Who is 'the Teacher of Righteousness"?

Discussion about the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Talmud, Dead Sea Scrolls, archaeology, etc.
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Secret Alias
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Who is 'the Teacher of Righteousness"?

Post by Secret Alias »

I've never spent a lot of time thinking about it. But I would just assume this to be true as a first guess regarding his identity. Theodore Gaster thought so. His command of the language was impeccable. Also https://books.google.com/books?id=fce4I ... 22&f=false Am I wrong?
Last edited by Secret Alias on Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
John2
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Re: Could Ezra Have Been 'the Teacher of Righteousness"

Post by John2 »

It depends on how Ezra died (which doesn't seem clear). As Stuckenbruck notes regarding the Teacher of Righteousness:
Most famously, the Wicked Priest is remembered in two pesharim as having persecuted, or even having tried to kill, the Teacher.

https://books.google.com/books?id=RyDNk ... th&f=false


These are the Psalms and Habakkuk peshers, and both relevant passages are cited in the link. This arguably took place in Jerusalem (1QpHab. col. 12: "where the Wicked Priest committed abominable deeds and defiled the Temple of God"), which I lean towards, or perhaps somewhere in "the land of Damascus."

The Jewish Encyclopedia notes varying traditions regarding Ezra's death, neither of which appear to mention him being persecuted or killed by a priest:
According to tradition, Ezra died at the age of 120 in Babylonia. Benjamin of Tudela was shown his grave on the Shaṭṭ al-'Arab, near the point where the Tigris flows into the Euphrates ("Itinerary," i. 73). According to another legend, he was at the time of his death in Babylon, as a courtier in the retinue of Artaxerxes (see Vigouroux, "Dictionnaire de la Bible," ii. 1931). Josephus, however, relates that Ezra died at Jerusalem, where he was buried ("Ant." xi. 5, § 5).

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/artic ... the-scribe
Ant. 11.5.5:
So upon Esdras's exhortation they began to feast; and when they had so done for eight days, in their tabernacles, they departed to their own homes, singing hymns to God, and returning thanks to Esdras for his reformation of what corruptions had been introduced into their settlement. So it came to pass, that after he had obtained this reputation among the people, he died an old man, and was buried in a magnificent manner at Jerusalem.
The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that Ezra died and was laid to rest in the city of Jerusalem. Hundreds of years later, however, a spurious tomb in his name was claimed to have been discovered in Iraq around the year 1050.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra%27s_Tomb
Benjamin of Tudela (pages 414-15):
From hence it is two days to the river Samarra, or Shat-el-Arab. This is the frontier of Persia, and contains fifteen hundred Jews. The sepulcher of Ezra, the priest and scribe, is in this place, where he died on his journey from Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes. In front of the sepulcher a large synagogue and a Mohammedan mosque have been erected, the latter as a mark of the veneration in which Ezra is held by the Mohammedans, who are very friendly toward the Jews, and resort thither to pray.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/mhl/mhl20.htm
And I didn't know that Ezra was thought to be Malachi:
According to Jewish tradition, Ezra was the writer of the Books of Chronicles, and is the same prophet known also as Malachi. There is a slight controversy within rabbinic sources as to whether or not Ezra had served as Kohen Gadol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra
But the DSS that refer to the Teacher of Righteousness are also commonly thought to refer to the Pharisees, who arose long after Ezra, e.g., Vanderkam, "The Pharisees and the Dead Sea Scrolls" in In Quest of the Historical Pharisees:
The name Pharisee does not occur in the scrolls. Nevertheless, there is good reason to expect they are present in them ...

https://books.google.com/books?id=HOv1H ... ls&f=false
You know in spite of all you gained, you still have to stand out in the pouring rain.
Secret Alias
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Re: Could Ezra Have Been 'the Teacher of Righteousness"

Post by Secret Alias »

