Qumran, Early Judaism, and New Testament Interpretation

The third volume of collected essays by Jörg Frey, Professor of New Testament at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, focuses mostly on Frey’s work on the texts and the theology of the Qumran Community (for the first two volumes, see the reviews in BBR 24.1 by R. Yarbrough and BBR 30.1 by C. Blomberg [ET], and the review in BBR 27.3 by R. Yarbrough). The 24 essays have been originally published between 1997 and 2020 (the two essays marked “hitherto unpublished” on pp. 838, 840 have been published in 2020 in two Mohr Siebeck volumes, namely, WUNT 441 and Scripta Antiquitatis Posterioris ad Ethicam Religionemque pertinentia 37); some essays appear for the first time in English, translated by Jacob Cerone.In his introduction, Frey gives as reasons for this collection of essays the completion of the official edition of the Qumran corpus, the considerable increase of scholars and scholarship on the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the many new issues, problems, and insights that have ensued from all this scholarly activity and that are all too often ignored in the classroom. He aims to bridge “the gap between Qumran and Biblical or New Testament studies” (p. 1). Frey relates engagingly his story in Qumran research since his first semester as a theological student in Tübingen, hearing Martin Hengel’s lectures on “Christology of the New Testament,” an interest that continued in contributions to and the organization of conferences dedicated to Qumran topics, as well as in the work of his doctoral and habilitation students being introduced to Qumran texts. Frey argues that the study of the language of the Qumran texts and of the concepts and convictions of the Qumran community is not only historically or philologically warranted but at the same time theologically relevant since it “secures the concreteness of the Christian message and helps to avoid abstraction and ideologization which is always the danger if the primary contexts are pushed aside in favor of other contexts. Notwithstanding the right of modern ‘contextual’ theologies, the biblical and Jewish roots of the gospel cannot be removed or replaced without severely endangering or changing its identity” (p. 13).The first two essays are labeled “introductory” as they treat “New Testament Scholarship and Ancient Judaism: Problems—Perceptions—Perspectives” (pp. 19–44; orig., 2012) and “Qumran: An Overview” (pp. 45–81; orig., 2016 in Realenzyklopädie für Antike und Christentum), which is particularly helpful since it surveys all relevant areas of Qumran research, beginning with location and archaeology, the textual discoveries, the Essenes and the Qumran community. Frey situates Qumran studies, and academic NT studies, at universities rather than “in the nook of an ecclesiastical or group-specific institution where the danger of dependence on group interests, ideology, or even simply the supposedly pious act of self-restraint are always at play” (p. 44). I take issue with placing seminaries in a “nook”—the original German term Winkel seems to be meant as a derogatory putdown, implying something small, hidden, not really relevant, perhaps conjuring the Winkeladvokat, the hack lawyer or shyster. Frey surely knows that the number of theological students at German and Swiss universities is far lower than in many US seminaries where pastors are quite obviously not educated in a Winkel, besides the fact that they are much more consistently introduced to “critical” positions than university students are familiarized with “conservative” positions. And, surely, self-restraint is not only pious but the proper academic attitude of sine ira et studio! Frey surely knows that the infrastructure of theological faculties at universities in many European countries is supported by vast amounts of money in the context of the traditional state church setup, which no longer reflects the dire ecclesial realities in these countries, and that group interests and ideology exist in theology departments at universities as well. Frey enjoyed the “friendly and non-hierarchical responses” from international Qumran scholars, which he “could never have expected” from “German professors” (p. 5; Frey is German). Since Frey has published numerous dissertations and other publications by conservative scholars in WUNT 1 and WUNT 2, and since he is always “friendly and non-hierarchical” in personal conversations, the Winkel reference may be explained with the original Sitz im Leben of the first essay, which is the text of his inaugural lecture at the University of Zurich on May 9, 2011, where dissing pious conservatives may be regarded as chic (at least they are not drowned in the Limmat, as some of the Swiss Anabaptists were, only a few hundred meters from the site of the Theologische Fakultät).The next 11 essays are grouped under the heading “Qumran and Early Jewish Texts.” “Qumran Research and Biblical Scholarship in Germany” (pp. 85–119; orig., 2012) contributes to a history of research, focusing on Germany (which includes, for Frey, and somewhat surprisingly, Austria and Switzerland; p. 85 n. 1, although it is understandable that he wants to avoid the cumbersome phrase “German speaking Qumran scholarship”), highlighting scholars, insights, and projects. In “Qumran and Archaeology” (pp. 121–61; orig., 2011), Frey traces the archaeological work at Khirbet Qumran and its interpretation from the beginnings to Roland de Vaux and surveys the new interpretations of the evidence, many of which proposed secular interpretations of the settlement at Khirbet Qumran and disengaged the site from the texts; he argues that some positions that are formulated as mutually exclusive options can plausibly be combined and posits that the explanatory problems are greater if one assumes a complete independence of the inhabitants of the excavated site from the scrolls, which must then be assumed to have been shipped from Jerusalem to caves in the immediate vicinity of a completely disinterested community. “On the Historical Value of the Ancient Sources about the Essenes (pp. 163–93; orig., 1998, published in 2003) discusses the evidence for the Essenes