The Wicked Priest (; Romanized Hebrew: ha-kōhēn hā-rāš'ā) is a sobriquet used in the Dead Sea Scrolls pesharim, four times in the Habakkuk Commentary (1QpHab) and once in the Commentary on Psalm 37 (4QpPsa), to refer to an opponent of the "Teacher of Righteousness." It has been suggested that the phrase is a pun on "ha-kōhēn hā-rōš", as meaning "the High Priest". He is generally identified with a Hasmonean (Maccabean) High Priest or Priests. However, his identification remains controversial, and the matter has been called "one of the knottiest problems connected with the Dead Sea Scrolls."Brownlee, 1952, p. 10.
The most commonly argued-for single candidate is Jonathan Apphus, followed by his brother Simon Thassi; the widespread acceptance of this view has been dubbed the "Jonathan consensus."van der Water, 2003, p. 397. Alternative suggestions include that the sobriquet does not refer to only one individual, but rather a series of multiple Wicked Priests (the "Groningen Hypothesis", advanced by García Martinez and van der Woude), and other suggested figures.
Background
The Habakkuk Commentary (1QpHab) was one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 and published in 1951. The thirteen-column scroll is a pesher, or "interpretation", of the Book of Habakkuk. The Commentary on Psalm 37 is one of the three pesharim on the Book of Psalms and the only other Dead Sea scroll to use the sobriquet. Psalm 37 has been said to have "the strongest literary and thematic links" with the Book of Habakkuk, compared to the other Psalms,van der Water, 2003, 398. and the language of Psalm 37 is borrowed by the Habakkuk pesherist in the commentary on Hab. 2:17.Brooke, 1994, p. 350. cf. 1QpHab 12.2–8. The similar language and themes of the Commentaries on Habakkuk and Psalm 37 have been suggested as evidence of common authorship, or at least similar interpretive methods.van der Water, 2003, p. 398.
Radiocarbon dating tests conducted on 1QpHab and 4QpPsa at the Arizona Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility gave a one standard deviation confidence interval of 104–43 BCE and a two sigma confidence interval of 120–5 BCE (97%); for 4QpPsa (4Q171) the one standard deviation confidence interval was 22–78 CE and the two sigma confidence interval was 5–111 CE.Jull et al., 1996. Earlier paleographic dating of 1QpHab indicated a date range of 30–1 BCE.Lim, 2002, 21; Vermes, 2004, 509.
The prediction of column 7 of 1QpHab that "the final age shall be prolonged" is sometimes interpreted to mean that the Habakkuk Commentary was written approximately 40 years after the death of the Teacher of Righteousness—the time when the final age should have ended, according to the Damascus Document.van der Woude, 1982, p. 358.
Text
Description The references to the Wicked Priest have been dividedCallaway, 1988, pp. 152–153. into three overlapping themes: violence against the Teacher of Righteousness and his followers,See: 1QpHab [1.13f], 9.9–12, 11.4–8, 12.2–10, and 4QpPs 37 4.8–10. cultic transgressions and non-observance,See: 1QpHab 8.8–12, 8.16–9.2, 11.12–16, 12.7–9. and divine punishment against the Wicked Priest for these acts.See: 1QpHab 8.16–9.2, 9.9–12, 10.3–5, 10.12–16, 12.2–10 and 4QpPs 39 4.8–10.
Role in the history of the Qumran community
Many scholars have gleaned from this passage that the Wicked Priest and the Teacher of Righteousness followed different liturgical calendars, thus enabling the Wicked Priest to travel on Yom Kippur; some have even suggested that the Teacher of Righteousness was a schismatic High Priest during the pre-Jonathan intersacerdotium.Buchanan, 1969.
"Illegitimate Priest" Several scholars have interpreted the sobriquet of "Wicked Priest" as meaning "Illegitimate Priest," i.e. not of Zadokite lineage.Murphy-O’Connor, 1977; Vermes, 1977, p. 151; Vermes, 1999, p. 140. Some interpret 1QpHab 8.9–10—that the Wicked Priest was "called by the name of truth when he first arose"—as the initial acceptance of the Wicked Priest by the Qumran community, before Jonathan combined the diarchy of the Kingship and the Priesthood.e.g. Vermes, 2004, pp. 54–55; Murphy-O’Connor, 1974. The "Groningen Hypothesis" also follows this interpretation, based not on evidence from the pesharim but rather from external sources, namely 1 and 2 Maccabees and JosephusLim, 1992, pp. 463–465.
