Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice
, which, admittedly, is
not properly an eschatological text at all. The Songs consist of separate
compositions for each of thirteen sabbaths, which call on the angels to give
praise and give descriptive statements about the praise-giving of the heavenly
beings. The penultimate song has an extensive description of the divine
throne-chariot, and the composition ends with a description of the splendour
of the angelic high priests. While the purpose of this text has been debated
extensively, I am most persuaded by the view originally put forward by the
editor, Carol Newsom, that it is
a quasi-mystical liturgy designed to evoke a sense of being present in the
heavenly temple . . . Although no claim is made that the audience which recited
or heard the Songs were actually transported to the heavenly realms, the hyp-
notic quality of the language and the vividness of the description of the celestial
temple cause even the modern reader of these fragments to feel the power of
the language to create a sense of the presence of the heavenly temple.
42
One of the Songs reflects on the human condition vis-à-vis the angels:
‘how shall we be considered [among] them? And how shall our priesthood (be
considered) in their habitations? And our ho[liness - how can it compare
with] their [surpassing] holiness? [What] is the offering of our mortal tongue
(compared) with the knowledge of the
e[lim
?]’ (
Q
:
–
). While the text
stops short of describing the exaltation of human beings to heaven, it func-
tions in a manner similar to the apocalypses that describe the ascent of the
visionary. The reader is led in imagination through the various heavenly
sanctuaries, even to the contemplation of the divine throne. They invite
contemplation of an angelic world that is free from the corruption and
82
Judaism, Christianity and Islam
defilement that have befallen this world, and specifically the temple cult in
Jerusalem.
We are exceptionally well informed about the way the Qumran community
proposed to structure its life while waiting for the messianic age.
43
The
Community Rule describes a strict hierarchical order, in which everyone sits
according to his rank, and obeys his superiors. They eat in common and bless
in common and deliberate in common. At least to some degree, they have
common property. They should never lack a man among them to study the
Law continually, day and night, concerning right conduct, and the con-
gregation should watch in community for a third of every night of the year,
to read the Book and to study the Torah and to give praise together. They
join in prayer at dawn and dusk and at the beginning of the watches of the
night. Strict conformity is required. Any member of the community who
turns aside deliberately on any point whatever of all that is commanded is to
be cut off. It is generally assumed that the regulations of this Community
Rule derived from the Teacher of Righteousness, although he is not actually
mentioned in this document.
It is also generally assumed that the community in question belonged to
the sect of the Essenes, known to us from the descriptions of Josephus, Philo
and Pliny the Elder.
44
Josephus describes a similar regimen, with prayers at
dawn, great emphasis on purification, common meals, common property and
strict deference to superiors. Both the account in Josephus and the Qumran
Community Rule describe elaborate procedures for postulancy and admission,
and while some details are problematic, the similarities outweigh the differ-
ences. One point of discrepancy, however, has been especially contentious.
Josephus, Philo and Pliny all claim that the Essenes were celibate, although
Josephus admits that there was a second order of Essenes who married. The
Community Rule does not demand celibacy, and the Damascus Document
contains rules for family life. Nevertheless, many scholars remain persuaded
that some members of the Dead Sea sect were celibate, although the second
order mentioned by Josephus may have been the norm rather than the
exception. The Damascus Document (CD), column
, seems to contrast two
styles of community life. First, there are those who walk in perfect holiness,
according to all the teaching of God. These are assured that ‘they shall live
for thousands of generations’. The text continues: ‘But if they live in camps
according to the order of the land and marry and have children …’ It seems
reasonable to infer that those who walk in perfect holiness do not marry and
have children, and this is why they are assured that they shall live for
thousands of generations (CD
:
–
).
45
Since the Community Rule does not
mention families, it may be that it was written for a celibate community,
while the Damascus Document applied more widely to various sectarian
83
Eschatological Dynamics in Early Judaism
settlements. Whether this interpretation be accepted or not, however, there is
no doubt that the Dead Sea Scrolls have a restrictive attitude to sex. For
example, both the Temple Scroll and the Damascus Document (
QTemple
:
; CD
:
–
) forbid sexual intercourse in the city of the sanctuary
( Jerusalem), and a fragment of the Damascus Rule from Qumran Cave
speaks of a man ‘fornicating’ with his wife (
Q
il
).
