Kathryn Murano Term Paper for the Dead Sea Scrolls Course Professor Kraft [[**his comments between double brackets]] 5/6/99 Some Coded "Personalities" in the DSS The picture painted by the Dead Sea Scrolls remains enigmatic because the texts are written in codes. Vague titles rather than their proper names refer to the places, groups, and individuals in the texts. While such titles surely contained meaning for the writers of the Scrolls, today we do not know how to interpret them. As a result, we do not know who is responsible for creating the texts, and we do not know the identity of their main characters. Most important of these figures is the Teacher of Righteousness, the man who is referred to in the texts as the leader of the Dead Sea sect and considered by the group to be the mouthpiece of God. In opposition to the Teacher of Righteousness are the Man of Lies and the Wicked Priest, also called by other codes names, such as the Man of Deceit and the Scoffer. In the course of this paper I will examine these figures as they are presented in the Dead Sea Scrolls. I will analyze the texts that contain references to these figures with respect to the Jewish tradition they came out of and their relationship to history. Finally, I will contrast the theories of Michael Wise, the traditional model as exposited by James VanderKam, and the non-historical hypothesis as proposed by Ben Zion Wacholder as opposing possibilities to explain the figures behind the titles. First it is important to establish a period of time in which the Scrolls were probably written. The standard belief today places them in the period between 200 BCE to 100 CE. These dates have been arrived at through writing analysis, carbon dating, and their mention of certain historical events. Ancient writings on the period by the Jewish historian Josephus who wrote for the Romans, the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, and the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder are helpful in establishing an objective viewpoint from which to distinguish the symbolic from the literal. They are indispensable tools for placing the events, characters, and even the writers of the Scrolls in historical and ideological perspective. But even with the use of outside sources, there are many conflicting possibilities and theories as to who wrote the Scrolls. The actual names 'Teacher of Righteousness,' 'Man of Lies,' and 'Wicked Priest' are only used to describe figures in the Damascus Document (4Q266-273, 5Q512, and 6Q15) and the Pesharim. I analyzed the copies of the Damascus Document from the Cairo Genizah instead of the ones actually found in the caves at Qumran because they were by far the most complete and very similar to the copies from Qumran. The Damascus Document is especially helpful in understanding the background of the group so we can understand its leader, the Teacher of Righteousness. It explains that the people of Israel violated the original covenant they made with God. However, 390 years after delivering them into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar he raised out of that group a remnant who recognized their sins and with which He made a new covenant. For 20 years this group was blind to the true way of God, but then he raised up for them a Teacher of Righteousness to direct them in His way. These dates would place us in the year 177 BCE, which is quite possible if in fact they are meant to be taken literally. The Damascus Document (CD 1:18-21) quotes Hosea 4:16 to explain the way in which Israel strayed from God's way: They sought easy interpretations, chose illusions, scrutinised loopholes, chose the handsome neck, acquitted the guilty and sentenced the just, violated the covenant, broke the precept, colluded together against the life of the just man (Martinez 33). Referring to everyone but the remnant, this passage seems to suggest that the Dead Sea sect felt that all other forms of Judaism were interpreting the Law incorrectly, and thus breaking the covenant with God. In addition to this general ritual incorrectness, Israel seems to be in a mass conspiracy to bring about the demise of the just man. This is a theme that is often repeated in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and especially concerns the Teacher of Righteousness. The Damascus Document reads like an instruction booklet for all those who choose to enter the new covenant. It establishes God as all-knowing and all-controlling, with a heavy emphasis on predestination. One passage (CD 2:13) says, "But those he hates, he causes to stray" (Martinez 34). Then the text describes through history the punishments that befell those who didn't keep God's precepts and explains that the reward for those who keep God's precepts is eternal life. Furthermore, it states that doing what is right in one's own eyes is not enough, because it may not be the same as what is right in God's eyes. This establishes the authority of only one true interpretation for right living, the way of God. It also provides evidence that living by God's precepts is the only way to avoid bodily harm, thereby enticing