The Apostle Paul
Yigael Yadin, the well-known archaeologist and interpreter of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in several contexts made extensive concept analyses between the Qumran texts and in particular the Letter to the Hebrews. Discussion about the high priest and the Teacher of Righteousness, comparison of the Messiah with Moses and the angelic powers and, for example, mention of the eschatological "final generation" (dor aharon), which occurs particularly in the Damascus fragment, creates a bridge to the New Testament. Of it Yadin writes: "The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews could not have chosen examples closer to the hearts of the recipients -- who in my view were the Dead Sea sect -- examples which touch upon this the most extraordinary letter in the whole of New Testament literature." In his introduction Yadin finds it strange that well-known Christian experts say that in the Letter to the Hebrews there is "nothing to show that it was intended especially for Jewish readers" and "it manifests least of the Jewish character of the New Testament." Jews are very aware of the low state to which liberal Christian theology has sunk.
The church father Clement of Alexandria mentioned the tradition according to which Paul wrote Hebrews in Hebrew and Luke translated it into Greek. Origen thought that its ideas came from Paul, but not its literary form. Tertullian regarded Barnabas as the writer of the letter. Many scholars think that it was written between the years 60-70, for if the Temple was already destroyed, at least the Letter to the Hebrews and the Gospels too would have used it as a witness to the correctness of Jesus' predictions. The Letter to the Hebrews is not really a letter but a kind of midrashic study. Its beginning is a typical homiletic "petihta" (opening or prologue), in which are listed the basic factors with which a midrash deals.
It may be that Paul was an associate member of an Essene community in Arabia. And therefore he would later have written to these Jewish Christians of Essene origin this christological midrashic study, the Letter to the Hebrews. Yigael Yadin writes that "the main theme of Hebrews is: he is so much higher than angels as the name he has inherited is nobler than theirs." "This letter wishes to say that Jesus is an anointed priest, a priest who is not of Aaron's seed, but of nobler origin." Thus it "manifests the most" the Jewish character of the New Testament.
After three years' preaching and inner maturation Paul visited Jerusalem again. He wanted to get to know Cephas, that is, Simon Peter. These fifteen unforgettable days, when he could hear in detail about Jesus' life and ministry, remained indelibly in his mind. Paul did not then see the other apostles, "only James, the brother of the Lord." When one knows that in Jerusalem everything is near everything else, this seems strange, unless one supposes that the apostles were scattered due to the persecutions and took care of small new groups of believers.
John the Emercer
Some have argued that John the Emercer belonged to the Essene community, based on the observations that he followed an ascetic program similar to theirs in the same time period and geographical area near the Dead Sea. We are told in Mark 1:6 that John ate only wild honey and locusts and wore a garment of camel’s hair. We know that these were foods allowed by the Jewish laws enforced by the Essene; moreover, they make the most sense if we assume that John had made the Essene vow not to receive food or clothing from those outside the group (Rule of the Community 5.16). John the Emercer and the Essene community also both used apocalyptic language—images and ideas about the end of the present age in the context of divine judgment.
Early in the life of the Essene community, many of its members had been priests associated with the Jerusalem temple, and John the Emercer’s father was a temple priest (Luke 1:5-23). Both John and the Essene community emphasized and used prophetic imagery, especially from the book of Isaiah. Indeed, both interpreted Is a 40:3 in the same way: “A voice cries out, ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.’” For both, “wilderness” was the place of spiritual preparation. John and the Essene both emphasized the need for purification by ritual cleansing in “living water,” and they associated this act with eschatological salvation. Lastly, both John and the Essene call unfaithful Jewish groups (for example, the Pharisees) a “brood (or offspring) of vipers.” They also share a strict dualist worldview.
However, there are also important differences that make it difficult to assume that John the Emercer was a full member of the Essene community. John’s message called Israel to repent and had a missionary quality to it, whereas the Essene community was mostly focused inward on those predestined to be “Sons of Light.” The Essene separated themselves from others to form a community they felt was the genuine Israel; they developed unique terms to describe their beliefs, terms the New Testament writers sometimes attribute to John. The Essene community’s ritual bath was different from John’s river-based “baptizing.” Lastly, the Essene community seems to have been located in and abouts what today is Palestine found but John the Emercer and his first disciples apparently focused their work almost always on the southern end of the Jordan River.
For these reasons, a more nuanced scholarly view is to conclude that John the Emercer might have once lived with the Essene but that he left the community for a variety of possible reasons, not least of which was to lead his own disciples and prepare “the way of the Lord.”
There are also a number of books that support the idea that the Levite Barnabas who took Paul under his tutorship was an Essene.
