Was Jesus the Teacher of Righteousness?
Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2024 7:44 pm
This is just for fun. I've never seriously considered Jesus to be a candidate for the Teacher of Righteousness, but some things are starting to "add up" and I thought I'd flesh it out here (again, just for fun).
My big picture idea is that Christianity is a version of Fourth Philosophic Judaism, which Josephus says was started in 6 CE by Judas and Zaddok. And the Damascus Document says that the Teacher arose twenty years after the sprouting of a "root of planting" from Aaron and Israel and that during these twenty years the DSS sect had been "like blind men groping for the way."
So let's say that Judas and Zaddok were the "root of planting" from Aaron and Israel (with Zaddok being from Aaron, given his priestly name, and Judas being from Israel), which opened up a new kind of Judaism, which Josephus says Jews had previously been "unacquainted withal."
And because it was a new kind of Judaism it was wide open and people were finding their way in it "like blind men." Then twenty years later (26 CE), Jesus came along and "directed them in the way of His heart."
Like the Teacher, Jesus was a zaddik (1 John 2:1: "But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One"; Acts 3:14: "You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you"; Acts 7:52: " They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him").
And like the Teacher, Jesus opposed the oral Torah of the Pharisees (Mk. 7:5: "So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: 'Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders?'"). And the Damascus Document is commonly thought to use wordplays against the Pharisaic oral Torah and fences with its "Seekers of Smooth Things" and "builders of the wall" terminology. And Josephus says that Fourth Philosophers had made changes to "the customs of our fathers" but otherwise agreed with "Pharisaic notions." And so does Jesus, with respect to resurrection of the dead and tefillin (i.e., Mt. 23:5, where Jesus only speaks against Pharisees wearing big tefillin: "They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long." That Jesus doesn't oppose tefillin per se is clear because he also complains about Pharisees wearing long fringes but is said to have worn fringes himself in Mt. 14:36: "They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed").
So Jesus was a guy who opposed much of the oral Torah (Mk. 7:13: "you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters”) but "agreed in all other things with the Pharisaic notions" (as Josephus describes Fourth Philosophers), like resurrection of the dead and tefillin.
And the Teacher's doctrines were new, hence his use of the concept of "the new covenant" (which Lim notes was used only by Christians and the DSS sect), as were Jesus' teachings (Mk. 1:27: "The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority!"). And Josephus notes that Jews were "unacquainted" with the teachings of the Fourth Philosophy before 6 CE.
I could go on and on. The Teacher's group lived in a place called Damascus, and Christians are said to have lived in a place called Damascus. The Teacher's group called itself "the Way," and so did Christians (e.g., Acts 24:14: "I do confess to you, however, that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect").
And Jesus and the Teacher both faced a trial by a "wicked priest." And while Caiaphas isn't said to have died by the hands of the Romans (which is why I hadn't considered him a candidate before), I'm starting to wonder if the Wicked Priest really did die at the hands of the Kittim (i.e., Romans), since 4Q171 says "Rather, [God will] pay [him] (the Wicked Priest) his [re]compense by giving him into the hands of the ruthless of the nations to execute [judgement] (death) upon him." The "death" part is Wacholder's understanding of "execute judgement upon him," but I noticed only today that Caiaphas was fired by the Romans (Ant. 18.95), which makes me wonder if this could be what it means for the Wicked Priest to have been given "into the hands of the ruthless of the nations to execute [judgement] upon him." There could be other indicators that this "judgement" means death though, so I'll need to take another looks at those.
And the end of the Damascus Document has always fascinated me, since it says that at the End Time, when the Messiah comes (who Wacholder notes is always singular in the Damascus Document), people will "see His salvation," with "his salvation" being yeshuato in Hebrew. Perhaps in a sense then, people would "see His yeshua." i.e., Jesus.
And the Damascus Document uses the same "Strike the shepherd" passage from Zechariah that Jesus cites, which takes on a new significance for me as I think about Jesus being the Teacher.
Just thinking out loud. I'm bored. Let me have this meaningless fun. Maybe I'll add more to it, maybe I won't. There's more to flesh out and maybe it won't work (and don't talk to me about dating issues, this is for fun), but these are some things that come to mind as I consider Jesus as a serious candidate for the Teacher.
