Texts in conversation

Compare 4Q174 1-3 ii 1 and 2 Timothy 3:1

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation · New Testament

Summary

The Dead Sea Scroll 4Q174 and 2 Timothy similarly describe times of trial in the last days. The scroll interprets the psalms, Isaiah, and Daniel to predict a period of refinement for the faithful remnant, opposed by Belial and corrupt leaders.

Passages

4Q174 1-3 ii 1

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation · 4QFlorilegium

1 That is the time of refining that is [coming …] Judah, to complete […] 2 Belial. And there will remain … […] … lot. And they will do all the Torah […] 3 Moses. That is the … [… as] it is written in the book of Daniel the prophet, “The wicked will act [wickedly …] 4 the righteous [… will be made] white and refined, and a people who know God will hold firm.” They … […] … […] after the … […] which to them … […]

160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q174

2 Timothy 3:1

New Testament

1 But understand this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. 5 They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these.

70–80 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Timothy

References

"... A final example reveals still more of the community’s self-understanding. In an interpretation of Psalm 1, 4Q174 indicates that those who turn from the “way” (דרך) of sinners (Psalm 1:1) are to be identified with the prophet whom God warned not to walk in the “way” of the people (Isaiah 8:11). As becomes clear, both passages are seen as referring to the scribe’s own community, who must endure a time of testing in these latter days, a period referred to in 4Q174 as “the time of refining that is coming” (עת המצרף הבאה) - itself an exegetically derived phrase (Daniel 11:32, 35, compare Psalm 105:19). The expectation of testing, especially in the last days, was a common feature of early Christian belief (e.g., Acts 14:22; 2 Timothy 3:1; Revelation 2:10) ..."

Reed Carlson, “A Structure for the End of the World: 4QFlorilegium and the ‘Latter Days’ in Early Jewish Tradition,” WW 40.3 (2020): 246–254.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Fragments 1-3 ii

4Q17423 chapters

Compare 4Q174 1-3 ii 1 and 2 Timothy 3:1

Summary

Passages

4Q174 1-3 ii 1

2 Timothy 3:1

References

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