David C. Mitchell, «The Fourth Deliverer: A Josephite Messiah in 4QTestimonia», Vol. 86 (2005) 545-553
Commentators recognize a tri-polar messianism in 4Q175, based on the first three
sections of the text. But the last section suggests that the text is in fact tetramessianic,
featuring an eschatological Joshua. This is confirmed by similarities
between 4Q175, the tetra-messianic "Four Craftsmen" baraitha, and Targ. Ps.-J.
to Exod. 40,9-11; as well as by evidence that Joshua was a messianic type in postbiblical
Judaism.
The Fourth Deliverer
A Josephite Messiah in 4QTestimonia
It is generally recognized that Messianic belief at Qumran was not rigid.
Some texts witness to two deliverers. Others are thought to have three: priest
messiah, king messiah, and prophet (1). I wish to suggest here that one text,
so far understood as having three deliverers, has in fact four.
1. 4Q175
4Q175 (4QTestimonia) dates from the early first century BCE (2). A well-
preserved text, it comprises four separate sections, clearly demarcated by
spaces and hook-shaped symbols, on a single page. The only damaged portion
is the bottom right-hand corner, which leaves some gaps in the fourth
testimony, but does not greatly hinder the understanding of the document as
a whole. It is described as “a messianic anthology†and “a collection of
fundamental biblical texts or ‘testimonies’, relating to messianic beliefs†(3).
Each of its four sections cites a Bible text ending with a curse, as follows: (1)
Deut 18,18-19, the prophet like Moses; (2) Num 24,15-17, the star come out
of Jacob; (3) Deut 33,8-11, the blessing of the Levites; (4) Josh 6,26, Joshua’s
curse on Jericho, followed by a passage from the Joshua Apocryphon
(4Q379) another document found at Qumran (4). Here is the fourth passage.
At the moment when Joshua finished praising and giving thanks with
his psalms, he said “Cursed be the man who rebuilds this city! Upon
his first-born will he found it, and upon his benjamin will he erect its
gates!†(Josh 6,26). And now an accursed man, one of Belial, has
arisen to be a fowler’s trap for his people and ruin for all his
neighbours. …will arise, to be the two instruments of violence. And
(1) 4Q175; 1QS IX.10-11. They are by the same scribe.
(2) For more on text and dating see F.M. CROSS, “Testimonia (4Q175=4QTesti-
monia= 4QTestim)â€, The Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. J.H. CHARLESWORTH) (Tübingen 2002)
VI B, 308. The Western Semitic Research Project website has a photograph:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp/index.html.
(3) G. VERMES, Dead Sea Scrolls in English (London 1962) 247; A. DUPONT-SOMMER,
The Essene Writings from Qumran (Oxford 1961) 317.
(4) The Joshua Apocryphon, or Psalms of Joshua, consists of 4Q378 and 379
(4QPsJoshua a & b). The 4Q175 citation is from 4Q379. As the Joshua Apocryphon
includes Josh 6.26, the whole fourth testimony is taken from 4Q379. See C.A. NEWSOM,
“The ‘Psalms of Joshua’ from Qumran Cave 4â€, JJS 39 (1988) 56-73, who thinks it was
not composed at Qumran (59); B.Z. WACHOLDER – M.G. ABEGG, A Preliminary Edition of
the Unpublished Dead Dea Scrolls (Washington 1991) III, 178-189; T.H. LIM, “The
‘Psalms of Joshua’ (4Q379 fr. 22 col. 2): A Reconsideration of its Textâ€, JJS 44 (1993)
309-312; C.A. NEWSOM, “4Q378 and 4Q379: An Apocryphon of Joshuaâ€, Qumranstudien
(ed. H.-J. FABRY – A. LANGE – H. LICHTENBERGER) (Göttingen 1996) 35-85; E. TOV, “The
Rewritten Book of Joshua as Found at Qumran and Masadaâ€, Biblical Perspectives. Early
Use and Interpretation of the Bible in the Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. M.E. STONE –
E.G. CHAZON) (STDJ 28; Leiden 1998) 233-256.