dssdead-sea-scrolls
D — Historical and Apocalyptic Works
Part 5
A fragmentary poem from the late Second Temple period envisions the eschatological purification of the Holy Land: Jehovah has chosen Zion, guilt is expunged from the earth, hatred and destruction are consumed as a moth consumes cloth, and the land enters permanent rest. The covenant people who had forgotten His precepts and ceased to seek them are renewed — the inhabitants become a beloved son, and righteousness characterizes the restored order. The son-language echoes the adoption pattern of the Holy Order: the gathered remnant, ingrafted through covenant, receives the status of covenant heir in the land of inheritance.
1
A single fragment of a poem, palaeographically datable to the late first century BCE, depicts the eschatological bliss of the Holy land. For the editio princeps, see T. Elgvin, DJD, XXXVI, 464-73.
2
.. He has chosen Zion, and in righteous life.. And they did forget His precepts and did not seek them. And the land... hands in the midst of them and explained to them all the laws?.. all the earth so that there will be no more guilt in the land, nor will be... destruction and all hatred and the whole world will be like a moth. And all its inhabitants... And the land will be at rest for ever, And its inhabitants will.. And they will become a beloved son and they will seek all of it, and righteousness..
