James the Brother of Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls II (169 page)
Read James the Brother of Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls II Online
Authors: Robert Eisenman
My conclusion is – yes, in some symbolic or allegorical manner, teachers like Paul and authors even of Books such as Acts – which in my view did know the Damascus Document and who were
diametrically opposed
to much of what it was saying – did see through to this esoteric understanding of ‘
Damascus
’ and
did reinterpret it
in this utterly spiritualized and Hellenistic ‘
Mystery Religion
’-oriented fashion. However, I do not believe that the sectaries at Qumran entertained any such covert or hidden sense of ‘
the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus
’; though, given their several intemperate denunciations of contact with or the consumption of
Blood
of any kind, it may be that they knew the Pauline one.
We have already pointed out that the esoteric understanding of the formulation ‘
Damascus’
outlined above actually works in the Hebrew as well as it does in the Greek – not only in one but in both syllables of the formulation. In fact, it works even better than the simple homophonic relationship of the Hebrew to ‘
Cup
’ (
Chos
) and ‘
Blood
’ (
Dam
) in the Greek transliteration. The fact of this unexpected further verification of what was initially just a suggestion provides extremely convincing added corroboration of both its relevance and applicability.
To review this additional verification one last time: in Hebrew the word for the Greek/English ‘
Damascus
’ is
Dammashek
but the word for ‘
drink
’ or ‘
give to drink’
is
mashkeh
. Therefore the place name
Damascus
in Hebrew breaks down in putative esoteric or allegorical delineation to
Dam
-
Mashkeh
or, as we saw in Revelation 16:6 above, ‘
give Blood to drink’
. This, of course, is the phraseology
repeatedly evoked
in the quotation of this formula involving ‘
the Cup of the New Covenant in
(
the
)
Blood
’ attributed to – in Paul’s parlance – ‘
the Lord Jesus
’ whether in 1 Corinthians 11–12 or in the Synoptics and even in the face of the ban on the consumption of
blood
in the various formulations of James’ directives to overseas communities.
To once again condense the various formulations one encounters: ‘
he took the Cup saying
, “
This Cup is the New Cov
e
nant in my Blood
.
As often as you drink it
,
this do in Remembrance of me
”’ (1 Corinthians 11:25) –
in the Synoptics varied slightly into, ‘
This is the Cup of the New Covenant in my Blood which is poured out for you
’ (Luke 22:20 and
pars
. – here the ‘
pouring out’
imagery of Revelation, followed – at least in Matthew 26:29 and Mark 14:25 – by: ‘
I will not drink of the fruit of the vine again until I drink it again in the Kingdom of God
’.
If this were not sufficient, it is preceded in Matthew 26:27 by the commandment, ‘
drink this
’ (in Mark 14:23, this is stated rather as: ‘
they drank of it
’).
The combination of the usages ‘
drink
’, ‘
drank
’, or ‘
drinking
’ with ‘
the Cup of the New Covenant’
and ‘
my Blood’
in one manner or another in all the contexts outlined above is hardly either to be gainsaid or considered accidental. The present writer considers that contextual allusions such as these are too insistent and too comprehensive in the sources before us to be simply fortuitous or coincidental. They are indicative of some more persistent esoteric or allegorical wordplay – in fact, some kind of amusingly clever or aesthetically pleasing wordplay. What the allegorical sense or meaning underlying these formulations might be and whether those at Qumran might also have been aware of or a party to it, the author is unable to determine in any defi
n
itive manner.
Nor is it possible to determine which came first, the version and sense of ‘
the New Covenant
’ found in Pauline/Synoptic formulation and attributed to the ‘Jesus’ which they are presenting or the version of it found in the Qumran variation. The writer, as should by now be clear, suspects that the latter – ‘
the Law
’ or
Torah
-oriented exposition of it one finds developed in the later Columns of the Damascus Document – is the original and the esoteric play and even quasi-derogatory parody or e
x
position of it one finds in both Paul and the Synoptic Gospels is neither meant positively nor innocently, but rather to inval
i
date, belittle, or undercut, transforming it into its exact or mirror opposite.
Introduction
1. Josephus,
War
2.120–58,
Ant
. 18.18–22, and Philo,
Quod Omnis Probus Liber
, 75–91; see, for instance, Epiphanius,
Haeres
. 29.1 and 29.4.
2. 132–36 CE. For Eusebius,
E.H.
4.6.2–6, for instance, there do not appear to have been ‘Christians’ as such in Jerusalem until after Hadrian renamed it after himself and Justin Martyr (c. 100–65),
Dial
. doesn’t even seem to know the Gospels as separate entities.
3. Cf. Eusebius in
E.H.
1.13.2.
4.
Ant
. 20.34–43.
5. Koran 27.20–47.
6.
E.H.
1.13.4–5.
7. See
JBJ
, pp. 930–39.
8. Acts 6:5–6.
9. Acts 6:1–8:2.
10.
Ant
. 16.299, 333–55, etc.
