The Dead Sea Scrolls on human worth

The Thanksgiving Hymns from Qumran represent another striking articulation of divine benevolence, with the distinctive accents of a sectarian community. Effusive expressions of gratitude for divine goodness punctuate these hymns with extraordinary regularity: in multiple variations God is addressed with thanks for what has transpired “by your kindnesses” (בחסדיכה), “according to the abundance of your compassion” (כהמון רחמיכה), because of “your abundant goodness” (רוב טובכה), and through “forgiveness” (סליחות) (e.g., 1QHa XIL38; XV.33; XVII.34).‘ The language of “abundance” mirrors the almost obsessive articulation of this theme, which matches the fact that the signature tune of all these compositions is the attribution of knowledge, righteousness, power, and glory — indeed, every dimension of salvation — to God. At the same time, there is an equal emphasis on the worthlessness of the recipients of mercy, an insistent assertion that there is nothing in the material, social, or moral quality of the human object that could provide grounds for this outpouring of grace.—J. M. G. Barclay, Paul and the Gift, 239