever guessing, from first to last, all the things that God brings to pass\u201d (3:11). Ecclesiastes 10:15 even uses the same word as MLM to describe the weariness and toiling of the sage, that is, yg\u2019: \u201cA man cannot know what will happen; who can tell him what the future holds? A fool\u2019s exertions tire him out, for he doesn\u2019t know how to get to a town\u201d (10:14\u201315). It has often been emphasized that the skepticism of Ecclesiastes is influenced by a popular form of Greek skepticism. Against the skepticism of Ecclesiastes, MLM argues, the sage should be guided by the role model of God and the angels, who never tire of their pursuit of Wisdom and knowledge (lines 12\u201315). While the foolish ones of mind await eternal judgment, the angels enjoy \u201ceternal life, glory, and abundant splendor\u201d (line 14).
\n4Q416 1 1\u20138 The fragmentary stage of preservation does not allow for a detailed interpretation of these lines. But phrases like \u201c[they run from eternal time] season by season\u201d (lines 2\u20133) show that the proper order of the universe is described. This order entails both celestial (\u201cstars of light\u201d in line 1), political (\u201ckingdom\u201d and \u201cprovince\u201d in line 5), and even military realities such as the armies mentioned in lines 4 and 6. At the end of this passage MLM comes back to the celestial realm. Like the earthly armies, God has established a heavenly army (line 7). And because the sequence of the seasons is demarcated by celestial luminaries, it is mentioned among the heavenly elements of the order of the universe as well (lines 7\u20138).
\n4Q416 1 9\u201314 At the latest, in line 9 the attention of the text moves to God\u2019s eschatological judgment, although it might have been mentioned already in line 6. Although it is God who condemns wickedness and accepts the sons of truth in heaven (line 10), the plural forms of line 9 could hint at angelic support for him during the eschatological judgment\u2014maybe by the heavenly army mentioned in line 7. After the mention of the act of judgment itself in line 10, lines 11\u201312 describe the universal dread caused by it. Not only the wicked will fear the eschatological judgment, heaven, earth, the seas, and even the depths will be full of terror. In contrast to the scared spirit of flesh, only the sons of heaven will not experience such fear. The antithesis of \u201cspirit of flesh\u201d versus \u201csons of heaven\u201d shows that, like in the earlier revision of MLM, \u201cspirit of flesh\u201d is a metaphor that disqualifies an antidivine way of life (see comment on 4Q417 1 i 14). Line 13 continues with the description of the eschatological judgment itself. The time of the judgment is described as \u201cthe period of the tru[th].\u201d All iniquity will end in it. Lines 13\u201314 address the time after the eschatological judgment. Textual damage won\u2019t allow for a definite interpretation, but it is likely that they speak about the eternal existence of truth, because God \u201cis a God of truth.\u201d
\n4Q416 1 15\u201317 These lines are too damaged for interpretation. With its statement \u201cso that the righteous may distinguish between good and evil,\u201d line 15 reminds of 4Q417 1 i 8.
\n4Q418 81+81a The text of this fragment can be divided into three parts. The beginning of the first part is lost. It consists of a long chain of short admonitions to an addressee, who is unspecified in the preserved text (lines 1\u201314). Each admonition includes the phrase \u201cand you\u201d (ve-atah; lines 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9). It is more than likely that these phrases occurred also in the now-destroyed parts of the fragment. In line 15 \u201cand you\u201d is followed by a specified addressee, that is, the teacher (mevin). This change in style suggests the beginning of a new paragraph. In line 20 a whole group of sages (\u201call wise-minded ones\u201d: ve-khol hakhamei lev) is addressed, and the text begins to employ plural imperatives in its admonitions as opposed to the singular forms used before. This change in addressee and grammatical form marks the beginning of yet another paragraph.
