by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
As I wrote last week, we will study more about thanksgiving blessings as found in the ancient Jewish תפילת העמידה Amidah Prayer and those found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) and compare them with those found in the Gospels.
Let us recall the thanksgiving section of the Amidah Prayer composed of 3 blessings:
For the restoration of the Temple: 17. Blessed are you, O LORD, who restores his divine presence to Zion.
For God’s unfailing mercies: 18. Blessed are you, O LORD, whose Name is the Beneficient One, and to whom it is fitting to give thanks.
For the blessing of peace: 19. Blessed are you, O LORD, who blesses his people Israel with peace.
(Translations from the Hebrew by David Bivin, downloaded from https://engediresourcecenter.com/2019/09/24/the-amidah-prayer-a-new-translation/).
Now the DSS had a slew of at least 34 Thanksgiving Hymns, הוֹדָיוֹת (“Hodayot”) found in Qumran caves (Cave 1 and 4) starting in 1947. The manuscripts (some are fragments, actually; some of which can be viewed at https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/explore-the-archive/search#q=’Hodayot‘) are now known by their official designations: 1QHa, 1Q35, 4Q427-432. “1Q” simply means the manuscript fragments were found in Qumran Cave 1 while “4Q” means they were discovered in Qumran Cave 4. Among other scholarly observations, it was found that around 2/3 of the hymns in the collection are apparently community thanksgiving hymns. But the other Hodayot seem to be in stark contrast to other DSS manuscripts for its “intensely personal tone.” Scholars attribute these hymns to the “Teacher of Righteousness” who offered up thanksgiving in the face of his own persecution, suffering and salvation. Some DSS scholars see the Suffering Messiah motif of Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 in these hymns.
The 34 discovered Thanksgiving Hymns had 2 common introductions: “I give thanks to you, O LORD, …” and “Blessed are you, O LORD,…” The second one definitely reflects the Amidah Prayer phrase we have been studying. Listed below are some of these Hodayot:
Hymn 1: Thanksgiving for God’s holiness and strength while acknowledging mankind’s sin and weakness.
Hymn 2: Thanksgiving to God for deliverance from sin and judgment.
Hymn 3: Thanksgiving to God for his righteousness.
Hymn 4: Thanksgiving to God for making his glory known.
Hymn 5: Thanksgiving that God revealed the mysteries of his plan to the righteous (Note: Hymns 5, 8, 9, 18, 26, 29, 30, 31, and 33 begin with “Blessed are you, O LORD, …”).
Hymn 6: Thanksgiving to God who gives understanding.
Hymn 7: Thanksgiving to God who forgives those who repent, but judges the wicked.
Hymn 10: Thanksgiving to God for his salvation.
Hymn 11: Thanksgiving to God for protection.
Hymn 12: Thanksgiving to God for deliverance from persecution.
Hymn 13: Thanksgiving to God for deliverance from the torment of enemies.
Hymn 34: Suffering Messiah motif.
(All translations from Wise, Abegg Jr. and Cook, The Dead Sea Scrolls (HarperCollins, 2005), 170-205).
One can clearly see resonances between the DSS Hodayot and the Amidah Prayer in giving thanks to God. While recognizing that some of the Hodayot speak about individual/personal circumstances (Hymns 10, 11, 12, 13 and 34 above), one can still make quick comparisons. For example, the DSS Hodayot Hymns 1, 2, 3, and 4 parallel the Amidah Prayers #1, #2, #3, #11 and #13; Hymns 5 and 6 parallel the Amidah Prayer #4; Hymn 7 parallels the Amidah Prayers #5 and #6; Hymn 10 parallels Amidah Prayer #7; while Hymns 11, 12 and 13 parallel Amidah Prayer #13 and #16.
While both the Amidah benedictions and the DSS Hodayot were not formally part of the Old Testament (OT), it may be surmised that our Lord Jesus knew them both as these literature was existing before the 1st century AD. Both the Amidah and the DSS Hodayot certainly drew from OT scripture, oral traditions, other Second Temple Jewish religious literature and the reflections of the Jewish rabbis and sages through the centuries.
We saw earlier that the Lord apparently did not explicitly include blessings for gratitude/thanksgiving to God in his teaching about prayer as recorded in Matthew 6:9-13 (paralleled in Luke 11:2-4). But did our Lord give thanks to God elsewhere in the Gospels? Very evidently so, as these following examples show:
Feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:5-11 [verse 11]) and the 4,000 (Matthew 15:29-39 [verse 36]; Mark 8:1-10 [verse 6]); before the miracle of food multiplication.
Raising of Lazarus (John 11:38-44 [verse 41]); before raising Lazarus from the dead.
Last Supper (Matthew 26:26-29 [verse 27]; Mark 14:17-26 [verse 23]; Luke 22:14-19 [verses 17 and 19]); before distributing the bread/cup.
The Greek words used come from εὐχαριστέω (“eucharisteo”); a verb meaning “I thank/give thanks” or “to be thankful” with 2 grammatical forms used: εὐχαριστήσας (“eucharistesas”) meaning “having given thanks;” aorist participle active, nominative masculine, singular; and εὐχαριστῶ (“eucharisto”) meaning “I thank;” present active indicative, 1st person singular. These 2 inflected forms are used in the following specific verses:
Matthew 15:36 and 26:27 – εὐχαριστήσας;
Mark 8:6 and 14:23 – εὐχαριστήσας;
Luke 22:17 and 22:19 – εὐχαριστήσας; and
John 6:11 – εὐχαριστήσας and 11:41 – εὐχαριστῶ.
(From https://biblehub.com/greek/2168.htm Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc.).
It is quite plausible that our Lord did not think it necessary to include an explicit thanksgiving portion in the prayer he taught. Jewish teachers during his time sometimes did not quote all the scriptures to drive home a point cogently. The listeners or students/disciples were supposed to know their scriptures and thus, should be able to supply the rest of the passage(s).
Or maybe there was something else we overlooked?
We will continue next week and study an amazing word the Lord uses in his prayer teaching that relates to petition and thanksgiving blessings.
God bless us all.