people to join the only group that interprets God's laws correctly. Thus far God's ultimate authority has been established and the humans' inability to act morally without God. In this system, God is so absolute that he seems almost unattainable by human standards. For this reason, it is [[**does this reasoning come from the text(s), or is it your attempt to understand why things are presented as they are?]] necessary for him to have a human spokesman that can communicate His will in human terms. Thus he raised the Teacher of Righteousness. The Damascus Document states that God teaches humans through the holy spirit and the seers of the truth. This is setting up the authority for the Teacher of Righteousness to be the mouthpiece of God, and also sounds suspiciously like an early form of the Holy Trinity. [[**Be careful not to neglect the long history of the idea that God has co-workers of various human and extra-human sorts, including his "wisdom" and/or "word" as well as "children," "sons," etc. There is lots of evidence for these ideas in ancient Israel and the ancient near east in general, and what happens in some types of "Christianity" is a specific variation on these themes.]] In addition, the Damascus Document asserts several ideological facts about the Dead Sea sect. It quotes Ezekiel 44:15 (CD 3:21-4:2), saying, "The priests and the levites and the sons of Zadok who maintained the service of my temple when the children of Israel strayed far away from me, shall offer the fat and the blood" (Martinez 35). Then the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls comment on the biblical text (CD 4:2-4): The priests are the converts of Israel who left the land of Judah; and are those who joined them; and the sons of Zadok are the chosen of Israel, <> who stood up at the end of days (Martinez 35). This shows that the sect identifies themselves, at least prophetically, with the Zadokites, a priestly group. It also shows that the converts to the new covenant left the land of Judah, and that they believe themselves to be chosen by God to fight for his cause. The fact that they are called to stand up in the end of days, and that this phrase is rendered in the past tense, shows that this group fancied the current time period to be the end of days. Such eschatological belief is very characteristic of the Dead Sea sect. The Damascus Document (CD 4:8) also stresses that the Zadokites act according to the exact interpretation of the law in which the very first were instructed until the period of years is complete" (Martinez 35). This sect was obviously [[**the preceding text seems to have gotten corrupted (hidden codes not neuteralized in the transfer, I suspect)]] claiming to be the true Israel apart from all other forms of Judaism. They also trace their roots back to the original covenant, but claim to uphold the correct tradition, as their counterparts do not. The fact that this group retained the 364-day calendar, while the other Jewish groups of the time switched to a different calendar shows that they were a reactionary group. [[**I'm not sure I follow you here; if their calendar was traditional, and a rival group changed the calendar, why are they "reactionary?" Wouldn't the other group be "innovators"? I guess it depends on where one stands.]] The lifestyle of the group that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls is depicted in the Damascus Document. It states that the converts to the group left the land of Judah and lived in the land of Damascus, but no one can be sure as to where Damascus refers. It is certain that the group emphasized purity to distinguish the sacred from the profane, due to the listing of many purity laws. The document also mentions that the group abstains from "wicked wealth which defiles" and that the people "reside in camps" (Martinez 37). Although there is a school of thought that believes the Dead Sea sect was an all-male monastic community, the Damascus Document contains several references to women and children. Among these it talks about members who choose to "take women" and "beget children," includes abstentions for wet nurses on the Sabbath, and forbids a man to sleep with his wife in the city of the temple (Martinez 37-42). It is safe to say that these rules apply to the community because no one else would bother to follow them since this is a sect in high tension with the outside world, claiming only they have the true interpretations of the laws. [[**One could imagine the retention of older, outdated laws in a later edition of such material (happens all the time -- e.g. Judaism after the fall of the Temple still retaining laws of sacrifice!).]] The Damascus Document also gives us some insight into the history of the group. It mentions people who entered the new covenant and then betrayed it. More specifically, it says (CD 20:13-15) "And from the day of the gathering in of the unique teacher, until the destruction of the man of war who turned back with the man of lies, there shall be about forty years" (Martinez 46). It is not clear, however, if this is a prophecy made by the group, perhaps specifically