GOD'S ANGEL OF TRUTH AND MELCHIZEDEK

A Note on 11 QMelch 13b

BY

F. DU TOIT LAUBSCHER

Bloemfontein, South Africa

In the editio princeps of 11 QMelch A. S. VAN DER WOL1DE 1) re-

constructed line 13 as follows: bls u[t)ltvn 7`?3
I'11 1'1 ................ This reconstruc-
tion was also taken up, without any alteration, in a joint publication
by M. DE JONGE and A. S. VAN DER VUOUDE 2), and has been accepted
by J. A. FITZMYER 3), P. VON DER OS'I'EN-SACKEN M. P. MILLER 5)
(at least the first part), J. CARMIGNAC 6) (except for the phrase t3ll'pl
and A. DUPONT-SOMMER 7).
The purpose of this study is to propose a conjecture for the lacuna
after blK and to point out the possible consequences for the

interpretation of the passage. But, since the missing words in the

lacuna must have a syntactical connection with the latter part of line

13, we shall first have to evaluate the correctness of the reading

Tai
On fragment 6 the characters I'11 are legible. The reading
of a beth before ought to be no
problem; and because the words
of Ps. 82, 2 are applied to "Belial and the spi[rit]s of his lot"
in line 12a, it is plausible to fill the lacuna after 1'7'D in line 13
with ni-il. Consequently, the use ofM before followed by
l['?1H ''mi] and preceded by also requires the use of Ta

1) "lVlelchisedek als himmlische Erlosergestalt in den neugcfundcncn eschatolo-

gischen Midraschim aus Qumran H6hle XI", Oudtestalllentische Studiën XIV (1965),
pp. 354-373; in particular p. 358.
2) "llo Melchizedek and the New Testament", New Testament Studies XI I
(1965/66), pp. 301-326; in particular p. 302.
3) "Further light on Melchizedek from Qumran Cave 11", JBL LXXXVI
(1967), pp. 25-41; in particular p. 27.
4) Gott und Belial, Geittingen 1969, p. 207.
5) "'The Function of Isa 61:1-2 in 11Q Nicichizedek",JP)L LXXXVIII (1969),
pp. 467-469; in particular p. 468.
6) "Le document de Qumran sur Ntelkis6deq", H?atnr Vll (1969-1971), pp.
343-378; in particular p. 350.
7) In Annuaire du de France LX V 1 I I, Paris 1 968 /69, p. 429 f.
 47

before Compare, for example, the same construction with the

preposition bY in line 12 and with ¡":l

in 1QS 1, 2 f. nV11 T3 ?1? For the
construction I'11 ...... 1'1 in the Old Testament, see e.g. Ex. 18,
10; Jdg. 6, 9; 1 Sam. 10, 18; 17, 37 and 2 Sam. 3, 18. We believe that
the same verb must govern both prepositions. Therefore, it is safe to
follow DE JONGE, FITZMYER, VON DER OSTEN-SACKEN and CARMIG-
NAC in restoring the latter part of line 13 in accordance with the editio

princeps.
When we compare the instances where 1'1 is used in the Qumran
literature it appears that the idea of being "helped", "redeemed",
"saved" or "delivered" from the hand or power of someone is very

prominent. In fact, there is only one exception. That is in 1 QS 11, 10

where we have a totally different situation. The text reads: "For to
God belongs judgment and from his hand (lI'11) comes perfection of

way". In contrast with this, however, we find the following cases

where 1'1 is combined with 11Y, vtv" and respectively:
1QH 2, 34 f.: "But Thou, my God, hast helped the soul of
the wretched and the poor from the hand of him that is too

strong for him, and Thou hast redeemed my soul from the
hand of (TQ) the mighty".
4QpPs A fl-2 col. 2, 18 f.: "But God will redeem them i)
from their 2) hand
4QpPs A f3-10 col. 4, 21: "God will save them 3) and

[de]liver them from the hand of the wi[cked ones .... ] " .
4QCat A f12-13 col. 1, 7: "[.....] his angel of truth (in7nm iKb1)
will help all the Children of Light from the power of

Belial[.....]".
In the
light of these examples, compared with our passage from

11 QMelch, it is quite reasonable to expect more or less the same idea,

namely, that Melchizedek 4) will save or help someone "from the

power of Belial and all the spirits of his lot". We think A. S. VAN DER
WOUDE is right when he comments on 11 QMelch 13 as follows:
"Das Ergebnis der Gerichte Gottes ist aber gewiss die Befreiung der

1) The verbal suffix refers to the "Priest and the men of his counsel."
2) The pronominal suffix of refers to the "wicked ones of Ephraim and
Manasseh," i.e. the opponents of the party mentioned in note 1.
3) I.e. the righteous.
4) Because he is the subject in the first half of line 13, there is every reason to
regard him as the subject in the latter part of the same line.
48

