David C. Mitchell, «The Fourth Deliverer: A Josephite Messiah in 4QTestimonia», Vol. 86 (2005) 545-553
Commentators recognize a tri-polar messianism in 4Q175, based on the first three
sections of the text. But the last section suggests that the text is in fact tetramessianic,
featuring an eschatological Joshua. This is confirmed by similarities
between 4Q175, the tetra-messianic "Four Craftsmen" baraitha, and Targ. Ps.-J.
to Exod. 40,9-11; as well as by evidence that Joshua was a messianic type in postbiblical
Judaism.
The Fourth Deliverer 549
be ruled out (18), it is much more likely that both derive from an earlier
common source. If that is so, this source must have been already established
by the time of 4Q175, allowing us to trace the idea back perhaps to the mid-
second century BCE.
3. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Exod 40,9-11
Further confirmation of our proposal is provided by the Targum Pseudo-
Jonathan to Exod. 40,9-11.
9. You shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that
is in it; you shall consecrate it for the sake of the crown of the kingdom
of the house of Judah, and of the King Messiah who is destined to
redeem Israel at the end of days. 10. You shall anoint the altar of burnt
offerings and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, and the altar will
be most holy for the sake of the crown of the priesthood of Aaron and
his sons, and of Elijah the high priest who is to be sent at the end of the
exiles. 11. You shall anoint the laver and its base, and consecrate it
for the sake of Joshua, your attendant, the head of the Sanhedrin of his
people, by whose hand the land of Israel is to be divided, and of
Messiah bar Ephraim, who will proceed from him, and by whose hand
the house of Israel will vanquish Gog and his horde at the end of days.
Its lucid polypartite format lends the passage a testimonial quality similar
to 4Q175 and the ‘Four Craftsmen’. Its sections — three in this case — each
pertain to different tribes or clans: Judah, Aaron, and Ephraim. Each section
instructs that the tabernacle, its vessels and utensils should be anointed on
behalf of representatives of one of these tribes. Each tribe has two sets of
representatives: the first is, from the meturgeman’s viewpoint, historical; the
second, eschatological.
The three eschatological anointed ones are explicitly messianic. They are
the King Messiah from Judah and Messiah bar Ephraim from Joshua, who are
to come “at the end of daysâ€; and Elijah the (anointed) high priest who is to
come “at the end of the exilesâ€. The presence of only three heroes, instead of
the previous four, is surely because ‘Elijah the high priest’ fulfils both the
prophetic and priestly roles. These two roles probably merged in the period
after the Priest Messiah fell from grace (19).
As for Messiah bar Ephraim, he is not merely Joshua’s antitype, as in
4Q175, but his descendant, who shall “proceed†from him, as the King and
Priest Messiahs do from Judah and Aaron. Being an Ephraimite, he is of
course a Messiah ben Joseph. He is also a War Messiah, for he will conquer
Gog and his hordes. The similarities to the previous passages are clear.
(18) Direct dependence need not necessarily mean the ‘Four Craftsmen’ 4Q175. The
latter may have been dependent on the former. I have suggested elsewhere that behind the
‘Four Craftsmen’ — as distinct from its tannaitic period expressions — date from temple
times. This is seen from the prominent position of the Priest Messiah, who increasingly fell
from favour during the century from the end of the Hasmonean dynasty (34 BCE) to the
destruction of the temple (See MITCHELL, “Rabbi Dosa and the Rabbis Differâ€, 85-88).
(19) See n. 18 above.