Fragment 23 i

1 […] their burdens […] 2 […] when they stand […] … […] 3 […] your thrones, the glory of his kingdom and all the congregation of the servants of 4 […] … wonder. They will not be shaken forever, the gods of 5 [… to] sustain them, those who bear all things, for the gods of his whole offering 6 […] … his whole offering. The gods praise him when they first stand, and all the [spirits of] the firmaments of 7 purity rejoice in his glory. And there is a sound of blessing from all his divisions, telling of the firmaments of his glory, and his gates praise⁠ 8 with a voice of rejoicing. At the entrances of the gods of knowledge in the doorways of glory, and at all the goings out of the holy angels to their dominion, 9 the doorways of entrance and the gates of going out proclaim the glory of the King, blessing and praising all the spirits of⁠ 10 God when they go out and when they come in through the holy gates. And there is none among them who skips over a statute, and never against the words of 11 the King do they set themselves. They do not run from the way, and they do not linger outside his boundary. They are not too exalted for his missions, 12 and they are not too lowly. For he will show mercy in the dominion of the fury of his destroying [wrath]; he will not judge while his glorious anger abides. 13 The fear of the King of gods is fearsome to [all] the gods […] for all his missions in the order of his truth, and they go 14 … […] … […] … […] … …

Texts in conversation

Compare 4Q405 23 i 9 and Colossians 2:18

Dead Sea Scrolls, Prayers, Hymns, and Liturgy · New Testament

Summary

The Dead Sea Scroll 4Q405 uses liturgy in which people join in the praise offered by angels around the heavenly throne. In Colossians, readers are told to avoid this kind of angelic worship and visionary mysticism.

Passages

4Q405 23 i 9

Dead Sea Scrolls, Prayers, Hymns, and Liturgy · Songs of Sabbath Sacrifice

7 purity rejoice in his glory. And there is a sound of blessing from all his divisions, telling of the firmaments of his glory, and his gates praise 8 with a voice of rejoicing. At the entrances of the gods of knowledge in the doorways of glory, and at all the goings out of the holy angels to their dominion, 9 the doorways of entrance and the gates of going out proclaim the glory of the King, blessing and praising all the spirits of 10 God when they go out and when they come in through the holy gates. And there is none among them who skips over a statute, and never against the words of 11 the King do they set themselves. They do not run from the way, and they do not linger outside his boundary. They are not too exalted for his missions,

160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q405

Colossians 2:18

New Testament

17 these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ! 18 Let no one who delights in false humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. 19 He has not held fast to the head from whom the whole body, supported and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.

80–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Colossians

References

... a number of scholars have compared the pre-Christian (c. 100 BC) Qumran text Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (or the Angelic Liturgy) to the error which Paul addresses in Colossians 2. Whereas the majority of the texts from Qumran have either few or brief references to heaven, in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice there is a substantial amount of attention given to the heavenly Temple and the angelic praise in the heavenly Temple ... In her examination, Carol Newsom describes the function of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice "as the means for a communion with angels in the act of praise, in short, as a form of communal mysticism." Furthermore, it is possible that the thirteen Songs were utilized as liturgy during a time of festival whereby the members join in the angelic heavenly worship ...

M. Jeff Brannon, The Heavenlies in Ephesians: A Lexical, Exegetical, and Conceptual Analysis (London: T&T Clark, 2011), 149–150.

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

Fragment 23 i

4Q40591 chapters

Compare 4Q405 23 i 9 and Colossians 2:18

Summary

Passages

4Q405 23 i 9

Colossians 2:18

References

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library