Second Temple Songs of Zion

Ruth Henderson

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9783110368079
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Théologie et religion
• Subtopic: Théologie juive

Although in Second Temple literature we find a variety of songs concerned with the future of Jerusalem, little attempt has been made to analyse these comparatively as a generic group. In this study, three songs have been selected on the basis of their similarity in style, ideas and their apparent original composition in Hebrew. The texts have been subjected to a literary analysis both individually and then comparatively.

1

The topos of the future Jerusalem in Second Temple literature

1.1 Introduction

It is an enigma of history that a people, the majority of whom have lived in exile from the land of their ancestral origins for twenty-five centuries or more, have been able to maintain an innate memory of, and attachment to, a particular city as the centre of their ethnic consciousness and religious faith. A group of songs dated to the second century B.C. written in praise of Jerusalem and its glorious eschatological future appears to have formed a link in this chain of memory connecting a scattered people to what it considered to be its mother city and spiritual source. It is this group of songs which forms the subject of the following monograph.

1.2 Overview of the topos of the future Jerusalem in Second Temple Literature

The conception of Jerusalem as the sacred Temple city, already dominant in biblical thought, continued to be held through the Second Temple period. Veneration for Jerusalem was shared by all streams of Judaism during this period and the city remained the focus of hopes for restoration and redemption at the end of days. This particular attitude towards the city came to be expressed in songs addressed to her. Such compositions were modelled first and foremost on the prophecies from the book of Isaiah addressed to Jerusalem (Isa 49:15–26; 51:17–52:2; 54; 60; 62), which were further developed.

To this group belong several songs, known from the Septuagint, which have been woven into apocryphal works such as the books of Tobit (Tob 13:9–18) and 1 Baruch (1 Bar 4:30–5:9), and also in the Psalms of Solomon (Pss. Sol. 11), which forms part of an anthology of Second Temple psalmody. These three songs, all addressed to Jerusalem, deal with the hope of her future glory, the return of her exiled children and the overthrow of her enemies.

Songs containing similar themes, though not addressed to Jerusalem, are also to be found in Sir 36:1–22 and in 2 Mac 1:24–30 and T. Dan. 5. Apart from Sir 36:1–22 the full form of the above texts has been preserved only in Greek and other translations of which the Greek translation is the basis. However, with the exception of the last two, these texts are considered to have been composed originally in Hebrew.

With the discovery of the Qumran scrolls, new materials written in Hebrew or Aramaic pertinent to this group have emerged. While the sectarian texts contain relatively few references to the eschatological hopes connected with Zion/Jerusalem, ¹ a variety of sources pertaining to the future city can be found among the non–sectarian texts from Qumran. These include the extensive Aramaic work describing the eschatological Jerusalem (not specifically named but clearly referred to), the so-called New Jerusalem.²

The future hope of Jerusalem/Zion is mentioned briefly in a variety of texts of different character and contents from the group mentioned above. These include : 4Q176 (4QTanḥ) 1-2 i 3, 5; 8-11 i 2, 3; and 4Q177 (4QCatena A/MidrEschat^b) frgs. 12+13 col. i 10; 4Q391 (4QpsEzek^e) 62 ii 1; the Hebrew prose prayer 4Q504 (4QDibHam^a) col. XVII (frgs 1+2 iv recto); 4Q522 (4QapocrJosh^c?) 9 ii 1-9; 11QPs^a (Ps 154) XVIII 20 (restored from the Syriac version); 4Q177 (4QCatena A/MidrE-schat ^b) frgs. 12+13 col. i 10.³

