1QS 3

Community Rule
Dead Sea Scrolls

The Master shall instruct all the sons of light and shall teach them the nature of all the children of men according to the kind of spirit which they possess, the signs identifying their works during their lifetime, their visitation for chastisement, and the time of their reward. From the God of Knowledge comes all that is and shall be. Before ever they existed He established their whole design, and when, as ordained for them, they come into being, it is in accord with His glorious design that they accomplish their task without change. The laws of all things are in His hand and He provides them with all their needs.

1 Thessalonians 5:5

New Testament

3 Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would. 5 For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. 6 So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.

 Notes and References

"... As a designation of Christian disciples Paul uses the expression huioi photos, 'sons of light'. Though the counterpart 'sons of darkness' is not found in his writings, or anywhere else in the New Testament, the phrase echoes a peculiarly dualistic way of thinking. The figurative use of huios is a Septuagintism ... but the Semitic phrase used to distinguish all humanity into two groups as 'sons of light' or 'sons of darkness' is not found in the Old Testament or in later rabbinic literature. Yet it has turned up often in Qumran literature as a favorite way of designating members of the sectarian community ... it is thus striking that Paul's designation of Christian disciples makes use of an anarthrous Semitic sounding phrase that is the exact Greek counterpart of such a Palestinian sectarian Jewish locution ..."

Fitzmyer, Joseph A. According to Paul: Studies in the Theology of the Apostle (pp. 28-29) Paulist Press, 1993

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