11. See ‘
the
Nilvim
’ in CD IV.3 and ‘
the Nobles of the People
’ in CD VI.4–8.
12.
War
2.228/
Ant
. 20.113.
13. For the attack on James by the ‘
Enemy
’ Paul in the
Recognitions
, see 1.70.
14.
Vita
430; also see
Ant
. 1.8,
Apion
1.1, 2.1, and 2.296.
15. Suetonius 8.14.4–17.3 and Dio Cassius,
Roman History
, 67.4.1–5. There is some debate about the year of Josephus’ death and some think he lived till 104 CE, but he definitely seems to leave the scene in 96 right before Domitian’s assassin
a
tion.
16.
E.H.
3.18.4.
17. Ps.
Rec
1.70.
18. Cf. Matthew 4:5/Luke 4:9.
19. 1QpHab XI.12–15.
20.
E.H.
2.1.1.
21. See
JBJ
, pp. 240–2 and 304.
22.
Ant
. 20.113 and 118–36; also see
War
2.229 and Tacitus,
Annals
12.54.
23. See
M. San
. 9.6, Numbers 25:6–13 on Phineas, and S.G.F. Brandon,
Jesus and the Zealots
, pp. 41–45.
24. Jude 1:1.
25.
E.H.
2.13.2–3 quoting Justin Martyr’s
Apology
1.26. Also see Ps.
Rec
. 2.7 and
Hom
. 6.7.
26.
Ant
. 20.142
27.
Rec
. 1.72, 2.7–8, and
Hom
. 1.22 and Epiphanius,
Haeres
, 21.2.3–5.1
28.
War
1.63,
Ant
. 9.288–90, 11.19–20, 11.85–8, etc.; cf. also
JBJ
, pp. 495–6 and 533–5.
29. See Genesis 10:4, Numbers 24:24, Isaiah 23:1–12, Jeremiah 2:10, etc.
30. See
JBJ
, pp. 130–1 and 605. One assumes ‘
Timothy
’ is the name in Greek; ‘
Titus
’ in Latin – this despite the fact both are mentioned in 2 Corinthians and 2 Timothy.
31. ‘
Mariamme
’ in Greek comes from ‘
Miriam
’ in the Old Testament and becomes ‘
Mary
’ in the New Testament.
32.
Ant
. 19.299 and 317–25, but in
War
2.520 and 3.11–19 a second or later, possibly his descendant and a ‘
Babylonian
’ deserts from Agrippa II’s army and becomes a principal rebel commander. With ‘
John the Essene
’ he is killed at Ascalon while ‘
Niger
’ escapes.
33. Cf. CD VI.21, XX.19, and 33 but also see James’ title ‘Oblias’/’Strength of the People’ in
E.H.
2.23.7
34. Cf. for example Acts 15:1 and 5 or Galatians 2:12 on the ‘
some from James
’.
35. 4QpPs37 IV.9–10.
36.
Ant
. 14.121–2 and
War
1.181.
37.
War
4.359–63. It would be hard for anyone reading this to escape the resemblance.
38. For these overlaps, see James, pp. 166–7, 177–9, 412–3, 913–5, etc.
39. Here Paul is ‘
Saulos
’. Nine lines later (13:9), in the context of evoking the ‘
Enemy
’ terminology and ‘
Sergius Paulos
’, he is ‘
Paulos
’. Is there an adoption going on here?
40. Ps.
Hom
. Epistle of Peter to James, 1–5; Epistle of Clement to James, 1 and 7.
41. See
War
7.437–54;
Vita
424.
42.
E.H.
1.13.1–20 and J.B. Segal,
Edessa
‘
The Blessed City
’, Oxford, 1970, pp. 62–80.
43.
E.H.
3.11.2 and 4.22.4 quoting Hegesippus.
44. See fragments in
ANCL
and
E.H.
3.39.
45. See my discussion in
JBJ
, pp. 839–50.
46. See the whole issue of ‘
going out into the Land of Damascus
’ in CD IV.3, VI.3–VII.9, and XIX.21–XX.22.
47. See the parallel to this in Jerome’s citation from the Gospel of the Hebrews,
Vir
.
ill
. 2.
48.
Ibid
.; see discussions in
JBJ
, pp. 198–9, etc.
49. What Jerome has done to come up with ‘cousins’ is simply identify the ‘
Mary the sister of his mother
’,‘
the wife of Clopas
’ in John 19:26 with ‘
Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses and Salome
’ in the Synoptics.
50. Cf.
JBJ
, pp. XVIII, 95–7, 141–2, etc.
51. In Acts 3:1–9 the James character is missing and in 1:20 the ‘
election
’ to the ‘
Episcopate
’ is to replace
Judas
– a curious replacement.
52. Edessa is in Northern Syria; Adiabene bordering it is in Northern Iraq.
53. For the numerous
Antioch
s at this time, see Pliny,
Natural History
and Strabo,
Geography
.