Specific poetic texts praising Jerusalem have also been discovered, such as 4Q380 (4Q Non–Canonical Psalms A) 1 i–ii; 1 i 2–3, 1 i 6–7,⁴ the Apostrophe to Zion⁵ 11Q5 (11QPs^a) XXII 1–15, 4Q88 (4QPs^f) VII 14–17, VIII 1–18, and similar compositions which occur in the War literature (1QM XII 12–14; XIX 5–7 and 4Q492 1 5–8).⁶ In addition, the song addressed to Jerusalem incorporated into the book of Tobit (Tob 13) is now known from two Qumran scrolls, one in Aramaic (4Q196), which contains the partial text of Tob 13:6–12 (fragment 17) and 12–18 (fragment 18), and one in Hebrew (4Q200), which contains the partial text of Tob 13:13–14 (fragment 7 i) and Tob 13:18 (fragment 7 ii).⁷

1.3 Survey of comparative studies on the topos of the future Jerusalem

Some of the compositions mentioned above have been included in studies based on a comparative, thematic investigation of texts dealing with the future Jerusalem, from the Hebrew Bible, Apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha, Qumran and the New Testament. Included among these comparative studies are the following:

D. Flusser, in a study of psalms, hymns and prayers of the Second Temple period⁸ included as a sub-category a group of hymns which he considered to constitute a specific genre. He named this genre “eschatological psalms” and defined it with the common motifs: deliverance of Israel from foreign subjugation; eschatological hopes connected with Jerusalem; and the regathering of dispersed Israel.⁹ Flusser included in this genre Tob 13; 1 Bar 4:5–5:9; Pss. Sol. 11; Sir 36:1–17; and the Ap Zion from 11QPs^a XXII 1–15. Noting the similarity of 1 Bar 4:36–5:9 with Pss. Sol. 11, he suggested they both came from a common source.¹⁰ Flusser also drew attention to the similar wording in the motif of the fulfilment of the word of God in Sir 36:14–16 and the Ap Zion lines 13–14, suggesting the former may have been ancestor to the latter.¹¹

At the beginning of his study Flusser raised the question as to what extent the hymns, prayers and psalms found in Second Temple writings reflect actual liturgical practice, as many of them have been put into the mouth of a central character in a larger literary work. He concluded that, while in their present form the primary purpose of many of these prayers and hymns was literary rather than liturgical, they may be considered to serve as witnesses of liturgical forms in Judaism in their possible imitation of current liturgical patterns.¹²

E. Gaines, conducted a broad investigation in which she surveyed the use of the image of the eschatological Jerusalem in texts from the Bible, Apocrypha, Qumran and New Testament, ranging from the sixth century B.C. to A.D. first century. She included among many other texts a discussion of the Ap Zion from 11QPs^a XXII 1–15, Pss. Sol. 11, Tob 13 and Sir 36:1–17.¹³ Gaines showed how past research in this area had been dominated by historical interests tied to the theories of the development of the apocryphal works. Scholars had assumed a single coherent chain of tradition, based on a paradigm of linear evolution from the physical city of Jerusalem to an ever-increasing transcendence. This model, she claimed, failed to take into account the diverse contexts in which the image occurred. Gaines concluded that the diverse expressions of this theme drew upon a common stock of traditions, adapted by authors to their own purposes, without being dependent upon a coherent chain of tradition.¹⁴

In her study Gaines adopted a methodological approach which classified the texts according to various functions: 1. response of comfort for the loss of First Temple Jerusalem; 2. critique of the Jewish cultic centre during the Second Temple period; 3. apologetic purpose to support the author’s theological convictions; and 4. assurance of reward and encouragement in the pursuit of righteousness.¹⁵

Although this method provided a necessary break with the prevailing tendency of past studies, it was only partially successful. The first and last of her categories could be combined, for even after the Second Temple was built, the exile continued and the destruction of the former temple continued to be mour...

Table of contents

• Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Foreword
• Table of Contents
• 1 - The topos of the future Jerusalem in Second Temple literature
• 2 - Methodological considerations
• 3 - The Apostrophe to Zion
• 4 - Tobit 13:1–18
• 5 - 1 Bar 4:30–5:9
• 6 - Genre analysis of the Apostrophe to Zion, Tob 13:9-18 and 1 Bar 4:30-5:9
• 7 - Conclusion
• Abbreviations
• References
• Subject Index