The Scepter and the Star: The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature (1995 Collins), book

The Scepter and the Star: The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature (1995) is a book by John J. Collins.

Abstract

With the complete facsimiles of the Dead Sea Scrolls finally published, Collins is able to produce the first work on messianism in the Scrolls which takes into account all of the material. Although the old scholarly paradigm of a monolithic Jewish messiah during the second temple period had long since disappeared, many scholars still had misconceptions concerning the concept(s) of messiah in the Scrolls, largely due to not having access to all of the material. Collins here attempts to correct these misconceptions and show the dynamism of messianic concepts within the Scrolls. In this examination, looking at the various messianic concepts also in the Hebrew Bible and in other Jewish literature of the second temple period, Collins sees four basic messianic paradigms spread throughout the literature: kingly (Davidic), priestly, prophetic, and heavenly. In the end, Collins argues that there was no uniform notion of the messiah, although the royal, Davidic paradigm was the dominant messianic concept (as seen from the wide variety of disparate groups that held to this concept in some fashion), with the others being minor strands in comparison. He also argues against the concept of two major, mutually exclusive messianic ideals – the Davidic messiah and the Son of Man. Instead, each is comprised of a cluster of motifs which often appear to overlap with one another. Instead we should look at a “spectrum of messianic expectation” ranging from earthly, human messiahs to heavenly messiahs. Collins’ study is an extremely important step in the scholarly discussion of messianism during the second temple period due to the fact that he not only shows the wide diversity of messianic concepts (including diversity within the DSS themselves), but also because he acknowledges the points of contact on this issue among the diverse groups during this period. – Jason Zurawski, University of Michigan

Editions and translations

Published in New York, NY: Doubleday, 1995. Reissued in New Haven, CT: Yale University, 2007.

Table of contents

• 1. Messianism and the Scrolls
• 2. The Fallen Booth of David: Messianism and the Hebrew Bible
• 3. A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse
• 4. The Messiahs of Aaron and Israel
• 5. Teacher, Priest and Prophet
• 6. A Throne in the Heavens
• 7. The Messiah as the Son of God
• 8. The Danielic Son of Man
• 9. Messianic Dreams in Action