Mighty Messiah: the Hope of a Militant Messiah as the Goal of History in Intertestamental Apocalyptic Literature Henry S. A. Trocino Jr. Introduction There was a popular expectation among Jews in Jesus time of the coming of a political and military messiah, who would liberate the Jews from their Gentile oppressors. The model of a militant messiah is ingrained in the minds of Jesus followers, friends, and foes alike (Mark 10:37; Luke 23:2-3; John 6:15). 1 Not surprisingly, the belief in an anointed activist deliverer is prominent in intertestamental 2 apocalyptic literature. That such literature predominated in number and volume and found eager acceptance particularly in times of tribulation, 3 could indicate a pervasive belief in a martial messiah at the time. In this paper, I will explore the shape of the belief in a mighty messiah as the goal of history, as found in the Pseudepigrapha, viz., 1 (Ethiopian) Enoch (164 B.C.E.), Sibylline Oracles (150 B.C.E.), Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (109-107 B.C.E.), and Psalms of Solomon (48 B.C.E.). 4 In that the aim is to ascertain apocalyptic messianic thought that informed messianic opinions by the beginning of the first century, and that the longing for a personal messiah (or messiahs) intensified only later in the Second Temple period, 5 the corpus covers only those apocalyptic writings in the past 200 years before the time of Christ. The order of study is sequential according to dating estimates, 6 in order to show both a chronological development and conceptual relationship between the sources. In what follows, I will describe the making of messianism and identify key defining features and functions of the messianic figure (or figures), as well as convergences and divergences of the belief as it appears in the literature. The Making of Messianism Messianic apocalyptic is to be seen against the backdrop of the tension between Jewish identity and nationalism and the constant struggle against pervasive Gentile corruption in society, which pitted not only Jew against Gentile, but also Jew against Jew. Hellenistic and 1 David A. desilva, Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 264-265. They expected a glorious Messiah who would strike terror into the Roman hearts. Cullen I. K. Story, What Kind of Messiah Did the Jews Expect?, BS 105 no. 417 (Jan-Mar 1948), 102-114. However, the beliefs about the messiah were deep and variegated beliefs and part of the of the first-century Palestine Jewish Zeitgeist. James H. Charlesworth, From Jewish Messianology to Christian Christology: Some Caveats and Perspectives, in J. Neusner, W. S. Green, and E. Frerichs, eds., Judaisms and Their Messiahs at the Turn of the Christian Era (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1987), 251-254. 2 The use of the term, intertestamental, may imply a Christian view of the Old and New Testaments. I use it here to refer to the period between the testaments, particularly the second century and first century B.C.E. 3 Georg Foot Moore, Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era: The Age of Tannaim (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1960), 127. 4 Though messianic hope is found in the following literature, they are excluded from the study, since the figure and title of the messiah is unmentioned and unclear I and II Maccabees, Tobit, Wisdom of Solomon, Judith, Ben Sira, Jubilees, 1 Enoch 1-36, 91-104, Assumption of Moses, I Baruch, and II Enoch. D. S. Russell, The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1964), 37; so James H. Charlesworth, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. James H. Charlesworth; Garden City: Doubleday, 1993), xxxi, 773. 5 David Flusser, Judaism of the Second Temple Period: Qumran and Apocalypticism Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 110. 6 Russell, Method, 37, 56.
