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THE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED PRIESTANDTHE DEATH OF JUDASRICK VAN DE WATER

Jerusalem

In a recent reassesmentof Jonathan he Hasmoneanas the WickedPriest of the Qumran esharim, he claim has been made that all othertheorieshave been refuted"once and for all."' Thereappears o havebeen ittleresponseo thisclaim,perhapsnpartbecause hat dentificationalreadyenjoys somethingof a consensus.One of the main argumentsfor Jonathanhas always been his death at the hands of gentiles (exe-cutedby Tryphon n 142 BCE), which is supposed o agreewith whatis said of the demise of the Wicked Priest in lQpHab and 4Q17 .2According to H. Stegemann,the Habakkukpesher even agrees withJonathan'sdeath outside Judea.3On the other hand, there are a number of reasons why suchconfidence n identifyingJonathan s the WickedPriestis misleading.To begin with, Stegemann'sassertionwas based on a highly ques-tionableinterpretationf the above-mentioned esher.4J. Carmignacand W. Brownlee have criticized taking as past events what couldactuallyrefer to futurepunishment, ccording o the verb tenses.5The

I E. Puech,"Jonathane pretre mpie et les debuts de la communautede Qumran.4QJonathan 4Q523)et 4QPsAp (4Q448),"RevQ 17 (1996) 241-70, esp. 269.2 E.g. G. Jeremias,Der Lehrer der Gerechtigkeit SUNT 2; Gottingen, 1963) 75.A.S. van der Woudehas recentlyasserted hat "all commentators"ee lQpHab 9:9-12as Jonathan'smurderby Tryphon "OnceAgain:The Wicked Priests n the HabakkukPesherfromCave I of Qumran,"RevQ 17 [1996] 383).3 H. Stegemann,Die Entstehungder QumrangemeindeBonn: privatelypublished,1971) 205-6.4 J. Murphy-O'Connor:I see no evidence for this"("TheEssenes and Their His-tory,"RB 81 [1974] 230 n. 67); M. Knibb:"by no means straightforward""Keepingup with Recent Studies: IIl. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Reflections on Some RecentPublications," xpTim90-1 [1978-80] 297).s J. Carmignac,Les Textesde Qumran raduitset annotes (Paris, Letouzey & And,1961) 1:55-6; W. Brownlee,"The Wicked Priest, the Man of Lies, and the RighteousTeacher-The Problemof Identity," QR 73 (1982) 7.

C KoninklijkeBrill NV, Leiden,2003 Dead Sea Discoveries 10, 3Also availableonline - www.brill.nl

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THE PUNISHMENTOF THE WICKED PRIESTAND THE DEATH OF JUDAS 397

WickedPriest,are behind Brownlee's conclusionthat,of all the pro-posed candidates, no single figure can be made to fit all the facts,"leastof all Jonathan."'3Brownlee attempted o resolve the above-mentionedproblems byoptingfor dropping he idea of the Wicked Priest as a single individ-ual.14 A.S. van der Woude has carried he idea further,using the per-fect and imperfectverbs in the WickedPriest references o argueforfive past Wicked Priests,as well as one contemporarywith the authorof lQpHab.'5A number of weaknesses in his hypothesis, however,have been pointedout as well.'6 Given these problems, he "Jonathanconsensus" s better describedas a generalacquiescence,based on agrowing frustrationwith reconstructionsf Qumranhistory from prob-lematic data.'7Past criticism of the Jonathan heoryhas been forgot-ten, and little effort has been made to test the validityof the presup-positionson which it is based.Such a test will be undertaken n this article.A literaryand the-matic comparisonwill be made between the references o the punish-ment of the WickedPriest and a similartraditionn early Christianity.It will be seen that both traditionsare based on the same exegeticalprinciples.In light of those principles, he statementsabout the pun-ishmentof the Wicked Priestdo not confirm hat he died at the handsof gentiles.His temporalpunishment, lready past, involvedsickness,as well as innerturmoil, nflictedby evil spiritual orces. His future,eschatological udgment s clearlydistinguishedrompast sufferingbythe use of verbalforms, as well as by contextualdifferences.The Language of the Punishment References

Midrashic n nature, he Wicked Priest referencesare imbued withbiblical themes, imageryand phraseology n a context understoodby13 Brownlee,"WickedPriest,"7; cf. idem, "The HistoricalAllusions of the DeadSea HabakkukMidrash,"BASOR 126 (1952) 10-20; and Van der Woude, "OnceAgain,"375.41Brownlee,"WickedPriest,"21.'5 Van der Woude,"Once Again,"376.16 T. Lim, "The Wicked Priests of the Groningen Hypothesis,"JBL 112 (1993)

415-25, esp. 417; In response,Van der Woudeadmittedproblems n his schema, butto Lim's argument hat it is "byno meansnecessary" o take'ISp' in 9:5 as habitualaction,he repliedthat since A. Janneuas s the "last priest," he verb cannot(!) referto the future "OnceAgain,"376).17 Equallyunfoundeds VanderWoude'sclaim hat"WickedPriest" as been"proven"to be a genericterm("OnceAgain," 382).