Yigael Yadin, the well-known archaeologist and interpreter of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in several contexts made extensive concept analyses between the Qumran texts and in particular the Letter to the Hebrews. Discussion about the high priest and the Teacher of Righteousness, comparison of the Messiah with Moses and the angelic powers and, for example, mention of the eschatological "final generation" (dor aharon), which occurs particularly in the Damascus fragment, creates a bridge to the New Testament. Of it Yadin writes: "The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews could not have chosen examples closer to the hearts of the recipients -- who in my view were the Dead Sea sect -- examples which touch upon this the most extraordinary letter in the whole of New Testament literature." In his introduction Yadin finds it strange that well-known Christian experts say that in the Letter to the Hebrews there is "nothing to show that it was intended especially for Jewish readers" and "it manifests least of the Jewish character of the New Testament." Jews are very aware of the low state to which liberal Christian theology has sunk.
The church father Clement of Alexandria mentioned the tradition according to which Paul wrote Hebrews in Hebrew and Luke translated it into Greek. Origen thought that its ideas came from Paul, but not its literary form. Tertullian regarded Barnabas as the writer of the letter. Many scholars think that it was written between the years 60-70, for if the Temple was already destroyed, at least the Letter to the Hebrews and the Gospels too would have used it as a witness to the correctness of Jesus' predictions. The Letter to the Hebrews is not really a letter but a kind of midrashic study. Its beginning is a typical homiletic "petihta" (opening or prologue), in which are listed the basic factors with which a midrash deals.
It may be that Paul was an associate member of an Essene community in Arabia. And therefore he would later have written to these Jewish Christians of Essene origin this christological midrashic study, the Letter to the Hebrews. Yigael Yadin writes that "the main theme of Hebrews is: he is so much higher than angels as the name he has inherited is nobler than theirs." "This letter wishes to say that Jesus is an anointed priest, a priest who is not of Aaron's seed, but of nobler origin." Thus it "manifests the most" the Jewish character of the New Testament.
After three years' preaching and inner maturation Paul visited Jerusalem again. He wanted to get to know Cephas, that is, Simon Peter. These fifteen unforgettable days, when he could hear in detail about Jesus' life and ministry, remained indelibly in his mind. Paul did not then see the other apostles, "only James, the brother of the Lord." When one knows that in Jerusalem everything is near everything else, this seems strange, unless one supposes that the apostles were scattered due to the persecutions and took care of small new groups of believers.
John the Emercer
Some have argued that John the Emercer belonged to the Essene community, based on the observations that he followed an ascetic program similar to theirs in the same time period and geographical area near the Dead Sea. We are told in Mark 1:6 that John ate only wild honey and locusts and wore a garment of camel’s hair. We know that these were foods allowed by the Jewish laws enforced by the Essene; moreover, they make the most sense if we assume that John had made the Essene vow not to receive food or clothing from those outside the group (Rule of the Community 5.16). John the Emercer and the Essene community also both used apocalyptic language—images and ideas about the end of the present age in the context of divine judgment.
Early in the life of the Essene community, many of its members had been priests associated with the Jerusalem temple, and John the Emercer’s father was a temple priest (Luke 1:5-23). Both John and the Essene community emphasized and used prophetic imagery, especially from the book of Isaiah. Indeed, both interpreted Is a 40:3 in the same way: “A voice cries out, ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.’” For both, “wilderness” was the place of spiritual preparation. John and the Essene both emphasized the need for purification by ritual cleansing in “living water,” and they associated this act with eschatological salvation. Lastly, both John and the Essene call unfaithful Jewish groups (for example, the Pharisees) a “brood (or offspring) of vipers.” They also share a strict dualist worldview.
However, there are also important differences that make it difficult to assume that John the Emercer was a full member of the Essene community. John’s message called Israel to repent and had a missionary quality to it, whereas the Essene community was mostly focused inward on those predestined to be “Sons of Light.” The Essene separated themselves from others to form a community they felt was the genuine Israel; they developed unique terms to describe their beliefs, terms the New Testament writers sometimes attribute to John. The Essene community’s ritual bath was different from John’s river-based “baptizing.” Lastly, the Essene community seems to have been located in and abouts what today is Palestine found but John the Emercer and his first disciples apparently focused their work almost always on the southern end of the Jordan River.
For these reasons, a more nuanced scholarly view is to conclude that John the Emercer might have once lived with the Essene but that he left the community for a variety of possible reasons, not least of which was to lead his own disciples and prepare “the way of the Lord.”
There are also a number of books that support the idea that the Levite Barnabas who took Paul under his tutorship was an Essene.
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