Texts in Conversation
The Dead Sea Scrolls and 2 Corinthians describe God’s light causing others to shine, based on Moses and Aaron shining after meeting God. In the scroll, this light falls on the community’s leader and spreads to others. Paul uses similar language to describe how believers reflect God’s glory through Jesus.
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1QH 4
The Thanksgiving Hymns
Dead Sea Scrolls
Thou hast revealed Thyself to me in Thy power as perfect Light, and Thou hast not covered my face with shame. All those who are gathered in Thy Covenant inquire of me, and they hearken to me who walk in the way of Thy heart, who array themselves for Thee in the Council of the holy. Thou wilt cause their law to endure for ever and truth to go forward unhindered, and Thou wilt not allow them to be led astray by the hand of the damned when they plot against them. Thou wilt put the fear of them into Thy people and (wilt make of them) a hammer to all the peoples of the lands, that at the Judgement they may cut off all those who transgress Thy word. Through me Thou hast illumined the face of the Congregation and hast shown Thine infinite power. For Thou hast given me knowledge through Thy marvellous mysteries, and hast shown Thyself mighty within me in the midst of Thy marvellous Council. Thou hast done wonders before the Congregation for the sake of Thy glory, that they may make known Thy mighty deeds to all the living.
Date: 150 B.C.E. - 100 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
2 Corinthians 3:18
New Testament
14 But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, 16 but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Date: 55-57 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The specific image that Paul uses, that of the face of Christ as the reflecting mirror, is not found in these Qumran passages, but there are several features in them that share a similarity and provide a Palestinian background for the image that he is using. First, there is the action of God causing light to shine on the face either of the Teacher of Righteousness in the Thanksgiving Psalms (if that is the person who speaks in the first person) or of the priests who are blessed. The same function is further attributed to the Teacher or the priests who light up the faces of the Many (i.e., the members of the community). Second, the last passage speaks of the illumination of the heart rather than the face, because much of the phraselogy used there occurs in other passages; but it also reveals that its literary origin is the blessing of the sons of Aaron in Numbers 6:24-26 ... The face of God shining on his people is also found in Psalm 31:17; 67:2. These are the Old Testament sources of the Qumran expressions (compare also 1 Enoch 38:4) ..."
Fitzmyer, Joseph A.
Glory Reflected on the Face of Christ (2 Cor 3:7–4:6) and a Palestinian Jewish Motif
(pp. 630-644) Theological Studies, Vol. 42 No. 4, 1981
* 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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