46
The roots of these
restrictions can be found in the aspiration to live an angelic life, and is in
accordance with the principle that ‘no man smitten with any human un-
cleanness shall enter the assembly of God . . . for the angels of holiness are
[with] their congre[gation]’ (
QSa
:
–
).
Thus far I have been describing an early phase, or rather early phases, of
Jewish apocalypticism. We are not speaking of a single movement. There are
differences between the Enoch literature and Daniel, and significant differ-
ences between both and the Dead Sea sect. But there is also clear continuity.
The Dead Sea sect drew on both Enoch and Daniel, while it also attached
much more importance to the Hebrew Scriptures, and even drew on occasion
from other sources such as Zoroastrian dualism. Perhaps the most noteworthy
difference is between a book like Daniel, written at a critical juncture in
history, and informed by an acute sense of expectation, and the larger corpus
of the sectarian Scrolls, in which expectation of an end plays a part but is
submerged in a structured community life and a sense that eschatology is at
least partially realized in the present. I have emphasized, however, the im-
portance of the angelic world, and the hope for angelic transformation in this
literature, since this aspect of apocalypticism is quite crucial to the pragmatics
of the texts, and it is often overlooked in the general equation of apoca-
lypticism with millennial expectation.
47
The angelic world is not equally
important in all forms of Jewish apocalypticism; it is far less prominent in the
later apocalypses of
Ezra and
Baruch. But it is of great importance in
the pivotal stages of Jewish apocalypticism that we have considered here.
Apocalypse as a Medium of Reflection: 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch,
3 Baruch
Another major cluster of Jewish apocalypses dates from the end of the first
century
, in the aftermath of the Jewish revolt.
48
Ezra,
Baruch and
Baruch are all reflections on the catastrophe that had come to pass. While
they continue to console and exhort, they represent a rather different use of
the genre from that of the early Enoch writings and Daniel. They could
scarcely have incited anyone to revolt. Instead they are attempts to understand
and come to terms with failure and destruction.
Ezra, which is preserved in Latin and several other secondary translations,
84
Judaism, Christianity and Islam
stands out among the Jewish apocalypses as the most acute formulation of a
theological problem.
49
Ezra, located anachronistically in Babylon thirty years
after the destruction of Jerusalem, acknowledges the familiar Deuteronomic
theory that the destruction was punishment for sin, but then raises an all too
obvious question: ‘Are the deeds of Babylon better than those of Zion? Or has
another nation known thee besides Israel? Or what tribes have believed thy
covenants as these tribes of Jacob?’ (
:
–
). The angel with whom he speaks
does not respond to this question directly, but tells Ezra that ‘your under-
standing has utterly failed regarding this world, and do you think you can
comprehend the way of the Most High?’ (
:
). He assures him, however, that
‘the age is hastening swiftly to its end’ (
:
) and proceeds to tell him the
signs that will precede the eschaton. Ezra, however, is not easily deterred. He
renews his questions about the justice of God, only to be again diverted with
an eschatological prediction (
:
–
). Yet a third time Ezra probes more
deeply: ‘O sovereign Lord, behold, thou has ordained in thy law that the
righteous shall inherit these things, but that the ungodly shall perish’ (
:
).
But in that case most of humankind is doomed to perish: ‘For all who have
been born are involved in iniquities, and are full of sins and burdened with
transgressions’ (
:
). The angel’s reply is harsh: ‘You are not a better judge
than God, or wiser than the Most High! Let many perish who are not living,
rather than that the law of God which is set before them be disregarded!’ (
:
–
). The angel urges Ezra to think about what is to come rather than about
what now is (
:
) and discourses on the messianic age and the judgment
after death. The Most High, we are told, made not one world but two (
:
),
this world for the sake of the many but the world to come for the sake of the
few (
:
). Ezra is not consoled: ‘It would have been better if the earth had
not produced Adam, or else, when it had produced him, had restrained him
from sinning. For what good is it to all that they live in sorrow now and expect
punishment after death? O Adam, what have you done? For though it was you
who sinned, the fall was not yours alone, but ours also who are your des-
cendants’ (
:
–
). Even though he gradually resigns himself to the will
of God, he still comments ruefully on the paucity of those who will be saved
(
:
).