I had previously thought that these kinds of similarities existed between the DSS and Christianity because they are all versions of Fourth Philosophic Judaism, but maybe they are (also) similar because Jesus was the Teacher.
My big picture idea is that Christianity is a version of Fourth Philosophic Judaism, which Josephus says was started in 6 CE by Judas and Zaddok. And the Damascus Document says that the Teacher arose twenty years after the sprouting of a "root of planting" from Aaron and Israel and that during these twenty years the DSS sect had been "like blind men groping for the way."
So let's say that Judas and Zaddok were the "root of planting" from Aaron and Israel (with Zaddok being from Aaron, given his priestly name, and Judas being from Israel), which opened up a new kind of Judaism, which Josephus says Jews had previously been "unacquainted withal."
And because it was a new kind of Judaism it was wide open and people were finding their way in it "like blind men." Then twenty years later (26 CE), Jesus came along and "directed them in the way of His heart."
Like the Teacher, Jesus was a zaddik (1 John 2:1: "But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One"; Acts 3:14: "You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you"; Acts 7:52: " They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him").
And like the Teacher, Jesus opposed the oral Torah of the Pharisees (Mk. 7:5: "So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: 'Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders?'"). And the Damascus Document is commonly thought to use wordplays against the Pharisaic oral Torah and fences with its "Seekers of Smooth Things" and "builders of the wall" terminology. And Josephus says that Fourth Philosophers had made changes to "the customs of our fathers" but otherwise agreed with "Pharisaic notions." And so does Jesus, with respect to resurrection of the dead and tefillin (i.e., Mt. 23:5, where Jesus only speaks against Pharisees wearing big tefillin: "They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long." That Jesus doesn't oppose tefillin per se is clear because he also complains about Pharisees wearing long fringes but is said to have worn fringes himself in Mt. 14:36: "They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed").
So Jesus was a guy who opposed much of the oral Torah (Mk. 7:13: "you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters”) but "agreed in all other things with the Pharisaic notions" (as Josephus describes Fourth Philosophers), like resurrection of the dead and tefillin.
And the Teacher's doctrines were new, hence his use of the concept of "the new covenant" (which Lim notes was used only by Christians and the DSS sect), as were Jesus' teachings (Mk. 1:27: "The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority!"). And Josephus notes that Jews were "unacquainted" with the teachings of the Fourth Philosophy before 6 CE.
I could go on and on. The Teacher's group lived in a place called Damascus, and Christians are said to have lived in a place called Damascus. The Teacher's group called itself "the Way," and so did Christians (e.g., Acts 24:14: "I do confess to you, however, that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect").
And Jesus and the Teacher both faced a trial by a "wicked priest." And while Caiaphas isn't said to have died by the hands of the Romans (which is why I hadn't considered him a candidate before), I'm starting to wonder if the Wicked Priest really did die at the hands of the Kittim (i.e., Romans), since 4Q171 says "Rather, [God will] pay [him] (the Wicked Priest) his [re]compense by giving him into the hands of the ruthless of the nations to execute [judgement] (death) upon him." The "death" part is Wacholder's understanding of "execute judgement upon him," but I noticed only today that Caiaphas was fired by the Romans (Ant. 18.95), which makes me wonder if this could be what it means for the Wicked Priest to have been given "into the hands of the ruthless of the nations to execute [judgement] upon him." There could be other indicators that this "judgement" means death though, so I'll need to take another looks at those.
And the end of the Damascus Document has always fascinated me, since it says that at the End Time, when the Messiah comes (who Wacholder notes is always singular in the Damascus Document), people will "see His salvation," with "his salvation" being yeshuato in Hebrew. Perhaps in a sense then, people would "see His yeshua." i.e., Jesus.
And the Damascus Document uses the same "Strike the shepherd" passage from Zechariah that Jesus cites, which takes on a new significance for me as I think about Jesus being the Teacher.
Just thinking out loud. I'm bored. Let me have this meaningless fun. Maybe I'll add more to it, maybe I won't. There's more to flesh out and maybe it won't work (and don't talk to me about dating issues, this is for fun), but these are some things that come to mind as I consider Jesus as a serious candidate for the Teacher.
I had previously thought that these kinds of similarities existed between the DSS and Christianity because they are all versions of Fourth Philosophic Judaism, but maybe they are (also) similar because Jesus was the Teacher.
