SONS OF LIGHT

SONS OF LIGHT
SONS OF LIGHT (Heb. בְּנֵי אוֹר, benei or), phrase used specially in the dead sea Scrolls denoting the godly, by contrast with the phrase "sons of darkness" (Heb. בְּנֵי חֹשֶׁךְ, benei ḥoshekh) denoting the ungodly. It is so used, notably in the war scroll , where "the sons of light put forth their hands   to make a beginning against the lot of the sons of darkness" (1QM 1:1). The "sons of light" are here particularized as "the sons of Levi, the sons of Judah, the sons of Benjamin, the dispersion of the wilderness"; the "sons of darkness" as the hosts of Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, Philistia, and the Kittim, aided by those who transgress the covenant. In the event described, the sons of light annihilate the sons of darkness. From the viewpoint of the Qumran community, the sons of light are members of the community and their sympathizers. On entry into membership the candidate swears "to love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in the council of God, and to hate the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in the vengeance of God" (1QS 1:9–11). The apostate is to be "cut off from the midst of the sons of light" (1QS 2:16). The sons of light are so chosen through God's predestinating decree. When God created man, He appointed two spirits to govern him: "dominion over all the sons of righteousness is in the hand of the Prince of Lights, and they walk in the ways of light; all dominion over the sons of perversity is in the hand of the Angel of Darkness, and they walk in the ways of darkness" (1QS 3:20ff.). The Angel of Darkness, indeed, makes even the sons of light go astray, but they can count on the aid of "the God of Israel and the angel of His truth" (1QS 3:24ff.). The designation "sons of light" is one of the links between the Qumran texts and the New Testament; in the latter it is found on the lips of Jesus (Luke 16:8, where it is opposed to the "sons of this age", John 12:36) and in the Pauline writings (Eph. 5:8; I Thess. 5:5). In both bodies of literature the ultimate background is the separation made by God in the beginning when He called light into being as the first of His creative works and separated it from the darkness (Gen. 1:3ff). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: A.R.C. Leaney, Rule of Qumran and Its Meaning (1966), 79ff., passim. (Frederick Fyvie Bruce)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness — The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness is a manual for military organization and strategy that was discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is also known by the names War Rule , Rule of War , and War Scroll . The document is… …   Wikipedia

  • War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, The — ▪ Hebrew document Hebrew  Megillat Milḥamat B ne, or Beb ne Ḥoshekh,  also called  War Rule, or War Scroll,         a Dead Sea Scroll, and one of the most important documents of the Essene sect of Jews that established a community at Qumrān in… …   Universalium

  • Sons of the prophets — Son Son, n. [OE. sone, sune, AS. sunu; akin to D. zoon, OS., OFries., & OHG. sunu, G. sohn, Icel. sonr, Sw. son, Dan. s[ o]n, Goth. sunus, Lith. sunus, Russ. suin , Skr. s[=u]nu (from s[=u] to beget, to bear), and Gr. ? son. [root]293. Cf. {Sow} …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Light Reflectance Value — Light Reflectance Value, or LRV, is a measurement commonly used in interior decorating and design, which expresses the percentage of light that is reflected from a surface.LRV is frequently included on the backs of paint chips or samples and is… …   Wikipedia

  • Sons of the Vegetal Mother — Infobox Musical artist Name = Sons of the Vegetal Mother Img capt = Img size = Landscape = Background = group or band Alias = Origin = Melbourne, Australia Genre = Rock Years active = 1969 1971 Label = Independent Associated acts = The Pink Finks …   Wikipedia

  • Sons of Ben (MLS supporters association) — The Sons of Ben (SoB) is an independent fan club for the future Philadelphia Major League Soccer (MLS) team. The Sons of Ben group was created in January 2007 by soccer fans from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and its greater metropolitan area, using …   Wikipedia

  • Light pollution — This article is about light pollution in the visible spectrum. For information on pollution in the radio spectrum, see radio spectrum pollution. This time exposure photo of New York City at night shows skyglow, one form of light pollution …   Wikipedia

  • Sons of Butcher (TV show) — infobox television show name = Sons of Butcher caption = format = Animated series runtime = approx. 23 minutes per episode, 598 minutes total creator = Dave Dunham, Trevor Ziebarth, Jay Ziebarth starring = Dave Dunham, Trevor Ziebarth, Jay… …   Wikipedia

  • Sons and Lovers (All Saints episode) — Infobox Television episode Title = Sons and Lovers Series = All Saints Caption = Season = 11 Episode = 24 Airdate = Start date|2008|07|22 Production = Writer = Jeff Truman Director = Ian Gilmour Music = Flaunt It (TV Rock) Photographer = Guests …   Wikipedia

  • LIGHT, William (c. 1786-1839) — founder of Adelaide was born about the year 1786 either on the island of Salang or in the territory of Kedah, and spent his first six years at Penang. His father, Captain Francis Light, traded in Siam and Malaya and married Martina Rozells in… …   Dictionary of Australian Biography

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”