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398 RICK VAN DE WATERthe commentator nd his originalreaders.8In modemtimes,mistakeshave undoubtedlybeen made in applyingthe pesher languageto his-torical figuresand events, without properconsideration f its context.A good exampleis Dupont-Sommer'siteralapplication f the "Houseof Absalom" o an uncle of AristobulusnamedAbsalom!'9This arti-cle will involve looking at the broaderbiblicalbackground ehindtheidiomatic language of the Wicked Priest references.That backgroundwill help to clarify the intendedcontext, which, in turn, shouldshedsome light on whetheror not the commentators alludingto Jonathan.That muchof Qumran erminology s derivedfrom Psalms is par-ticularlyevidentin lQpHab,since the psalmshave influenced he pro-phecy of Habakkuk tself.20One of the lamentpsalmswhich has thestrongest literary and thematiclinks with Habakkuk s Psalm 37.21Aware of this connection,the authorof lQpHabuses languagefromPsalm 37 in his commentary on Hab. 2:17.22 The long-observed par-allels between lQpHaband the pesher on Psalm 37 (4Q171), more-over, suggest,if not a commonauthor,at least a commoninterpretivetradition.23Both identically take the persecutionof the "just one"by the "wicked one" in Habakkuk1 and Psalm 37 as prophecyofP:IS il'lT and his antagonists.24

18 E. Slomovic, "Toward an Understandingof the Exegesis in the Dead SeaScrolls," RevQ 7 (1969-1971) 5-15; W. Brownlee, The Midrash Pesher of Habakkuk(Missoula:ScholarsPress, 1979)23; idem,"WickedPriest,"17; G. Brooke, "QumranPesher:Towards he Definitionof a Genre,"RevQ 10 (1979-1981) 494, 502-3.

19 A. Dupont-Sommer, Observations sur le Commentaire d'Habacuc decouvert presde la Mer Morte (Paris:Acad6miedes Inscriptions t Belles-Lettres,1950)52.20 P. Humbert,Problemes du livre d'Habacuc (Neuchfatel: ecretariatde l'Uni-

versite, 1944)9-21, 173-80; M. Baillet, "Psaumes,hymnes, cantiqueset prieresdansles manuscrits de Qumran," Le Psautier. Ses origines. Ses problemes litteraires. Soninfluence ed. R. De Langhe,Louvain: nstitutOrienatiste,1962)404; B. Lindars,NewTestament Apologetic (London: SCM Press, 1961) 176; W.H. Bellinger, Psalmody andProphecy JSOTSup 7; Sheffield:AcademicPress, 1984)83.21 Cyrilof Alexandria,Comm. in Hab. Proph. [PG 71:873].W. Brownleeproposedthat the "revelation" f Hab. 2:2 is the messageof Ps. 37:22: "the meek shall inheritthe earth"("The PlacardedRevelationof Habakkuk," BL 82 [1963] 319-25); cf.P. Skehan,"Borrowingsrom the Psalms in the Book of Wisdom,"CBQ 10 (1948)384-97.22 lQpHab 12:2-8;cf. G. Brooke,"The Pesharimandthe Originsof the Dead SeaScrolls," Methods of Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Khirbet Qumran

Site. Present Realities and Future Prospects (eds M. Wise et al., New York: NYAcademyof Sciences, 1994) 350.23 The first sectionof lQpHab12:2-8 parallels he languageof 4Q1713-10 4:7-10,while the secondparallels4Q171 1-10, 2:9-16.24 J.A. SandersTheDead Sea Psalms Scroll (Ithaca,NY: CornellUniversity,1967)

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Exegetical parallels have long been observed between Qumranpesher and earlyChristian xegesis, includingan atomizingapproach,actualizationof biblical prophecy,and heavy use of psalmic themesand terminology.25erhaps he most strikingof those parallelsis thepeculiarmidrashicuse of a second textualreading.26One example inthe Mattheanaccountof Judas' death(Matt.27:3-10) has been called"the most elaborateproductof the Church's midrash pesher in theNew Testament."27This common groundis behind the assertionof 0. Betz that the"mostpromisingmethod" or comparisonof the scrollswith the NewTestament s the "tradition-historical ethod,which means the exam-ination of the interpretationf the Bible."28That advice provides thestarting-pointor the following comparisonof the Qumrandescriptionof the punishment f the Wicked Priest with earlyChristian raditionson the death of Judas. The focus will be on how psalmreferences othe punishment f the "wickedone"who betrayed he "justone"wereinterpreted s fulfilled in the demise of a specific individual.What theresults will suggest is a setting for the punishmentof the WickedPriest that does not coincide with what is assumed in the popularJonathan heory.Traditionson the Death of Judas

There are three early Christian traditionson the death of Judas:Matt.27:3-10, Acts 1:15-26, andPapias,frag. 3. For some time, theyhave intriguedmodem scholars,who have attemptedo solve the var-ious problemssurroundinghem.29Muchof the earlier scholarlywork137; E. Nielson, "The Righteousand the Wicked in Habakkuk," T 6 (1952) 54-78;W. Brownlee,"The Significanceof David's Compositions,"RevQ 5/4 (1966) 571-2.

25 E.g. L.W. Barnard, Studies in the Apostolic Fathers and their Background(Oxford:Blackwell, 1966) 87-8; Lindars,Apologetic,276.26 A. Dupont-Sommer,"Le Commentaired'Habacuc d6couvert pres de la MerMorte,"RHR 137 (1950) 143, 149; B. Gartner,"The HabakkukCommentary DSH)and the Gospel of Matthew,"ST 8 (1954) 1-24; K. Stendahl,TheSchool of St. Mat-thewandits Use of the Old TestamentPhiladelphia: ortress,19682)186;W. Brownlee,The Text of Habakkukn theAncientCommentaryrom Qumran Philadelphia: BLE,1959) 15, 119.27 Lindars,Apologetic, 116.28 O. Betz, "Qumran and the New Testament. Forty Years of Research," inMogilany1989. Paperson theDead Sea Scrolls offered n Memoryof Jean Carmignac(Kracow:EnigmaPress, 1993) 85.29 E.g. S. Liberty,"St. Peter's Speech in Acts 1:15-23," The Expositor7 (1909)77-88; A.D. Nock,"The Deathof Judas," TS25 (1924), 289-90; K. Lake,"TheDeath

