4Q521 or the Messianic Apocalypse is one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the Cave 4 near Qumran.

Description

4Q521 comprises two larger fragments. ^[1] The original editor was Jean Starcky, ^[2] though translation revisions have been proposed by Émile Puech. ^[3]

Text

The text:

[the hea]vens and the earth will listen to His Messiah ["anointed one"], and none therein will stray from the commandments of the holy ones.
Seekers of the Lord, strengthen yourselves in His service!
All you hopeful in (your) heart, will you not find the Lord in this?
For the Lord will consider the pious (hasidim) and call the righteous by name.
Over the poor His spirit will hover and will renew the faithful with His power.
And He will glorify the pious on the throne of the eternal Kingdom.
He who liberates the captives, restores sight to the blind, straightens the b[ent]
And f[or] ever I will cleav[ve to the h]opeful and in His mercy...
And the fr[uit...] will not be delayed for anyone.
And the Lord will accomplish glorious things which have never been as [He...]
For He will heal the wounded, and revive the dead and bring good news to the poor
...He will lead the uprooted and knowledge...and smoke (?)

— Michael O. Wise, translation ^[4]

Analysis

The subject of the text is eschatological ^[5] and makes a connection with the healing ministry of the Messiah. ^[6] 4Q521 may be related to other apocalyptic end-time texts, 4QSecond Ezekiel ^[7] 4QApocryphon of Daniel, ^[8] and has been studied in relation to the Gospel of Luke's Messianic Magnificat and Benedictus; especially striking is the comparison with Luke 7:22 about raising the dead. ^[9]

The references to heaven and earth listening to the Messiah are not paralleled in any other text in the context of Second Temple Judaism and have given speculation as to the heavenly status of the Messiah in this text. Some see it as an allusion to Isaiah 1:2a which says "Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth; for the Lord has spoken". However, heaven and earth are also said to listen to Moses in Deuteronomy 32:1, precluding any conclusions about the heavenly status of the Messiah in 4Q521. ^{[10] [11]} There is also some dispute among scholars as to whether the Greek "anointed one" should be read in the defective plural as "anointed ones", which would form a parallelism to the second half of the first line to the "holy ones" (angels) and imply that both halves of the text are referring to angelic figures, rather than a Messiah. ^{[12] [13]}

The Messiah/anointed figure in 4Q521 is commonly interpreted as an Elijah-type figure rather than a Davidic warrior Messiah. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, Hebrew prophets, such as Elijah, are regularly referred to as "anointed ones". Furthermore, it is the role of a herald or messenger to "bring good news to the poor" (line 12), suggesting a prophetic rather than warrior figure. Only in 4Q521 does an ancient Jewish text say the Messiah will raise the dead in the eternal kingdom (line 12) (in the New Testament also, Jesus is the agent of the final resurrection; John 6:40). Rather, raising the dead was most commonly associated with the historical career of Elijah ( 1 Kings 17), and later Jewish commentary solely placed the role of resurrection in God's future kingdom with Elijah. For example, "the resurrection of the dead comes through Elijah" (m. Sota 9, end; j. Sheqalim 3:3) and "Everything that the Holy One will do, he has already anticipated by the hands of the righteous in this world, the resurrection of the dead by Elijah and Ezekiel, the drying of the Dead Sea by Moses..." (Pesikta de R. Kahana 76a). The description of Elijah in Ben Sira provides a direct parallel with 4Q521's reference to the Messiah commanding the heavens and the earth, where, through the authority of God, Elijah himself commands the heavens: "By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens and also three times brought down fire" (Sira 48:3). The two trees in Revelation 11 that prevent rainfall are also commonly interpreted as symbols for Elijah and Moses. Another fragment of 4Q521 reads "(1) and the precept of your mercy and I will liberate them (2) for it is sure: 'the fathers will return to the sons.'" This phrase is a reference to Malachi 3:24, where Elijah "will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers." Sirach 48:10 also cites Malachi 3:24 when describing Elijah. ^[14]

See also

• Luke 1

References

External links

• Florentino García Martínez. "Qumran scroll 4Q521, text and translation". Archived from the original on 2022-10-19.
• Comparison between 4Q521 and early Gospel tradition by James Tabor