54. For Abraham’s central role there, see Koran 2.124–40, 3.67–8, 4.125, 14.35–52, etc.
55. See also the reference in Romans 16:7 to another putative Herodian, ‘
Junius my kinsman
’ – most likely Julius Archelaus, probably the nephew who helps rescue Paul from ‘
oath-taking
’
Sicarii
in Act 23:16–20.
56.
Ant
. 18.137.
57. Cf. Ps.
Rec
. 1.70 with
E.H.
2.23.16–8.
58. See
War
2.554–6; also see Paul in Philippians 4:22.
59.
Ant
. 18.109–25.
60.
Ant
. 18.116–9.
61. Note the Simon who wishes to bar Herodians like Agrippa I from the Temple as foreigners in
Ant
. 19.332–34; also see
M
.
Sota
7.8,
M. Bik
3.4 and
Siphre
Deut 17:15.
62. See Moses of Chorene, 2.29–35.
63. Herod’s father had been given citizenship for services rendered to Rome;
War
1.194.
64. See
Ps.
Hom. 10.1, 26, 11.1, 28–30, and 12.6.
65.
Ibid
., 2.19 (here, comparing Gentiles to ‘
dogs
’ in the meat they consume), 7,3, 8, 19, and 11.351.
66. In Acts 13:1, the reason for John Mark’s departure had been unclear; cf. 1QS VIII.16–26 and CD XX.1–17 and 22–27.
67. Ps.
Rec
. 1.45–54 and 62–64.
68.
War
1.95 and
Ant
. 13.379 and 18.20.
69. Ps. Rec. 1.71; cf. Mark 8:9–20 and
pars
.
70. Tiberius Alexander did not come to Palestine until 46–48; cf.
War
2.20/
Ant
. 20.100–3.
71. Cf. Ps.
Rec
. 1.72, 2.7, and Ps.
Hom
. 2.22–4.
72. See 1QpHab XII.1–10.
73. 1QpHab XI.13.
74. 1QpHab II.4 and CD VIII.21–3/XIX.33–5.
75. See
Surah
s 2.87–91, 3:21, 4:155, etc.
76. Note his constant reiteration of ‘
not Lying
’ in Galatians 1:20, 1 Corinthians 11:31, etc.
77. Cf. Ps.
Rec
. 1.71 with 1 Cor. 15:6, 18, and 51.
78. Cf.
E.H.
2.23.13 and Matthew 24:30 and 26:64/Mark 13:26 and 14:6
pars.
79. See Ps.
Hom
. 7:3–4, 7.19, and 11:35.
80. See my article: ‘
Joining
’/‘
Joiners
’ in
DSSFC
, pp. 313–31 and CD IV.3, 4QpNah IV.4, etc.
81. 1QpHab VII.11, VIII.1, and XII.4–5.
82.
Ant
. 19.366.
83. See
Ant
. 19.329–31.
84. See
M. Sota
7:8,
M. Bik
. 3.4, and
Siphre
Deut 157 on 17:15.
85. See
EJ
article ‘
Sikarikon
’ and Origen,
Contra Celsus
2.13.
86. See Hegesippus’ characterization of James as ‘
not respecting persons
’ in
E.H.
2.23.11.
87. Cf. CD XX.19–20.
88. CD I.1 and II.2.
89.
Ibid
., XX.18–20.
90. CD XX.33–4.
91. Ps.
Rec
. 1.70.
92. Cf. 1QpHab XI.8, Jerome,
Vir. ill
.
2, etc.
93. 1QpHab XI.4–7 – here are all the allusions, including ‘
swallowing
’, ‘
pursuing
’, etc.
94. See 1QpHab VII.17–VIII.3 and XII.4–5.
95.
MMT
II.8–9.
96. Hippolytus,
Phil.
9.21 and Josephus,
War
2.152–3.
97. See
E.H.
3.27 and 6.17, Epiphanius,
Haeres
. 30.1.1–34.6, and Irenaeaus,
Ad Haer
1.26.2.
98. Ps.
Rec
. 1.70–73 and
Vir. ill
. 2.
99. See Letters of Peter and Clement to James and
Hom
. 11.35.
100. 1QS VIII.8.12–16 and IX. 16–24; also see ‘
the Penitents of the Wilderness
’ in 4QpHab III.1 and ‘
the
Golah
of the Wilderness
’ in 1QM I.2
101. Jeremiah 31:31, CD VI.19–VII.9, VIII.21/XIX.33 and cf. Jesus/Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:25, 2 Corinthians 3:6, Luke 22:20 and
pars
. and Hebrews 8:8–9:13 and 12:24.
102. 1QpHab VII.17–VIII.3 and cf. Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:12, Hebrews 10:28, etc.
103. Cf. Matthew 22:37–9 and
pars
., James 2:5–26, and Justin Martyr,
Dial.
, 23, 47, and 93.
104. For John’s teaching, see
Ant
. 18.117; for the Essenes’, see
War
2.122 and 139.