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THE PUNISHMENTOF THE WICKED PRIEST AND THE DEATH OF JUDAS 403

recountingnot only Judas' change of mind, but also the rejectionofhis request,however,Matthewalso appears o be castingJudas as theanti-typeof Esau,whose regretat having given up his birthrightwasto no avail (Gen.27:38). The presentation f Esau as just such a typein Heb. 12:15-17shows literaryand thematicdependenceuponPsalm(54)55.42

Otherpsalmstraditionallyplacedin the contextof David and Ahi-tophel,or other traitor igures,can likewise be found in the Mattheanpassion narrative. n Matt. 27:4, for example,Judas' plea: "I sinned,delivering up innocent blood" (icapaeo-ig a1ia &O'&ov), as beenrelated, not only to Deut. 27:25, but also to its parallels n Jer. 19:4and Ps. 15:5.43 There are also numerousallusionsto Psalm 109. Mat-thew's mentionof the refusal of Judas' plea (27:4) echoes the psalmicphrases, "may he go out condemned.. . may there be none to helphim"(Ps. 109:7,12)."Jeromerecords hat anotherphrase n Ps. 109:7,"let his prayer be turned to sin" was seen as fulfilled in Judas'remorse and subsequentsuicide (Matt. 27:5).45 Still another phrase,"may strangersplunderhis labor,"in Ps. 109:11, appearsto be theinspiration for Matthew's mention of the graveyardfor strangers,boughtwith the fruit of his evil deed (Matt. 27:7). Even Jesus' state-ment: "woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is deliveredup;good were it for that man if he had never been born"(Matt. 26:24),echoes the curses in Ps. 109:6-19. The clear allusion to Ps. 109:25("people hake heirheadsat me inscorn")n the account f the crucifixionis yet another ndicationthat Psalm 109 was seen as a prophecyofJesus and his betrayer."6Matthew'suse of Psalm 35 has also been noted.47He joins it withremorse, as tears of anger and insult (In Epist. ad Hebraeos Xli, Hom. XXXI [PG63:215-16]).

42 C. Spicq, I'Epftreaux Hebreux Paris:Gabalda, 1953) 2:402; 0. Michel,"pgra-gEXowa," TDNT4:628. The "rootof bitterness"n Heb. 12:15refers to Deut. 29:18,which threatensa curse; cf. Isaac's curse of Esau in Jub. 35:14. Jewish traditionpre-sented Esau's ruddy nature as characteristicof a murderer Gen. Rab. 63:8, 120).Along the same lines, early Christian rt likens Cain and Judas o Esau by giving themred hair (cf. H. Maccoby,Judas Iscariot and the Myth of Jewish Evil [London:PeterHalban, 1992] 118; R. Melinkoff,"Judas'Red Hair and the Jews,"Journal of JewishArt 9 [19821 31-46; and Brown, Death, 2:1416).

43 Van Unnik, "Deathof Judas,"53-56; Senior, "Fate,"407-11.I Halas, Judas, 175-76.4S Jerome,Comm. n Matt. 27,4-5 (SC 259; Paris:Cerf, 1979) 274.4 Matt. 27:39 (= Mark 15:29).The Lucan parallel 23:35) alludes to Ps. (21) 22:8;cf. Lindars, Apologetic, 110.47 For the use of Psalm 35 in Matthew26-7, cf. Lindars,Apologetic,247-48. For

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404 RICK VAN DE WATER

Ps 109 to associate Judas' betrayal Matt.27:7, 9) with its proto-type,the plot against Jeremiah and the potter (Jeremiah 18-19).48 Given thatuse of Psalm 35, it is not unlikely thatMatthewsaw in the irony ofJudas' death the fulfillmentof MT Ps. 35:8 ("let his net that he hidcatch him; in destruction, et him fall into it").Such extensive and clearly midrashicuse of Psalms 35, 55, 69 and109 in recountingthe demise of Judas suggests underlyingsources.Could Matthew'straditionof Judas' deathbe based upon systematicpesharim produced to show fulfillment of prophecies in thosePsalms?49n any case, the general goal of Matthew'sgospel to showprophecy ulfillment,coupledwith the sheer numberof details in theaccountof Judas that coincide with Psalms of the betrayer, eaves lit-tle doubt as to the evangelist'sintention.Judas and the Psalms in Acts 1:15-26

Like Matthew'saccount,Luke's also relatesJudas'deathto prophe-cies in the Psalms. In fact, the whole thrust of Acts 1:15-26 is toshow howthe twoparticularerses n Psalms 68)69and(108)109proph-esied Judas' demise and the need to replacehim.50Luke may haveused a Semitic source in which the two psalmcitationswere alreadycombinedandappliedtogether o the death of Judasandthe necessityof choosinghis successor.5'Judas'purchaseof the field serves as a lead into the citation of Ps.