by the Teacher himself, or if this is the actual history as recorded by the group. But this passage does suggest that the Man of Lies was a member of the new covenant who betrayed the Teacher of Righteousness. Furthermore, there are many instances of a formulaic passage containing the promise that the sons of God will receive rewards and the sons of Belial will receive retribution when "there arises the messiah of Aaron and Israel." This messiah figure could be synonymous with the Teacher of Righteousness, but this is not evident is one passage (CD 19:33-20:1): And thus, all men who entered the new covenant in the land of Damascus and turned and betrayed and departed from the well of living waters…shall not be inscribed in their [lis]ts, from the day of the session {of him who teaches/of the teacher}of the unique Teacher until there arises the messiah of Aaron and Israel (Martinez 46). In this instance it seems as the though the Teacher and the messiah are two different people, thus complicating the interpretation. Joseph Fitzmyer says that the Dead Sea Scroll community "…lived in the expectation of the coming of a prophet, undoubtedly the one promised to Moses,…and apparently two Messiahs, a priestly Anointed One and a Davidic, political Anointed One" (Fitzmyer 54). Apparently the Teacher was the prophet, but could have possibly also been considered to be one or both of the Messiahs by the group after his death. The Pesharim are examples of the Dead Sea sect extracting quotations from Scriptures that they believed were prophecies for their group in the end of days. Joseph A. Fitzmyer says that "As a literary form, the pesher quotes the Old Testament text verse by verse and then comments on it, by actualizing the words of the prophet, i.e. modernizing the text by relating it to the history or theological tenets of the…community" (Fitzmyer 33). The fact that the Pesharim exist shows that the Dead Sea sect held insurmountable faith in biblical prophecy, and fully believed that the writings of thousands of years ago foretold the history that would develop in their time period. The commentaries that mention the Teacher of Righteousness and his evil counterparts, the Man of Lies and the Wicked Priest, are the Isaiah Pesher, the Micah Pesher, the Habbakuk Pesher, and the Psalms Pesher. The Isaiah Pesher contains limited reference to the figures in which we are interested. We do know that the Dead Sea sect was very interested in the Book of Isaiah because multiple copies of the biblical text were found among the Scrolls. They probably found particular meaning in the quote from Isaiah that says a remnant of fallen Israel will return to God. Although the commentary on Isaiah is fragmentary, the writer obviously believes that this remnant is none other than the Dead Sea sect itself. Additionally, the Isaiah Pesher is heavily eschatological and uses passages of destruction in Isaiah to prophesize the fall of the Kittim, one of their foe and a term that probably refers to the Romans. One of the interpretations (4Q165 1-2:3) also states that the Teacher of Righteousness reveals just teaching (Martinez 191). The Micah Pesher is slightly more revealing. Garcia Martinez's reconstruction (1Q14 10:4-5) says that the Spreader of Lies [has misdirected] simpletons, and that the priests of Jerusalem misdirect…their enemies (Martinez 194). Although these phrases are fragmentary and contain partial reconstructions, Martinez probably captures the essence of the phrase because they are often repeated and quite formulaic. These commentaries show that the Spreader of Lies is most certainly the Man of Lies, and this could possibly reinforce the position that he was a member of the Dead Sea sect who betrayed the community, and probably took several other people from the group along with him. By slandering the priests of Jerusalem, the center of authority for Judaism at the time, this group is demonstrating their tension with the mainstream group or groups of the time. On the contrary, the group underscores their faith in their leader, the Teacher of Righteousness, for they say (1Q14 10:6-9) that he "…[teaches the law to his council] and all those volunteering to join the chosen of [God, carrying out the law] in the council of the Community, those who will saved on the day of [judgment]" (Martinez 194). The group even goes as far as to say that he "…will judge his enemies," probably in the end of times, and this gives the Teacher of Righteousness a power rivaled only by God himself. The Habbakuk Pesher contains many explicit references to the Teacher, the Wicked Priest, and the Man of Lies. One interpretation (1QpHab 2:1-4) "…concerns the traitors with the Man of Lies since they do not [believe in the words of the] Teacher of Righteousness from the mouth of God" (Martinez 198). It also cites (1QpHab 5:8-9) the biblical quote, "Why are you staring, traitors, and you maintain your silence when a wicked person consumes someone more upright than himself" (Martinez 199). The interpretation (1QpHab 5:9-12) of this phrase "…concerns the House of Absalom and the members of his council, who kept silent