Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

What Josephus called the Fourth Philosophy, as he described them in Antiquities 18, had some new characteristics, such as zeal for revolution and lack of fear of death (though the Maccabees, arguably, already had displayed some of this, Josephus' description, if taken too literally, notwithstanding...

Lim did not write that the "content"--interpretation--is the only criterion. Your "interpretation" is excluded. I didn't say that interpreting the content of the DSS is the only criterion, only that in the face of the dates for the DSS being estimates (as Lim notes), we need to ...

But, yes, indeed, messianism, criticism of Pharisees, and belief in resurrection DID exist, before first century CE, in one sect. Where does it say that Essenes were messianic? And where does it say that they criticized the Pharisees? And Josephus says that this convergence of traits (opposition to...

My understanding is that carbon dates are estimates, as explained here: These 14C ages [of the DSS] show us that the radiometric dating method itself has significant uncertainty. In most cases, 14C dating has ± 100-year uncertainty range, a handicap similar to paleographic dating. Popular media repo...

John2, above, you wrote, Fri Aug 16, 2024 4:31 pm: "....But in the big picture, whether or not the Teacher was alive when any of the texts about him were written, the internal data (newness, fervent messianism, opposition to the oral Torah while retaining "Pharisaic notions" like res...

Though I agree that Jannaeus in 88 BCE was that mentioned "Lion"--a wicked priest indeed--that does nothing to connect Jesus as the Qumran Teacher, and, in fact, speaks against it, as Jannaeus and Jesus were never contemporaries. To me it indicates that the Teacher and the Wicked Priest h...

Long before the Qumran scrolls were discovered, numerous scholars proposed that Essenes and Ossenes (compare Philo; compare Epiphanius for o-spellings) was derived from Hebrew 'asah. Similarly, some Samaritans claimed to be the true keepers of torah, from a different Hebrew root. Then, when the Scr...

Jannaeus (Yannai) proclaimed himself, including on coins, for example, as King, as well as High Priest--a controversial decision to claim both offices, some thought. Though Jannaeus may well be the Lion of Wrath of 88 BCE crucifixions, he isn't explicitly named as Jannaeus there. But it matches Jos...

John2, above, you rejected "doers of torah" as Essene etymology and now you accept observers of torah as Essene etymology? Both from the Hebrew root 'asah. I'm saying that "osei ha-torah" appears to me to be a normal way for Jews to refer to people who observe the Torah. To my k...

The Teacher pre-dated the Fourth Philosophy. Maybe. I allow for that possibility. But on that front, I've been pointing out on your thread my issues with your idea that the Teacher was Judas the Essene and the Wicked Priest was Jannaeus. Figurative drunkenness vs. literal drunkenness, the meaning o...