Texts in conversation

Compare Malachi 4:6 and 4Q521 5:2

Hebrew Bible · Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts

Summary

Malachi promises that Elijah will turn fathers and sons toward each other. In 4Q521 from the Dead Sea Scrolls, fathers come to their sons amid blessing and joy, echoing the promise without naming Elijah.

Passages

Malachi 4:6

Hebrew Bible

4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey. 5 Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons, and the hearts of the sons to their fathers¹⁰, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.”

500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Malachi

4Q521 5:2

Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts · A Messianic Apocalypse

1 and the statute of your kindness, and I will set them free with [… for] 2 it is certain: the fathers are coming to the sons. [Blessed …] 3 whom the blessing of the Lord in his good will […] 4 the land rejoiced in every place […] 5 for all Israel in rejoicing […]

100–50 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q521

References

“... This messianic figure in 4Q521 2 II + 4 line 1 has been identified with an eschatological prophet after the model of Elijah by J.J. Collins. Collins supports this identification of the messianic figure as ‘Elijah redivivus’ through comparison with 4Q521 2 III 1–2 that mentions return of the fathers to the sons and echoes Mal 3:24. [...] According to this interpretation, the messianic figure is the one who will proclaim good news to the poor, but a connection with 4Q521 2 III 1–2 and the role of the messianic figure does not appear established. 4Q521 2 III 1–4 envi- sions eschatological circumstances of restoration, blessing of the Lord, and joy everywhere on earth, perhaps concomitant with or subsequent to the good tidings heralded by the messianic figure in 4Q521 2 II + 4. [...] A number of factors complicate the identification of the messianic figure with ‘Elijah redivivus’. Elijah is not named as such in any of the fragments of 4Q521 ...”

Albert L. A. Hogeterp, Expectations of the End: A Comparative Traditio-Historical Study of Eschatological, Apocalyptic, and Messianic Ideas in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, STDJ 83 (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 446–447.

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

Fragment 2 iii

4Q52116 chapters

Compare Malachi 4:6 and 4Q521 5:2

Summary

Passages

Malachi 4:6

4Q521 5:2

References

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