\n4Q418 81+81a 1\u201314 The identification of the anonymous \u201cyou\u201d in this part of the fragment is difficult if not impossible. That lines 15\u201320 and lines 20 and following have different addressees, that is, the \u201cteacher\u201d and the \u201cwise-minded ones,\u201d argues against a simple identification of the anonymous \u201cyou\u201d in lines 1\u201314 with the teacher. Phrases like \u201cby consecrating yourself to him like he appointed you to the holy of holiest [for all] earth\u201d (line 4) argue for an addressee who was associated with the Jerusalem Temple in a prominent role. The addressee of lines 1\u201314 is hence either a (high) priest or the mevin, who would then have a prominent function in the Temple. Lines 1\u201314 are structured by the different ways in which MLM uses the address \u201cand you.\u201d
\n4Q418 81+81a 1\u20134 In lines 1\u20134, the first part of each admonition describes an act of God, which is followed by a command to the unspecified addressee: \u201cAnd you, do so and so.\u201d The requested behavior is a logical consequence of God\u2019s preceding acts. MLM argues here what is called an indicative-imperative ethics. In this approach, it reminds of Pauline ethics and illustrates the Jewish background of Pauline thought. Because God has opened the human lips to praise the angels the addressee is admonished to eternally praise them (line 1). Lines 1\u20132 understand the priestly addressee in a dualistic way. Because God \u201chas separated [him] from all spirit of flesh,\u201d that is, because God has chosen him to be a priest, he needs to separate himself from everything God rejects, that is, from all abominations. The phrase \u201cspirit of flesh\u201d equals everything God hates and describes thus a negative, antidivine way of being, which is characterized by the \u201cabominations of life\u201d (line 2). In both biblical and nonbiblical texts, the word \u201cabomination\u201d (toevah) designates everything that violates and endangers Israel\u2019s relationship with its God, be it idols to which children were sacrificed (Ezek. 16:36), Canaanite practices (Lev. 18:30), or the sacrifice of a defective animal (Deut. 17:1). In 4Q418 81+81a 2 the phrase \u201cabominations of life\u201d is an allusion to Prov. 6:16: \u201cSix things the LORD hates; seven are abominations of his life\u201d (author\u2019s translation). MLM asks the addressee to keep away from every way of life that runs against God. Lines 2\u20134 argue that God was able to place the addressee at the holiest of holy places, that is, the inner sanctuary of the Jerusalem Temple, because he has created everything and because he has allotted everyone his share and allotment. Among all humans (\u201csons of Adam\u201d; line 3) the addressee is honored, because his allotment is God himself, that is, the service in the Jerusalem Temple. In response, the addressee is asked to honor God by making himself holy for him.
\n4Q418 81+81a 4\u20138 Lines 4b\u20138 differ in their pattern somewhat from lines 1\u20134a. Lines 4b\u20136 describe the deeds of God extensively. They are followed by two longer admonitions introduced with \u201cand you\u201d (lines 6\u20137 and lines 7\u20138). Lines 4\u20136 continue the theme of being chosen. In lines 4\u20135, MLM employs a myth that God used an oracle of the lot to predestine the fate of the addressee, that is, as a priest his lot is among the angels. As a priest the addressee participates in the angelic praise of God by way of service in the Jerusalem Temple. Even more, God has made the addressee his firstborn, that is, his beneficiary and inheritor! And a quotation of God assures the addressee of his goodness (lines 5\u20136). God\u2019s care and devotion for the addressee result in two admonitions, each introduced with \u201cand you\u201d (lines 6\u20137 and 7\u20138). The first admonition is more general in what it asks of the addressee: as God has given his goodness to him, he needs to walk in faithfulness continuously. The second admonition specifies that this means to seek God\u2019s judgment through every lawsuit, that is, to accept every sentence in a lawsuit as God\u2019s judgment. The addressee is furthermore asked to show his love for God by displaying kindness and compassion against all those who observe his commandments. This passive and loving attitude to accept God\u2019s judgments and to be kind and compassionate to those who follow the Law is just one side of the picture though. At the end of line 8, the addressee is admonished to be zealous (\u201cand show zeal for him\u201d). Although the text breaks away immediately afterward, the word \u201czeal\u201d gives a good idea what is meant. The Hebrew word kn\u2019 implies not just fervor for God but even violent acts against those who violate the covenant and its laws. A good example is Phinehas\u2019s stabbing of a mixed Jewish-Midianite couple in Num. 25:6\u201314. God does not punish Phinehas and his descendants for murder but rewards them with the priestly covenant because \u201che was zealous [kinne] for his God\u201d (Num. 25:13, author\u2019s translation).
