Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Qumran messianism

PHILIP JENKINS AT THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Messiahs at Qumran.
Possible messianic elements in the Scrolls abound, and are extensively discussed in the large literature on these texts. Those elements are also very diverse, with no obvious single vision, and debate continues about the exact interpretation of key passages. Even so, messiahs and messiah-related language feature frequently. Also, these are supported by many Biblical texts that would become very familiar to later generations of Jews and Christians, including the standard passages from Isaiah and Daniel.
A good summary of the state of the question. Earlier posts in Jenkins's messiah series are noted here.