4Q242
4QPrayer of NabonidusWords of the pr[ay]er which Nabonidus, king of [the] la[nd of Baby]lon, the [great] king, prayed [when he was afflicted] by a malignant inflammation, by decree of the G[od Most Hi]gh, in Teiman. [I, Nabonidus,] was afflicted [by a malignant inflammation] for seven years, and was banished far [from men, until I prayed to the God Most High] and an exorcist forgave my sin. He was a Je[w] fr[om the exiles, who said to me:] «Make a proclamation in writing, so that glory, exal[tation and hono]ur be given to the name of [the] G[od Most High». And I wrote as follows: «When] I was afflicted by a ma[lignant] inflammation […] in Teiman, [by decree of the God Most High,] [I] prayed for seven years [to all] the gods of silver and gold, [of bronze and iron,] 8 of wood, of stone and of clay, because [I thoug]ht that t[hey were] gods […]
Matthew 9:6
4 When Jesus perceived their thoughts he said, “Why do you respond with evil in your hearts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he said to the paralytic—“Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 7 So he stood up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were afraid and honored God who had given such authority to men.
Notes and References
"... The only possible exceptions of a human forgiving may come from Qumran, in the texts of Prayer of Nabonidus and the Damascus Document. However in both cases it is unclear grammatically whether God or the person in question is doing the forgiving.15 If it were the person doing the forgiving in each case, the texts give no indication whether they were merely relaying a message from God or if they actually had the authority to forgive sins (granted to them by God).16 What seems clear, however, is that Jesus was not making a generic statement, not even a qualified one about prophets or Jewish healers and exorcists, given that no evidence conclusively indicates that they could ever do anything further than declare or mediate forgiveness of sins. Also, if Jesus were making a generic statement applicable to man in general, it would not even have been necessary to prove he had that authority by healing the paralytic ..."
Tejada-Lalinde, Andres A. Jesus as the Son of Man in Mark (pp. 51-52) Florida International University, 2014