Roman influences provoked the pious to see these as a threat to the faith and resist it to the point of death. The apostates perceive it as a prospect for power and prosperity, and hence welcomed it. While deepening the zeal of the devout, it corrupted the priesthood and the ruling classes. 7 It fragmented the people, threatening the loss of the very soul of the nation. Messianic apocalyptic literature therefore is not so much a record of history as a testimony of Jewish hope against history, in that the pious no longer see any hope for the nation through political and priestly means. The farther away the nation sank into corruption, the more the people looked to divine intervention within history. The link between divine intervention and a divine agent of that intervention results to a form of messianism. 8 Messianism therefore is an expression of a belief that God will intrude within history and ultimately fulfill his promises to his people through his anointed agent. The triumph of the Maccabees against the Seleucids has raised the idea of a subversive agent who exerts military and political power against foreign invaders, driving them out of the land and restoring the spiritual identity and physical independence of Israel. 9 God will redeem his people from the Gentiles, restore the glory of the Davidic kingdom, remove evil, remit justice, and realize world peace and prosperity under the messiah. Messianic apocalyptic is thus a message of hope, in that God will vindicate his people finally; and he will do this through his anointed one. 10 Son of Man In the Book of Similitudes of 1 (Ethiopian) Enoch (105-164 B.C.), 11 a transcendent heavenly figure called, the Son of Man, is hailed with three names or titles Before-Time ( before the beginning [or head ] of days; the Antecedent of Time ), Chosen One, and Messiah (1 En. 48:2, 6, 10). In apocalyptic contexts, the Son of Man is a figure of the messiah coming in judgment (Dan. 7:9-13). It is assumed therefore that this son of man is pre-existent. 12 As Before-Time, he is before the creation of the sun and the moon... the stars. As Chosen One, he is a staff for the righteous ones in that they may lean on him and not fall (1 En. 48:3). 13 His messiahship is not limited to Jews however, for He is the light of the gentiles... All those who dwell upon the earth shall fall and worship before him (1 En. 48:5). He will reveal the wisdom of the Lord... to the righteous and the holy ones (1 En. 48:7). In language alluding to the messianic figure of Psalm 2, he shall cause the humiliation of the kings of the earth and the mighty landowners. This Messiah exerts his authority, giving orders. When he comes, the mountains of the earth shall melt before him and become helpless by his feet. No one shall be saved either by gold or by silver (1 En. 52:5-6). The Elect One shall appear and bring judgment upon the face of the earth, inaugurating the kingdom of God (1 En. 52:4). Thus, the picture here is that of a heavenly figure who combines the features of son of man (Dan. 7:13), 7 Russell, Method, 15. 8 Paolo Sacchi, Jewish Apocalyptic and History (trans. William J. Short; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1990), 158-159. 9 desilva, Introducing, 264. 10 Russell, Method, 16. 11 E. Isaac, 1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. James H. Charlesworth; Garden City: Doubleday, 1993), 7. 12 Emil Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ Vol. 2 (rev. and ed. G. Vermes, F. Millar,M. Black; Edinburgh: T. &T. Clark, 1979), 502, in Lawrence H. Schiffman, The Concept of the Messiah in Second Temple and Rabbinic Literature, RE 84 no. 2 (Spring 1987), 235-246. 13 All quotations of 1 (Ethiopic) Enoch are translated by E. Isaac, Enoch, 14-89.
servant of Yahweh (Isa. 49, 52:13-53:12), and the anointed one, 14 who comes in dreadful judgment against the sinners (economic exploiters, powerful political tyrants, and socially unjust oppressors) of the earth. His coming coincides with the establishment of the kingdom of God. Interestingly, this messiah will preserve the portion of the righteous because they have hated and despised this world of oppression (together with) all its ways of life and its habits (1 En. 48:7). The author reflects a resentful mood against both Hellenistic hegemony and the corrupt Jewish ruling classes of the day (1 En. 91-105). 15 The figure of the son of man is set against the context of social oppression and religious apostasy. Since the author has in mind socio-political and economic oppression, the function of the messiah then is to bring sociopolitical and economic justice for the righteous. He will usher in the victory of God by punishing the wicked socio-political oppressors, while rewarding the faithful righteous who have suffered under them. In the Book of Dreams (165-161 B.C.E.), the writer depicts Enoch narrating to his son, Methuselah, the visions and history of Israel from the flood, exodus, Canaan, judges, temple, destruction of Jerusalem, return from exile, Hellenistic period, Maccabean revolt, to the messianic kingdom (1 En. 83-90). Enoch anticipates the judgment of God upon sinful angels, the blind sheep (apostate Jews), and all nations (1 En. 90:18-25). After divine judgment, the Lord of the sheep brought about a new house, greater and loftier than the first one (1 En. 90:29). In this large new house full of sheep, signifying the new temple of God, a snow-white cow was born, with huge horns (1 En. 90:37). In the writer s metaphorical language, the Lord of the sheep is God and the sheep, Jews, some of whom are blind (apostate) or helpless preys of wild animals (1 En. 89:13-21, 42, 51-54, 64). The humans represent the angels and the wild, unclean animals, Gentiles, who victimize the helpless Jews as divine instruments of their apostasy (1 En. 89:13-21, 55-57; 90:2-4, 11-16). The cows or oxen symbolize Adam and the patriarchs (1 En. 89:17-18). But only to the snow-white cow with huge horns is due the fear and petitions of the peoples of the earth. All the beasts of the field and all the birds of the sky feared him and made petition to him all the time (1 En. 90:37). He comes apparently as a man, and given the context, probably as a Jew, not to effect divine judgment to the old sinful world, but to execute divine justice to the new world in a new divine order. He will govern Israel and the world as the divine administrator or king, though without the Davidic link. 16 The timing of his coming is significant, though inconsistent in 1 Enoch. While the coming of the Son of Man occurs concurrently with the introduction of the kingdom in the Book of Similitudes, the coming of the messiah in the Book of Dreams happens after the judgment. 17 Yet the imagery is striking. The end-time picture reflects the beginning time of creation. Like Adam, this messiah is the firstfruit of all creation. With his coming, the sheep will no longer be victims of the wild beasts. Thus, the enmity between Jew and Gentile is eradicated. 18 King From the Sun Book Three of the Sibylline Oracles anticipates the coming of a powerful king. God will send a King from the sun (Sib. 3:653). 19 The phrase, a King from the sun, is also mentioned 14 Jacob Neusner and William Scott Green, eds. Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period: 450 B.C.E. to 600 C.E. (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1999), 425. 15 Isaac, 1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch, 9. 16 Sacchi, Jewish, 159-160. 17 Sacchi, Jewish, 166. 18 George W. E. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature Between the Bible and the Mishnah: A Historical and Literary Introduction (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981), 93.