Judas' death and Ps. 35:8, cf. A. L6picier, Diatessaron seu Concordia QuatuorEvangeliorumRome: IstitutoPius IX, 1927)4:76.48 Given the observed iteraryrelationshipbetweenthose two psalmsand Jeremiah18, Matthew'sassociationof themis not unusual;cf. Kirkpatrick,salms, 175; M.-J.Lagrange,Evangileselon Saint Matthieu Paris:Gabalda, 1923) 516-17; R. Gundry,The Use of the Old Testament in St. Matthew's Gospel (Leiden: Brill, 1967) 125;Senoir,"Fate,"382; Benoit,Jesus, 197.49 On the fulfillment motif in Matt. 27:3-10, cf. E. Schweizer,The Good NewsAccording o Matthew Atlanta: ohnKnox, 1975) 504. On the redactional nity of thepassage,cf. Senior,"Fate,"420; and on the possibilityof sources,cf. G.D. Kilpatrick,The Origins of the Gospel according to Matthew (Oxford: Clarendon, 1946) 26, 46,81, 104.50D. Peterson,"The Motif of Fulfillmentand the Purpose of Luke-Acts,"TheBook of Acts in its First Century Setting (eds B. Winter & A. Clark, Grand Rapids:Eerdmans,1993) 94-100.1' C.C. Torrey,The Compositionand Date of Acts (Cambridge:UniversityPress,1916) 10, 24; M. Wilcox, The Semitismsof Acts (Oxford:Clarendon,1965); idem,"Judas-Tradition,"41; Haenchen,Acts, 160 n. 6; Dodd, Scriptures, 9; Menoud,"Lesadditions," 4.

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has usually been considereda "tall tale," fashioned after famousac-counts of the deaths of the wicked in order to emphasizethe horrorof Judas'punishment.6' look at theaccount n termsof psalm ulfillment,however,revealsthat the gruesomedetails functionas examplesof thefulfillmentof specific psalm prophecies,in the fashion of the NewTestament raditions.The descriptionof Judas' swollen body alludesto the "trialby water" n Num. 5:21, in proof of his guilt.62That allu-sion appears n Ps. 109:18 as well: "(the curse) has come like waterinto his bowels."Papias' tradition akes this literally,as propheticofJudas'swollen body.63Judas' eyes are also said to have been so swollen that he could notsee the lightat all, apparentlyn allusionto Ps. 69:23a ("lettheireyesbe darkened o that they cannotsee"). In the MT, this curse is imme-diately followed by "andlet their loins continuallyshake" (69:23b).Likewisein Papias' account,Judas'blindness s followed by mentionof the miserablestateof his genitals.6Tven closer to Ps. 36:36 (Gr)thanActs 1:18is Papias' statement hat Judasdied in "his own place."He thendescribeshow the stenchthere resulted n the field remaininguninhabited.This is an attempt, ike thatof the Acts, to show the lit-eral fulfillment of Ps. 69:25.65Anotherpointmadeby Papiasis thatJudas,afterliving throughhishanging,went walkingaboutthroughall the world, as a greatexam-ple of wickedness.The allusionis apparentlyo Cain,the prototype fboth the sheddingof innocent blood and being cursedfor it. In theCain story, there was death in a field, the ground was cursed byspilled blood, andthe guiltyone was sentenced o be a fugitiveand awandererover the earth (Gen. 4:8). Cain's curse is echoed in Psalm109.66 The details of Papias' traditionon the divine punishmentofJudas thus appearto be based on a propheticinterpretation f thePsalmsgenerallyconsistentwith that of the New Testament raditions.

Oecumenius, Comm. in Acta Apost. [PG 118:57]; Theophylact, Enarr. in Evang. Matt.[PG 123:459];cf. Lake,"TheDeathof Judas,"24; J. Herber"La mortde Judas,"RHR(1945-A)47-56; A.F. Walls,"Papiasand OralTradition,"VC 21 (1967) 137-40.61 E.g., Lake,"TheDeath of Judas,"25.62 F.H. Chase, "OnPRHNHSGENOMENOSn Acts 1,18,"JTS 13 (1912) 278-85.63 W. McKane,"Poison,Trial by Ordeal, and the Cup of Wrath,"VT 30 (1980)474-92.64 Schweizer,Matthew,503; Lake,"TheDeathof Judas,"30.65 Schweizer,Matthew, 503.66 Compare osephus,Ant. i 2, 1, 58, with Ps. 109:10"and et his sons alwayswan-der";also van Unnik, "Deathof Judas,"54.

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THE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED PRIEST AND THE DEATH OF JUDAS 407

Judas and the Psalms in ApocryphalTextsStories of Judas in a numberof early Christianapocryphaltextscontainpsalminterpretationhatis strikingly imilarto what has beenseen in Matthew,Acts and Papias. One of the most interesting s theBook of the Resurrection f Jesus Christ,attributedo Bartholomewthe apostle.67Like Matthew's tradition,this work asserts that Judashung himself. It adds that he did so, hoping to meet Jesus in Hadesand implorehim for salvation.68 he same idea appears n the Psalms,particularlyn the MTof Ps. 10:5-13.Having descendedto Amente to release the captives from prison,Jesus rebukes Judas with words that are clearly a composite ofpsalmic texts, particularly rom the curses upon the wicked man inPsalms (68)69 and (108)109. Thirty snakes, which are sins, fill hismouth"so that they might devourhim".69This vividly illustrates heextent to which the early Christianscarriedthe applicationof psalmtexts to Judas. In fact, the whole scenariodramatizes he threatof Ps.(49)50:21b,addressed o the "wickedman"who ran with thieves andscandalizedhis brother: Iwill reproveyou and will standbeforeyou"