in the writings of Josephus, Pliny, and Philo, in conversation with R. Bergmeier, to conclude that it continues to be legitimate to use the term Essene texts with reference to the texts discovered at Khirbet Qumran.The next three essays treat thematic matters: “The Qumran Discoveries and the Understanding of Apocalypticism” (pp. 195–241; orig., 2003, published in 2007); “Different Patterns of Dualistic Thought in the Qumran Library: Reflections on their Background and History” (pp. 243–99; orig., 1995, published in 1997); and “Apocalyptic Dualism: Its Formation and Early History” (pp. 301–24; orig., 2014), which provides a very helpful taxonomy of ten dimensions of dualism in the Qumran texts. It would have been interesting for Frey to interact with K. Müller (Theologische Realenzyklpädie 3, 1978) and M. Karrer (Johannesoffenbarung, 1986) and their views on the helpfulness, or lack thereof, of the assumed concept of apocalyptic.Two essays analyze specific texts. The essay “On the Origins of the Genre ‘Literary Testament’: Farewell Discourses in the Qumran Library and Their Relevance for the History of the Genre” (pp. 325–48; orig., 2010) surveys Qumran texts classified as “literary testament” which, according to Frey, is often not warranted; the clearest example is 1Q21 and 4Q213–14 (Aramaic Levi). “The New Jerusalem Text in Its Historical and Traditio-Historical Context” (pp. 349–68; orig., 1997, published in 2000) is the only essay (perhaps with the exception of ch. 22) that is specifically devoted to a Qumran text, providing an exemplary approach to a discussion of form and genre, origin and date, and traditio-historical context of a Qumran text.The following four essays deal with specific topics. “The Testimonies about the Communal Meals from Qumran” (pp. 369–401; orig., 2017), with cautious conclusions based on the modest evidence, questioning assumed parallels to the early Christians’ Lord’s Supper on the basis of the fact that the meals of the yaḥad have no apparent “spiritual” meaning. In “The Authority of the Scriptures of Israel in the Qumran Corpus” (pp. 403–28; orig., 2017, published in 2020), Frey concludes that the Qumran corpus does not have a fixed list of “canonical” texts but “a strong feeling about the authority” of the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Psalms (p. 427), although it was possible to insert additions, for example, into the Pentateuch. In “The Worldview in the Book of Jubilees” (pp. 429–60; orig., 1997), relevant Qumran texts are mentioned only in passing (p. 431 n. 9). The essay “Temple and Rival Temple: The Cases of Elephantine Mt. Gerizim, and Leontopolis” (pp. 461–93; orig., 1998, published in 1999), which investigates the literary and, when available, archaeological evidence for three Jewish/Samaritan temples, also does not relate the topic to the Qumran texts.The third section presents 10 essays under the heading “Qumran, the New Testament, and New Testament Scholarship.” The first three essays are introductory. “Critical Issues in the Investigation of the Scrolls and the New Testament” (pp. 497–525; orig., 2010) provides a shortened summary of “The Impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls on New Testament Interpretation: Proposals, Problems, and Further Perspectives” (pp. 527–25; orig., 2004, published in 2006), which is informative in its own right beyond repeating what Frey has reviewed and argued in other essays published in this volume (e.g., personal links between Essenes and the early church in Jerusalem assumed by B. Pixner and R. Riesner). In “The Textual Discoveries of Qumran and New Testament Scholarship: A Mediating Balance, Hermeneutical Considerations, and Concretions on the Jesus Tradition” (pp. 579–622; orig., 2009, published in 2011), after surveying various phases of Qumran research, provides helpful methodological and hermeneutical considerations concerning the comparison of Qumran texts and NT texts, ending with an evaluation of the relationship between the Essenes and Jesus, including the conclusion that Kümmel’s view that Jesus’s proclamation of the kingdom of God has both a future and a present dimension is found in Qumran texts in which such a coexistence of present and future realities can be found, with Jesus’s proclamation projecting a very different certainty concerning the presence of salvation. The essay “The Character and Background of Matt 5:25–26: On the Value of Qumran Literature in New Testament Interpretation” (pp. 649–75; orig., 2000, published in 2005), which would be better placed here rather than after ch. 17, seeks to demonstrate the value of the Qumran texts, here specifically sapiential texts, for interpreting the NT.Four essays are devoted to the relevance of Qumran texts for Pauline texts: “Jesus, Paul, and the Texts from the Dead Sea: Research History and Hermeneutical Perspectives” (pp. 623–48; orig., 2009, published in 2015); “Paul’s View of the Spirit in Light of Qumran” (pp. 677–99; orig., 2011, published in 2013); “Flesh and Spirit in the Palestinian Jewish Sapiental [sic] Tradition and in the Qumran Texts: An Inquiry into the Background of Pauline Usage” (pp. 701–41; orig., 2002); “Contextualizing Paul’s “Works of the Law”: MMT in New Testament Scholarship” (pp. 743–62).The volume concludes with essays on “Perspectives on Johannine Dualism and Its Background” (pp. 763–90; orig., 2009), concluding that “the view that Johannine dualism, as a whole or in part, is influenced by Qumran dualism, should be abandoned” (p. 789), and on “Qumran and the Biblical Canon” (pp. 791–36; orig., 2009). As is to be expected in Mohr Siebeck publications, the volume ends with indexes of ancient sources, authors, subjects, and Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek words (pp. 841–905). Scholars will need this volume for surveys of important areas of Qumran research, and students will immensely benefit from the overview of Qumran scholarship, always richly documented with primary and secondary sources. Jörg Frey knows the Qumran texts as few others do. Perhaps he can be enticed to write a commentary on the nonbiblical corpus of texts found at Khirbet Qumran

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