in an Egyptian Potter s Oracle, which refers to an Egyptian king, who is the incarnation of the sun-god. The oracle almost echoes Isaiah 45:1, where it affirms Cyrus as messiah. 20 The author may have referred historically to the Egyptian king, Ptolemy VI Philometor, who reigned at about the time of writing of the oracles, 21 but also, typologically, to an end-time messiah. At this time, the earth shall be ravaged by a world war of epic proportions. A great king from Asia, the traditional enemy of Egypt, will spark the war and overthrow the kingdom of Egypt (Sib. 3:611-615). The war escalates, dragging other kings and nations in the conflict, over a period marked by chaos and destruction (Sib. 3:635-650). As in most wars that are driven by consummate greed, men will come face to face in strife among themselves because of gold and silver. Love of gain will be shepherd of evils for cities (Sib. 3:640-652). Untold numbers will die in this catastrophic clash the huge earth will consume the remains of the dead (Sib. 3:645-646). Then the anointed king will stop the entire earth from evil war, killing some, imposing oaths of loyalty on others (Sib. 3:653-54). He will eliminate those kings who will not bow to him and pledge allegiance through oaths. He will proceed, not by his private plans, but in obedience to the noble teachings of the great God (Sib. 3:655-656). Apparently, this figure plays the role of a man who submits to the will of God. Thus, agreeing with the stature of the son of man in the Book of Similitudes, yet diverging from the divine agent of the Book of Dreams, the anointed king of the Sybilline Oracles III comes conquering his foes, subduing the whole earth, and establishing his kingdom at Jerusalem. To the extent that a timeline can be projected, the Temple of the great God will be restored under his leadership, equipped with very beautiful wealth, gold, silver, and purpose ornament (Sib. 3:657-658). There will be a period of unprecedented economic prosperity and worldwide environmental harmony. And earth (will be) productive and sea full of good things (Sib. 3:659). Yet the Gentile kings will begin to be angry with each other, requiting evils with spirit (Sib. 3:660-661). After a period of peace and prosperity under the anointed King, in what resonates like the final battle of Armageddon in dispensational eschatology, the kings of the peoples will launch an attack together against this land, bringing doom upon themselves, for they will want to destroy the Temple of the great God (Sib. 3:663-664). But the Gentile attack on Jerusalem will fail. God himself ( the Immortal ) will destroy the attackers, sending fire and brimstone from heaven, shaking the mountains, and spreading tumult throughout the earth (Sib. 3:670-700). The writer of 1 Enoch considers the bread on the altar at the Temple as polluted, indicating the corruptive influence of Antiochus s IV Epiphanes s decrees (1 En. 89:73). 22 Yet the author of the Sybilline Oracles differs, in that he is not so much anti-hellinistic. He does not call for total rejection of Hellenistic influences. If he looks to a Gentile king (Philometor) as a messianic figure, it may signify his attempt to gain favor from both Jew and Gentile, by projecting a Gentilic messiah in a messianic hope that could be shared by them. 23 Double Messiah The success of the Maccabean revolt and the accomplishments of the Hasmonean dynasty (142-163 B.C.E.) revived the hope of an ideal Davidic ruler. If the Testaments were written 19 All quotations from Sibylline Oracles are taken from J. J. Collins, Sibylline Oracles, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. James H. Charlesworth; Garden City: Doubleday, 1993), 362-380. 20 Collins, Sibylline, 356. 21 Nickelsburg, Jewish, 164. 22 Nickelsburg, Jewish, 93-94. 23 Collins, Sibylline, 356.
