On the Herodian Origin of Militant Davidic Messianism at Qumran: New Light from Psalm of Solomon 17‪.‬

The purpose of this study is to present a new scenario for understanding the historical origin of militant Davidic messianism in the Qumran texts. To accomplish this objective, Qumran documents that bear witness to a militant Davidic messiah will be compared with Psalm of Solomon 17 (Ps. Sol. 17), a text commonly considered the locus classicus for the pre-Christian expectation of a Davidic messiah. (1) This investigation will propose that militant Davidic messianism first emerged in the latter years of the Hasmonean era and became widespread during the Herodian period. This violent messiah was fashioned predominantly as a righteous counterpart to Herod the Great and subsequent Herodian rulers, whom he was expected to overthrow before then inaugurating an eternal reign of peace. Following a critique of scholarship on the Psalms of Solomon, this study will offer a proposal for redating Psalm of Solomon 17 to the Herodian period. The messianism within this psalm will then be compared to those Qumran texts that contain the doctrine of a militant Davidic messiah, in order to illuminate the historical circumstances precipitating the reemergence of this particular form of messianism within the Qumran community. The final section will present some general conclusions concerning the implications of this study for understanding the development of Davidic messianism within the nascent Christian community and also suggest, in light of the evidence presented here, that the standard view that the Essenes were supportive of Herod is in need of revision.