Read James the Brother of Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls II Online
Authors: Robert Eisenman
29. The parallel here is fairly strong; cf. CD IV.3 and VI.5.
30. For the story of this plaque, see
Naz
19b–20a,
Yoma
37a and
Git
60a.
31. See, for instance, the
Epistle of Peter to James
5.1 introducing the
Homilies
.
32. In James, for instance, see 1:26, 2:20, 3:5–8, 3:14, 4:5, 4:8, etc. and in CD, see I.11, II.18, III.5, V.12, VI.12 etc. The same imagery abounds in the Habakkuk
Pesher
, Hymns, and works such as 4Q434–6 (‘
The Hymns of the Poor
’) or 4Q416–16 (‘
Sapiential Works’
).
33. See
The Republic
, Books II–III (377a–408d) and Book X (595a–609d).
34. It should be appreciated, however, that in Matthew 15:24 the ‘
house
’ does reappear, but now it becomes ‘
not being sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’
. One should also note that in Matthew 15:13–14 the language of ‘
falling into a pit
’ also occurs, as does ‘
uprooting plants’
, both of which will recur in CD I.7and XI.13.
35. 1QS IV.9–11.
36. Cf. CD I.11–12, XII.20–21, XIII.22–3, 1QH III.13, IX.12–26, 1QH XII.11, etc.
37. 1QS IX.12–14.
38. 1QS IX.15–19.
39. CD I.5–8.
40. See, for instance, 1QS VIII.4–9 and XI.7–9 and 1QH VI.24–26 and VII.8–9 on
‘the Foundation which will be set u
p
on Rock’
, ‘
the Doors of Protection which will not sway
’ and ‘
the Tried Wall’
, ‘
Fortified Tower’,
and ‘
Ramparts
’ which are ‘
an Eternal Foundation’
, ‘
Building’
, or ‘
Rock
’ which also ‘
will never sway’
.
41. 1 Corinthians 2:6–7.
42. See 1QS IX.18 and XI 3–19 above, but also see III.23, IV.6 and 18, V.25–6, CD III.18, 1QM XIV.9–10, XVII.9, etc.
43. 1QpHab X.9–13.
44. CD III.18–20.
45. CD VII.4–6, XX.10–13 and XX.21–2.
46. CD XI.13–14.
47. CD II.9–11.
Chapter 9
1. See
ARN
6.2 (20b). The ‘
Parable
’ here (about ‘
a Stone-Cutter
’/
Peter
?) is told by one R. Simeon ben Eleazar but, ho
w
ever this may be, the thrust has to do with what R. Akiba did with the teachings of R. Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and his colleague R. Joshua (
Jesus
?); and what the ‘
Stone-Cutter
’ did was ‘
chip away
’ the ‘
tiny pebbles
’ of a great ‘
mountain
’ in order ‘
to
uproot
it’
and ‘
cast it
into the Jordan’
. It is this which is compared to what R. Akiba did to the teachings of R. Eliezer and R. Joshua. Here, too, the ‘
little children
’ are R. Akiba’s ‘
sons and daughters’.
2.
Per contra
, one should note how in Mark 12:13–18/Matthew 22:15–26 and Mark 3:6
the Herodians
are listed with the Pharisees as being among those opposed to Jesus’ teachings – the only question is, which teachings of Jesus, the real ones or the mythological/literary ones? On the other hand, it should be noted, that it is Paul in Acts 24:10–26:32 who enjoys easy rel
a
tions with
Herodians
and, as we have suggested earlier may himself even be an
Herodian
– cf. Romans 16:7–11.
3. Cf.
JBJ
, pp. 74f., 142–5, 770–83, 842–50, 924–39, etc.
4. CD I.18–20.
5. CD IV.7–10.
6. Note the overlap with the character Josephus calls ‘
Eleazar ben Jair’
, a descendant of Judas the Galilean and kinsman of that ‘
Menachem
’ tortured and probably stoned to death by his opponents on the Temple Mount when he put on the Royal Purple –
War
2.433–49 and 7.253–399.
7. CD V.7 – again the word ‘
blood
’ is specifically included.
8. CD VIII.21–24/XIX.33–XX.1, but also see CD VI.14–VII.9 where this
Covenant
is specifically defined.
9. In Hebrew, there is also the feminine of ‘
lamb
’ as in ‘
dorcas
’/‘
doe
’ for ‘
Tabitha
’.
10.
Ned
. 50a.
11.
Ibid
.
12.
Ket
. 63a.
13.
Ibid
.
14.
Ibid
.
15. Ps
Rec
. 172–4.
16. See Y. Yadin, ‘The Excavation of Masada’,
Israel Exploration Journal
15, 1965, pp. 81–2 and 105–8 and
Masada
, London, 1966, pp. 173–90.
17. See, for instance, 4Q521, ‘
The Messiah of Heaven and Earth’
, Fragment 1, Column I.12, but there are others.
18. The criticism of him in Lam.
R
2.2.4 and j.
Ta
‘
an
4.5 (68d) for applying the Messianic ‘
Star
’ Prophecy (the probable origin of Bar Kochba’s name) to Bar Kochba by the other rabbis gives some proof of this, as do the tremendous numbers of
‘his Disciples
’ described
Ket
. 62a–63b and
Ned
50 (seemingly some 24,000!) and the description of his imprisonment and ho
r
rific death at the hands of the Romans in
Ber
61b. In the latter, a ‘
Bat Chol
’ or Heavenly Voice cries out much in the manner of the synoptics: ‘
This is my only begotten son
, etc., etc.’ – only in Akiba’s case, it is: ‘
You are destined for the life of the world to come
.