during the reign of John Hyrcanus of the Maccabean period (137-107 B.C.E.), 24 then the writer could have looked to Hyrcanus, who held the offices of king and priest (1 Macc. 14:41), as fulfilling the old hopes of a messianic, Davidic king. 25 My father declared to me, You shall be king (T. Jud. 1:6). 26 Here, Judah is speaking. But in another passage, it appears to be David speaking rather than Judah, as J. Holder argues. Because it was on account of money and attractive appearance that I was led astray to Bathshua [Bathsheba?] the Canaanite (T. Jud. 17:1). He is destined to be king in Israel and through him, the kingdom will be established (T. Jud. 17:6). However, it is unclear whether Bathshua refers to Bathsheba. Bathshua derives from Gen 38:12, H. C. Kee notes, where Shua is the wife of Judah (see Gen. 38:2). 27 Nonetheless, it is possible that the writer still idealized Hyrcanus as a symbol of the Davidic messiah. Given the overwhelming gratitude of the Jews to Simon (son of Matathias) for giving them freedom from their oppressors, in that they invested him and his descendants (including Hyrcanus) both kingly power and priestly authority, the author still indicates his belief of an invigorated Davidic dynasty in the Testaments. 28 God shall still preserve the power of my kingdom [Judah s] forever (T. Jud. 22:3). Employing the imagery of Numbers 24:17, Malachi 4:2, Psalm 45:4, Isaiah 53:9, the writer depicts this Star from Jacob and Sun of righteousness as sinless (T. Jud. 24:1-2). Alluding to Isaiah 11:1-3, the spirit of heaven will be poured out upon him (T. Jud. 24:2). Following the eschatological outpouring of the spirit in Joel 2:28-29, this messiah will pour the spirit of grace on you (T. Jud. 24:4). Utilizing the language of Isaiah 11:4-5, this Shoot of God will be the rod of righteousness for the nations, to judge and to save all that call on the Lord (T. Jud. 24:6). The Testaments project yet another ruler, a priestly one, other than a kingly one. Levi and Judah are the vital eschatological figures in the Testaments (T. Reu. 6:8, 11; T. Sim. 7:1; T. Iss. 5:7-8; T. Jos. 19:11; T. Naph. 5:1-5; T. Jud. 24:1-5; T. Jos. 19:4). 29 Herein lies the concept of a double messiah, which echoes Zechariah 6:9-16. From Judah will rise a Davidic king. From Levi shall emerge a priestly ruler what R. H. Charles sees as the Levitic Messiah. 30 This means that the function of the two messiahs are dual militaristic (king) and mediatorial (priest). As the one who handles heavenly matters, the priest is superior to the king, who handles earthly matters; as heaven is superior to the earth (T. Jud. 21:2-4). The writer describes the sins of the old priesthood of Jerusalem and pronounces the Lord s judgment upon them. Then he writes that the Lord will raise up a new priest (T. Lev. 14-18:1). This new priest is an extraordinary breed apart from the old Israelite priesthood. 31 As the anointed priest, to whom all the words of the Lord will be revealed (T. Lev. 18:2), he will be the final interpreter of the Law. In this sense, he takes on the role of inerrant and infallible prophet. As the agent of judgment and light, he shall 24 H. C. Kee, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. James H. Charlesworth; Garden City: Doubleday, 1983), 778. 25 John Holder, The Intertestamental Period: Old Testament Introduction (London: SPCK, 1994), 68. 26 All quotations of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs are taken from Kee, Testaments, 782-828. 27 Kee, Testaments, 798. 28 Contra Jonathan A. Goldstein, who thinks that the faith in a Davidic Messiah is conspicuous by its absence from the literature earlier than the Psalms of Solomon. Jonathan A. Goldstein, The Hasmonean Revolt and the Hasmonean Dynasty, in The Cambridge History of Judaism: The Hellenistic Age Vol. 2 (eds. W. D. Davies and Louis Finkelstein; Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1989), 350. 29 Kee, Testaments, 779. 30 Russell, Method, 312. 31 Sacchi, Jewish, 163.