at the time of the reproach of the Teacher of Righteousness, and did not help him against the Man of Lies, who rejected the Law in the midst of their whole Comm[unity]" (Martinez 199). Here again it seems as though the Man of Lies was a member of the Dead Sea sect who betrayed the Teacher of Righteousness. It even seems in this passage as though the Man of Lies helped the opposition to arrest the Teacher or spoke up to condemn him to the authorities. The Commentaries on Habbakuk are highly eschatological. One interpretation of a biblical passage (1QpHab 7:9-14) says that the end of the world may delay but that it definitely will come (Martinez 200). This shows that at some point the sect may have experienced doubt about the truth of the Teacher's words. This interpretation was created to reinforce them. Perhaps this interpretation was written when the Teacher of Righteousness died and his promises of reward and retribution had not yet been fulfilled. Habbakuk Pesher also says that God will free from punishment all those remaining faithful to the Teacher, and perhaps this was a way to encourage sect members to remain loyal even when others betrayed the Teacher. In addition to these references, one interpretation (1QpHab 8:8-11) of Habbakuk says, "Its interpretation concerns the Wicked Priest, who is called by the name of loyalty at the start of his office. However, when he ruled over Israel his heart became conceited, he deserted God and betrayed the laws for the sake of riches" (Martinez 200). This interpretation makes it sound as though the Wicked Priest is none other than the high priest of Jerusalem of the time. From this passage, it appears that the Priest was once in accordance with the interpretations of the sect, but changed them once he became high priest. This passage also shows the general mistrust of the rich felt by the Community. It follows that they probably led very modest lifestyles. The Habbakuk and Psalms Pesharim also disclose information concerning the soured relationship between the Teacher of Righteousness and the Wicked Priest. The Habbakuk Pesher (1QpHab 11:4-8) states that the Wicked Priest pursued the Teacher to the place of his banishment on the Day of Atonement (Martinez 201-2). The Psalms Pesher also says (4Q171 4:8) that the Wicked Priest spies on the just man and wants to kill him (Martinez 205). However, the Habbakuk Pesher (1QpHab 12:2-3) remains positive that the Wicked priest will pay for what he did to the poor (Martinez 202), and the Psalms Pesher (4Q171 4:9-10) is optimistic that God will deliver the Wicked Priest into the hands of his enemies (Martinez 205). In the Pesharim, the Teacher of Righteous and his foils, the Man of Lies represent the dichotomy between good and evil, light and darkness. The Teacher is goodness personified, and can even (4Q171 4:27) stand before God and speak eloquently (Martinez 206). On the contrary, both the Man of Lies and the Wicked Priest once had the potential to be good, but succumbed to evil desires and ignorance and now are lost. This theme is repeated often in the Bible. Now that we know the information actually communicated by the Scrolls about these figures, we can evaluate the theories as to who these people were. James VanderKam explains the Standard Model for the identification of the Teacher of Righteousness and his evil counterparts accepted by most mainstream Dead Sea Scroll scholars. VanderKam adheres to the dating in the Damascus Document that cryptically states that the Teacher of Righteousness arose in the year 177 BCE. In the traditional view, the group that created the Scrolls is Essene and lived in isolation at Qumran. He associates the alienation of the Teacher from mainstream Judaism with a dispute over the high priesthood of Jerusalem. For centuries, the high priest had been descended from the line of David's high priest, Zadok. However, the family lost the high priesthood never to regain it when the kings of the Seleukid Empire began to appoint high priests for political and financial reasons. Between the period of 167 and 162 BCE, a revolt caused the Seleukid King Antiochus IV to ban the Jewish religion. As a result, the Maccabean brothers lead the Maccabean revolt which was successful and restored Judaism as the religion of the land. Josephus remarks that there was no high priest between the years of 159 to 152 BCE, but in 152 Jonathan, one of the Maccabean brothers, was appointed high priest by Alexander Balas, another Seleukid King, supposedly because he needed Jonathan's military backing (VanderKam 101). Thus began the Hasmonean high priesthood that lasted until 37 BCE. In the Scrolls, the Teacher's main opponent is the Wicked Priest. VanderKam suggests that this could be a wordplay on the title high priest, because in Hebrew high priest is "ha-kohen ha-ro'sh," and wicked priest is "ha-kohen ha-rasha'" (VanderKam 102). If the Wicked Priest is actually the high priest of the time, it follows that the Wicked Priest is probably Jonathan the Maccabee or perhaps his brother Simon. Furthermore, one if the letters quoted in 1 Maccabees 10 may mention a high priest that