(napaatixao Kata zcpo6awirvot).Like Papias' tradition, his text also includes Cain-Judas ypology,relating hatJesusleft only threesouls in hell: Cain,Herod,andJudas.The reasongiven for the choice is that Judasdeliveredup the Lord,just as Cain rose up againsthis own brotherand killed him.70Thatdepictionof the demise of the wicked echoes the assertion in Wis.4:19 that"theyshall be objects of scornamongthe dead forever."7'The Acts of Thomasalso relatesJudas with Cain and Herod in thecontext of demonicpossession.The serpentclaims that he stirredCain67 P. Lacau,"Fragments 'apocryphes optes,"Memoirespublieespar les membresde l'institutrancais d'archeologieorientalede Caire 9 (Cairo:IFAOC,1904) 39-77;E. Budge, "The Book of the Resurrectionof Jesus Christ by Bartholomew theApostle,"CopticApocrypha n the Dialect of UpperEgypt (London:BritishMuseum,1913) 179-215; E. Revillout,"LesApocryphes optes" [PO2:123-198].68 Cf. Theophylact,Enarr. in Evang.Matt.(PG 123:459].69 Budge,"Book of the Resurrection,"85-6; Lacau,Memoires,67. The removalofJudas' garmentof glory (line 5) recalls the guest addressedas "friend" 'ETaipe) inMatt.22:11-13, who is speechless(i(ptg(*9 cf. Wis. 4:19c a(pOvou;),and then, forlack of the propergarment, s thrown nto "outerdarkness"with "grindingof teeth;"cf. John 13:30; Ps. 11:10(Gr);Gundry,Use of the Old Testament, 7.70 Revillout,Apocryphes,187. For Caintypology in the New Testament, f. I John3:12, Jude 11; P. Perkins,NJBC, 991.71 CompareActs 1:18 with Wis. 4:19 ("becauseHe will burstthem, silent, head-long"),which is in the contextof the persecution f the "justone" (Wisdom2-5).

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to kill Abel, that he was behind Herod's false accusationof Jesusbefore Pilate, and that he bribedJudasto deliver himup. What ollowsincludes elements in common with all three death-of-Judasraditions:But the serpent,being swollen (Papias),burstanddied, andhis poison and gallpouredout (Acts 1:18) .. And the apostle said.. . "Send workmenand fill upthat place . .. that it may become a dwelling place for the strangers" (Matt.26:34; 27:7).72

This use of the psalms in apocryphalwritingsthusbearswitnesstothe wider interpretivebackgroundout of which our three death-of-Judasaccounts merged.Thisbackground rovides contemporary odelwith which to compare he scroll references o the punishment f theWicked Priest.Past Punishment f the WickedPriest

The firstpassage to be considered s lQpHab8:13-9:2. It consistsof a text of Hab. 2:7, followed by its interpretation.he personwhomthis prophecyconcerns s the "manin high office"(-rm m::) of Hab.2:5, interpretedas "the Wicked Priest"in 8:3, and "the priest whorebelled" in 8:16. This reference to rebellion (cf. 8:11) could alludeto his betrayalof p-n; iM1non the Day of Atonement 11:5-8),whichmay have resulted in the shedding of blood (9:8). In this context,the phraseMDnsIMPOOM9:1) would then conform with Habakkuk'sprophecy, which presents the traitor's demise as the lex talionis.74The text of Hab.2:7 cited in 8:14 containsthe variant%;?pTh.osttranslatorshave followed the MT readingnqp' (fromNp'), ignoringthe variant.Brownlee,on the otherhand, saw the referenceto "evildiseases" (VX1 a'5nD) in 9:1 as indicativeof an understanding flYP"as "(they) sicken"(fromNlp).75 He also readWin) n 9:1 in that

72 Acts of Thomas, 32-33. Recalling Rev. 12:4, the story is symbolic, as explainedby Maximus the Confessor: "God becomes perfect man, then. . . He offered his fleshas a bait, to provoke the insatiable dragon to devour the flesh which he was greedilypursuing. This flesh would be poison to the dragon, destroying him utterly by thepower of the divinity in it" (Capitum QuinquiesCentenorum Centuria 1:11; PG 90:1182-3);cf. Lake, "The Death of Judas," 28.

73 Despite the lacuna in 8:17, the relationship between the biblical text and itspesher indicates reference to -III Im: in Hab. 2:5 (Brownlee, Midrash Pesher, 147).74 Exod. 21:24; Deut. 19:21; cf. M.E. Szeles, Wrath and Mercy. A Commentary onthe Books of Habakkuk and Zephaniah, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987) 35.7 Brownlee,Text of Habakkuk, 1. The MT reading s a hapax legomenon,while

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includesthe text of Hab.2:8bwith its interpretation.hedding urtherlight on the "abominable cts"committedby the WickedPriest(9:1),it interprets man'sshedblood"in Hab.2:8 as referring o an offense,(111D)gainst Pnx -i711and his council (9:9-10). In the canonicalPsalms,the termpIUDs translated onsistentlyas avopia. Thereand inthe prophets, t recursin the contextof the "justone" persecutedbythe "wickedone." Of particularpertinencehere is its use in the twoabove-mentioned mprecatoryPsalms in which the just one intonescurses upon the wicked, by whom he has been victimized. In Ps.68:26-7 (Gr)he pleads:"theyhave added to the grief of my wounds.Add iniquityto their iniquity."85his use of Jv/&avogiiaor a crimeagainsta righteouspersonandsubsequentdivine punishmentoincideswith its use in lQpHab9:8-10.A second exampleis found in both the MTand GreekreadingsofPs. (108)109:14:"Letthe iniquityof his fathersbe remembered y theLord."As mentionedabove, this imprecations included n a stringofcurses upon the "wicked one" (DO1)who, in returnfor friendship(109:5),has caused the deathof the "poorone"(109:16).Hereagain,the word p'Ivappears n the contextof judgmentupona wicked manfor causing the bloodshedof a righteousone. Its use in the parallelcontextof lQpHab9:9 againevokes the lamentpsalms.The authorofthe pesher sees p-7 rinm as the "just one," and the Psalms haveprophesiednot only his death,butalso the punishment f the "wickedman"whose iniquitycaused it.86A clarification f the previouspassagecan be seen in lQpHab9:10.Becauseof the iniquitydone to pIS nlinand the men of his council,the WickedPriest was given by God into the powerof his enemies.Here, the agents of his punishmentare clearly designated.A choicemust be made as to whether ines 10-11 describea punishmentdif-ferentfromthatof 9:2, or whether t was in fact these"enemies"whoinflicted heevil diseasesandvengefulacts on his body.Brownlee, orwhom the agents of punishment n 9:2 are "pain-inflictingangels,"surprisinglyook the "enemies"of line 11 as humans.This forcedhimto read D: in line 11 as "blow,"ratherthan "affliction."87s men-tionedabove in regard o 'DUf: n 9:1, however,the biblicaluse of =