\n4Q418 81+81a 9\u201314 More extensive textual damage makes it difficult to grasp the structure of lines 9\u201314. It differs significantly from the preceding text in its use of \u201cand you\u201d because the whole paragraph begins with the unspecified address \u201cand you.\u201d Furthermore, lines 9\u201314 contain significantly fewer imperatives than the preceding paragraphs. Line 9 begins with a description of the deeds of God, but already in line 9 the text becomes more argumentative. God gave the addressee access to special knowledge, which enables him to rule over God\u2019s \u201ctreasure.\u201d Treasure
\n(otzar) does not imply monetary wealth but should be understood as the knowledge gained by the addressee. Line 9 emphasizes furthermore that the addressee received an eifah of truth. Eifah is a capacity measure, which variously equals a tenth of a homer or ten omer. This means that the addressee benefited from a medium size measure of truth. His special understanding empowers the addressee to turn away God\u2019s anger from the men of God\u2019s favor (line 10). Because the previous passages showed that the addressee is a priest, the turning away of God\u2019s anger might refer to either an intercessory and\/or sacerdotal activity. By way of praying for the people and\/or by way of performing sacrifices, the priest is able to save God\u2019s chosen people from his anger. Lines 11\u201312 return to a theme from the beginning of the fragment, that is, honoring and praising the angels. Before the addressee is allowed to receive his own allotment, he is asked to honor God\u2019s holy ones and to open with a song for all of them. Line 12 specifies that these holy ones are not only angels, but everyone who is called by his name. This statement agrees well with lines 4\u20135, which claimed that God has cast the addressees\u2019 lot with the angels. Textual damage makes the interpretation of lines 13\u201314 difficult. The future tense used in line 14 (\u201cin it all who will inherit the land will walk\u201d) shows that the text looks into the eschatological future. It is described as all periods of God\u2019s majesty. In an allusion to Isa. 61:3 (\u201cplantation of the LORD to show his glory,\u201d author\u2019s translation), this eschatological future is described as a time of God\u2019s \u201cglory for the eter[nal] plantation\u201d (line 13). Although in the sectarian literature from the Qumran library (1QS 8:5; 11:8; 1QHa 14:15; 16:6) the phrase \u201ceternal plantation\u201d designates the Essene movement, it seems to refer to the eschatological existence of all Israel in MLM.
\n4Q418 81+81a 15\u201320 In line 15, the phrase \u201cand you, teacher\u201d signals the beginning of a new paragraph. Lines 15\u201320 move away from the philosophical, theological, and eschatological concerns of the previous admonitions and focus on practical wisdom, that is, the wisdom of hands (hokhmat yadayim; line 15; cf. line 19) or \u201cmanual skills.\u201d Extensive textual damage does not allow for more than speculation about the meaning of this passage. The text is concerned with acquiring food (line 16) and increased learning from teachers and otherwise (line 17). The addressee is advised to display his poverty (see comment on 4Q417 1 i 14) when confronted with pleasure seekers (line 18). In the logic of the act-consequence correlation, adherence to this advice will result in \u201can abundance of good things\u201d (line 19). Line 20 refers to the idea of predestination to justify this presupposition: \u201cGod has apportioned the allotment [of al]l [life].\u201d
\n4Q418 81+81a 20 At the middle of line 20 a new group is addressed and admonished to gain knowledge: \u201cAnd all (you) wise-minded ones, understand.\u201d The admonition of MLM changes focus and topic again. But nothing more than the first words of this passage are preserved.<\/p>\n
Philosophical Treatises of Philo<\/p>\n
In addition to his biblically focused compositions, which themselves reflect a philosopher\u2019s outlook, Philo composed some more explicitly philosophical works. These writings are different in style and focus, some dealing more with ideas and some describing Jewish philosophy by describing \u201cJewish philosophers\u201d (Jewish groups that Philo sees as ideal practitioners of that philosophy). The excerpts help us to see both Philo\u2019s concern about expressing the meaning of the Torah in philosophical terms and his intention to present the Jews as a nation of philosophers to non-Jewish contemporaries (and to Jews themselves as well).<\/p>\n
On the Virtues (51\u2013174)<\/p>\n
Walter T. Wilson<\/p>\n
Because of their distinctive beliefs, practices, and history, Jews in Greco-Roman antiquity were frequently the object of misrepresentation and slander. One of the more common accusations was that Jews expressed goodwill only toward their own people while having nothing but contempt for all others (see comment on Virtues 141). Such views extended to the founder of the nation himself, Moses, who was seen by Judaism\u2019s pagan detractors as formalizing a hatred of humankind in his laws. For a Jew like Philo of Alexandria, a writer steeped in the political and intellectual life of Greco-Roman society, refuting such charges and creating a more positive image of the Mosaic tradition represented a lifelong undertaking.
