The Vision of Jacob
4QAJa=4Q537
Paraphrase and comments by Carol Hei
Introduction:
The text 4QAJa (4Q537) is completed by Emile Puech in
1991[1]. It is believed to be the one
more copy of 4QtestLévi, corresponding to TestLéTviGr19:1[2]. The first fragment is the continuity
of Jacob's first vision described in Genesis 28:10-19[3] in the Bible after he set up a stone and
poured out a libation upon it. In this second vision, God
confirms his Covenant[4] with Jacob by
promising him blessing and righteous. In return, Jacob
accepts God as the only God. He also voluntarily adds two
conditions to the agreement. First, he promises that he
will give one tenth of what he earns back to God[5]. Second, he affirms that the stone,
which he established, will serve as the foundation for a
sanctuary to God, to be built upon his return. Fragment 1
also foretells that Bethel was not the place God ultimately
chose for his Temple, which indicated in the extrabiblical
book Jubilees.
In fragment 2, the text reveals an eschatological figure
of the High Priest of the messianic era who makes the
expiation for the people. His mission is to be a suffering
servant to encounter human's sins. In order to do so, the
priest need to suffer, die, (or even be crucified, if
Puech's interpretation of certain problematic terms is
correct). All of these are alluded in the text, however,
they are supposed to have been made in the end of the second
century BCE.
Paraphrase:
4Q537
Frag.1
[Then I had a vision at night. An angel of God came
down from heaven with seven tablets in his hand. He told me,
"God Most High has blessed you, and] 1 your later
generations[6]. All just and upright men
will survive [...and no more] 2 evil [will be done];
lying should not be found among [...] 3 Now, take the
tablets and read everything [that is written on them." So I
took the tablets and read. There were written all my
sufferings,] 4 troubles and everything that would
happen to me [during the one hundred and forty seven] years
of my life. [Then he told me," Take] this tablet." [...]
5 [So] I took that tablet [and ... read everything on
it.] I saw that it said [no temple should be built in this
place,] 6 [... Then he told me,] "you would leave
here on the [eighth] day [... and your offerings would not be]
invalid before [God Most High..."] 7 [...] ... [...]
Frag. 2
1 [I saw...] and how will the building[7] be built [... how] priests will be
dressed, and [their hands] be purified, 2 [and how]
they will offer sacrifices on the altar. And how they will
eat part of their sacrifices [on the who]le earth 3
[...and drink the water] that will come from the city beneath
the walls, and where they [...] 4 [...] Blank [...]
5 [...Then I looked,] before me was a land divided
into two squares and [...]
Footnotes:
[1] "Fragments d'une apocryphe de lévi et le
personnage eschatologique. 4QtestLévi(?) et 4QAJa."
[2] It is Puehc's interpretation of the text,
and it is accepted by Milik, who is the first person translated
the text 4Qaja (4Q537).
[3] In his first vision, he saw a ladder
reaching to heaven, with angels ascending and descending. He
heard god promising him land, numberless descendants and
blessing.
[4] It is a contractual agreement between two
parties. At the very core of Judaism is the Covenant. It is the
foundation of the relationship between man and God.
[5] Usually the returning will be performed in
the thanksgiving.
[6] As God promised Jacob in his first
vision.
[7] The Temple
Bibliography:
The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: The Qumran Texts
in English by Florentino García Martínez. New
York: E.J. Brill Leiden and Grand Rapids: William B.
Eerdmans, 1996.
The Dead Sea Scrolls: A new Translation by
Wise, Michael, Abegg Jr. martin, and Cook Edward. New
York: Harper Collins Publisher, 1996.
The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls In English by
Vermes, Geza. New York: Allen Lane, The Penguine Press,
1997.
Proceedings of the International Congress on the
Dead Sea Scrolls, Madrid 18-21 March 1991 edited
by Julio Trebolle Barrera and Luis Vegas Montaner.
Leiden: Brill, 1992.
The Dead Sea Scrolls: Understanding Their Spiritual
Message by Steven A. Fisdel.
December 4, 1998
prepared for
Intro. to the Hebrew Bible
by Carol Hei
HeiC@albnet.alb.edu