Gabriel's Revelation Explained
Gabriel's Revelation, also called Hazon Gabriel (the Vision of Gabriel) or the Jeselsohn Stone,[1] is a stone tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew text written in ink, containing a collection of short prophecies written in the first person. It is dated to the late 1st century BCE or early 1st century CE and is important for understanding Jewish messianic expectations in the Second Temple period.
Description
Gabriel's Revelation is a gray micritic limestone tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew text written in ink. It measures 37 centimeters (width) by 93 or 96 centimeters (height). While the front of the stone is polished, the back is rough, suggesting it was mounted in a wall.
The writing is a collection of short prophecies written in the first person by someone identifying as Gabriel to someone else in the second person singular.The writing has been dated to the 1st century BCE or the early 1st century CE by its script and language. David Hamidovic's analysis instead suggests a date after . A physical analysis of the stone found no evidence of modern treatment of the surface, and found the attached soil most consistent with the area east of the Lisan Peninsula of the Dead Sea.The text as a whole is unknown from other sources; it is fragmentary, so the meaning is quite uncertain. It is considered very similar to the Dead Sea scrolls. The artifact is relatively rare in its use of ink on stone.
Scholars have characterized the genre of Gabriel's Revelation as prophetic, although biblical Hebrew scholar Ian Young expresses surprise that it does not use Hebrew language characteristic of biblical prophetic texts. Other scholars describe its genre as a revelatory dialogue similar to 4 Ezra or 2 Baruch or even as an apocalypse.
Origins and reception
The unprovenanced tablet is claimed to have been found by a Bedouin man in Jordan on the eastern banks of the Dead Sea around the year 2000. It was owned by Ghassan Rihani, a Jordanian antiquities dealer working in Jordan and London, who sold it to David Jeselsohn, a Swiss–Israeli collector. At the time of his purchase, Jeselsohn says that he was unaware of its significance.[2] Lenny Wolfe, an antiquities dealer in Jerusalem, reports having seen it prior to Rihani obtaining possession of it. Expert Hebrew paleographer and epigrapher Ada Yardeni reports that she first saw photographs of the tablet in 2003.
The first scholarly description of the find and the editio princeps of the text was published in April 2007 in an article written by Yardeni in consultation with Binyamin Elizur. Yardeni gave the writing the name "Hazon Gabriel".
, the stone was located in Zurich. In 2013, the stone was loaned to the Israel Museum to be displayed in an exhibit there.
The stone has received wide attention in the media starting in July 2008, primarily due to Israel Knohl's interpretations.
Authenticity
Most scholars have tentatively accepted it to be authentic, although Årstein Justnes, a biblical studies professor,[3] [4] has published a refutation of its authenticity. Doubts have further been expressed by Kenneth Atkinson and Jonathan Klawans.
Interpretation and significance
Hillel Halkin in his blog in The New York Sun wrote that it "would seem to be in many ways a typical late-Second-Temple-period eschatological text" and expressed doubts that it provided anything "sensationally new" on Christianity's origins in Judaism.
The finding has caused controversy among scholars. Israel Knohl, an expert in Talmudic and biblical language at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, translated line 80 of the inscription as "In three days, live, I Gabriel com[mand] yo[u]". He interpreted this as a command from the angel Gabriel to rise from the dead within three days, and understood the recipient of this command to be Simon of Peraea, a Jewish rebel who was killed by the Romans in . Knohl asserted that the finding "calls for a complete reassessment of all previous scholarship on the subject of messianism, Jewish and Christian alike". In 2008, Ada Yardeni was reported to have agreed with Knohl's reading.[5] Ben Witherington noted that the word Knohl translated as "rise" could alternately mean "show up".
Other scholars, however, reconstructed the faint writing on the stone as a different word entirely, rejecting Knohl's reading. Instead, Ronald Hendel's (Hendel|2009}}|2009) reading of "In three days, the sign ..." has gained widespread support. In 2011, Knohl accepted that "sign" is a more probable reading than "live", although he maintains that "live" is a possible reading. However, the meaning of the phrase in the currently accepted reading is still unclear.Knohl still maintains the historical background of the inscription to be as mentioned above. He now views Simon's death, according to the inscription, as "an essential part of the redemptive process. The blood of the slain messiah paves the way for the final salvation".
David Hamidovic suggests it was written in the context of the Roman Emperor Titus’ siege of Jerusalem in .
Gabriel's Revelation is considered important for broader scholarly discussion about Jewish messianic expectations in the Second Temple Period, specifically the themes of the suffering messiah and the Messiah ben Joseph, as well as the Davidic messiah.