Kinder des Lichtes aus der Macht der Finsternis" 1). This is indeed
the theme of lines 12-15 where our Qumran author speaks of the

judgments of God against Belial. But actually the whole contents of

11 QMelch shows a close relation to the time and events of the final
war as described in 1 QM. It is to this fact that J. CARMIGNAC draws
the attention when he says: "Notre document fait plusieurs allusions a
la lutte qui doit terrasser Belial et ses suppots (lignes 9, 12, 13, 14, 15,
23, 26), a la delivrance des justes qui sont opprimes par les impies
(lignes 4, 6, 9, 24), a la purification des peches (lignes 6, 8, 9, 25). En
somme il s'applique a peu pres a la meme periode que la Rigie de ia
Giierre" 2). With regard to the similarities between 11 QMelch and

1 QM P. VON DER OSTEN-SACKEN writes: "Innerhalb der verschiede-

nen in dieser Untersuchung behandelten Auspragungen der dualisti-
schen Tradition stehen die dualistischen Aussagen von 11 QMelch
augenscheinlich dem eschatologischen Kampfdualismus von 1 QM am
ndchsten" 3). He also says : "Die Nähe zum Uberlieferungsgut der

Kriegsrolle verdeutlichen sodann Beobachtungen zur in 11 QMelch

verwendeten Terminologie". Then he refers to the expressions "W3N
'71H (llomelch 8) and (llomelch 12 and 13) and says
that these expressions, for example, are "nur (in dualistischen Zu-

sammenhdngen) in der Kriegsrolle und dariiber hinaus an solchen

Stellen belegt, die dualistisch gepragt sind und nachweislich aus dem

Uberlieferungsgut der Kriegsrolle schopfen. Ausserdem weist das

Stichwort '1ty (11 QMelch 14) in den Bereich der Kriegsrolle" 4). The
quotations cited above clearly illustrate the context of 11 QMelch.
A fact to be noted now, however, is that also 4QCat A f 12-13
contains a similar phraseology, which is important for restoring the
lacuna in 11 QMelch 13b.
In the first place we should keep in mind that both texts were
written and interpreted in view of the mnn (11 QMelch 4;
4QCat A f12-13 col. 1, 2), which immediately points to a close
relation between these two texts, at least in a temporal sense. Further-
more it is clear that also 4QCat A f 12-13 fits into the dualistic scheme
of the holy war. The name "Belial" is mentioned five times. Especially
in line 7 (see the translation given above) he and the Children of Light
are set against one another as opponents. The same idea is found in

1) Art. cit., p. 365. Cf. also P. YON DER OSTEN-SACKEN, op. cit., p. 207 f.
2) Art. cit., p. 371.
3) Op. cit., p. 208.
4) Ibid., p. 208 note 4.
 49

line 9 which reads: "The great hand of God will be with them to help
them (D111Yb) from all the spirit[s of Belial 1) .....]". In this case,
therefore, it is the "great hand of God" that would help the Children
of Light-, because the suffix of the 3rd. pers. plur. masc. obviously
refers to them. According to column 1, 14 f. as well as 18, 1 of the
War Scroll it is the "great hand of God" that would destroy Belial and
his followers.

Finally, the powers of

Light and Darkness are set against one
another in line 11: "[Be]li[a]I and all the men of his lot will be [des]-
troy[ed] 2), but all the Children of L[ight] will be gathered together
[.......]". This passage can only refer to the time of the holy war.
In this connection the preceding line (i.e. 10: "[And] those who [f]ear
God will sanctify 3) his name and come to Zion with gladness and to

Jerusalem [ ....... ] ") fits in the same context. In 1 QM Jerusalem

plays an important role. It
placeis the from where the Children of

Light would march to battle against the enemy; to where they would
return from the battlefield a.nd where they would gather together (cf.
1QM 3, 10 f. and 7, 3 f.). According to 1QM 12, 13 Zion had to

"rejoice exceedingly" and Jerusalem had to "shine forth with songs

of joy" (cf. also 19, 5). It is clear that, for the Children of Light
Jerusalem was the base from where they would fight the holy war, but
also the place of rest, joy and peace. This is quite notable especially
in view of the future when Belial and the men of his lot would be
defeated during the final war. Therefore, it is clear that 11QMelch as
well as 4QCat A f 12-13 were written with a view to the same time,
that is when God would help the Children of Light against Belial and
the men of his lot, resulting in the termination of Belial's dominion and
at the same time the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel.

