It seems that one of the names for Messiah around the time of Jesus was the “star” (כוכב) taken from Num 24.17b which reads, “…a star shall come out of Jacob, a scepter shall rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth.” In his article “Are the ‘Son’ Texts at Qumran Messianic?” (James H. Charlesworth, Hermann Lichtenberger, and Gerban S. Oegema, eds., Qumran Messianism: Studies on the Messianic Expectations in the Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 136) Craig Evans lists CD 7.18-20; 1 QM 11.6 and 4Q175 12 as text describing this “star” as a seeker of the Law.
It seems to be a Messianic figure in CD 7.19-20 where it it written, “The king is the congregation; and the bases of the statues are the Book of the Prophets whose sayings Israel despised. The star is the Interpreter of the Law who shall come to Damascus; as it is written, ‘A star shall come forth out of Jacob and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel (Num. xxiv, 17. The sceptre is the Prince of the whole congregation, and when he comes he shall smite all the children of Seth (Num. xxiv, 17). (Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, 135).
In 1QM 11.6 this passage is quoted in the context of a soon coming war where the true Israel at Qumran would defeat the evil world “at the hand of your annointed”. In 4Q 175 12 the author is writing about the prophet like Moses who would arise.
In the second century a failed candidate for Messiah named Simon was called “bar Kokhba” (שמעון בר כוכבא) or Simon “son of a star”.
Yet I can’t think of any reference to Jesus this way. It is not that this name is so important that it is surprising, but just an interesting thing to note.
the archives near Emmaus 
Hi Brian,
Thanks for the thought.
You said:
“It seems that one of the names for Messiah around the time of Jesus was the “star” ”
but I wonder whether this might be unique to the Qumran community for the same reason you gave, that it is odd that we have no reference to Jesus as ‘star’ at least no in any source that I am aware of (although admittedly I’m not an expert) except for Rev 22:16 and possibly 2 peter 1:19.
My other thought is whether as Christianity spread it was dropped, maybe as it spread into gentile areas (as it may have classed with local religious ideas and caused confusion?). Although that’s complete speculation.
Thanks, Peter
@Peter : It could be that it was a localized interpretation. That seems like a strong possibility, though Simon is many years later, and in a different region, so if his “son of a star” identity has anything to do with Num 24.17b then that would mark at least two strands of this interpretation. Of course, it is not obvious to me that Simon’s designation was understood the same way.
It is possible that the “star” designation did disappear somewhere in the transition to the Gentile world. Good thought.
Hey Brian,
I am enjoying this series. I have a question. Have you read John Collins’ King and Messiah as Son of God? I was wondering if the Charlesworth text, like Collins, argues that the LXX Greek points to more messianism than the Masoteric text (Hebrew)? Familiar with that argument?
@Rod: I haven’t read Collin’s book (which is a shame, because it is on my bookshelf!) so I don’t think I’ve come across the argument. In this particular article is focuses upon the DSS only, so no attention was given to the LXX.
Also, for clarity, the article is by Craig Evans, but in a book edited by Charlesworth, et al.
Brian, I wonder if this ‘star’ idea contributed some traction to stories about the alleged ‘star of Bethlehem’ which must have been current around 80CE when Luke was rounding up material for his record.
I think it’s huge that Jesus would not use this name for himself (assuming he was aware of it) nor encourage any reference to such a butt-kicking Messiah. Leave it to a wannabe like ‘bar Kokhba’ to run with the idea in desperation later on.
One could make a large book, I think, from Jewish prophecies about the promised one which were proved false by the true Messiah. Odd to think that, from the majority viewpoint of his day, Jesus was actually the Jewish anti-Messiah (Greek trans. ‘anti-Christ’) if we consider the total number of prophecies which were wrong about him.
@John: It is possible that it contributed to the star narrative, but it would be a bit of a stretch. For a messianic name like “star” to be a star in the sky pointing to Messiah seems to me to be too great a morphing to be likely. But I agree 100% that if the star designation was popular in Jesus’ day, and Jesus knowingly rejected it’s use (assuming he rejected it and not that it was just that the evangelist found no use for it), this would say a lot about his redefining of the messianic identity.
What about Luke 1:78? Is anatole here necessarily a reference to the rising sun (as NIV has it), or could it refer to the rising of a star as in Matthew 2:2?
In the LXX of Num 24.17 we find astron, which doesn’t seem to carry the same connotation as anatole. Anatole tends to emphasize eastwardness (sunrise) (e.g. LXX Zec 6.12; Is 60.19; and maybe even Ez 16.7 (where the “rising” has to do with the budding or springing of the grass of the field). So I would tend to see the Lukan use in 1.78 as being a bit too distant to make a direct connection to Num 24.17.
Mt 2.2 would have a better linguistic connection, which may be what John was saying above. This seems to me to be the closest connection we find to the star tradition. It’s worth pondering.
I believe The Lord Jesus Christ is God, The Son of God, and The Messiah; as clearly taught in The Bible. The stakes are too high to be wrong about this.
@Christian Jew – Since I am the one who offered that a number of Jewish prophecies were ‘wrong about Jesus’ I feel I should explain that I think it stands to reason – since I believe he was God’s own divine Messiah – the true world Messiah – and not strictly speaking the standard type of an OT Jewish Messiah in every regard.
I assume you have had ‘the argument’ with Non-Christian Jews who reject most of the prophecies claimed by Christians to point to Jesus?
I am willing to make concessions to Jews who argue that some of the prophecies which Christians allege to be pointing to Jesus are indeed forced applications without basis in the text. However, this is because I judge (with Wellhausen and many others) that the bulk of the Torah and much of the historical material in the OT is a tissue of redactions compiled from ancient texts during the exile – Second Temple religion, a mixture of revelation and human construction which so confused the Jewish people that they could not all recognize the true Messiah when he came to them.
It’s complicated. But I hope you see that am a believer in the true Son nonetheless.