\nPhilo\u2019s On the Virtues 51\u2013174 (\u201cOn Humanity\u201d) contributes to this end by demonstrating the Jewish \u201clove of humanity\u201d (philanthr\u014dpia), expressed specifically in what Philo presents as Moses\u2019s twofold legacy. The first part of this legacy has to do with the final actions of the lawgiver\u2019s life (51\u201379); the second part with the laws that he left behind (80\u2013174). By demonstrating how these laws embody some of the highest philosophical and moral ideals of the time, Philo hopes to secure the legitimate place of this legacy in the Greco-Roman world.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
In a treatise that belongs to the same commentary series as On the Virtues, Philo complains about being dragged into an \u201cocean of civil cares\u201d (Spec. Laws 3.1\u20134). Many scholars take this as a reference to Philo\u2019s role in the civil unrest that occurred in Alexandria in 38\u201341 CE (see his treatises Against Flaccus and On the Embassy to Gaius). In this case On the Virtues would have been written toward the end of Philo\u2019s life, sometime in the 40s CE. The text is preserved in over two dozen manuscripts in Greek, its original language. Important evidence for its early textual history comes also from Clement of Alexandria (d. 211\u201316 CE), who cites and adapts it extensively in Book 2 of his Miscellanies.
\nOn the Virtues belongs to the third and last of Philo\u2019s commentary series, usually referred to as the Exposition of the Law. The Exposition provides a relatively systematic account of the Pentateuch, beginning with On the Creation of the World and the early history of the Jewish people (On the Life of Abraham and On the Life of Joseph). A review of Moses\u2019s legislation follows, first the general laws (On the Decalogue) then the particular ordinances dependent on them (On the Special Laws, Books 1\u20134). Beginning at Spec. Laws 4.133\u201335, however, the discussion moves in a new direction. Philo says that it is also possible to show that the Law in its entirety accords with \u201cthe virtues of universal value,\u201d by which he means piety, wisdom, temperance, justice, courage, and humanity. Philo claims to have already covered the first three of these, while the last three identify the topics of Spec. Laws 4.136\u2013238, Virtues 1\u201350, and Virtues 51\u2013174 respectively. Our treatise, then, belongs to a larger effort to relate the Law to the Greco-Roman virtues. The Exposition concludes with On Rewards and Punishments, while the two-volume On the Life of Moses appears to be attached to the Exposition as a kind of introduction.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
The \u201clove of humanity\u201d was one of the most highly prized and widely discussed virtues in Greco-Roman antiquity. Philo makes a distinctive contribution to this discussion by highlighting a particular perspective on the virtue, one which he no doubt thought important within his overall presentation of the Pentateuch. Specifically, he seems concerned to include in On the Virtues material that shows how people who have wealth or authority treat those who do not. Thus among those who exercise this virtue are rulers (55\u201379), creditors (par. 82\u201387, 89), slave owners (par. 121\u201324), and the rich (par. 161\u201374), while the recipients of humane conduct include day laborers (par. 88), the hungry (par. 90\u201394, 97\u201398), war captives (par. 110\u201315), newborn animals (par. 126\u201344), and similar groups.
