Guide
Romans as the Last Oppressors of the Jews
In the sectarian scrolls from Qumran (the Dead Sea Scrolls), the term Kittim (derived from a place-name for an Aegean island, possibly Cyprus) serves as a code word for Romans. Biblical prophecies concerning earlier conquerors of Israel such as the Babylonians or the Assyrians were decoded in the sect’s pesher (commentary) literature as referring to oppression by the Kittim, or Romans. (For more on pesher, see Biblical Interpretation from Qumran.) The War Scroll describes a war between the sons of light and the sons of darkness, identified as the king of the Kittim and the whole host of Belial (Satan, the Prince of Darkness).
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
Rome Devours the Nations
Pesher Habakkuk to Habakkuk 1:6–17; 2:20
and they will advance over the plain, to destroy and pillage the cities of the country. For this is what he has said: To take possession of dwellings not theirs. It is dreadfuland terrible…
Primary Source
Jerusalem Delivered to the Romans
Pesher Nahum to Nahum 2:12
[ . . . ] Where a lion went to go into it, a lion cub[without anyone confining him (Nahum 2:12). Its interpretation concerns Deme]trius, king of Yavan, who wanted to enter…
Primary Source
The End of Roman Rule
War Scroll 1:1–7
For the In[structor: The Rule of] the War. The first attack by the sons of light will be launched against the lot of the sons of darkness, against the army of Belial, against the band of Edom and of…
Related Guide
Real and Imagined "Others" in Ancient Jewish Literature
4th Century BCE–6th Century CE