was active between 159 and 152 BCE (VanderKam 103). Perhaps this person was the Teacher of Righteousness. It makes sense to associate the Teacher with having a certain claim to the high priesthood, because the Dead Sea sect often refers to themselves as the "sons of Zadok," thus establishing a connection to a tradition of priesthood that was lost. Jonathan's possibly forceful coup to take over the high priest position would be a reason for the Teacher to have disdain for the high priest of the time. Furthermore, the Teacher obviously had problems with the current high priest's interpretations of the Law. The document 4QMMT might have been a letter from the Teacher to the Wicked Priest (VanderKam 102). This letter cites many legal issues concerning ritual purity. One copy of the text even contains a full year's solar calendar of 364 days, complete with the festivals (VanderKam 102). We know that the Dead Sea community used this solar calendar, but it was probably the subject of dispute between the sect and other branches of Judaism. The 4QMMT letter closes with the statement that the sender hopes the recipient will recognize the truth so he can rejoice in the end (VanderKam). This means the Teacher hopes the Wicked Priest adopts the correct interpretations so that when the end of the world comes he will be on the side of the sons of light and thus be saved. However, if the relations between the Teacher and the Wicked Priest were once amiable, they obviously became enemies at some point. The Scrolls state that the Wicked Priest pursued the Teacher to his home of exile, obviously somewhere other than Jerusalem. The standard Model suggests that the place of exile could have been Qumran. This is said to have occurred on the Day of Atonement, but the high priest would not have had time to pursue his foe on his Day of Atonement, so this is evidence that the two celebrated the day on different dates (VanderKam 103). The Commentary on Psalm 37 also states that the Wicked Priest attempted to kill the Teacher, but it is not entirely clear if this attempt succeeded or not. Further support for this theory given by VanderKam is the archaeological evidence. He says that DeVaux determined that phase Ia at Qumran began during the reign of one of John Hyrcanus' immediate predecessors (VanderKam 105). Since Hyrcanus began his priesthood in 134 BCE, this puts the reign of Jonathan as high priest as a prime time for the Qumran group to have established the site as their exilic residence. VanderKam does not address the person behind the Man of Lies, besides to say that he was probably a member of the group who betrayed the Teacher. He also does not go into depth about the group's theology concerning the Teacher, especially after he died. Michael Wise establishes an alternate, expanded theory for the origin of the Scrolls in his book The First Messiah. He estimates the birth of the group responsible for the Scrolls to be in about 70 BCE, about a century later than the Standard Model, with their demise in the year 34 BCE. Through textual analysis and comparisons of the Scrolls with known historical events, Wise identifies the Teacher of Righteousness, the Man of Lies, and the Wicked Priest all as historical figures. He asserts that the Thanksgiving Hymns reveal many answers to the Teacher of Righteousness' identity because he believes that many of them were written by the Teacher himself. Although the exact personage of the Teacher of Righteousness can't be confirmed, Wise believes he can infer the characteristics of The Teacher of Righteousness and his position in society through these writings. Wise has worked out a detailed interpretation of the historical development of the Dead Sea Scroll sect, with the Teacher of Righteousness as its founder. According to him, the Teacher's extreme knowledge and fluency in biblical texts shows that he is a high-ranked member of society, and specifically a member of the priestly class that served under Alexander Jannaeus. He believes that before alienating himself from mainstream Judaism, the Teacher lived in Jerusalem as a wisdom teacher. Since the teacher was a member of the priestly class, he is intimately connected with the Sadducees. In fact, the Dead Sea sect emerges as a result of the conflict between the Sadducees and Pharisees concerning the way to perform Temple sacrifices. Wise uses history to support his theory. After Alexander Jannaeus dies in 76 BCE, his wife Alexandra Salome becomes Queen and transfers her allegiance to the Pharisee movement, which is popular with the masses. Because the Teacher speaks out against what he considers the defilement of the Temple rituals, he becomes a main enemy of all the important people of the time and forms what Wise labels "a conservative backlash against this rising movement" (Wise 77). Wise also believes the Wicked Priest refers to Hyrancus II, high priest under Alexandra's rule after Alexander dies. In the tradition of a wisdom teacher, The Teacher of Righteousness feels he must communicate his revelation and urges people to enter the New Covenant, condemning all those who continue to obey the