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In Deuteronomy, creditors must release fellow Israelites from their debts every seven years. In 11Q13, a Dead Sea Scroll about Melchizedek, this commandment becomes a promise that he will release people from their sins at the end of days.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 15:2
Hebrew Bible
1 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts. 2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.” 3 You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite owes you, you must remit.
11Q13 2:6
The Heavenly Prince Melchizedek
Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation
2 […] and as for what it says, “In [this] year of jubilee [each of you shall return to his property,” and about it he said, “And] this 3 [is the manner of the release:] every creditor shall release what he has lent [to his neighbor. He shall not press his neighbor or his brother, for there has been proclaimed] a release 4 for God.” [Its interpretation] for the end of days concerns the captives, who […] and whose 5 teachers have been hidden and kept secret, and from the inheritance of Melchizedek, for […] … and they are the inheritance of Melchizedek, who 6 will bring them back to them. He will proclaim liberty to them, to release them from [the burden of] all their iniquities. And [thus] this thing will happen 7 in the first week of the jubilee that follows the nine jubilees. The Day of Atonement is the end of the tenth jubilee, 8 to atone on it for all the sons of [light] and the men of the lot of Melchizedek. […] … upon them … according to all their deeds, for
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Notes and References
“... The scrolls have contributed to the debate the evidence of Melchizedek (11QMelch = 11Q13), an eschatological midrash on Lev 25:9–13 involv- ing Melchizedek.67 The fragmentary text attests speculation on the mysterious figure, identifying the biblical priest as one of the Elohim (“divine beings”) of Ps 82:1 and attributing to him an eschatological role. Melchizedek appears first as a liberator in the eschatological Jubilee. The midrash bases its scenario upon Lev 25:13 and Deut 15:2 (11Q13 2.2–3). In fulfillment of the prophecy of Isa 61:1, Melchizedek will inaugurate this blessed time and “proclaim liberty to them, relieving them [of the debt] of all their iniquities” (11Q13 2.6). ...”
Attridge, Harold W.
"How the Scrolls Impacted Scholarship on Hebrews" in Charlesworth, James H. (ed.) The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Volume Three: The Scrolls and Christian Origins
(pp. 218-219) Baylor University Press, 2006
* 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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