Texts in Conversation
The Dead Sea Scrolls commentary on Habakkuk and Ephesians describe a secret plan that was once hidden and then revealed. In the scroll, the secret is shown to a Teacher of Righteousness. In Ephesians, the hidden plan of Jesus is now similarly made known.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1QpHab 7:3
Commentary on Habakkuk
Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation
1 And God told Habakkuk to write down the things that are coming upon 2 the last generation, but the completion of the age he did not make known to him. 3 And as for what it says, “so that the one who reads it may run,” 4 its interpretation concerns the Teacher of Righteousness, to whom God made known 5 all the mysteries of the words of his servants the prophets. “For there is yet a vision 6 for the appointed time; it speaks of the end and does not lie.” 7 Its interpretation: that the last age will be prolonged, and it will go beyond all 8 that the prophets have spoken, for the mysteries of God are wondrous. 9 “If it delays, wait for it, for it will surely come and will not 10 be late.” Its interpretation concerns the men of truth, 11 those who observe the Torah, whose hands do not slacken from the service of 12 the truth when the last age is drawn out over them, for
Date: 175–100 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Ephesians 3:3
New Testament
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly. 4 When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ 5 (which was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit), 6 namely, that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
Date: 90–100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Attempts have been made at times to trace the Pauline idea of mystêrion to Paul's Hellenistic background. True, in the rites of some mystery religions of the time the initiate was brought into relationship with the deity through a vision (epopteia) and was assured of salvation through the protection of the deity. In Pauline writings, however, the idea of mystêrion bears only a superficial verbal resemblance to such Hellenistic ideas, since the content of his mystêrion is quite different ... For Paul it denotes a secret hidden in God for ages and now made known to humanity in Christ Jesus that the salvation available to human beings comes through Christ; it shares in the apocalyptic character of euangelion, 'gospel' ... it is this notion of mystery that has again turned up in the Qumran literature. In the commentary on Habakkuk we read, apropos of Habakkuk 2:2 ... Here one sees rz meaning something hidden in God that is now made known; in this idea one finds the parallel to Paul's mystêrion. The content of the 'mystery' is different. In the Qumran commentary it refers to the hidden meaning of God's words to the prophet Habakkuk, whereas in Pauline theology the content of the mystery is Christ and his role in salvation now made known. What is the same in both the Qumran and the Pauline usage is the idea of mystêrion or rz as a carrier, whereas the content or what is carried is different ..."
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, According to Paul: Studies in the Theology of the Apostle (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1993), 27–28.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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