Texts in conversation

Compare 4Q242 1–3 7 and Revelation 9:20

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings · New Testament

Summary

In the Prayer of Nabonidus from the Dead Sea Scrolls, a sick king recalls praying to gods made from metal, wood, and stone. Revelation uses a similar list for people who continue worshiping idols after devastating plagues.

Passages

4Q242 1–3 7

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

Revelation 9:20

New Testament

18 A third of humanity was killed by these three plagues, that is, by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses resides in their mouths and in their tails because their tails are like snakes, having heads that inflict injuries. 20 The rest of humanity, who had not been killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands so that they did not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk about. 21 Furthermore, they did not repent of their murders, of their magic spells, of their sexual immorality, or of their stealing.

92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

“... In the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple literature, numerous texts refer to the lifeless materials from which idols were fashioned. Infrequently, however, are more than four of such materials listed. The noticeable exceptions occur in Daniel 2:32– 33; 5:4, 20; the Prayer of Nabonidus in 4Q242 1.7–8; Epistle of Enoch at 1 Enoch 99:7; and Revelation 9:20. The sequence of materials in the lists compare as fol- lows: Daniel 2:32–33 – gold, silver, bronze, iron (legs and feet), clay Daniel 5:4, 23 – gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, stone 4Q242 1–3.7–8 – silver, gold, [bronze], [iron], wood, stone 1 Enoch 99:7 – stones, gold, silver, wood, clay Revelation 9:20 – gold, silver, bronze, stone, wood The closest correspondence occurs between the text in 4Q242 and Daniel 5:23, with the former having the sequence of “silver, gold.” The remaining texts differ in number and content with one another, except for the Epistle and Revelation which each list five materials used in the making of idols. Significant, however, is not so much the correspondence of materials, but the combination of these lists with the link drawn between idolatry thus described and the worship of demonic beings; Revelation uniquely shares this among ancient sources with the Epistle of Enoch. ...”

Loren T. Stuckenbruck, The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 302.

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 7 and Revelation 9:20

Summary

Passages

4Q242 1–3 7

Revelation 9:20

References

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