85 Cf. the Hexapla reading; MT reads: "to the pain of those you pierced, they gos-sip. Give iniquity to their iniquity."86 Brownlee took GMKmn-n Hab. 2:8b in reference to p mr 1n (Midrash Pesher,155).87 Brownlee, Midrash Pesher, 156, who read the term with the presupposition that

it was related to the death of some Hasmonean figure.

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Anotherbiblical idiom is the expression,CD n'mr ("bittemessofsoul"),in lQpHab9:11.93 At the head of the list of cursesin Leviticus26 upon those who reject God's statutesand hate God's judgmentare diseases "destroying he eyes and consumingthe soul" (26:16).Similarwordingis used of Esau, who sufferedremorseafterhavingforfeitedhis birthright nd let out a greatand bitter(vnn) cry (Gen.27:34).94There is no constraining vidence, then, that the sufferingsof theWicked Priestas described n lQpHab9:8-12 were at the handsofhumans.On the contrary, he associationwith the "diseases"of 9:2,as well as the introduction f the "bitterness f soul"leave quiteopenthe possibilitythat the "enemies" n 9:10 are the same spiritualene-mies who causedhis sickness.FuturePunishment f the WickedPriest

As mentionedat the outset, one of the two passagesfrom whichthenotionof the deathof the WickedPriest at the handsof gentileshasbeen derived s the phrase,"Godwill hand down his judgment n themidst of manypeoples"(lQpHab 10:3-4). It appliesthe secondwoein Hab. 2:9-11 to a "priest" 9:16),whom some would like to identifyas the Wicked Priest. It is conceivable, however, that this "priest"refers to someoneelse. In any case, the verbaltenses in the imperfect,as well as reference o resurrection nd"fireof sulfur" line 5) clearlypoint to an eschatological context, rather than a past event.95Anotherextendedpassage (lQpHab 11:2-12:6)also deals with thepunishmentof the Wicked Priest. It consists of the citationof Hab.2:15-17, each verse being followed by its interpretation. he biblicaltext constitutes he fourthandfinal"woe"of the prophecy.Two pointsrelate the passage to punishment.The first is the event described,which, as notedabove, has been relatedto the "offense"againstn-i-lip1x in 9:9. The second is the term"ri, which is taken as connotingimpendingpunishment.The offenseagainstpM; nmrlis described n termsof drunkenness.Some have tried to take this literally,relating t to the drinkinghabits

93 E.g. 1 Sam. 1:10;22:2; 30:6; 2 Sam. 4:17.94 See also IQH 8:28, 37; 11:19;and Philo,on spiritualwoundscausedby sin (Onthe Migration of Abraham, ? 124).95 Van der Woudesees this personas already n Sheol ("OnceAgain,"378).

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of particularHasmoneanhigh priests.96Given the nature of pesher,however, what is moreprobable s the use of anotherwell-knownbib-lical motif: the images of wine, cup, drinking,and drunkennessn thedepictionof anger.97A citation of Hab. 2:16 and its pesher follows. Here the pastwrathof the Wicked Priest,in his act againstpMrirrnD 1:5-6), is counter-balancedby the comingwrathof God in judgmentuponhim. Like hiswrath, the WickedPriest's attempt o "swallow up"p-N ilin and hiscouncil (11:7) is counteredby the prospectof God swallowinghimup(11: 15).98What is of importanceo this inquiry s the imperfectverb 11Mbnnin 11:15.Carmignacwas adamant hat this use of the imperfect ndi-cates not a past, but a futurepunishment.99. Jeremias ikewise feltthat the "cup of the wrath of God" should be interpreted schatologi-cally.'??Otherssimply ignoredverb forms, treatingall references topunishmentas if referring o the past.For Brownlee,the imperfectmerited an explanation.He proposedthat it indicates events following the death of p):w il71, or predictedby him.'0'In an effortto relate lQpHab 11:15 to the references o pastpunishment,however,he thenreconstructedhe word "sickness" romthe mere tip of a lamed, barely visible in line 16. Though ingenious,the proposal was too speculative to warrantserious consideration.There is no constraining vidence, then, that the punishmentn 11:15is a past event.A third section of this passage consists of the remainderof Hab.2:17 with its interpretation.he idea thatthe WickedPriest s doomedto destruction s derived from the biblical text, part of which is miss-ing in 11:17. The MTcontains the imperfectverb 'p? . Whatever heverb was in 11:17, it seems to have been linked in a parallelismwiththe variant rnrnrn 12:1.102The interpreter pparently ook either orboth of the verbs as referring o a futurerecompense bl=) thatwouldbefall the Wicked Priest (12:2-3), when "God will condemn him to

I Cf. Brownlee,MidrashPesher, 194-95.9 E.g. Ps. 60:3; 75:8; Isa. 51:17, 21-22; 63:1-6; Jer. 25:16-17; Ezek. 23:32-34.98 The continuityn Hab.2:15-16, as well as in the interpretation,rgues that "thepriest" n 11:12 is the Wicked Priest. Cf. Bruce,Second Thoughts,99.9 Carmignac,Textes,50.0 Jeremias,Der Lehrer,58.101Brownlee, "Wicked Priest," 34-35.10 Brownlee, Midrash Pesher, 197.