Other scholars, however, argue that hereditary illegitimacy is not listed among the indiscretions of the Wicked Priest, and that this interpretation has been foisted upon the text by decades of questionable interpretation.Brownlee, 1982, p. 3; van der Water, 2003, p. 395. Collins argues further that there is no evidence in the Community Rule or the Damascus Document to support the view that the Qumran community was concerned with the legitimacy of a non-Zadokite High Priest.Collins, 1989.
Other possible references Suggested equivalents of the Wicked Priest are scattered throughout the pesharim. 4QTestimonia (4Q175) mentions "an accursed man, one of Belial" who—with his sons as accomplices—spilt blood "on the breastwork of Lady Zion." Some scholars consider 4QTestimonia a reference to the Wicked Priest,Brownlee, 1982, p. 11. arguing that it fits Simon, who was murdered with his two sons: Judas and Mattathias.Thiering, 1978, p. 192.
The Nahum Commentary (4Q169) contains numerous explicit references to historical figures, including Alexander Jannaeus, the "furious young lion" who takes revenge on the "seekers of smooth things" for inviting "Demetrius" to conquer Jerusalem. Vermes regards the Nahum Commentary as describing "an age following that of the Teacher of Righteousness and the Wicked Priest,"Vermes, 1977, p. 144. but interprets the "furious young lion" of 4QpHos 2:2–3 as "the last Priest."Vermes, 1977, p. 152; Vermes, 1999, p. 140. The liturgical calendar of 4Q322, 324a–b also drops some names associated with various proposed Wicked Priests.Vermes, 1999, p. 134. The "scoffers" in Jerusalem from 4QpIsab have also been suggested as followers of the Wicked Priest.Lim, 2002, p. 28.
The Liar Some scholars do not differentiate between the Wicked Priest and the Liar ("Man of the Lie", Iysh Hakkazav), another sobriquet used in 1QpHab.Vermes, 1977; Thiering, 1978. For example, the description of the liar building "his city of vanity with blood" (1QpHab 10.10) has been marshaled another clue to the identity of the Wicked Priest.Vermes, 1999, p. 139.
The best evidence for distinguishing between the two figures is that the Liar is always associated with "false doctrine and the act of misleading" whereas the Wicked Priest is associated with "cultic transgressions and non-observance."Callaway, 1988, p. 153. Indeed, such a separation has been suggested even without recourse to sources outside the Commentary on Habakkuk.Rabin, 1957, pp. 54–55.
Proposed identifications
Since the time of de Vaux, the default assumption has been that the Wicked Priest is a single individual, if only because of the appealing parallelism to the Teacher of Righteousness.Brownlee, 1952, p. 11; Brownlee, 1982, p. 3. The consensus time period for the founding of Qumran (150–140 BCE) includes five High Priests: three Hellenized and two Maccabean: Jason, Menelaus, Alcimus, Jonathan, and Simon, and also the various figures potentially associated with the intersacerdotium.Vermes, 1999, p. 140.
Various early theories situated the Wicked Priest within time periods running the full gamut from the pre-Hasmonaean period,Rabinowitz, 1952, p. 29 to that of early Christianity,Teicher, 1951 to that of the Crusades.Weis, 1950, p. 125. However, that the Wicked Priest "ruled over Israel" (1QpHab 8.10) and was able to partake in "plundering" (9.7) has persuaded most scholars to exclude from consideration the predecessors of the Hasmonean High Priests, who did not share their ability to attack other nations militarily, having been militarily subjugated to Egypt or Syria, and their successors, who were dominated by the Romans.Brownlee, 1982, p. 1. To a lesser extent, that the Wicked Priest was once called "by the name of the truth" (8.8–9) is used to disqualify the pre-Maccabean, Hellenized High Priests, who were not held in high regard by their coreligionists.Vermes, 1977, p. 151; Brownlee, 1982, p. 1.