\nFor Philo, then, philanthr\u014dpia might accurately be thought of as a \u201cpolitical\u201d virtue, insofar as it concerns the proper use of power in a wide range of situations. In this regard it is important to note that while due attention is given to how Jews interact with non-Jews (par. 102\u201320, 146\u201347, 149\u201354), most of the treatise concerns relations internal to the Jewish community. Apparently, Philo\u2019s aim is to demonstrate that humanity pervades all aspects of the nation that Moses founded. It stands to reason, then, that in both his actions (par. 51, 70) and his laws (par. 139), Moses serves as a model for the leaders of other nations, who are thereby inspired to be more humane in dealing with their people.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
On the Virtues falls into three major sections. Part 1 (51\u201379) narrates two \u201cproofs\u201d of Moses\u2019s humanity as his life drew to a close, one concerning the choice of his successor, the other his final words. Part 2 (80\u2013160), the longest section, is a select survey of Mosaic laws that\u2014Philo will argue\u2014exhibit humanity. This part, in turn, is divided into three sections, dealing successively with people (especially the poor and dispossessed, proselytes, settlers, enemies, and slaves), then animals, then plants. Part 3 (161\u201374) argues more generally for the humanity of the Jewish community, especially its wealthier citizens, who shun arrogance and contribute to the common good by enriching others with virtue. The overall structure of the treatise contributes to Philo\u2019s basic aim of showing how humanity similarly governs the lawgiver, his laws, and all those who abide by them. In terms of its attempt to combine a narrative of Moses\u2019s final days with a survey of his laws, On the Virtues can be profitably compared with Book 4 of Josephus\u2019s Jewish Antiquities.
\nIn the translation, philanthr\u014dpia is usually rendered \u201chumanity,\u201d which captures the meaning of the Greek fairly well. At the same time, Philo often uses the word together with other virtues that help clarify its meaning. These include especially koin\u014dnia (\u201cfellow feeling\u201d), h\u0113merot\u0113s (\u201ckindness\u201d), epieikeia (\u201cfairness\u201d), and eleos (\u201cpity\u201d).<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Berthelot, Katell. Philanthr\u00f4pia Judaica: Le d\u00e9bat autour de la \u201cmisanthropie\u201d des lois juives dans l\u2019Antiquit\u00e9. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 76. Leiden: Brill, 2003.
\nBorgen, Peder. \u201cPhilanthr\u00f4pia in Philo\u2019s Writings.\u201d In Biblical and Humane: A Festschrift for John F. Priest, edited by L. B. Elder, et al., 73\u201388. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996.
\nBorgen, Peder. Philo of Alexandria: An Exegete for His Time. Supplements to Novum Testamentum 86. Leiden: Brill 1997.
\nCohen, Naomi G. Philo Judaeus: His Universe of Discourse. BEATAJ 24. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1995.
\nColson, F. H. Philo. Loeb Classical Library, 8:195\u2013271. London: Heinemann; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1939.
\nFeldman, Louis H. \u201cPhilo\u2019s Interpretation of Joshua.\u201d Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 12 (2001): 165\u201378.
\nFeldman, Louis H. \u201cThe Death of Moses, According to Philo.\u201d Estudios b\u00edblicos 60 (2002): 225\u201354.
\nMorris, Jenny. \u201cThe Jewish Philosopher Philo.\u201d In The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, vol. 3, pt. 2, rev. ed., edited by E. Sch\u00fcrer et al., 809\u201389. Edinburgh, England: T. & T. Clark, 1987.
\nRunia, David T. \u201cUnderneath Cohn and Colson: The Text of Philo\u2019s De virtutibus.\u201d Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers 30 (1991): 116\u201334.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
51\u201379 Part 1: The Humanity of the Lawgiver. After a short preface (51\u201354), there are two \u201cproofs\u201d for the philanthr\u014dpia that Moses showed for his people in his final days (55\u201365, 66\u201379). This supplements the brief account of Moses\u2019s death in Moses 2.288\u201391, drawing largely on Num. 27 and Deut. 31\u201334, but omitting many of the historical and geographical details.
\n51. humanity, the virtue closest akin to piety Philo thought of humanity and piety together as \u201cqueens of the virtues\u201d (95), the \u201ctwo main heads\u201d of human responsibility (Spec. Laws 2.63), and summaries of the two tables of the Decalogue (Heir 168).
\nThe prophetic legislator As the ideal ruler, Moses combines the roles of king, lawgiver, priest, and prophet (Moses 2.292); see comment on 77. In Rabbinic literature, Moses is often referred to as the original or greatest prophet of the Jews (e.g., Sifre Num. 103; Sifre Z. 58\u201359; Sifra 9.7; Zohar 3.261b\u201362a).