take away the darkness, bringing peace in all the earth (T. Lev. 18:3-4). Having the glory of the Most High bursting upon him, his priesthood shall be marked by purity, holiness, knowledge, and righteousness (T. Lev. 18:7-9). Conspicuously present in the Testaments but absent in the biblical canon is the attention the writer gives to Satan. This messianic priest will bind Beliar and shall grant to his children the authority to trample on wicked spirits (T. Lev. 18:12). It is an Essenic milieu, Paolo Sacchi opines, which reads history in a dualism of light against darkness, with the angels of light led by Michael and the angels of darkness, by Beliar. Thus, the messianic priest carries out his salvific role of liberating the world from evil. 32 However, in what appears to be a discrepancy, the author also speaks of only one agent of redemption rather than two figures from Levi and Judah. It may refer to another eschatological messianic figure at most, or a single messianic figure coming from both Levi and Judah at least. Thus, there shall arise from the tribe of Judah and (the tribe of) Levi the Lord s salvation. He will make war against Beliar (T. Dan 5:10; cf. T. Gad 8:1; T. Benj. 4:2). He writes of the Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world, and will save all the nations, as well as Israel. For his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom (T. Jos. 19:11). In their final form, J. J. Collins notes, the Test. 12 Patr. envisage one Messiah, who is associated with both Levi and Judah and is evidently identified with Christ. This implies that the concept of two messiahs is an early Jewish version. It is probably based on the post-exilic community under king Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua (Zech. 4:14); and also, as a reaction to the monopolization of power by the Hasmonean priest kings. 33 The salient dual imagery of a double messiah remains for the early adaptation of the Testaments. There shall be an everlasting king who delivers Israel and the whole earth from evil, and whose kingdom is forever; and a salvific priest who sanctifies the people with his righteousness. Yet this Levitic messiah is considered to be superior in form and function than a Davidic messiah, in that he is not a mediator alone, but a prophet, an infallible interpreter of the Law. This sums up the triple role of the double messiah motif that of prophet, priest, and king. In its final form, however, the Testaments picture only one eschatological messiah playing the three-fold function of prophet, priest, and king. Semi-Divine Superhuman When the Romans captured Jerusalem and trampled the Temple in the mid-first century B.C.E., it created a crisis of theodicy in the very hearts of the devout Jews. The invasion brought alien cultic and corrosive religious practices that plagued the land, causing trauma on all the people. The Psalms of Solomon is a response of a group of pious Jews to the vexing problem of theology and reality. 34 Revolt by revolt by the more militant Jews against the Romans were unsuccessful, intensifying the conviction that only by divine intervention could the power of the foreign invaders be broken and the world prepared for the coming reign of God and the eternal kingdom of his people. 35 Seeing no immediate relief because of the sheer might of the aggressors and struggling with how to make sense of the situation, the community of devout Jews looked beyond their circumstances and beyond history, to a solution that is beyond their physical limitations. There can be only one answer to a crisis an eschatological messiah. 36 32 Sacchi, Jewish, 162-163. 33 J. J. Collins, Testaments, in Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Qumran Sectarian Writings, Philo, Josephus (ed. Michael E. Stone; Assen: Van Gorcum: Fortress, 1984), 339. 34 R. B. Wright, Psalms of Solomon, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. James H. Charlesworth; Garden City: Doubleday, 1993), 642-643. 35 Moore, Judaism, 331. 36 Wright, Psalms of Solomon, 643.
