“The Messiah of Aaron and Israel”: Do We See Single or Double? (&#034;The Messiah of Aaron and Israel&#034;: Do We See Single or Double?)

DONG-HYUK KIM (김동혁)

doi:10.24333/jkots.2018.24.1.190

“The Messiah of Aaron and Israel”: Do We See Single or Double?

Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies
Abbr : KJOTS
2018, 24(1), pp.190-213
DOI : 10.24333/jkots.2018.24.1.190
Publisher : Korean Society of Old Testament Studies
Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology
Received : January 18, 2018
Accepted : February 1, 2018

DONG-HYUK KIM ¹

¹연세대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

At the center of the debate over Qumran messiahship is the phrase “the messiah of Aaron and Israel” from the Damascus Document (or CD). One crux of this phrase is whether it designates one figure or two figures. On the one hand, many scholars see the double messiahship in the phrase, whereas not a small number of scholars challenge this view. The present paper seeks to solve this problem and argues that the phrase refers to two messianic figures. The paper first analyzes the phrase grammatically, then investigates the relevant passages in CD, and lastly examines the evidence from other scrolls and the Hebrew Bible. The discussion focuses mostly on philological aspects. First, the paper argues that “the messiah of Aaron and Israel” could be read as referring to more than one figure. Three points are presented: (1) the phrase “the messiah of Aaron and Israel,” if singular, would be intrinsically redundant and awkward; (2) the existence of a distributive construct in Hebrew makes it possible to read “the messiah of Aaron and Israel” as plural; (3) the verb ykpr in CD XIV, 19, which could support a singular reading if it were active, seems to be passive because there is no direct object marker in the context. Second, the phrase “Aaron and Israel” refers to two separate entities rather than one. Third, in CD, the dual leadership of the sacred leader and the secular one prevails not only in the eschatological setting, but also in the past and the present. Fourth, data from other scrolls and the Bible too point to the plausibility of the double messiahship. The paper treats only the philological aspect of messiahship in CD, but it is hoped that it serves as a stepping stone for entering into the study of the messiahship of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Judeo-Christian tradition.

KEYWORDS

the Damascus Document, Dead Sea Scrolls, messiah, messiah of Aaron and Israel, Qumran

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

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Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.67

“The Messiah of Aaron and Israel”: Do We See Single or Double?

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Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.67

“The Messiah of Aaron and Israel”: Do We See Single or Double?

ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS

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* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.