Publications
The Hebrew text and translation are available in several editions:,,,, and . Photographs of the stone are printed in . Newer high resolution images are available from the InscriptiFact Digital Image Library.[6] Detailed linguistic studies have been performed by,, and .
References
- Atkinson . Kenneth . 2018 . The Gabriel Revelation (Hazon Gabriel): A Reused Masseba Forgery? . Qumran Chronicle . Moligany, Poland . The Enigma Press . 0867-8715 . 26 . 3 . 113–127 .
- Book: Aus, Roger D. . Jesus as a Nazirite in Mark 14:25 par., and Joseph's reunion meal in Judaic tradition . Evans . Craig A. . Johnston . J.J. . Searching the Scriptures: Studies in Context and Intertextuality . Bloomsbury Publishing . The Library of New Testament Studies . 2015 . 978-0-567-66383-2 . https://books.google.com/books?id=9O-ECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA91 . 81ff .
- Bar-Asher . Moshe . On the Language of 'The Vision of Gabriel' . Revue de Qumran . 23 . 4 . 2008 . 491–524 . 24663069 .
- News: Bronner . Ethan . Ethan Bronner . 6 July 2008 . Ancient Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection . The New York Times . 29 September 2017 .
- Book: Byun, Seulgi L. . The Influence of Post-Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic on the Translator of Septuagint Isaiah . Bloomsbury Publishing . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies . 2017 . 978-0-567-67239-1 .
- Book: Collins, J.J. . Gabriel and David: Some reflections on an enigmatic text . Apocalypse, Prophecy, and Pseudepigraphy: On Jewish Apocalyptic Literature . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company . 2015 . 978-1-4674-4383-8 . https://books.google.com/books?id=wdofCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA127 . 127ff .
- Book: Dimant . D. . Kottsieper . I. . The Dead Sea Scrolls in Scholarly Perspective: A History of Research . Brill . Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah . 2012 . 978-90-04-20806-3 .
- Elgvin . Torleif . 2014 . Eschatology and Messianism in the Gabriel Inscription . Journal of the Jesus Movement in Its Jewish Setting from the First to the Seventh Century . 1 . 5–25 . 29 September 2017 .
- News: Daniel . Estrin . Mysterious Hebrew stone displayed in Jerusalem . . 30 April 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130503093324/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/jerusalem-unveils-mysterious-hebrew-stone . 3 May 2013.
- Book: Evans, Craig A. . Craig A. Evans . Jesus and the Ossuaries . Baylor University Press . 2003 . 978-0-918954-88-6 .
- Book: Gaines, J.M.H. . The Poetic Priestly Source . Augsburg Fortress, Publishers . 2015 . 978-1-5064-0046-4 .
- Goren . Yuval . 2008 . Micromorphologic Examination of the 'Gabriel Revelation' Stone . Israel Exploration Journal . 58 . 2 . 220–229 . 27927206.
- Halkin . Hillel . 8 July 2008 . Blurry 'Vision of Gabriel' . . 14 October 2021 .
- Hamidovic . David . 2012 . An Eschatological Drama in Hazon Gabriel: Fantasy or Historical Background? . Semitica . 54 . 233–250 . oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_11BDA2887951 . 0373-630X .
- Hendel . Ronald . 2009 . The messiah son of Joseph: Simply sign . . 35 . 1 . 8 .
- Book: Henze . Matthias . Hazon Gabriel: New readings of the Gabriel Revelation . Brill . Early Judaism and its literature . 2011a . 978-1-58983-541-2 . Table of contents and preface
- Book: Henze, Matthias . Some Observations on the Hazon Gabriel . 113–29 . https://www.academia.edu/download/36222284/Henze.Hazon_Gabriel.PDF . 29 September 2017 . Henze . Matthias . Hazon Gabriel: New readings of the Gabriel Revelation . Brill . Early Judaism and its literature . 2011b . 978-1-58983-541-2 .
- Book: Hutchinson, R.J. . Searching for Jesus: New Discoveries in the Quest for Jesus of Nazareth—and How They Confirm the Gospel Accounts . Thomas Nelson . 2015 . 978-0-7180-1849-8 .
- Book: Jeselsohn, David . The Jeselsohn Stone: Discovery and Publication . 1–10 . Henze . Matthias . Hazon Gabriel: New readings of the Gabriel Revelation . Brill . Early Judaism and its literature . 2011 . 978-1-58983-541-2 .