After the third dialogue, Ezra is told to go into the field and eat the flowers
(
:
,
). After this he has a vision of a woman in mourning. At first Ezra
scolds her, for being concerned with her personal grief while ‘Zion, the
mother of us all’ is in affliction. Then he tells her not to dwell on her grief
but to ‘let yourself be persuaded because of the troubles of Zion, and be
consoled because of the sorrow of Jerusalem’ (
:
). While he is speaking,
she is transformed into a city with massive foundations. Then the angel Uriel
appears and explains to Ezra that the woman was Zion and that God had
85
Eschatological Dynamics in Early Judaism
shown him the future glory of Jerusalem because of his wholehearted grief
over her ruin. From this point on, Ezra raises no further complaints. In
chapters
–
he sees a vision of an eagle rising from the sea, that is
confronted by a lion. The eagle stands for Rome, and the lion for the Davidic
messiah. In chapter
a man rises on clouds from the heart of the sea. He
takes his stand on a mountain and repulses the Gentiles, and then gathers in
the lost tribes of Israel. In the final chapter, Ezra is inspired to reproduce the
Torah that has been burnt, but also seventy secret books that are to be given
to ‘the wise among your people, for in them is the spring of understanding,
the fountain of wisdom and the river of knowledge’ (
:
–
).
Ezra is remarkable for the fact that the pseudonymous author, Ezra,
adheres to a theology that is rejected by the angel. Some scholars have argued
that Ezra is the voice of heresy, which the author meant to refute,
50
but it is
surely implausible that heresy would be given such an authoritative voice.
Rather, the dialogue between Ezra and the angel must be taken to reflect the
conflict of theologies in the author’s heart and mind.
51
In this respect, it is
reminiscent of the Book of Job, which also articulates a deeply felt problem
before submitting to a divinely imposed solution.
52
Ezra articulates the tradi-
tional Deuteronomic theology, but finds it wanting. The angel does nothing
to rehabilitate this theology, but tells Ezra in effect that God’s ways are
inscrutable in this world, and that he must be content to wait for the revelation
of justice in the world to come. In the end, the eschatological visions carry
the day. The high value placed on the seventy secret books in the final chapter
is highly significant. While the Torah remains important, it does not contain
‘the spring of understanding and the fountain of wisdom’. That wisdom
requires higher revelation, such as Ezra receives in this apocalypse.
The actual eschatology of
Ezra, however, is based on the Hebrew
scriptures, although the themes are developed in original ways. There is no
influence here from the Enoch tradition. The origin of sin is discussed with
reference to Adam. There is no mention of the Watchers. The picture of the
future combines various strands of traditional eschatology. In chapter
the
messiah (called ‘my son’) is said to reign for
years and then die. After
this, there will be seven days of primeval silence, followed by the resurrection
and judgment. In this way, the apocalypse accommodates both the expectation
of national restoration under a messianic king and the more typically apoca-
lyptic hope for a new creation. We find a similar two-stage eschatology in the
roughly contemporary Book of Revelation, where Christ reigns on earth for
,
years before the resurrection and new creation (Revelation
). In
chapters
–
,
Ezra draws heavily on the Book of Daniel. The Roman
eagle rises from the sea like the beasts in Daniel
, and is identified as ‘the
fourth kingdom which appeared in a vision to your brother Daniel. But it was
86
Judaism, Christianity and Islam
not explained to him as I now explain or have explained it to you’ (
Ezra
:
–
). The lion, who has no place in Daniel’s vision but is derived from
Genesis
:
, is ‘the messiah whom the Most High has kept until the end
of days, who will arise from the posterity of David’. In chapter
, the man
who rises from the sea on clouds is clearly a reinterpretation of the ‘one like
a son of man’ in Daniel. He is identified, however, as the Davidic messiah
(‘my son’) and the description of his stand on the mountain (Zion) is remin-
iscent of Psalm
. The messianic age serves to restore Israel, and thereby
Dostları ilə paylaş: |