Texts in Conversation
The Dead Sea Scroll 4Q418 and John describe “eternal life” as the reward for pursuing truth and righteousness, a tradition based on texts such as Isaiah and Daniel. This was once thought to be exclusively Greek, but the scrolls reveal its Jewish history.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
4Q418 69 ii 12
4QInstruction
Dead Sea Scrolls, Wisdom and Instruction
10 But you are the chosen of truth and those who pursue […] who seek [understanding and] keep watch 11 over all knowledge. How can you say, “We are worn out with understanding, and we have kept watch to pursue knowledge”? … […] … in all … […] 12 and he does not grow weary in all the years of eternity. Does he not delight in truth forever, and does not knowledge serve him [for all time]? And the sons of 13 heaven, whose inheritance is eternal life, would they really say, “We are worn out with the works of truth, and we are weary 14 in all ages”? Will they not walk in eternal light? [… glory] and abundant splendor are with them […] 15 in the firmaments of […] in the council of the gods all [… And] you, son [who understands …]
Date: 160–60 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
John 17:3
New Testament
1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he looked upward to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you— 2 just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me at your side with the glory I had with you before the world was created.
Date: 90–110 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... But secondly, the vocabulary of the New Testament is in many ways illuminated by the Scrolls. To illustrate this in detail would take too long, we refer briefly only to a few examples. The vocabulary of the Fourth Gospel has been particularly illuminated by the DSS. Phrases like 'Eternal Life', for example, which have been often taken to point directly to a Hellenistic and even Platonic milieu, are now seen to be perfectly compatible with Hebrew or Palestinian circles ..."
W. D. Davies, Christian Origins and Judaism (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1962), 100–101.
* 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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