false Pharisaic laws of the Temple to being smote by God in the Latter Days. Wise identifies the 4QMMT document as a legal treatise sent by The Teacher of Righteousness to the Wicked Priest to undermine the Pharisaic laws. Extrapolating from the texts themselves, Wise claims that the Thanksgiving Hymns show a progression of events that occurred in the Teacher's life and his attitudes towards these occurrences. He believes that these texts combined with the Commentary on Habbakuk provide evidence that the Teacher is arrested as a false prophet and tried. It is during his incarceration that Wise thinks the Teacher has the epiphany that he is the Messiah, and identifies himself as the "Suffering Servant" prophesied in the Book of Isaiah. The sole arbiter of the trial is none other than Hyrcanus II, and Wise envisions the prosecutor to be Shimeon ben Shetah. Shimeon ben Shetah is a powerful Pharisaic figure of the period who Wise alleges to probably be the Man of the Lie referred to in the Damascus Document. The trial is doomed to be unfair, and the Teacher is convicted, but escapes the sentence of death by stoning, possibly through his connections with important people. He is permanently exiled, however, and takes about 150 of his followers with him. Here is where Wise and the accepted theory differ again. Wise believes that when the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls say they live in "the Land of Damascus," they literally mean in the area around Damascus. He pinpoints their existence not in Qumran at all, but in a wilderness area known as Trachonitis. After moving into exile, he believes that many of the cult members defected from the group because the Teacher revealed that he is the Messiah. By conferring all authority on himself, he probably alienated some of the members who responded through apostasy. These defectors presumably return to Jerusalem and inform the royal family of the Teacher's heresy, who in turn send an army to slaughter the community and put an end to the danger of a future revolt. The attack occurs on the community's Day of Atonement, and many women and children are killed, but the Messiah is somehow not. After a few years in exile, the Teacher dies as an old man. The cult shrinks to an all-time low, as the prophecy that The Teacher of Righteousness will rise to power and rule over Israel obviously cannot now come to fruition. The followers respond through "redaction", that is, reworking the earlier prophecy to create a new one. They add to his Hymns, creating the full collection we have preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and thus altering some of their views. Wise claims that in order to come to terms with the death of their "Messiah," the Dead Sea sect elevates him to the status of second only to God. Furthermore, the group develops the idea of a Second Coming of the Teacher in which he will judge everyone in the Latter Days and the believers in him will be atoned for all of their sins. In addition, the group only now constructs the Manual of Discipline as a manifesto for the future rule of their community, with the Instructor picking up where The Teacher of Righteousness left off. Wise says that sometime later, most of the original group returns to live in Judea. Then, beginning in 63 BCE, the group's membership increases exponentially. The cause for this growth is the break out of war with Rome. This war, although a little late and not with the Seleukid Greeks as prophesied by The Teacher of Righteousness, was interpreted to be the confirmation of one of the Teacher's prophecies. When the end of the world does not come with all its retribution for the Romans as prophesied, the group finally dies. However, Wise believes that their beliefs live on in one respect to provide the messianic model for Jesus. However, Wise never addresses how the Scrolls got to be in the caves near Qumran, since his theory places them in Trachonitis. Wise is not alone in his belief that the Teacher of Righteousness was affiliated with the Sadducees. Scholars like Lawrence Schiffman confirm that the Scrolls enumerate Sadducean interpretations of the Law. The Nahum Pesher also contains evidence that this may be so. This text is significant because it contains a specific historical reference. In the interpretation of a passage of the Book of Nahum, the writers tell the story of a historical event that we fortunately know about through outside sources: [Its interpretation concerns Deme]trius, king of Yavan, who wanted to enter Jerusalem on the advice of those looking for easy interpretations, [but he did nor go in because God did not deliver Jerusalem] into the hand of the kings of Yavan from Antiochus up to the appearance of the chiefs of the Kittim (Martinez 195). From this description modern scholars can be fairly certain that this passage it referring to Demetrius III, King of Greece. This becomes more evident combined with one of the following interpretation that says, it "…concerns the Angry Lion who [filled his den with a mass of corpses, carrying out rev]enge against those looking for easy interpretations, who hanged