Texts in Conversation
In Psalm 146, God frees prisoners and gives sight to the blind. In 4Q521 from the Dead Sea Scrolls, these acts become promises for the future, and the list grows to include raising the dead, something the psalm does not mention.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Psalm 146:8
Hebrew Bible
5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. 6 The one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who remains forever faithful, 7 vindicates the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry. The Lord releases the imprisoned. 8 The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. The Lord loves the godly. 9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner. He lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked. 10 The Lord rules forever, your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come. Praise the Lord!
4Q521 2 ii 8
A Messianic Apocalypse
Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts
5 For the Lord seeks out the faithful and calls the righteous by name. 6 Over the humble his spirit hovers, and the faithful he renews with his strength. 7 For he will honor the faithful on the throne of an everlasting kingdom, 8 setting prisoners free, opening the eyes of the blind, raising up those who are bowed down. 9 And forever I will cling to those who hope, and in his kindness … 10 and the fruit of a good [deed] will not be delayed for anyone. 11 And the Lord will do glorious things that have not been, as he [said]. 12 For he will heal the wounded and give life to the dead; he will bring good news to the humble, 13 and the [poor] he will satisfy, the uprooted he will lead, and the hungry he will make rich,
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Notes and References
“... quotes Psalm 146:7-8 (line 8) and Isaiah 61:1 (line 12). Just before the citation that recognizably comes from Isaiah 61 (“he will bring good news to the afflicted”), the text adds two activities not found in either Psalm 146 or Isaiah 61: “for he will heal the wounded, and he will bring the dead to life”. ...”
Stuckenbruck, Loren T.
"The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament" in Dávid, Nóra, and Armin Lange (eds.) Qumran and the Bible: Studying the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls
(p. 154) Peeters, 2010
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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