The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

BETZ The Qumran Halakhah Text 4QMMT 197
shame surpassed his glory, he did not circumcise the foreskin of his
heart, and he walked in the ways of drunkenness (11.12-14). But the
divine punishment upon him is foretold as an event in the future: 'The
cup of the wrath of God will swallow him up' (11.15); God will judge
him to annihilation, because he planned to extinguish the poor (12.5-
6). Tantlewski identifies this second 'Wicked Priest' with Alexander
Jannaeus; the Pesher of Habakkuk must have been written during his
rule.
Tantlewski even thinks that there was a second 'Teacher of
Righteousness' who lived during the time of Alexander Jannaeus; he
can be identified with Judah the Essene, mentioned by Josephus (Ant.
13.311-313). The first Teacher of Righteousness could have been
Sadoq, a disciple of Antigonos from Socho, who together with
Boethos defected from his master (ARN 5.2). He lived in the middle
of the second century BCE. God had raised him that he should lead the
movement of repentant people (CD 1.11). Sadoq proclaimed the message
of the coming of God's judgment (IQpHab 2.5-10); he opened
the eyes of the penitent Israelites (CD 1.9-12) to the mysteries of the
law and the prophets. He became the opponent of Jonathan the high
priest. It is most likely that he was the author of 4QMMT and
Jonathan the recipient of this letter. For under the rule of Jonathan
Josephus mentions the three religious parties of the Jews, including the
Essenes, for the first time (Ant. 171-173).
Jonathan 'was called in the name of Truth at the beginning of his
office' (IQpHab 8.8). But he had the difficult task of restoring the cult
in the temple, after a period of acute Hellenization in Jerusalem; he
also had to cooperate with the Syrians. He, therefore, may have made
compromises; this was criticized as being dangerous and deviating
from the correct interpretation of the law by the Sadoqites and their
movement of repentance. Our letter 4QMMT is a witness to such
criticism, which was rejected by the high priest. At this time the
conflict between the two priestly groups may have arisen: the orthodox
Sadoqites refused to participate in the temple cult. They developed
into the third Jewish party of Josephus, which he and Philo
called the 'Essenes', the pious ones different from the 'Sadducees',
represented by the high priest and the priestly aristocracy in
Jerusalem.
These Essenes with their centre at Qumran originated from priests
and wanted to to live according to priestly ideals in a communal life