Divine Wisdom and Knowledge on Steroids: גבורה in Biblical Tradition and at Qumran

Abstract

Abstract Scholars have long-noted the association of the Hebrew/Aramaic noun גבורה (power, strength, might, etc.) with divine wisdom and knowledge, but comments have been brief and intermittent. This study will elaborate upon previous investigations of the sapiential sense of גבורה and discuss texts that have hitherto been overlooked or received scant attention. After examining “biblical” and early Jewish texts of non-sectarian or proto-sectarian provenances, compositions penned by the Yaḥad movement will be addressed to shed light on the contribution גבורה made to sectarian identity. It will be demonstrated that גבורה aided the sect in asserting the conviction that, as the true Israel, the revelation of divine wisdom and knowledge was evidence that God was uniquely and powerfully at work among them.