Teacher of Righteousness

Information about Teacher of Righteousness

The Teacher of Righteousness is a figure found in some of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, most prominently in the Damascus Document (CD). This document speaks briefly of the origins of the sect, 390 years after the exile and after 20 years of 'groping' blindly for the way "God... raised for them a Teacher of Righteousness to guide them in the way of His heart" (CD 1:9-11). The Teacher claimed to have the proper of understanding of the Torah, being the one through whom God would reveal to the community “the hidden things in which Israel had gone astray” (CD 3:12-15). He also claimed to be an inspired interpreter of the prophets, as the one “to whom God made known all the mysteries of the words of his servants the prophets” (1QpHab 7:5).

Identity of the Teacher

The exact identity of the Teacher is unknown. One theory initially advocated by Murphy-O’Connor[1] and subsequently by Stegemann is that the Teacher of Righteousness served as High Priest but was subsequently ousted by Jonathan Maccabeus. In 1 Maccabees, no High Priest is named for the period from the death of Alcimus in 159 BCE to the claiming of the position of High Priest by Jonathan on the authority of Alexander Balas in 152 BCE (1 Macc 10:18-20). From this it could be concluded that there was no High Priest for these years, and indeed Josephus, drawing heavily on I Maccabees at this point in his history, comes to that conclusion (Ant. 20.237). It is improbable, however, that the office remained completely vacant for these years. Stegemann suggests that the reason that nothing is said in 1 Maccabees about a High Priest between Alcimus and Jonathan was apologetic: to conceal the fact that the Hasmoneans obtained the High Priesthood by usurping it from its rightful holder, the Teacher of Righteousness.[2]

Critics of this theory accuse it of being too hypothetical: slotting the Teacher as High Priest into a convenient gap during which no other High Priest is recorded in the few sources we have. Not the Damascus Document, nor 1QS or 4QMMT suggest that the legitimacy of the High Priest was an issue for the split. In addition, the motivation behind the split of the sect from mainstream Judaism appears to have been of a religious rather than political nature.

Other documents from the Dead Sea Scrolls portray the Teacher as being in heavy conflict against a figure termed the "Wicked Priest", which has led to several proposals for their identity: It should be noted that scholars date the Damascus Document and the Dead Sea scrolls to the decades around the year 100 BCE, vastly predating the emergence of Christianity. This date would exclude both Hillel and James the Just, or any figure of early Christianity.

References

1. ^ Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Teacher of Righteousness, Anchor Bible Dictionary VI, p340f
2. ^ H. Stegemann, The Library of Qumran: On the Essenes, Qumran, John the Baptist, and Jesus. Grand Rapids MI, 1998
3. ^ Rabbi Harvey Falk, Jesus the Pharisee: A New Look at the Jewishness of Jesus, p53f
פשר) on the Book of Habakkuk (1947), the so-called Manual of Discipline (Community Rule) (1QS/4QSa-j), which gives much information on the structure and theology of a sect, and the earliest version of the Damascus Document.
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Qumran (Hebrew: חירבת קומראן‎, Khirbet Qumran
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The Damascus Document is the name given to one of the works found in multiple fragments and copies in the caves at Qumran, and as such is counted amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls.
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Jonathan Maccabaeus was leader of the Hasmonean Dynasty of Judea from 161 to 143 BC. He is called also Apphus (Ἀπφοῦς [Syriac, (image) ] = "the dissembler" or "the diplomat", in allusion to a trait prominent in him; 1 Maccabees ii. 5).
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1 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible which was written by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom, probably about 100 BCE. It is included in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canons.
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Alexander Balas (Greek Ἀλέξανδρoς Bάλας), ruler of the Greek Seleucid kingdom 150-146 BC, was a native of Smyrna of humble origin, but gave himself out to be the son of
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Josephus (37 – sometime after 100 AD),[1] who became known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus,[2] was a 1st-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the
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Wicked Priest (Hebrew: הכהן הרשע; Romanized Hebrew: ha-kōhēn hā-rāš'ā) is a sobriquet used in the Dead Sea scrolls pesharim, fourα
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The sect of the Sadducees - possibly from Hebrew Tsdoki צדוקי [sˤə.ðo.'qi], whence Zadokites
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Maccabees (Hebrew: מכבים or מקבים, Makabim) were a Jewish national liberation movement that fought for and won independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was
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Maccabees (Hebrew: מכבים or מקבים, Makabim) were a Jewish national liberation movement that fought for and won independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was
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Hillel (הלל) was a famous Jewish religious leader who lived in Jerusalem during the time of King Herod and Augustus; he is one of the most
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Saint James the Just (יעקב "Holder of the heel; supplanter"; Standard Hebrew Yaʿaqov, Tiberian Hebrew Yaʿăqōḇ, Greek Iάκωβος), also called James Adelphotheos, or
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Acts of the Apostles is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. It is commonly referred to as simply Acts. The title "Acts of the Apostles" (Greek Praxeis Apostolon
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פשר) on the Book of Habakkuk (1947), the so-called Manual of Discipline (Community Rule) (1QS/4QSa-j), which gives much information on the structure and theology of a sect, and the earliest version of the Damascus Document.
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