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The nature and the social context of Instruction were often discussed in the scholarship. Its relatively high number of copies that have been found in Qumran, and a series of shared literary, linguistic and ideological similarities to compositions often closely associated with the Qumran movement led scholars to debate the attribution of Instruction to this group of texts. This paper argues that the pericope in 4Q418 frg. 81, which uses extensively priestly language and metaphors, reflects similar social context and structure as the Community Rule, and therefore Instruction should be placed among the writings of the community. I will use two-stage analysis of the pericope, which will offer insight on the identity of the addressee, and try to bring some fresh insights on the literary unity of the composition.

This article is focussed on the question how to interpret the phrase בני שית in 4Q417 1 i 15. The analysis is based on a novel reconstruction of the preceding word, which is only poorly preserved. The common reconstructions (namely עו)ו(נות ,עולות or עלילות) have a negative meaning. Hence, the בני שית are understood as a group that will be punished by God due to their sins. However, it is also possible to reconstruct עבודת in 4Q417 1 i 15. In contrast to the other suggestions this word not only fits the gap properly, but is also attested several times throughout 4QInstruction. Following this reconstruction, 4Q417 1 i 15f. indicates that the reward for the “ser[vic]e of the sons of Seth” has already been determined. Consequently, 4QInstruction uses the term בני שית in a positive way to denote the elect and builds on a tradition that praises Seth as well as his offspring.

To paraphrase Victor Shklovsky, the idea that 4QInstruction presents a combination of distinct apocalyptic and sapiential components has survived the downfall of the theory that supports it. Scholars increasingly describe wisdom and apocalypticism as coexistent, mutually influencing currents of thought within a broader Hellenistic environment. Nevertheless, characterizations of their co-presence in texts like 4QInstruction tend to rely upon more simple, typological notions. This paper explores how the relationships of similarity and difference among various texts alter significantly when we discard such typologies and instead adopt a more complex, structural approach to the logic underlying their discursive components. I discuss several texts from Proverbs, Job, Daniel, and Ben Sira, but I focus on 4QInstruction, which I argue presents apocalyptic-infused teachings within a framework that is congruent with-even more logically rigorous than-traditional wisdom. However, amidst Second Temple Judaism's heightened concerns with knowledge, this logical advance accompanies dangerous sociopolitical consequences.

This volume consists of an edition, a translation and a commentary of the key fragments of 4QInstruction. The scroll combines, in a new way, the practice of Wisdom and the understanding of eschatological judgment. This study substantially illuminates our comprehension of the Wisdom movement and of its influence in the early intertestamental period.

The Hebrew Bible is quoted and alluded to in 4QInstruction. There is an obvious similarity between the way the raz nihyeh of 4QInstruction and Lady Wisdom in Proverbs 8 function. This intertextual study investigates this phenomenon by comparing 4Q416 2 III 8–21 and 4Q417 1 I with Proverbs 8:12–21 and 8:22–31. It is concluded that apocalyptic influence changed the character of Lady Wisdom but not her essential function.

The “firstborn son” in 4Q369 1 ii line 6 is interpreted by the vast majority of scholars as referring to a Davidic Messiah vis-à-vis an allusion to Psalm 89:27–28. The minority view is that “firstborn son” in 4Q369 refers to “Israel,” which is supported by multiple attestations to such a tradition in early Jewish literature. However, neither side in this debate have assessed the significance of “firstborn son” in 4QInstruction to determine what significance, if any, there may be for understanding 4Q369. This study argues that 4QInstruction uses the expression “firstborn son” in relationship to God and when this conclusion is set in conversation with 4Q369 1 ii it problematizes the identification of an allusion to Psalm 89:27–28 and, therefore, a reference to a Messiah.

This book examines four texts--1 Enoch, 4QInstruction, Matthew and 2 Enoch--and argues that in each the revealing of wisdom to an elect group inaugurates the eschatological period. This idea leads to the fusion of sapiential and apocalyptic elements.

Narratives about the Garden of Eden from Genesis 2-3 were popular among both early Jewish and Christian interpreters. More than other compositions found at Qumran, 4QInstruction gives sustained attention to these chapters of Genesis when offering instruction. Observations about how creation traditions are used in 4QInstruction provides the opportunity to assess the intense debates about the use of these chapters among both the so-called \"proto-orthodox\" and \"gnostic\" Christians of, especially, the second-century ce. These competing interpretations of Genesis 2-3 in early Christianities display continuities with 4QInstruction and these interpretive strands offer perspective on later readers, most notably Augustine of Hippo.

חןךה in Ps 1,2 attempts to unfold the meaning of חןךה in Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic History. In Psalm 1, חןךה is a window into the potentiality of the term in relation to a living tradition. This essay outlines the further transformation of חןךה in five early Jewish and Christian interpretations of Psalm 1: Ben Sira, 4QInstruction, the Epistle of Barnabas, Clement of Alexandria's Stromateis, and Irenaeus of Lyons's Against Heresies. It argues that the meaning of חןךה in Ps 1,2 is dynamic and connected to ongoing attempts to appropriate it and to apply it to human life.

The rules about the husband’s authority to annul his wife’s vows and oaths in CD XVI 6-12 and 4Q416 (4QInstrb) 2iv 6-11 seem at first sight to be conflicting. Whereas 4Q416 decrees the husband’s unlimited authority, the CD seems to limit it. Cecilia Wassen indeed confirms this divergence, alleging that the CD restricts the husband’s annulment authority exclusively to commitments which conflict with scriptural law. After an extensive analysis of the scriptural sources, and their rabbinic interpretation, the study effects a meticulous scrutiny of the CD text, and postulates the notion that the CD does not restrict the husband’s authority, but advices him how to proceed regarding a commitment by his wife, which seems to conflict with a particular Qumran regulation. Hence, the two sources are not contradictory.