\ntheir beautiful model As the human embodiment of the Law and someone with unique access to divine truths (Moses 1.158, 162), Moses sets an example from which others can learn (cf. Virtues 66, 70). For the idea of \u201cliving laws,\u201d see also Abraham 4\u20135.
\n52. a final sealing It was a widespread notion in antiquity that the final words of an important person carried special significance for understanding his legacy. Accordingly, this section of the treatise has many parallels with the testamental literature of the Second Temple period, especially the Testament of Moses.
\n53. unmistakable warnings that he must depart hence In Deut. 31:14, 16, Moses is informed directly by God that the time for him to die has drawn near (cf. Deut. Rab. 9.9). Philo makes no mention of the version of the scene in Num. 27:12\u201314 (cf. Deut. 32:48\u201352), which includes the explanation that Moses was forbidden to enter the Promised Land because he had disobeyed God in the wilderness of Zin (Num. 20:1\u201313).
\nhis sons \u2026 nephews Exodus reports that Moses had two sons (18:3\u20134), Aaron four (6:23), though two of the latter had died (Num. 3:1\u20133). According to some Rabbinic traditions, Moses had hoped to appoint one of his sons to take his place, but God deemed them unworthy \u201cbecause they concerned themselves little with the Torah.\u201d
\n54. he did not think it well to constitute himself the judge According to the biblical account, Moses asked God to appoint his successor (Num. 27:15\u201316). In addition to the principle of divine selection, Philo followed Deut. 17:15 in holding that the people\u2019s ruler could not be a stranger (Spec. Laws 4.157\u201359).
\n55\u201365 The First Proof of the Lawgiver\u2019s Humanity: Moses\u2019s decision regarding his successor. The events surrounding Joshua\u2019s succession parallel those of later kings (e.g., see 1 Kings 2:1\u20134).
\n55. He had a friend The basis of true friendship for Philo is the worship of the one God (see Moses 2.171; Spec. Laws 1.52, 317; Virtues 35, 179), which, as we learn from Virtues 65, applies to Joshua and all the Israelites.
\nexcept when \u2026 he was \u2026 receiving the oracles According to the biblical account, Joshua was Moses\u2019s \u201cattendant\u201d at Mt. Sinai (Exod. 24:13; cf. Josh. 1:1).
\nJoshua \u2026 was almost his lieutenant Perhaps referring specifically to his leadership in the battle against the Amalekites in Exod. 17:8\u201316; see Moses 1.216. For his military feats, see also Josh. 12:7\u201324.
\n56. his loyal affection for the nation In this Joshua imitates Moses himself; see 75.
\n57. who surveys the invisible soul God\u2019s ability to see into secret places, including human hearts, is affirmed in various Jewish sources (e.g., Providence 2.35; 2 Bar. 83:2\u20133; B. Sotah 3a, 9a). See also the comment on Virtues 172, the soul is invisible save only to God.
\n58. Let the God of spirits and all flesh The prayer follows Num. 27:16\u201317 rather closely.
\na shepherd Rulers were frequently likened to shepherds (e.g., 2 Sam. 5:2; 1 Kings 22:17; 1 Chron. 11:2; CD 13:7\u20139), and Moses himself had been a shepherd (Exod. 3:1; L.A.B. 19.9; Moses 1.60\u201362).
\n59\u201365 This passage interrupts the retelling of the biblical narrative with an imagined exchange between Moses and an anonymous onlooker, repeating some of the material from 53\u201354. For this style of questioning, cf. Moses 2.239.
\n60. the choice is not to rest on birth A major theme for the treatise is that true nobility is a matter of wisdom and virtue, not wealth or ancestry. Cf. 79, and see especially 187\u2013227, entitled \u201cOn Nobleness of Birth.\u201d
\n61. a decision for good or ill brings happiness Philo is consistent in emphasizing that the Law promotes \u201chappiness\u201d (eudaimonia) for its followers (e.g., Moses 2.212; Decalogue 100; Virtues 119), a point with which Josephus would have agreed.
\na pilot of good judgment For the analogy of a wise ruler to a trustworthy captain, see Spec. Laws 4.186 (cf. Pseudo-Phocylides, 131).
