10 - Destiny (The Epochs of Time)

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Introduction

Josephus tells us (Ant., xiii.5, 9) that the Essenes—with whom the Qumran Brotherhood may be identical—believed that all things were predetermined. Interesting light is shed on this by a fragmentary text recovered from Cave Four. (1) Reconstructed from scraps of two mutually complementary copies, the contents present an intriguing combination of two doctrines, viz., (a) that the history of mankind is disposed by God in a series of preordained epochs, (2) and (b) that the cardinal events of each epoch are brought about by angels whose activities were determined by God before He created them. (3) The former of these doctrines probably reflects, in a religious vein, a preoccupation with systematic chronology which was a notable feature of Hellenistic literature, attested especially by quotations from the lost work of the historiographer Demetrius (ca. 215 B.C.) and by the Book of Jubilees.

The text opens with a summary statement of these two doctrines. In proof of the former it is then pointed out that the sequence of the ages seems indeed to follow a systematic scheme, since exactly ten generations elapsed from Adam to Noah and from Noah to Abraham's begetting of Isaac. (4) The latter doctrine is in turn validated by the observation that all the crucial events in the career of Abraham, viz., the promise of the land to his descendants (Gen. 17.1-8), the apparition beside the oaks of Mamre and the rescue of Lot (ib., 18.2, 29; 19.1, 15), the incident on Mount Moriah (ib., 22.11, 15), and the Plaguing of Pharaoh for molesting Sarai (ib., 12.17), involved the intervention of angels.

There is, however, one obvious objection which has to be offset: in at least one notorious instance, namely, that of the commerce between the 'sons of God' and the daughters of men, recounted in Gen. 6.1—4, the angels in fact flouted God. (5) Identifying the ringleader (as in the Book of Enoch) with Azazel, the author surmounts this difficulty by the argument that, after all, the rebels received condign punishment, while those who did not join them enjoyed divine favor, (6) so that, in the long run, what the incident really demonstrated was that God will not brook any interference with His plan and that His rule is essentially benevolent.

Then, too, in the case both of the promise about the land and of the plaguing of Pharaoh the author has to stretch a point in order to find evidence of intervention by angels, for the Scriptural text describes them as actions performed directly by God Himself. Such pious substitution has, however, good precedent and parallel. Thus—to cite but a few examples—the strange being with whom Jacob wrestles at the Ford of Jabbok (Gen. 32.23ff.) am who is indeed subsequently identified as a god (verses 29, 31), is described in Hos. 14.5 as an angel. Similarly, in Exod. 4.24, where the traditional Hebrew text states that 'the LORD met Moses at the inn, meaning to kill him', the Greek (Septuagint) Version and the Aramaic Targum substitute 'an angel of the LORD'; and in the case of the disease inflicted on Pharaoh, the Qumran Memoirs of the Patriarchs says that the LORD sent 'a noisome spirit' to do so, (7) and the same statement is made also in the Ethiopic Kebra Nagast (ch. 82, ed. Bezold).

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Notes

1. The texts were first published in full by J.M. Allegro in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, V (1968), nos. 180-81, and were then combined and interpreted by J.T. Milik in a brilliant study which appeared in Journal of Jewish Studies 23 (1972), pp. 109ff. Valuable corrections of Allegro's readings were supplied by J. Strugnell in Revue de Qumran, 1970, pp. 252-55.

2. On this doctrine, see Analytical Index, E. 1—2; II Baruch, chs. 56-71; IV Ezra, 14.11-12. As applied eschatologically, cp. Dan. 9.24-27; Testament of Levi, 16.1; Enoch, 93.1-10; 91.12-17 (The Apocalypse of Weeks').