Against this background, therefore, and because of the similar

1) 'rhe text should most probably bc rcstored : n]1n'11

2.4.11 f.; CD 12, 2; l1QMelch 12 and 4QCat A f 1-4+14+24+31 line 10.
For the latter text, cf. J. STRUGNELL, "Notes en marge du Volume V des 'Dis-
coveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan"', RQum VII (1969-1971), pp. 163-276;
in particular pp. 238 and 260.
2) Restore [1]'7p]''. J. STRUGNELL (art. cit., p. 246) mentions the possibility of
reading lnlll. But the mark directly beneath theyod of 7112 (line 10) seems to be the
remainder of the upright stroke of a lamed rather than that of the downward stroke
of the sade in 71'2. The meaning of (and that of fits the
context extremely well and is very likely on account of the explicit contrast
between "Belial and all the men of his lot" on the one side, and "all the Children
of Light" on the other.
3) Reconstruct with J. STRUGNELL, art. cit., p. 246: '7K
50

contexts of 11 QMelch and 4QCat A f 12-13, there is indeed nothing

to prevent us from restoring 11 QMelch 13b according to 4QCat A f
12-13 col. 1, 7 in the following way:
'nlll TQ1 11K 111Y'l 1). This means
that Melchizedek is the subject of The whole passage can
now be translated as follows: "And Melchizedek will exact the

ve[nge]ance of the judg[m]ents of Go[d, and he will help all the Chil-
dren of Light from the power of Be]lial and from the power of all [the
spirits of] his [lot]".
It is clear that the combination of 11Y and '7,nl
in this passage provides us with an idea which is an exact parallel of
what is to be found in the above mentioned texts from 1 QH, 4QpPs A
and 4QCat A. Moreover, in view of the context of our document,
where the "Children of Light" and "Belial and the spirits of his lot"
are set against one another as opponents, it appears to be the most

probable conjecture to fit the lacuna in 11Q1Velch 13b. In this way the
use of 11Y also links up with line 14, where the form is found.
Our text proceeds with the following words: "And to his aid are all
the heavenly ones [.....]". As has already been pointed out by
several scholars 2) the suffix of the 3rd. pers. sing. masc. in
refers to Melchizedek, and the restored text makes it even more certain
that the Qumran author had Melchizedek in mind.

1) Syntactically it would, of course, also be possible to read but in view

of the space available in the lacuna, we prefer to restore the form as an imperfect
with conjunctive waw. Several scholars have drawn attention to the tendency
at Qumran to eliminate the consecutive tenses and to substitute them by the
simple verb (perfect or imperfect) with conjunctive waw. Remarkable are the
number of passages which A. RUBINSTEIN, "Singularitics in consecutive-tense
constructions in the Isaiah Scroll", V (1955), pp. 180-188 has pointed out,
where lQlsa uses a simple imperfect with conjunctive waw in stead of the perfect-
consecutive of the Masoretic Text. See also S. J. DE VRIES, "The syntax of tenses
and interpretations in the Hodayoth", RQu1I2 V (1964/66), pp. 375-414 w-ho has
shown particularly with regard to the sectarian documents from Cave I, that a
number of passages avoid the consecutive tenses completely. "On the other hand,
many of these documents, particularly 1Q Hodayoth, show an excessive fondness
for what appears to be the simple imperfect with conjunctive waw" (DE VRIES,
l??tsyn V (1964/66), p. 377). Compare, e.g., the following passages from 1QS
where imperfects with conjunctive waw are employed after simple perfect-forms:
3, 9; 6, 2; 10, 13 f. and 11, 13. See DE VRIES, op. cit., p. 377 for further examples.
For the preposition 7 used in combination with the verb see 4QCat A
f 12-13 col. 1, 7 where we read: 11H '1=
2) Cf. A. S. VAN DER WOUDE, cit., p. 365; DE JONGE-VAN DER WOUDE,,
art. cit., p. 304; J. CARMIGNAC, cit., p. 366 and P. VON DER OSTEN-SACKEN,
op. cit., p. 207 f.
 51

The most interesting feature of the proposed reading is that Melchi-

zedek would help the Children of Light from the power of Belial

according to 11 QMelch, whereas "his angel of truth" iKb1)

would do so according to 4QCat A f 12-13 col. 1, 7. The close parallel
we now have between llQMelch 13 and 4QCat A f 12-13 col. 1, 7
confirms A. S. VAN DER WouDE's view that Melchizedek is a heavenly

being 1), because in identical contexts Melchizedek is substituted for

the '1"I?N of 4QCat A f 12-13 and is, therefore, implicitly called a

Cf, the editio princeps. This point of view has been accepted by most scholars,
but is rejected by J. CnR:vmGNAC (art, cit., p. 364 ff.) in particular.