living men [from the tree]" (Martinez 195). Modern scholars have associated these passages with the event described by Josephus that occurred around 88 BCE. A group of Pharisees, in this case "those looking for easy interpretations," asked Demetrius III, king of Greece, to help them attack Alexander Jannaeus, king of Judah, who sympathized with the Sadducees. When the attack failed, Jannaeus, who would be the Angry Lion referred to in the Scrolls, hanged 800 Pharisees (VanderKam 50). In the text, the Dead Sea sect is condemning Jannaeus for crucifying living people, but it also establishes that the community also rejects the Pharisees. This fact, coupled by the praise of Alexander Jannaeus in the Dead Sea text, Prayer for King Jonathan, may show that the Dead Sea sect was connected with the Sadducees. However, it is possible that the figures in the Dead Sea Scrolls referred to as the Teacher of Righteousness, the Man of Lies, and the Wicked Priest are not historical figures at all. This is Ben Zion Wacholder's argument in his article "Who is the Teacher of Righteousness." Wacholder doesn't discuss the Man of Lies, and may even believe the Man of Lies and the Wicked Priest are one in the same. His main thesis in this article is that "…the Teacher of Righteousness and the Wicked Priest are eschatological figures who were expected to appear at the End of Days, not historical figures who lived in the past" (Wacholder 28). He argues for his theory against the traditional view that the Dead Sea community was Essene. He says that although Josephus, Philo, and Pliny the Elder all describe the Essenes in their writings, the Teacher of Righteousness is never mentioned. If he were an important historical figure, he probably would merit some mention (Wacholder 28). Furthermore, Wacholder logically states that if these figures were historical, the Teacher revered within the sect and the Wicked Priest hated, then why would their proper names not be revealed in the Scrolls? He believes their names could not have been coded to hide them from harm because they would have been public figures (Wacholder 28). In addition, the verbs used to describe the actions of the Teacher and Wicked Priest are problematic as they are usually translated. While they are often translated in the past tense, Wacholder maintains that they make more sense in a future context. In many passages, a past tense reading would be nothing more than a history lesson. However, in a future context, the text accrues an important eschatological message to the members of the group. Since we know the group expected the world to end in their lifetimes, eschatology was very important to them (Wacholder 29). Finally, Wacholder points out that in several passages of the Damascus Document, the Teacher is referred to in the future, as "he who will teach righteousness." In the past this has been interpreted to mean the Teacher of Righteousness has died and will return at the end of days. Wacholder, however, thinks it is simply a more precise way of referring to the Teacher of Righteousness as the purely eschatological figure that he is (Wacholder 29). A problem with this theory is that the Scrolls contain too much detail for his whole existence to merely be a prophecy. Additionally, it doesn't make much sense for the writers of the Scrolls to interpret biblical passages (the Pesharim) and apply them to their own time period in terms of more prophecy and codes. In conclusion, each theory has its merits and its problems. The Dead Sea Scrolls provide only a limited use for evaluating these theories because the texts are often so vague that they could support a multitude of varying interpretations. Furthermore, the texts are imperfect and fragmentary. The fact that Hebrew verbs do not have tense markers can also convey a multiplicity of meanings. But perhaps it is not important to know the proper name of the Teacher of Righteousness, the Man of Lies, and the Wicked Priest. Perhaps it is more important to focus on what they represent, for this aspect is made very clear in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is possible that the Dead Sea Scrolls writers failed to name the figures in its texts so that they could have a timeless quality. By understanding the mythology, practices, and ideology of this group of people, we can better understand our history and ourselves. These people were writing about the Teacher and his evil opponents in the tumultuous time when rabbinic Judaism and Christianity were just coming into being, and for this reason it is beneficial to see a tradition that contains some of the same qualities that didn't survive. Bibliography Fitzmyer, Joseph A. Responses on 101 Questions on the Dead Sea Scrolls. New York: Paulist Press, 1992. Martinez, Garcia. The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994. VanderKam, James C. The Dead Sea Scrolls Today. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1994. Wacholder, Ben Zion. "Who is the Teacher of Righteousness." Bible Review April 1999: 26 29. Wise, Michael O. The First Messiah. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1999.