It depends on how Ezra died (which doesn't seem clear)
Really? THIS is the deciding factor? The fact that we don't know how Ezra died.
The Jewish Encyclopedia notes varying traditions regarding Ezra's death, neither of which appear to mention him being persecuted or killed by a priest:
Oh that's good because we know how well historical details regarding personalities who weren't as far removed as Ezra are in the rabbinic literature. Such as Nero who:
ran away [from Rome] and became a proselyte, and R. Meir was descended from him (Gittin 56a)
Vespasian:
came and besieged Jerusalem for three years
I guess now that Roman historians contradict this three year siege of Jerusalem by Vespasian we're going to through them all in the garbage.

Titus:
the gnat came and entered his nose, and it knocked against his brain for seven years ... when he died they split open his skull and found there something like a sparrow two sela's in weight
Onkelos the Targumist:
was the son of Titus's sister. He had a mind to convert himself to Judaism. He went and raised Titus from the dead by magical arts
The list goes on and on. The rabbinic claims about Ezra aren't objections to Ezra's identification as the Teacher of Righteousness.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Ethan
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Re: Could Ezra Have Been 'the Teacher of Righteousness"

Post by Ethan »

The word Righteousness in Hebrew is צָדַק /tsadaq/ , as a name that would be Zadok according to Ezra 7:1 , He descends from Zadok
the lineage goes like this 'Zadok > Shallum > Hilkiah > Azariah > Seraiah > Ezra' and is duplicated in 1 Chronicles 6:15 as 'Zadok > Shallum > Hilkiah > Azariah > Seraiah > Jeho-Zadok' and so Ezra is named Jehozadak ( Jehovah is righteous ) here and according to Zechariah 6:11 and Hag 1:1 , Jehozadak is the father of Joshua.

According to 1 Chronicle 6:15 however states 'Jehozadak went into captivity by the hand of Nebuchadnezzer ' but the premise of Ezra 7
is that in 7:6 'Ezra went up from Babylon and 7:9 ' he to go up from Babylon then Ezra 8 documents how he led a return, how ever this
was the time of Artaxerxes III (Ezr 7:21) when Babylon was under Persian authority and Hag 1:1 ( Darius III ) but Zerubbabel and Joshua appear
in Ezra 2 when Cyrus (Kyrios Alexander ) toppled Persia thus freeing the slaves.

In history, it's known that Artabazos rebelled against Artaxerxes III , whom went into exile to find Alexander the Great, whom defeated the Persians thus freeing the slave and also made Artabazos the satrap of Bactria , noted to be the birth-place of Zoroaster , that is Ζορο Εσδρας or 'זְרֻ עֶזְרָה or Zorobbabel ( Ezra the Scribe)

Artabazos is prefixed 'Arta meaning righteousness cognate with Greek ὀρθός meaning up-right and it's Hebrew translations are יָשָׁר' ( Yasher ) the prefix of Israel and also of Zadok.
https://vivliothikiagiasmatos.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/joseph-yahuda-hebrew-is-greek.pdf
John2
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Re: Could Ezra Have Been 'the Teacher of Righteousness"

Post by John2 »

Really? THIS is the deciding factor?
Well, it's a factor, along with the arguable references to the Pharisees (who are first mentioned as existing in the time of the Maccabees). Another factor that comes to mind would be the reference to the 390 years (whether literal or symbolic) after the Babylonian Exile before the rise of the Teacher in the opening column of the Damascus Document:
For when they were unfaithful and forsook Him, He hid His face from Israel and His Sanctuary and delivered them up to the sword. But remembering the Covenant of the forefathers, He left a remnant to Israel and did not deliver it up to be destroyed. And in the age of wrath, three hundred and ninety years after He had given them into the hand of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, He visited them, and He caused a root of planting to spring from Israel and Aaron to inherit His Land and to prosper on the good things of His earth. And they perceived their iniquity and recognized that they were guilty men, yet for twenty years they were like blind men groping for the way. And God observed their deeds, that they sought Him with a whole heart, and He raised for them a Teacher of Righteousness to guide them in the way of His heart.
You know in spite of all you gained, you still have to stand out in the pouring rain.
Secret Alias
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Re: Could Ezra Have Been 'the Teacher of Righteousness"

Post by Secret Alias »

Ezra 7 After these things, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, 2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, 3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, 4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest— 6 this Ezra came up from Babylon.

