Pesher Isaiah

Pesher Isaiahd

2nd Century BCE–1st Century CE

Pesher Isaiahd

1[he will mak]e all Israel like eye-paint around the eye. And I will found you in sapphi[res (Isaiah 54:11). Its interpretation:] 2they will found the council of the Community, [the] priests and the peo[ple . . . ] 3the assembly of their elect, like a sapphire stone in the midst of stones. [I will make] 4all your battlements [of…

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One of the four translatable fragments of a first-century BCE commentary on Isaiah found in Cave 4, Pesher Isaiahd (4Q164) comments on verses from Isaiah 54. The other fragments of Pesher Isaiah comment on other verses from the prophetic book and interpret them in relation to the history of the Qumran sect and contemporary events. For example, Pesher Isaiaha (4Q161) interprets the Kittim—who will be delivered into the hands of Israel—as the Romans. Pesher Isaiahd identifies the Qumran community as the New Jerusalem.

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Biblical Interpretation from Qumran

2nd Century BCE–1st Century CE
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The Origins of Judean Sectarianism

1st Century BCE–1st Century CE

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