Texts in conversation

Compare 4Q242 1-3 2 and Nedarim 41a

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings · Rabbinic

Summary

The Prayer of Nabonidus in the Dead Sea Scrolls depicts a Jewish healer declaring forgiveness for the Babylonian king while healing him. Rabbinic tradition in tractate Nedarim similarly teaches that recovery from illness requires forgiveness.

Passages

4Q242 1-3 2

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings · 4QPrayer of Nabonidus

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 […]

160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q242

Nedarim 41a

Rabbinic · Babylonian Talmud

§ Rabbi Alexandri said that Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: The sick person recovers from his illness only when the heavenly court forgives him for all his sins, as it is stated: “Who forgives all your iniquity; Who heals all your diseases” (Psalms 103:3). Rav Hamnuna said: When he recovers, he returns to the days of his youth, as it is stated in a verse with regard to one recovering from illness: “His flesh is tenderer than a child’s; he returns to the days of his youth” (Job 33:25). Interpreting the verse: “The Lord will support him upon the bed of suffering; You overturned all his lying down in his illness” (Psalms 41:4), Rav Yosef said: That is to say that the sick person forgets his studies, as everything that is organized is overturned.

450–550 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Nedarim

References

"... Sin and disease were often associated in the ancient world, something the discussion surrounding the blind man in John 9:2–3 assumes, but Jesus rejects as automatic (Psalm 41:4; 103:3; James 5:15–16). Later in the Talmud, healing is not seen as possible without forgiveness (b. Nedarim 41a– “No one gets up from his sick-bed until all his sins are forgiven”) ... Although it is expressed as a divine passive that could attribute forgiveness to God, they see Jesus as crossing a sacred line (see Leviticus 4:26, 31; 2 Samuel 12:13 – Nathan announcing to David; or the debated Qumran’s Prayer of Nabonidus [4Q242], where a diviner either points to God forgiving and announces it or in an exceptional text makes a direct declaration) ..."

Darrell L. Bock, Mark (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015), 140–141.

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

4Q2422 chapters

Compare 4Q242 1-3 2 and Nedarim 41a

Summary

Passages

4Q242 1-3 2

Nedarim 41a

References

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library