’
19. For John’s teaching ‘
Righteousness towards one’s fellow man’
, see
Ant
. 18.117; for Josephus’
Essenes
, see
War
2.139. For James, see 2:8.
20. Hippolytus 9.21.
21.
Ber
61b–62a.
22.
Ket
62a–63b.
23. Lam.
R
1.16.47.
24.
Ibid
.; cf.
Git
56a. In
Ket
67a he rather ‘
sees her picking barley grains among the horses’ hoofs in Acco’
.
25.
ARN
6.3 (21a). In
Git
56a, as we have seen, he is rather denoted as ‘
Ben Zizzit
ha-Kesef
’/‘
Silver’ and
this is supposedly because ‘
his fringes
(
zizzit
)
used to trail on cushions
(
Keset
) and here, ‘
his seat
(
kise
)
was
’ rather ‘
among those of the Roman Nobility
’! Whoever he was, he was clearly an Establishment character of some kind and, therefore probably an Herodian or one of their hangers-on.
26.
ARN
4.5 (20a). See also
Git
56a–b,
Yoma
21a and 39b.
27. See CD VII.18–9, XIX.10–11, and 4Q
Test
I.12.
28. For Titus’ destruction of the entire city, see
War
7.1–2.
29. This ‘
leading astray
’ language is, of course, basic to Qumran and, in particular, the presentation of the position of ‘
the Man of
’/‘
Spouter of Lying
’ who
‘leads Many astray
’; cf. CD I.13–16, 1QS III.22, 1QpHab X.9–13, etc.
30. 1QpHab VI.7.
31.
War
6.301–09.
32. Cf. CD I.9–11, XII.20–1, XIII.22, 1QS III.13, IX.12, IX. 21, etc.
33. For R.Yohanan’s ‘
woes
’ upon leaving Jerusalem with his
Disciple
R. Joshua (Jesus?) and Vespasian’s behaviour, see
ARN
4.5 (20a) – note here that Isaiah 10:34 (a
Pesher
extant at Qumran) is applied to this fall, as it is by implication at Qumran as well.
34. See
Ant
. 20.94–96 and
War
5.55, 119.
35. CD I.17, VII.9–13, VII.21–VIII.3/XIX.5–16, etc.
36. See CD III.19, IV.4, VII.18–20, XII.23, XIV.19, etc. and 4Q
Flor
I.10–13 and 4Q
Test
I.12–3; for ‘
theTrue Prophet
,’ see 1QS IX.12 and in 4Q
Test
I.5–6.
37. For ‘
the True Prophet
’ ideology, see Ps
Rec
. 1.16, 1.40–41, 1.44 and variously; Ps
Hom
.
1.21, 2.4–12, and variously; for Muhammad and the Koran, a good example is 33.1 and 33.30–59; for Mani, see al-Biruni 8.206–9.
38. 1QS IX.12.
39. 1QS VIII.10–16 in describing the Naziritism and ‘
Study of the
Torah
’ of ‘
the Perfect of the Way
’ and IX.18–24, the n
e
cessity of ‘
separating
from any man who has not turned his
Way
away from all Unrighteousness’
, ‘
eternal hatred for the Men of the
Pit
,’ and ‘
zeal for the Law
’ and ‘
the Day of Vengeanc
e’.
40. Lam
R
. 1.16.48.
41. See Lam
R
. 1.16.47 and
pars
.
42.
Ket
. 66b.
43.
Ibid.
44.
Ket
. 104a.
45. See
War
4.236–325.
46.
Git
56a. Note that in the death scenario for ‘
Martha the daughter of Boethus
’ here, though the ‘
dung
’ motif remains, now the scenario is that ‘
by this time she had taken off her shoes’
, but ‘
some dung stuck to her foot and she died
’ – again too the ‘
foot
’/‘
feet
’ element.
47.
Git
56a, but in
ARN
6.3 (20b–21a), where these three are also named, the period is ‘
twenty-two years
’ while in Lam
R
. 1.5.31, where there are ‘
four councilors
’ (‘
ben Gurion
’ being separated from ‘
ben Nakdimon
’), the figure is ‘
ten
’ – each is ‘
c
a
pable of supplying the city with food for ten years’
.
48. See Robert Eisler,
The Messiah Jesus and John the Baptist,
Dial Press, 1931, pp. 252–55.
49.
War
5.24–26; cf.Tacitus,
Histories
5.12. For these
Biryonim
, one should see the parallel narratives in
Git
56a and Lam
R.
1.5.31. The Head of these
Biryonim
of Jerusalem in
Gittin
is ‘
Abba Sikra
’ – clearly the Leader of the
Sicarii
there and he is de
s
ignated as R. Yohanan’s nephew (‘
the son of R.Yohanan’s mother’s sister
’); but in Lamentations
Rabbah
, he is named as ‘
Ben Battiah
’ and portrayed as leading R. Yohanan’s coffin (carried by his two
Disciples
, R. Eliezer and R. Joshua) out of the city – a very curious scene indeed.