Yes, the Kittim issue is problematic for me too. I don't have a satisfying answer yet. I'd say I have the same opinion about it as you. Although I'm still investigating it (I read Josephus currently).Here's a bigger issue for me regarding Onias though (and I think Wise brings this up). Thus far, you and I agree that the Kittim in the writings about the Teacher are the Romans. If the pesharim and Damascus Document were written near Onias' time (mid-second century BCE), how do you factor the KIttim being the Romans into this scenario if they didn't arrive in Judea until Pompey's time (first century BCE)?
This is where spin's idea that the Kittim are Greeks makes better sense for me on the Onias front, but it's hard for me to abandon the Kittim = the Romans idea. Are you willing to abandon the Kittim = the Romans idea, or if not, are you able to explain why Romans are mentioned in texts about events from the mid-second century BCE? The KIttim, after all, were thought (or expected) to punish the Wicked Priest for what he did to the Teacher.
One solution might be that the Teacher in the Damascus Document is different from the Teacher in 1QpHab. After all, there are no Kittim and no Wicked Priest in the Damascus Document. For example, the Damascus Document could have been written c. 168 BCE and 1QpHab in c. 36 BCE. And I should add that even though I still think that "the head of the Greek kings" is disqualifying for the first century CE hypothesis if the Teachers were different in each text, 1QpHab could still hypothetically talk about the first century CE.
Anyway, the search continues...
Statistics: Posted by AdamKvanta — Sat Dec 07, 2024 1:10 am