- Book: Justnes, Årstein . 16 January 2015 . Hazon Gabriel: A Modern Forgery? . Material Philology in the Dead Sea Scrolls: New Approaches for New Text Editions: Proceedings of the International Conference at the University of Copenhagen, 3–5 April, 2014 . https://www.academia.edu/24056084 . 29 September 2017 . . Also published as Justnes . Årstein . 16 January 2015 . Hazon Gabriel: A Modern Forgery? . Holy Scriptures Forum . Norway . University of Agder . 29 September 2017 . none .
- Justnes . Årstein . Rasmussen . Josephine Munch . 2020 . Hazon Gabriel: A Display of Negligence . Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research . 384 . 69–76 . 225553689 . 10.1086/709464.
- Klawans . Jonathan . Deceptive Intentions: Forgeries, Falsehoods and the Study of Ancient Judaism . Jewish Quarterly Review . Project Muse . 108 . 4 . 2018 . 1553-0604 . 10.1353/jqr.2018.0030 . 489–501. 165452745 . free .
- News: Knohl . Israel . Israel Knohl . In three days, you shall live . Haaretz . 19 April 2007 . 7 February 2018 .
- Knohl . Israel . 2008a . "By Three Days, Live": Messiahs, Resurrection, and Ascent to Heaven in Hazon Gabriel . The Journal of Religion . University of Chicago Press . 88 . 2 . 0022-4189 . 10.1086/525562 . 147–158 . 170794593 .
- Book: Knohl, Israel . . -->2008b . The Gabriel Revelation and the Birth of Christianity . 435–476 . Schiffman . Lawrence H. . Roitman . Adolfo D. . Tzoref . Shani . The Dead Sea Scrolls and Contemporary Culture: Proceedings of the International Conference held at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (July 6-8, 2008) . Brill . 978-90-04-18593-7 . 10.1163/ej.9789004185937.i-770 . abstract
- Knohl . Israel . 2008c . The Messiah son of Joseph: 'Gabriel's revelation' and the Birth of a New Messianic Model . Biblical Archaeology Review . 34 . 5 . 58–62 . 29 September 2017 . 29 September 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170929233022/https://c795631.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/gabriels_revelation.pdf#page=8 . dead . The translation from this document has been republished and is available online at Web site: Knohl . Israel . 15 July 2008 . 'Gabriel's Revelation' Tablet Translation Now Available on Hartman Website . Shalom Hartman Institute . 31 January 2018 . 1 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180201192931/https://hartman.org.il/SHINews_View.asp?Article_Id=162 . dead .
- Book: Knohl, I. . Messiahs and Resurrection in 'The Gabriel Revelation' . Bloomsbury Publishing . The Robert and Arlene Kogod Library of Judaic Studies . 2009 . 978-1-4411-1486-0 .
- Book: Knohl, Israel . The Apocalyptic and Messianic Dimensions of the Gabriel Revelation in Their Historical Gontext . Henze . Matthias . Hazon Gabriel: New readings of the Gabriel Revelation . Brill . Early Judaism and its literature . 2011 . 978-1-58983-541-2 . https://books.google.com/books?id=GWgc2zexTIIC&pg=PA39 . 39–60 .
- Koller . Aaron . Book Review: Henze, Matthias, ed. Hazon Gabriel . Review of Biblical Literature . 2014 . 16 . 74–78 . 29 September 2017 . 29 September 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170929232338/http://fontes.lstc.edu/~rklein/Doc15/koller.pdf . dead .
- Book: Novenson, M.V. . The Grammar of Messianism: An Ancient Jewish Political Idiom and Its Users . Oxford University Press . 2017 . 978-0-19-025502-2 . 176ff .
- Book: O'Connell, J.H. . Jesus' Resurrection and Apparitions: A Bayesian Analysis . Wipf & Stock Publishers . 2016 . 978-1-4982-2559-5 .
- Qimron . Elisha . Yuditsky . Alexey (Eliyahu) . 2009 . Notes on the So-called 'Vision of Gabriel' Inscription . Cathedra: For the History of Eretz Israel and Its Yishuv . 123 . 133–144 . he . 23408340 . . An abbreviated version was published as Book: Qimron . Elisha . Yuditsky . Alexey (Eliyahu) . Notes on the So-Called Gabriel Vision Inscription . Henze . Matthias . Hazon Gabriel: New readings of the Gabriel Revelation . Brill . Early Judaism and its literature . 2011 . 978-1-58983-541-2 . https://books.google.com/books?id=GWgc2zexTIIC&pg=PA31 . 31–38 .
- Book: Rendsburg, Gary . Hazon Gabriel: A Grammatical Sketch . Henze . Matthias . Hazon Gabriel: New readings of the Gabriel Revelation . Brill . Early Judaism and its literature . 2011 . 978-1-58983-541-2 . https://books.google.com/books?id=GWgc2zexTIIC&pg=PA61 . 61–92 .
