Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History (review)

Hebrew Studies 40 (1999) 352 Reviews "lead in triumph" is Roman but the "tenor" refers to God on his thronechariot leading a captive Paul. This is, therefore, another example of Paul's knowledge and use of Merkabah mysticism. The reference to revelation in v. 14b, representing Paul's apostolic claim to be superior to Moses, is also rooted in Merkabah mysticism. His discussion of 2 Cor 2:14 is prefaced with a wide-ranging survey of throne-chariot mysticism, but it appears to me that Scott is simply substituting one metaphor for another, which new metaphor cannot be understood without a grasp of the original, Roman, metaphor. It is telling that Scott does not discuss the "fragrance" and "aroma" in this passage; these are clearly part of the Roman triumphal procession . It is possible perhaps that some in the original audience "saw" or "heard" an allusion to the throne-chariot of Merkabah mysticism, but the tenor of the original metaphor is Paul's inability to stay in one place for very long; Paul is saying that this is not a sign of fickleness on his part, but is due to the fact that he is God's prisoner. Dietmar Neufeld, '" And When That One Comes': Aspects of Johannine Messianism" (pp. 120-140) surveys messianic themes in John's Gospel. The evidence of Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrates that the author of the gospel and his community were much more at home in a Jewish setting than was recognized in the past. His essay is noteworthy in this collection for taking seriously the diversity and complexity of messianic expectations in Second Temple Judaism. Apart from some formatting problems on p. 55, n. 24, the production values are good. Two typographical errors could confuse: on p. 95, n. II, read 4Q525 for 4Q425; on p. 64, n. 9, read 4Q491a for 4Q491a. The volume concludes with the transcript of a panel discussion by the participants, a Select Bibliography of Qumran messianism, an Index of Modem Authors , and an Index of Ancient Writings. Richard Ratzlaff McMaster University Toronto. Ontario. Canada efriesen@chass.utoronto.ca READING 4QMMT: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON QUMRAN LAW AND HISTORY. By John Kampen and Moshe J. Bernstein, eds. SBL Symposium Series 2. Pp. xii + 169. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1996. Paper, $24.95. This book contains eight essays presented in 1994 either at the Society of Biblical Literature or at the Association for Jewish Studies to mark the long awaited official publication of a polemical document from Qumran, Hebrew Studies 40 (1999) 353 Reviews 4QMMT (Elisha Qimron and John Strugnell, Miq~at Ma'aie Ha-Torah. [DID X; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994]: Elisha Qimron, "The Nature of the Reconstructed Composite Text of 4QMMT" (pp. 9-13); Florentino Garda Martmez, "4QMMT in a Qumran Context" (pp. 15-27); Moshe Bernstein, "The Employment and Interpretation of Scripture in 4QMMT: Preliminary Observations" (pp. 29-51); Hanan Eshel, "4QMMT and the History of the Hasmonean Period" (pp. 53-65); Daniel R. Schwartz, "MMT, Josephus and the Pharisees" (pp. 67-80); Lawrence H. Schiffman, "The Place of 4QMMT in the Corpus of Qumran Manuscripts" (pp. 8198 ); Yaakov Elman, "Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic Tradition : or, When Is a Parallel Not a Parallel?" (pp. 99-128); John Kampen, "4QMMT and the New Testament" (pp. 129-144). The book is introduced by John Kampen and Moshe J. Bernstein (pp. 1-7), and completed with a convenient bibliography of 4QMMT (pp. 145-156) and two indexes (pp. 157-169). As mentioned in the introduction, the purpose of these essays is "to evaluate the significance of 4QMMT for understanding the history and literature of Qumran" and to assess "its significance for subsequent Jewish and Christian history" (p. 6). E. Qimron explains the composite text of 4QMMT as, "the first attempt to fully reconstruct any composition from Qumran utilizing all the available manuscripts" (p. 9), which total approximately one hundred fragments belonging to six different manuscripts (4Q 394-399). The result, he warns, is "no more than an educated guess" and "must always be consulted together with the individual manuscripts and commentary" (pp. 910 ); his point is exemplified by a discussion of 4QMMT B 9-11, B 21-23...