3. On the predetermined roles of angels, cp. HI 7, 20, 28; Hymns viii.8; xi.34; xv.14, 22; xx.14.

4. Cp. Gen. 5.1-31; 11.10-26. This is pointed out specifically in Mishnah, Aboth, v.1-2.

5. On this legend in post-Biblical literature, cp. Enoch, chs. 6-10; 15-16; Jubilees, 5.1, 10; 10.5, 11; 11.4; Testament of Reuben, ch. 5; Testament of Judah, 25.3; Syr. Baruch, 56.10-13; Josephus, Ant., i, 3, 1; Philo, De Gigantibus, i.2; TB, Yama, 67b; Midrash Akbir, quoted in Yalqut, Gen. §44; L. Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, vol. v, pp. 150ff.

6. For my interpretation of this passage, which differs from that proposed by Milik, see below, Notes to the Text, n. 5.

7. See above, p. 366.

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The Epochs Of Time

~~ (i) ~~

Clarification (1) (Of The Doctrine) Concerning The Fixed Epochs (Of History):

As regards GOD's (*) having set a fixed epoch for the [occurrence of everything past] and future, (the fact is that) before He created [the angels] He determined what [they] were to do [in their several epochs], epoch by epoch. Moreover, this was engraved on (heavenly) tablets (2) [and duly prescribed] for the respective epochs La which they were to bear rule.

Here is the ordered scheme: [from Adam to Noah, and again from Noah] until [Abraham] begat Isaac [He appointed] ten [generations].

CLARIFICATION (OF THE STORY) CONCERNING AZAZEL AND THE ANGELS WHO [HAD INTERCOURSE WITH THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN], SO THAT THE LATTER BORE GIANTS TO THEM, AND CONCERNING HOW AZAZEL [LED MEN ASTRAY ALONG WAYS OF] INIQUITY AND (THEREBY) LEFT ISRAEL A LEGACY OF WICKEDNESS (WHICH IS TO LAST) THROUGH AN EPOCH OF SEVENTY WEEKS (OF YEARS): (3)

[(The fact is that) GOD eventually sent these rebels to perdition] (4) for [ever, so as to execu]te (condign) judgments (upon them), [and He also brought] judgment on all who had associated themselves with them in their filth. (5) These were [ ], lovers of iniquity and such as leave a legacy of guilt. [At the same time, however, God showed mercy and displayed His glory] in the sight of all that indeed acknowledged (lit. knew) Him and mini[stered to His holiness. To those who serve Him His love is endless (?)], and His goodness knows no bounds. [ ].

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[*] Written in archaic script

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Such men have (ever) been singled out through [their] knowledge (of Him) (6), E ]; through His truth has He given them ordered mode of life [ ] throughout their various epochs [ ], whenso [they] are brought into being.

~~ (ii) ~~

(The next passage seems to allegorize the Story of the Fallen Angels, taking them to typify the reprobate among men, who are destined, on account of their impurity, to suffer 'great judgments and grievous diseases'. The text is too imperfect and obscure to permit reliable translation. One recognizes such significant words as 'guilt', 'the communion of unch[astity]', (7) 'wallowing(?) in human sinfulness', and '(destined) for great judgments and grievous diseases of the flesh in conformity with God's acts of power and in face of their wickedness'.

This is followed by a much clearer passage in which, conversely, those who did not join the rebels are taken to typify the godly and pure among men. Here too, however, the restoration of several phrases can be little more than guesswork:)

(Howbeit), in accordance with the tender mercy of (Sob, in accordance with His goodness and with the wondrous manifestation of His glory, He has (always) granted it to some of the earth-born to gain admittance (8) to the Congregation of the Holy, to be reckoned among the community of angelic beings who are with Him, to have station there for life everlasting and to be in one lot with His (celestial) Holy Ones. (9) A[ll men are punished(?) or mar]ked out for distinction (10) according to the lot which [(gob] has assigned to each, [some for eternal shame and contempt, and some] for life everlasting. (11)

~~ (iii) ~~

(The ensuing fragment begins with a reference to the promise to Abraham that his offspring would inherit 'the land of his sojournings' [Gen. 17.8]—evidently regarded as another instance of the intervention of angels. The promise appears to be interpreted allegorically, possibly as a reference to '[Mount Zi]on, where God dwells', (11) but the text is too imperfect for confident restoration:)