- Book: Septimus, Y. . On the Boundaries of Talmudic Prayer . Mohr Siebeck . Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism . 2015 . 978-3-16-153421-8 . 8 February 2018 .
- Schniedewind . W. M. . 2005 . Prolegomena for the Sociolinguistics of Classical Hebrew . Journal of Hebrew Scriptures . 5 . 10.5508/jhs.2004.v5.a6 . 1203-1542 . free .
- Book: Terry, M. . Reader's Guide to Judaism . Taylor & Francis . 2013 . 978-1-135-94150-5 .
- Book: Witherington, B. . The Indelible Image: The Theological and Ethical Thought World of the New Testament: The Collective Witness . InterVarsity Press . 2010 . 978-0-8308-3862-2 . Republished in Book: Witherington, B. . New Testament Theology and Ethics . InterVarsity Press . 2 . 2016 . 978-0-8308-9984-5 .
- Yardeni . Ada . 2008 . A New Dead Sea Scroll in Stone? Bible-like Prophecy Was Mounted in a Wall 2,000 Years Ago . Biblical Archaeology Review . 34 . 1 . 29 September 2017 . 29 September 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170929233022/https://c795631.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/gabriels_revelation.pdf#page=3 . dead . From BAR website HTML archive without sidebars
- Yardeni . Ada . Elizur . Binyamin . 2007 . A First-Century BCE Prophetic Text Written on a Stone: First Publication . Cathedra: For the History of Eretz Israel and Its Yishuv . 123 . 155–166 . he . 23407585 ., translated with minor additions in Book: Yardeni . Ada . Elizur . Binyamin . A Hebrew Prophetic Text on Stone from the Early Herodian Period: A Preliminary Report . Henze . Matthias . Hazon Gabriel: New readings of the Gabriel Revelation . Brill . Early Judaism and its literature . 2011 . 978-1-58983-541-2 . https://books.google.com/books?id=GWgc2zexTIIC&pg=PA11 . 11–29 .
- Young . Ian . 2013 . Book Review: Hazon Gabriel: New Readings of the Gabriel Revelation . Review of Biblical Literature . 15 . 211–215 .
Subnotes
Further reading
- Book: Beskow, Per . Modern Mystifications of Jesus . Burkett . Delbert . The Blackwell Companion to Jesus . Wiley-Blackwell . Oxford, UK . 26 August 2010 . 458–473 . 978-1-4443-2794-6 . 10.1002/9781444327946.ch28 .
- Book: Capes, David B. . ’Jerusalem’ in The Gabriel Revelation and the Revelation of John . 173–186 . Henze . Matthias . Hazon Gabriel: New readings of the Gabriel Revelation . Brill . 2011 . 978-1-58983-541-2 . https://books.google.com/books?id=GWgc2zexTIIC&pg=PA173 . . An earlier draft of this chapter was published as Book: David B., Capes . 24 January 2013 . 'Jerusalem' in The Gabriel Revelation and the Revelation of John . 29 September 2017 .
- Web site: Cohen-Matlofsky . Claude . Hazon Gabriel: A Social Historian's Point of View . The Bible and Interpretation . 8 February 2018 . 29 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200729033457/http://www.bibleinterp.com/opeds/coh368019.shtml . dead .
- García . E. Macarena . 2016 . Messianism and Resurrection in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature and the Dead Sea Scrolls . St. Andrews Symposium for Biblical and Early Christian Studies Son of God: Divine Sonship in Jewish and Christian Antiquity June 6–8, 2016 .
- Hamidovic . David . 2009 . La vision de Gabriel . Revue d'Histoire et de Philosophie Religieuses . 89 . 2 . 147–168 . 10.3406/rhpr.2009.1389 . oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_46BAAA309892 . 0035-2403 . fr.
- Hazen . Craig . 2009 . Gabriel's Revelation . Christian Research Journal . 32 . 2 . 29 September 2017 . PDF
External links
Notes and References
- News: The First Jesus? . . 5 August 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100819141040/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/expedition-week/4290/facts . 19 August 2010 . dead . dmy-all .
- Was Jesus' Resurrection a Sequel? . van Biema . David . Tim McGirk . 7 July 2008 . . 7 July 2008.
- Web site: Årstein Justnes CV . no.
- Web site: Årstein Justnes.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20080820180906/http://www.bib-arch.org/news/dss-in-stone-news.asp Note: compare with archive from the day prior.
- http://inscriptifact.com/ moved temporarily to https://digitallibrary.usc.edu/Archive/InscriptiFact----an-image-database-of-inscriptions-and-artifacts-2A3BF1OL6PW