Texts in Conversation
The Prayer of Nabonidus in the Dead Sea Scrolls describes a king healed after a Jewish figure healed him and forgave his sin. In Mark, Jesus similarly claims authority to forgive sins that is connected to healing, showing continuity with this tradition.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
4Q242 1-3 2
4QPrayer of Nabonidus
Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings
1 The words of the prayer that Nabonidus, king of Babylon, the [great] king, prayed [when he was struck] 2 with a grievous skin disease by the decree of God in Teima. [I, Nabonidus, with a grievous skin disease] 3 was struck for seven years, and when God set [his face upon me, he healed me,] 4 and my sin an exorcist forgave. He was a Jew from [the exiles. He came to me and said,] 5 “Declare it and write it down, to give honor and greatness to the name of God [Most High.” And so I wrote:] 6 “I was struck with a grievous skin disease in Teima [by the decree of God Most High.] 7 For seven years I was praying [before] the gods of silver and gold, [bronze, iron,] 8 wood, stone, and clay, because [I thought] that they were gods […]
Date: 160–60 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Mark 2:10
New Testament
8 Now immediately, when Jesus realized in his spirit that they were contemplating such thoughts, he said to them, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 12 And immediately the man stood up, took his stretcher, and went out in front of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Date: 60–75 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... That a sin has been forgiven, according to line 4, is beyond doubt. Being juxtaposed with ‘sin’, the verb שבק naturally translates as ‘to forgive’, and alternative translations are not convincing. The difficulty lies in determining the grammatical subject of the verb. Several interpreters take it to be God, and the plausibility of this reading increases if the restoration of ‘God’ in line 3 is correct. Yet this restoration is not certain, and there are considerations that speak in favour of construing the ‘diviner’ as the subject ... If, then, the Prayer of Nabonidus seems to attribute an act of forgiveness to the ‘diviner’, what does this imply for the understanding of notions of forgiveness and human agency in Qumran? Following an investigation by Giuseppe Furlani, Dupont-Sommer suggested that גזר means ‘exorcist’ in 4Q242. According to Dupont-Sommer, both 4Q242 and Mark 2.1–12 testify to the Essene view that healers-exorcists may also forgive sins – as opposed to the Pharisaic doctrine that God alone could do so. There are several flaws in this argumentation. The meaning ‘exorcist’ for גזר , based on a putative etymology, is far from certain ..."
Tobias Hägerland, Jesus and the Forgiveness of Sins: An Aspect of His Prophetic Mission (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 156–157.
* 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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