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Document Details :

Title: The Universality of Creation in 4QInstruction
Author(s): WOLD, Benjamin
Journal: Revue de Qumran
Volume: 26    Issue: 2   Date: numéro 102, 2013   
Pages: 211-226
DOI: 10.2143/RQ.26.2.3203291

Abstract :
This study offers a critical examination of two passages from 4QInstruction (4Q417 1 i 13-18; 4Q423 1) and finds a new interpretation of the creation and division of humanity. In 4QInstruction all of humankind was created in the likeness of God and angels and they all originally sought mysterious, revealed wisdom as well as the knowledge of good and evil. In one of the fragments studied, the pursuit of mysteries is compared to tending the Garden of Eden. In the metaphor, the ones expelled from the garden are the foolish who failed to search for knowledge and are no longer able to cultivate wisdom that produces fruit. These ungodly ones are called the 'fleshly spirit' and are separated from the Mēvîn by their activities and failures. Finally, 4QInstruction reflects that divisions within humanity are the result of dualities within human beings.

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