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[[Image:4Q175.jpg|thumb|right|<center>4Q175</center>]]
'''4Q175''' (or '''4QTest'''), also known as '''The Testimonia''', is one of the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] and was found in Cave 4 at [[Qumran]] in the [[West Bank]]. Only one sheet long, 4Q175 is a collection of scriptural quotations seemingly connected to a [[messiah|messianic]] figure. The manuscript was written in [[Hasmonean]] script of the early [[1st century BC|first century BCE]] and was edited by [[John Marco Allegro]].

==Contents==
The Testimonia is a short document containing five [[Biblical]] quotations arranged in four sections concerning [[God]]'s activities at the end-time. Only the last section is followed by an interpretation. The first three sections refer to future blessings which will come from three figures, a prophet similar to [[Moses]], a [[messiah|messianic]] figure and a priestly teacher.

The first section consists of two texts from Deuteronomy and refers to the prophet-figure who is like [[Moses]] ([[Deuteronomy]] 5:28-29; 18:18-19).  The second section is an extract from a prophecy of [[Balaam]] about the [[Messiah]]-figure, who is similar to [[David]] (Numbers 24:15-17). This prophecy predicts "A star shall come out of Jacob and a sceptre shall arise out of Israel; he shall crush the temples of Moab and destroy all the children of Sheth." The third section is a blessing of the Levites, and of the Priest-Messiah who will be a teacher like [[Levi]] ([[Deuteronomy 33|Deuteronomy 33:8-11]]). The last section begins with a verse from [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] ([[Joshua 6:26|6:26]]), which is then expounded by means of a quotation from the Psalms of [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] (see [[4Q379]]). These verses show that the [[Qumran]] community was interested in the messianic prophecies found in the [[Tanakh]].

==Interpretation==
To date, no scholar has seriously attempted to identify the three figures described in 4Q175, but many associate them with a father and two sons. [[John Marco Allegro]] believed them to be [[Alexander Jannaeus]] and his sons; [[Frank Moore Cross]] identified them as [[Mattathias]] and his sons Simon and [[Judas Maccabee]] who were all central figures in the [[Maccabean]] revolt; while Otto Betz believed they were the [[Hasmonean]] king [[John Hyrcanus]] and his two sons [[Aristobulus]] and [[Alexander Jannaeus]].

Many scholars believe that the scribe who copied 4Q175 also copied the [[Community Rule]] (1QS) found in Cave 1 as well as a [[Samuel]] manuscript also found in Cave 4. All have been dated by the style of script ([[palaeography]]) to the [[Hasmonean]] period.

==See also==
*[[4Q107]]
*[[4Q108]]
*[[4QMMT]]
*[[Tanakh at Qumran]]

==External links==
*[http://www.christian-witness.org/archives/cetf2002/scrolls02.html  The name 'Jesus' found in 4Q175?]
*[http://faculty.bbc.edu/ggromacki/deadseascrolls/messiah.htm  4Q175 on ''Doctrines of the Dead Sea Scrolls'']

*[http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp/educational_site/dead_sea_scrolls/4QTestimonia.shtml 4Q175 on the West Semitic Research Project website]

{{Dead Sea Scrolls}}

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[[Category:Dead Sea scrolls]]
[[Category:Hebrew manuscripts]]

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