\n62. wisdom\u2019s years are from of old Philo alludes to Prov. 8:22, in which Wisdom declares, \u201cThe LORD created me at the beginning of his course, As the first of his works of old\u201d (cf. Drunkenness 31). Wisdom\u2019s role in creation was a favorite theme, for example, Wis. 7:12, 22; Sir. 24:9; 11Q5 26:14.
\nthose who love her Cf. Prov. 8:17, in which Wisdom promises, \u201cThose who love me I love, And those who seek me will find me.\u201d The desire for wisdom would have been a defining characteristic of the virtuous; cf. Wis. 6:12, 17\u201320; Sir. 24:19.
\n63. I have learnt from my own history This paragraph refers to sections of Exod. 3\u20134 where Moses is reluctant to accept God\u2019s commission from the burning bush and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. According to Rabbinic tradition, he was urged to undertake the mission for seven days, relenting only when shown all the future generations of Torah scholars who would be dependent on him (Legends, 1:509\u201315).
\n64. the most populous of all the nations According to Deuteronomy, the Israelites were \u201cas numerous as the stars of heaven\u201d (1:10; 10:22; cf. Gen. 22:17; 26:4.), which was seen as a sign of divine blessing (Deut. 30:5). Cf. Moses 1.149; Ag. Ap. 1.194.
\n65. the most excellent philosophy Jewish authors often claimed that Moses was the original or the best philosopher, or both.
\nthe delusion of created gods For Philo it is the greatest abomination that \u201cone who has a soul worships a soulless thing\u201d (Decalogue 76). Philo\u2019s critique of idolatry, especially Egyptian animal worship, is a fundamental way in which he distinguishes Judaism from its pagan host culture.
\n66\u201379 The Second Proof of the Lawgiver\u2019s Humanity: Moses\u2019s final blessings on his people.
\n66. his disciple, Joshua Later sources frequently describe Moses as Joshua\u2019s teacher.
\nfilled with intense joy For Philo, joy is the best of the \u201cgood emotions\u201d (Names 131) and the reward for a virtuous life (Josephus, Rewards 27, 31, 32, 35; cf. Ant. 4.184). Rabbinic sources explain that it was Moses\u2019s sincerest desire that Joshua be appointed his successor (e.g., Sifre Num. 139; Sifre Z. 162).
\n67. taking Joshua by the right hand Num. 27:22\u201323 describes a commissioning ceremony in which Moses lays his hands on Joshua in the presence of Eleazar the priest (who is nowhere mentioned in Philo\u2019s account) and the whole community.
\nthe hope of coming immortality The Greek idea that the soul, once separated from the body, would gain immortality made an impression on a number of Hellenistic Jewish authors. As Philo puts it in QG 1.16, \u201cThe death of worthy persons is the beginning of another life. For life is twofold; one is with a corruptible body; the other is without the body and incorruptible.\u201d
\n68. The time has come for me to depart Philo\u2019s summary of Moses\u2019s speech to the people in Deut. 31:1\u20136 makes no mention of the promise that \u201cThe LORD your God Himself will cross over [the Jordan] before you; and He Himself will wipe out those nations from your path.\u201d
\n69. turning his eyes on Joshua In the biblical account, Moses charges Joshua to lead the people into the Promised Land and apportion it to them (Deut. 31:7\u20138, 23; cf. T. Moses 12:1\u201313; Josephus, Ant. 4.135). Philo\u2019s version omits these specifics, focusing more on the general qualities of leadership: courage, wisdom, and decisiveness.
\n70. he had received the divine command In Num. 27:19\u201320, God instructs Moses to commission Joshua before the people and \u201cinvest him with some of your authority.\u201d
\nthe spirit to undertake the charge of the nation According to Deut. 34:9, Joshua became \u201cfilled with the spirit of wisdom\u201d when Moses laid his hands on him, while Num. 27:18 describes him as \u201can inspired man.\u201d In later traditions he is a prophet.
\ntheir archetype and model See comments on 51, The prophetic legislator and their beautiful model.
\n71. a good man\u2019s exhortation Exhortation, or paraenesis, is the same word that Philo uses elsewhere for the book of Deuteronomy (e.g., Agriculture 84; Spec. Laws 1.299, 4.131).