Similarly, post-Hasmonean High Priests have not received much serious attention because the "Kittim" (identifiable as the Romans due to the distinct practice of "sacrifice to their standards" attested to in 1QpHab 6.6) are referred to in the imperfectSegal, 1951, pp. 133–137. and none of the characters associated with the beginning of the Qumran community would have come into contact with the RomansBrownlee, 1982, p. 2.
The "Maccabean theory"—as advanced by Cross,Cross, 1961, pp. 42–43; Cross, 1980. Milik,Milik, 1959, pp. 65–66. and VermesVermes, 1977; Vermes 1987.—traditionally identifies the Wicked Priest as either Jonathan or Simon.Lim, 1992, p. 455.
PassageProposed identification(s)Relevant external sourcesProposed excluded identification(s)"Groningen" High Priest"called by the name of truth when he first arose"[1QpHab 8.9–10]JonathanVermes, 2004, pp. 54–55; Murphy-O’Connor, 1974.cf. "King Jonathan Fragment" [4Q448]Hellenized, pre-Hasmonean High PriestsJudasSimonCross, 1961, p. 142.1 Macc. 13: 1–9, 34–40John Hyrcanus IBrownlee, 1952, p. 12.JA 13: 10.5–6"ruled over Israel"[1QpHab 8.10]Any Hasmonean1 and 2 Macc.Non-Hasmoneans"robbed […] the men […] of violence who rebelled against God, and […] the peoples"[1QpHab 8.12–13]John Hyrcanus IBrownlee, 1952, p. 13; Brownlee, 1982, p. 20.JA 43: 10.2"rebelled and violated the precepts [of God]"[1QpHab 8.17–18]cf. 1QpHab 11.5–8van der Water, 2003, p. 408.Alcimus"disease and took vengeance upon his body of flesh"[1QpHab 9.1–2]Aristobulus IBrownlee, 1982, p. 4.JA 13: 11.3John Hyrcanus ICallaway, 1988, p. 155.John Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus IIBrownlee, 1952, p. 4.Alexander JannaeusBrownlee, 1982, p. 5.JA 13: 15.5Alcimus1 Macc. 9.54JA 12: 10.6"last Priests of Jerusalem […] delivered into the hands of the army of the Kittim"[1QpHab 9.6–9]John Hyrcanus II andAristobulus IIBrownlee, 1952, pp. 15–16.JA 14: 2.3, 3.1, 14: 4.5, 7.1Post-HasmoneansSegal, 1951, pp. 133–137; Brownlee, 1982, p. 2.[last Hasmonean Priests]"delivered into the hands of his enemies"[1QpHab 9.8–9]JonathanThiering, 1978, p. 191.1 Macc. 13Simon (1 Mac. 16:14–16)Jason (2 Mac. 5.7–9)Alcimus (1 Mac. 9.54–56)JonathanAlexander JannaeusBrownlee, 1952, p. 14; Brownlee, 1982, pp. 35–36; Segal, 1951, p. 138.JA 13:13.5"stones might be laid in oppression and the beam of its woodwork in robbery"[1QpHab 10.1–2]Alexander JannaeusBrownlee, 1952, p. 14.JA 13: 13.5, 15.1SimonJohn Hyrcanus IBrownlee, 1982, p. 7.JA 18: 4.3"pursued the Teacher of Righteousness to his house of exile […]for the Day of Atonement"[1QpHab 11.5–8]Alexander JannaeusBrownlee, 1952, p. 15.JA 13: 13.5cf. 4Q171 4.7–10John Hyrcanus I"walked in the ways of drunkenness"[1QpHab 11.14]Alexander JannaeusBrownlee, 1952, p. 15; Brownlee, 1982, p. 5.JA 13: 15.5Alexander JannaeusSimonCross, 1958, p. 152.1 Macc. 16: 11–17"defiled the Temple of God […] robbed the Poor"[1QpHab 12.9–10]Alexander JannaeusJA 13: 13.5, 14.1–2"that he might put him to death [because of the ordinance] and the law which he sent him"[1QpPsa 4.8–9]Alexander JannaeusBrownlee, 1982, p. 35.cf. 1QpHab 11.5–8"delivering him into the hand of the violent of the nations"[1QpPsa 4.11–12]JonathanBrownlee, 1982, p. 8.cf. 1QpHab 9.8–9All but John Hyrcanus I, Aristobulus I, and Alexander JannaeusBrownlee, 1982, p. 34.
Jonathan