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destruction"12:5).'03There is nothingdemanding he connectionofthis referencewith the past punishment f the WickedPriest n 8:13.'?0FuturePunishmentn 4QpPs.37 4:7-10

The final passageto be considered s perhaps he most important fall, for it has playeda majorrole in the theoriesmentionedat the out-set. It appearsin 4Q171, from a continuouscommentaryon Psalm37,105 In the passage underconsideration,he text of Ps. 37:32-33 isfollowed by its interpretation. he thematicrelationshipbetweenPs.37:32-33 and Habakkuk1-2 is obvious. In both, the "wickedone"seeks to trapthe "just one," and there is an intentionto pervert us-tice; but, in the end, the "justone"is vindicated.This commonthemeis undoubtedly ehindthe similaritybetween the interpretationsf thetwo texts, both of which are seen as prophesying he attemptof theWicked Priest uponp-NMlt1.'06A couple of observationscan be made here. First, the text of Ps.37:32-33, which concerns the trial of the "just one", says nothingabout udgmentuponthe "wickedone."Nothingthereforewarrants nabruptchange from pInr inin to the Wicked Priest in the pesher(4Q171 4:9). In the attemptto make such a transition,some havefollowed J. Allegro's original renderingof h1 as "but".'07WhileG. Vermes' translation"and" s moreliteral,it makeseven moreim-probable a sudden switch to the Wicked Priest.'08Grammaticallyspeaking, t is unlikelythatthe pronoun"he"wouldsuddenlybe intro-ducedwithout an antecedent.Given the two negations n 4:9, a morelikely alternative is 15*1 The extra letter fills up the space of thelacunamoreadequately.All three phrasesof the interpretation ouldthen refer to p-[ liD, in agreementwith the text of Ps. 37:33.Thoughthe certaintyof this proposedreading s impossibleto estab-

I'l Brownleesupplied"livestock" rom the MT reading,as the implied object of"will snatch away." In its pual form, however, the verb would be read "will besnatchedaway," and couldbe takenas referringo the Wicked Priest.'0 Cf. Callaway, History, 161.105 Tracesof a pesheron Psalm 45 at the end of 4Q171 suggestthat it was a com-mentaryon a numberof Psalms groupedarounda common heme (Horgan,Pesharim,

201).'1 Brooke, "Pesharim,"344-45.107 E.g. Gaster,Scriptures, 329; Garcia Martinez,Dead Sea Scrolls, 205.'0' Vermes, Scrolls in English,292; cf. Puech:"Quanta lui" ("Jonathane pretreimpie,"268).

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is presented as a past event is the bodily sufferingof the WickedPriest, apparentlyhrough ickness(lQpHab 8:13-9:2). It was seen asdivine punishment or his transgressions, nd was carriedout by hisbeing handedover to hostile demonicforces ("enemies").Other passages in which imperfectverbs are used in referencetothe punishment f the WickedPriest(lQp Hab 11:2-12:6)concern afuture, eschatological judgment, and should not be confused withevents of the past. This confirms the assertion of P. Callaway that"one cannot speak of the actual death of a high priest, the WickedPriest, amongor by the hands of Gentiles.""'Thatconfirmation on-stitutesa serious problem or the Jonathan heory.The Punishment f the WickedPriest and Judas

Early Christian raditionpresentsJudas' punishmentn the biblicalcontext of the Levitical curses, Davidic typology and the psalmictheme of the traitor-friend f the righteoussufferer.His bodily tor-ment,in the formof disease, is seen as the fulfillmentof the plaguesto befall an Israelitewho betraysinnocentblood. This physicalsuf-feringis accompaniedby inner tormentas well. SinceJudas'rebellionhas led him outside the spiritualboundariesof the covenant commu-nity,he is handedover to afflictionby the forcesof evil."6His demiseis not only temporal,butincludesan eschatologicaldimensionas well.In all of these aspects,thereare strikingparallelswith the Qumranpresentation f the punishmentof the WickedPriest.Likewise basedupon a propheticreadingof the Psalms of the righteoussufferer, heQumran raditionactualizes references o the "wickedone," identify-ing him as a personin the author'stime. The same psalm terminol-ogy is related to that theme. In the contextof Davidic typology,theWickedPriest, ikeJudas,s presented s a once-noble igurewhobecamea traitorof the "justone"throughgreed."'The punishmentof the Wicked Priest, like that of Judas, is por-trayed n termsof prophetic"woes"befallingthosewho rebelagainst

II Callaway, History, 157.116 Cf. 0. Betz,"TheDichotomizedServantandthe Endof JudasIscariot Lighton

the DarkPassages: Matthew24,51 and parallel;Acts 1:18),"RevQ5 (1964) 43-58;K. Weber,"Is There a QumranParallelto Matthew24,51/Luke 12, 46?," RevQ 16(1995) 657-63; also 1 Cor.5:5; Luke 13:16;Acts 13:11."I Along these lines is the "House of Absalom"(lQpHab 5:9), and the greedbehindthe act of treacheryn lQpHab8:9-11; also John 12:6; Matt. 26:14.

