Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§15.8 Who Did They Think Jesus Was?
Qumran — 'the interpreter of the law' 388 — perhaps stimulated by hope of a
Moses-like prophet. The further fact that the founder (?) of the Qumran community
was known as 'the teacher of righteousness (morh hsdq)' 3S9 is also significant.
We do not know whether the name was accorded to him because he fulfilled
some expectation or simply because he proved to be such an influential teacher
and interpreter of Scripture. But the fact that a figure making such eschatological
claims was known simply by that title is a clear indication that the title itself
(teacher) was not lacking in weight in Jewish circles. 390
Here too it is relevant to recall that Solomon was remembered as especially
wise (1 Kgs. 3.12). The thought was channeled into the idea of Solomon as exorcist
(§ 15.7a), but the alternative deduction of the son of David as a teacher of
wisdom (Proverbs, Koheleth) lay close to hand. 391
We should also note that some of the eschatological expectation seems to
have envisaged an immediacy of teaching by God: 'all your sons shall be taught
by the Lord' (Isa. 54.13); 'no longer shall each man teach his neighbour and each
his brother, "Know the Lord", for they shall all know me, from the least to the
greatest, says the Lord' (Jer. 31.34). Where God was expected to teach directly to
the individual heart, there would seem to be little scope for a teacher as intermediary.
Given the diversity of eschatological expectation, the point can hardly be
pressed, but the evidence available hardly suggests that 'teacher' was a prime
messianic or eschatological title at the time of Jesus.
b. Jesus' Reputation
All the more striking, then, is the fact that 'teacher' is the most common title used
for Jesus in the Jesus tradition. 392 The parallel between Jesus and his disciples on
the one hand and rabbis and their pupils on the other is deficient, but it cannot be
emptied of all significance. 393 Nor should we forget that Josephus also characterized
Jesus as 'a teacher of people' (Ant. 18.63). 394
The most striking evidence, however, is the content of the Jesus tradition
388. 4Q174 (4QFlor) 1.11 (different from the 'branch of David'); CD 6.7; 7.18 (identified
with the star).
389. See particularly lQpHab 1.13; 2.2; 5.10; 7.4; 11.5; CD 1.11; 20.1, 28, 32. But there
was no thought of the Torah being replaced (see, e.g., Schürer, History 2.535-36).
390. How these two figures were related in Qumran thought remains unclear (see Collins,
Scepter and Star 102-104, 111-12).
391. Matt. 12.42/Luke 11.31 is relevant here.
392. Data in chapter 8 nn. 22-23 and chapter 14 n. 62 above.
393. See above, § 14.3a.
394. See above, §7.1. Lucian referred to him as 'that crucified sophist' (Peregrinus 13).
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