המשיחיות בקומראן: תגובה לביקורת

Magen Broshi and Hanan Eshel have raised several questions in their criticism of my book The Messiah before Jesus (M. Broshi and H. Eshel, Ά Messiah before Jesus', Tarbiz, 70 [2000], pp. 133-138). They argue that the messianic hymns of Qumran were written in the Hasmonean period and not at the time of Herod as I have suggested. They claim that the members of the Qumran sect closed themselves from the outside world, thus it is impossible to think about an influence of Roman Imperial propaganda on the Qumran community. Finally, they ask, if there was a messiah in Qumran why don't we hear about it from Josephus or Philo? The date I have suggested for the hymns was based on paleographic evidence. The argument of Broshi and Eshel, that 4Q491 was dated by Esther Eshel to the Hasmonean period, is false, and is based on a mistake of E. Eshel in the understanding of Baillet's words. Both Baillet and Abegg have dated this manuscript to the Herodian period. The other manuscript, 4Q427, was also dated to the Herodian period by Ε Μ. Cross, the great expert in the paleography of the scrolls. The radiocarbon test results are ambiguous. According to one method of calculation we get a date in the Hasmonean period; however, according to another method, a date in the Herodian period is also possible. Thus, I do not see any reason to take back my suggestion to read these hymns in the light of the events of the Herodian period. The claim that the members of the Qumran sect closed themselves from the outside world is based primarily on the avoidance of the use of Greek and Roman loanwords in the Qumran scrolls. However, this fact was already explained differently by other scholars. Finally, Josephus and Philo did not mention any of the sect's leaders, moreover, a mentioning of a militant messianic leader would not fit their wish to portray the sect as a pacifistic community.