See, Lord, and raise up for them their king, the son of David, to rule over your servant Israel in the time known to you, O God (Pss. 17:21). 37 The author expects that at the end-time of God s own time, he will fulfill his ancient promise and elevate a king from the house of David, whose kingdom is forever (Pss. 17:4). Though not exactly pictured as a supernatural being, this king is a semi-divine superhuman, in that he will have divine strength, wisdom, and righteousness to do various tasks. 38 God shall undergird him with the strength (Pss. 17:22). The main verb, undergird, is followed by six infinitives to destroy the unrighteous rulers, to purge Jerusalem from gentiles, to drive out the sinners from the inheritance; to smash the arrogance of sinners like a potter s jar; to shatter all their substance with an iron rod; and to destroy the unlawful nations with the word of his mouth (Pss. 17:22-24). As the military messiah, he drives out the foreign invaders from the land. As political messiah, he reforms the land from the hands of aliens and sinners and redistributes it according to its tribal boundaries. This indicates a return to its former borders under the Davidic monarchy. 39 As a spiritual messiah, he then sanctifies the Temple, Jerusalem, and the people of Israel with righteousness and holiness (Pss. 17:26-30). He is the avatar of the divine qualities of wisdom, strength, righteousness, justice, sinlessness, and holiness. Thus, his kingdom will likewise be a kingdom of justice, righteousness, and holiness. The Gentile nations that took the Judeans into exile shall return them into their homeland and serve this eschatological Davidic king (Pss. 17:30-31). Under the rule of this powerful messianic king, the nations will glorify God. The king of the children of Israel shall be the Lord Messiah (Pss. 17:32). In this interesting passage, the title, messiah, is mentioned for the first time to refer to the coming Davidic king. The author connects the concept of messiah and lordship in one person. The title, lord, indicates a political function in the time of the author. 40 Messiah refers to an anointed agent of God. He is a human endowed with superhuman abilities. As the anointed agent of God, he possesses divine qualities. As lord, he exerts great political and military power over Israel and the nations of the earth in the eschaton. Though mighty, he rules with compassion to all the nations (Pss. 17:34). But he is sinless, with a passion of purity, exposing corrupt officials and driving out sinners by the power of his word (Pss. 17:35). As a superhuman messiah, he will not weaken in his days... for God made him powerful in the holy spirit and wise in the counsel of understanding (Pss. 17:37). The writer also depicts him as a shepherd of the Lord s flock, not letting them stumble in their pasture (Pss. 17:40). Repeated reference is given to his words, which are not only powerful, but pure and holy (Pss. 17:43). Conclusion The concept of messianism was borne out of the Jewish hope of divine intervention in history through an anointed agent, who shall redeem Israel from the quagmire of political and spiritual desolation. Although the messianic hope was an almost universal theme, there is no one single messiah for all and no unified purpose, description, and task of messianic figures, but a mixed variety of Jewish messianic motifs. 41 The Son of Man of 1 (Ethiopian) Enoch is a preexistent heavenly being who inaugurates the kingdom of God as the anointed one of Yahweh. He 37 All quotations of Psalms of Solomon are taken from Wright, Psalms of Solomon, 651-670. 38 Contra Wright, Psalms of Solomon, 645. 39 Nickelsburg, Jewish, 208. 40 Wright, Psalms of Solomon, 645n z. 41 I. Howard Marshall wrote, There was no single, discernible role description for a Messiah into which a historical figure like Jesus could be fit (sic). Rather, each group which entertained a messianic hope interpreted Messiah in light of its historical experiences and reinterpreted Scripture accordingly. I. Howard Marshall, The Messiah in the First Century: A Review Article, CTR 7 (Fall 1993), 77-78.
shall judge the powerful socio-economic and political exploiters of the earth, while rewarding the righteous in a new era of divine justice. Whereas the Son of Man of 1 Enoch comes to install the kingdom, the King from the Sun of the Sibylline Oracles comes to conquer the warring kings of the earth after an epic world war, before establishing his kingdom in Jerusalem. Under his rule, the Temple of God shall be restored in a new age of unparalleled economic affluence and worldwide harmony. The Davidic messiah of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is the sinless son of Jacob who judges the nations. Yet in a double messiah motif, this militaristic kingly messiah finds his superior partner in the son of Levi the mediatorial priestly messiah. As the priestly ruler, he shall be the final arbiter of the Law as the infallible, holy, and righteous prophet. This early Jewish version however gives way to a single messiah in the final adaptation of the Testaments. This ultimate messiah shall save and sanctify Israel from her sin and rule the whole earth in his triune role of prophet, priest, and king of an everlasting kingdom. Finally, the eschatological messiah of the Psalms of Solomon is the eternal ruler coming from the house of David. He is not a supernatural figure, but a semi-divine superhuman empowered by divine strength, wisdom, and righteousness. As the military overlord, he shall cleanse the earth from unrighteous rulers and alien intruders. As political ruler, he shall redistribute the land according to tribal landmarks. As the anointed agent, he shall sanctify the Temple, Jerusalem, and the land of Israel in holiness and righteousness. Thus, the apocalyptic messiah of Jewish thought becomes the symbol of the hope of the oppressed Jews, who look forward to a transformation of their repressed conditions into an eschatological reality of righteousness, justice, and holiness. Their redemption from Gentile oppression shall only happen with the coming of the anointed one.
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