1 Chronicles 6 The sons of Levi:

Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

2 The sons of Kohath:

Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

3 The children of Amram:

Aaron, Moses and Miriam.

The sons of Aaron:

Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

4 Eleazar was the father of Phinehas,

Phinehas the father of Abishua,

5 Abishua the father of Bukki,

Bukki the father of Uzzi,

6 Uzzi the father of Zerahiah,

Zerahiah the father of Meraioth,

7 Meraioth the father of Amariah,

Amariah the father of Ahitub,

8 Ahitub the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Ahimaaz,

9 Ahimaaz the father of Azariah,

Azariah the father of Johanan,

10 Johanan the father of Azariah (it was he who served as priest in the temple Solomon built in Jerusalem),

11 Azariah the father of Amariah,

Amariah the father of Ahitub,

12 Ahitub the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Shallum,

13 Shallum the father of Hilkiah,

Hilkiah the father of Azariah,

14 Azariah the father of Seraiah,

and Seraiah the father of Jozadak.

15 Jozadak was deported when the Lord sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Secret Alias
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Re: Could Ezra Have Been 'the Teacher of Righteousness"

Post by Secret Alias »

how can you be so obtuse to suggest that Ezra and Jozadak are the same person? You constantly lie on behalf of your stupid thesis. Even whores aren't as loyal to their pimps. The priest had fathered two sons, Ezra and Jozadak. Come on.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Secret Alias
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Re: Could Ezra Have Been 'the Teacher of Righteousness"

Post by Secret Alias »

Another approach

מורה = 40 + 6 + 200 + 5 = 251
הצדק = 5 + 90 + 4 + 100 = 199
= 450 = דומשק

Curiously the oldest text which mentions this figure of the 'teacher of righteousness' was originally named 'the Damascus Document' owing to its unusual reference to the sect's relationship with 'Damascus.' Of course this cuts both ways. Damascus might be a cipher for the Teacher of Righteousness too. But still quite interesting I think. The spelling in the document of Damascus however lacks the vav. But this might be intentional too.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Secret Alias
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Re: Could Ezra Have Been 'the Teacher of Righteousness"

Post by Secret Alias »

Is it also unthinkable that מורה indicates the 'plain of Moreh' and a Samaritan origin for the community? Not sure.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Secret Alias
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Re: Could Ezra Have Been 'the Teacher of Righteousness"

Post by Secret Alias »

Surprisingly an interest in gematria and specifically the number 450 has long been known from the Psalm Scroll from cave 11, 11QPsa so this is probably the right solution.

https://books.google.com/books?id=_-4sA ... EQ6AEISTAF

In the prose insert in column XXVII the writer utilized the phrase D^nn and set the number of David's Psalms. The strange total is a result of the usage of the word n^nn (plene). This was in the mode of gematria, to give a total of 450 offerings for the year, mentioned in this David's Composition, (ri = 400 or 4000 and the balance of the word H^il equals 50.) The author also suggested that David had written a total of 4050 Psalms.

https://books.google.com/books?id=3XAOA ... YQ6AEIMTAC

In other words, fuck the straightforward identifications of the Teacher of Righteousness. This has something to do with the numerological value of the expression 'teacher of righteousness.' Can't believe no one has written about this before. Can't even blame 'Gentile ignorance' of Jewish customs here. This is Jews not reading the text 'Jewishly'

so 450 = teacher of righteousness, Damascus and the number associated with David. There is a mystery here that someone will now solve.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
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