[CLARIFICATION OF (THE INCIDENT CONCERNING)] THE THREE MEN [WHO] APPEAR[ED] TO [ABRAHAM BESIDE THE OAKS OF MAMRE:

They were angels. [As regards the (subsequent) statement: 'Because the out]cry from Sodom and Gomorrah is gr[eat] and because their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have been doing as the outcry which has reached [Me] from them suggests, and if not, I will know' [Gen. 18.20-21], the clarification of the matter is that it refers to (human) flesh, the evil of which is indeed great, and to all who [ ], and to every [mouth] that utters [infamy]. And as to the statement, '(I will go down) to see', this means that I will see that everything [is in accord with what has been duly pre-scribed(?)]. (12) Before He created them, He knew [their] designs.

~~ (iv) ~~

(A further fragment, likewise little more than a sorry scrap, refers to a place 'two days' journey away.' This evidently refers to the incident on Mount Moriah, for Scripture says explicitly [Gen. 22.4] that 'on the third day (after he had set out) Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. The mountain appears to be iden-tified figuratively with Zion.

This is followed in turn by an allusion to 'what Scripture says about Pharaoh'. Since both incidents are cited in proof of the contention that events are controlled by angels, and since the Memoirs of the Patriarchs say clearly that a 'spirit' afflicted Pharaoh when he molested Sarai, it is plain that this is the incident to which the text refers. Moreover, this would chime neatly with the preceding statement about the diseases of the flesh which are visited on the reprobate.)

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Notes

1. Heb. pesher, the technical term used in the Qumran commentaries on Scripture.

2. For this notion, cp. HI 24; War, xii,3; Enoch, 81.1-2; 103.2; 106.19; 107.1; 108.7. See T. H. Gaster, Thespis (2) (1961), pp. 288f.

3. Cp. Enoch, ch. 10; 21.7-10; 67.7.

4. Restored after Enoch, 10.4ff.

5. Milik restores this entire sentence to refer to Azazel and renders: '[making them forget] the commandments and the commandment concerning the mystery of [their] (law of) impurity'. But (a) the restoration, 'forget', introduced an unparalleled form of the Hebrew verb; (b) the word mishpatim, which he renders 'commandments', is usually employed in the Qumran texts in the sense of 'judgments, punishments' (cp. Hymns iii.24; iv.26; v.4, 8; vi.29; ix.29; War, iv,6; vi,5), 'commandments' being expressed by miswoth, and it is precisely this condign punishment that is the raison d'etre for the author's mentioning the incident; (c) the words sod nidda[tham], rendered 'the mystery of (their law) of impurity', more naturally mean 'their associates/company in filth', for cp. an analogous expression in HI 22. Cp. also Enoch, 10.11.

6. Milik, reading 'elleh nifla'e madda'[o], renders, 'these are the marvels of [His] knowledge'. This, however, would require pela'e, not nifla'e. I therefore restore: 'elleh nifle'u mi-da'a[tham]. There may even be a subtle point in the choice of the verb. The Scriptural text (Gen. 6.4) associates the fall of the angels with the presence on earth of certain beings termed Nephilim.

Although the name was usually explained from the root n-ph-l, 'fall', in the sense of 'fallen angels', there was an alternative interpretation which derived it from p-1-', 'be extraordinary'; cp. Aggadath Bereshith, In-trod., §39; L. Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, vol. v, p. 154. Hence, what our author may have had in mind was that, just as the rebels were distinguished for their impiety, so are the pure for their knowledge of God.

7. 1, lines 1-2. In line 1 I restore tentatively, sod 'er[wah], after HI 22.

8. Heb. higgish. This is a technical term for admission to the Qumran Brotherhood; cp. Manual, vi.19; Hymns xii.23; xiv.13, 18; xvi.12.

9. For the terms here used for the angelic hosts, see Analytical Index, F. 1 (a, b). For the general notion, see Analytical Index, A. 12.

10. Restoring, [nif]le'u; see above, n. 6.

11. Tentatively restored after Dan. 12.2.

12. This follows Milik's restoration.

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