Compare 1 Kings 3:14 and 4Q398 11–13 1

“... N. T. Wright (2002: 660–61) wishes to see the “end of exile” and eschatological blessing of Deut. 30 as it is taken up in 4QHalakhic Letter as the background to Paul’s appeal to the “nearness” of righteousness. Wright, however, fails to observe that in 4QHalakhic Letter it is not only the blessings that will come at the “end of days,” but also the curse (singular) (4Q398 14–17 I, 6–7). A “portion of the blessings and the curses” has come (4Q398 11–13, 3), but not all of them. The Qumran text proceeds from the emphatic prediction of Deuteronomy that all the blessings and curses will come upon Israel (Deut. 28:2, 15, 45; 29:21, 27). The defining pattern has been established in Solomon and Jeroboam, in whose days came, respectively, blessings and curses (1 Kings 3:10–14; 14:7–16). Curses were repeated in the exiles (plural) of Jerusalem and Zedekiah (4Q398 11–13, 1–2; 2 Kings 24:10– 17, 18–20; 2 Chron. 36:5–21). In view of the impending end time, the letter correspondingly issues its warning and appeal for adherence to the law where obedience is lacking: “We have written to you a portion of the works of the law that we regard as good for you and your people so that you might rejoice in the last time when you find (this) portion of our words so” (4Q398 14–17 II, 2–6 [cf. Deut. 10:13]). The Qumran halakhic letter, like most early Jewish writings, sees the pattern of Scripture recapitulated in the end time. Final blessing, which has not yet arrived, is contingent on obedience. The suggested parallel is nonexistent. ...”