\n72\u201375 Moses\u2019s hymn of thanksgiving, referring to \u201cThe Song of Moses\u201d in Deut. 32:1\u201343.
\n72. he proceeded to hymn God In Deut. 31:19\u201321, Moses is instructed by God to write down a poem for the people of Israel (cf. Philo\u2019s \u201cmankind\u201d in 73). This is to serve as a witness against them when they break covenant in the Promised Land and turn to other gods. Philo mentions this function for the song only in passing (see 75), concentrating instead on its more hopeful elements (e.g., Deut. 32:36).
\n73. the elements of all existence According to Moses 1.155\u201356, Moses\u2019s stature was such that God gave him power over the elements, or stoicheia, out of which the universe is made.
\nearth and heaven Before Moses recites his poem in the biblical account, God instructs him to summon the elders and officials of the people, \u201cthat I may speak all these words to them and that I may call heaven and earth to witness against them\u201d (Deut. 31:28; cf. 32:1). In Philo\u2019s account, they are witnesses to the harmony of Moses\u2019s song (see comment on 74).
\nministering angels This reflects the LXX version of Deut. 32:43 (cf. 32:8), which reads, \u201cRejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all God\u2019s angels worship him.\u201d For the scenario of people worshiping in the presence of heavenly beings, cf. the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q400\u2013407) and 1 En. 61:9\u201313.
\n74. the most sacred choir The image of the celestial choir is found in biblical sources (e.g., Ps. 89:5\u20137; 148:1\u20134) and elsewhere in Philo\u2019s writings (e.g., Planting 118; Moses 2.271). Like other ancients, he takes the heavenly bodies to be divine beings (e.g., Giants 8; Spec. Laws 1.13\u201314; Eternity 46).
\nattune his soul to harmony with God\u2019s instrument The harmony of Moses\u2019s music expresses the harmony of his soul with the universe (cf. Moses 1.29), even as the provisions of his law guide those who seek such harmony for themselves (Moses 2.52). For the idea that the harmony of the cosmos furnishes a model to which people should aspire, see Joseph 145 (cf. Pseudo-Phocylides, 71\u201374).
\n75. the great Revealer For Philo, Moses\u2019s song exemplifies his role as revealer (hierophant\u0113s), or priest, a role that figures prominently in his On the Life of Moses (esp. 2.66\u2013186).
\npast \u2026 present \u2026 future According to Rabbinic lore, God revealed to Moses before his death the history of the world from Creation to the Day of Judgment (e.g., Sifre Deut. 357; Sifre Num. 135\u201336).
\n76. He began to pass over It is significant that there is no scene, such as we find in Ant. 4.326, describing Moses\u2019s mysterious disappearance at his death. Philo apparently wants to dispel any notion that Moses was divine or that he ascended bodily to heaven. In Moses 2.291, he states specifically that Moses died.
\nThe body \u2026 was being stripped away On the Life of Abraham 258 summarizes Philo\u2019s understanding of the afterlife: \u201cdeath is not the extinction of the soul but its separation and detachment from the body and its return to the place whence it came \u2026 from God.\u201d The biblical account simply states that Moses ascended Mount Nebo and was \u201cgathered to his kin\u201d (Deut. 32:50).
\n77. mentioning the founders of the tribes A reference to Moses\u2019s final blessings in Deut. 33:1\u201329, which mentions each of the 12 tribes by name. In Moses 2.288\u201391, Philo refers to these blessings as prophetic oracles, reflecting the common idea that on the verge of death exceptional individuals attain special insight about the future.
\n78 This paragraph, which interrupts the flow of the narrative and contains a number of unusual expressions, is probably not original to the treatise and is therefore printed in brackets.
\n79. the heir of all good things This claim may be derived from Deut. 32:9 LXX: \u201cHis people Jacob became the portion of the LORD, Israel was the line of his inheritance.\u201d See comment on 60.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
4 Maccabees David A. deSilva 4 Maccabees is a philosophical demonstration of the thesis that \u201creason\u201d (the rational faculty of the human mind) is able to gain the upper hand over the emotions, cravings, and physical sensations (collectively, the \u201cpassions\u201d) that exert such powerful force over the will of human beings. The author seeks to … <\/p>\n