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4Q398

4QMMT/The Halakhic Letter

About this book

Fragments 14-17 ii

1 their iniquities were forgiven. Remember David, who was a man of faithful deeds, and he too⁠ 2 was delivered from many troubles and was forgiven. And we too have written to you 3 some of the works of the Torah⁠ that we judged good for you and for your people, for we saw 4 in you prudence and knowledge of the Torah. Understand all these things and seek from him that he may set right 5 your counsel and put far from you the plans of evil and the counsel of Belial, 6 so that you may rejoice at the end of the time, when you find that some of our words are true. 7 And it will be reckoned to you as righteousness⁠ when you do what is upright and good before him, for your good 8 and for Israel.

Texts in conversation

Compare 4Q398 14–17 ii 3 and Galatians 2:16

Dead Sea Scrolls, Torah and Temple Practices · New Testament

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Summary

In 4Q398 from the Dead Sea Scrolls, works of the Torah describe practices urged on the letter’s recipient. Galatians uses the same phrase in a denial that such works can justify anyone, directing readers to Jesus.

Passages

4Q398 14–17 ii 3

Dead Sea Scrolls, Torah and Temple Practices · 4QMMT/The Halakhic Letter
2 was delivered from many troubles and was forgiven. And we too have written to you 3 some of the works of the Torah that we judged good for you and for your people, for we saw 4 in you prudence and knowledge of the Torah. Understand all these things and seek from him that he may set right 5 your counsel and put far from you the plans of evil and the counsel of Belial, 6 so that you may rejoice at the end of the time, when you find that some of our words are true. 7 And it will be reckoned to you as righteousness when you do what is upright and good before him, for your good 8 and for Israel.
150–100 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q398

Galatians 2:16

New Testament
15 We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, 16 yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
48–55 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Galatians

References

“... If one understands the Pauline “works of the Law” in its Jewish use in Qumran, according to 4QMMT it refers to specific regulations of the Law in detail (more than 20 precepts). Rules and practices in 4QMMT define a boundary (between Jews and Jews), while for Paul “faith” is the central boundary (dividing humankind). Is “works of the Law” really “the Pauline term for ‘covenantal nomism’”? In 4QMMT the text gives many different rulings and practices by which those “who observe the Law” are “saved” (lcn) from the final judgment (cf. 1QpHab 8.1–2), because “it will be counted as righteousness” (a similar wording in Gal 3:6 and Rom 4:3, following Gen 15:6 LXX)68 “at the end of time” (4QMMT C 30–31 [= 4Q papMMTe (4Q398) frag. 14–17 2.6–7]).69 Paul argues against this decisive function of the Torah with its many rules and practices (but for the Qumran community see also the factor of divine grace, as described in C 7, below), turning down this function of the Torah by introducing “faith” in an un-Jewish way. ...”
Heinz-Wolfgang Kuhn, “The Impact of Selected Qumran Texts on the Understanding of Pauline Theology,” in The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Volume Three: The Scrolls and Christian Origins, ed. James H. Charlesworth (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2006), 175–176.

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

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4Q398 14–17 ii 3 and Galatians 2:16

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