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THE PUNISHMENTOF THE WICKED PRIEST AND THE DEATH OF JUDAS 417God.118 oth the WickedPriestandJudas,guiltyof shedding nnocentblood, are judged by the lex talionis, receiving in like kind for theirevil deeds."'9n bothcases, the suffering hey have undergone s seenas divine punishment.As to the form of thatpast punishment,he Qumran radition oin-cides with both Papias and the Coptictraditions n describingdiseaseor plague in terms of the Pentateuchal urses upon an Israelitewhobetrays nnocent blood.'20Like Judas,the Wicked Priest has put him-self outsidethe spiritualprotectionof the yahad, subjectinghimself toafflictionby demonic "enemies".'2' n an exceptionallyvivid way, theQumran nterpretation f "thosebitingyou" (Hab. 2:7) parallelsboththe Coptic image of Judas filled with snakes and the suggestion ofdemonicpossessionbehindthe Lucanaccount of Judasbursting.'22Both the Qumran raditionand the Judastraditionsncludespiritualsuffering n addition to the physical. Matthew'semphasis on Judas'remorse and subsequent uicide is echoed in the "bitternessof soul"experiencedby the Wicked Priest.'23 othQumranandChristian radi-tions stress an additional uture udgment n the afterlife,again in ful-fillment of prophecy.'24 his eschatological udgmentof the "wickedone" will set arightthe distortionof justice thatresultedin the con-demnationof the just one.'25Throughthese parallels emerges a much differentpicture of thepunishment f the Wicked Priestthanthatassumedby most theorists.What is normally aken as the evidence for maltreatment r deathatthe hand of gentilesis so fragmentary s to leave unclearwhether he

118 lQpHab8:7; 11:2;Matt.26:24.'9 lQpHab9:1; 12:2-3; Acts 18-19.'2 Lev. 26:14; Deut. 27:25; 28:15. CompareMatt. 27:5 with lIQT. 64:7-8, whichspecifies the generic"capitaloffense" in Deut. 21:22-23, for which the penaltywas"hangingon a tree,"as the crime of betrayalof one's peopleto a foreignnation(cf.J.M. Baumgarten,"Does TLH in the Temple Scroll Refer to Crucifixion?,"BL 91[1972] 473; J. Fitzmyer,"Crucifixionn AncientPalestine,QumranLiteratue, nd theNew Testament,"CBQ 40 [1978] 503).

121 JosephusmentionsthatexpelledEssenes"often died after a miserablemanner"(War2,8.8 ?143).122 For the associationof snakes with spiritual"enemies," f. Mark16:17-18;Luke

10:19("serpents.. anduponall the power of the enemy");I Cor. 10:10-11. Cf. alsoLuke22:3. The story n theActsof Thomas above)relatesLuke's tradition o demonicpossession;cf. Brown,Death, 2:1410.123 Matt.27:3-5; 1QpHab9:11.124 lQpHab10:4-5; 12:5;John 17:12;Acts 1:25.125 lQpHab 1:12-16; Matt.27:3.

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418 RICK VAN DE WATERvictim is the WickedPriestor p-t iFrlr. On the otherhand,the pastpunishmentof the Wicked Priest is clearly presentedas sufferingcausedby disease and innerturmoil.Since nothingwarrantsconcludingpast violence at the hands ofgentiles, that assertioncannotbe considereda valid argument or theidentification f the WickedPriestas Jonathan.The search or thecor-rect historical dentificationhouldfocus insteadupon candidateswhosuffereddisease, as well as intenseemotionalsuffering. f the WickedPriestwas seenin termsof Davidic typologyas thefriendwhobetrayed,then such expressionsas "calledby the nameof truth" 1QpHab8:9)and"rebelled"8:16) shouldalso be reconsidered, ot in termsof highpriesthood,but in termsof discipleshipunderpr7 IT-1r26A host of otherquestionsare raisedas to the natureof this com-mon punishmenttradition.That shared interpretivebackgroundismade even more intriguingby the strikingresemblancesbetweenthegeneral nterpretationf Habakkuk's rophecy n IQpHabandin earlyChristianwritings.The frequentcitationsandallusionsto the Book ofHabakkukn the New Testament uggestthatit was interpretedhris-tologically.In the account of Paul's preaching n Acts, for example,Hab. 1:5 is citedalongwith two Psalmsseen as propheciesof the res-urrectionof Jesus (13:33-41).The "traitors"n Hab. 1:5 are takenasreferringto the unbelievingJews who were behind his crucifixion.This parallelslQpHab2:1, whereHab. 1:5 is appliedto the rejectionof pSI n 1127Anotherexampleof directcitationoccursin Rom. 1:17,whereHab.2:4 not only constitutesthe key to the literarystructureof Romans1-8, but is taken as an announcementof the age of grace.'28LikelQpHab 8:2, which takes the prophet'sterm"faith"as referring ofaith in p-I flr, Paul takes it as referring o faith in Jesus.'29 n

126 "Rebelled"would refer specificallyto his act of agressionagainst17-1: ,rather hana genericrebellionagainstGod.127 Cf. J. Dupont,L'utilisation apologetique de l'Ancien Testament dans les dis-cours des Actes (Leuven:UniversityPress, 1953) 302. F.F. Bruce used Acts 13:41tospeculateon what forma continuousChristian esher on Habakkukwould have takenin Biblical Exegesis in the Qumran Texts (The Hague: Uitgeverijvan KeulenN.V.,1959) 71.12Y A. Feuillet,"La citationd'Habacuc11.4et les huitpremiers hapitresde l'6pitre

aux Romains,"NTS 6 (1959) 52-80.129 J.A. Sanders,"Habakkuk n Qumran,Paul, and the Old Testament,"JR 39(1959) 233; J. Fitzmyer,To Advance he Gospel(New York:Crossroad,1981)242; cf.Heb. 10:37-39 and its re-organizationn pesher form by Bruce (Biblical Exegesis,72-72); Gal. 3:11.

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