The article deals with soteriological concepts that emerged and evolved in Jewish
pious circles during the “Hellenistic crisis” beginning from the second half of the 170s B.C.E. Five main responses to the Hellenistic challenge then crystallized in Jewish society: submission to the Hellenists and active Hellenization; martyrdom for the faith; escapism as well as flight from Judaea; armed struggle; and expectation of supernatural deliverance through a transcendent divine Savior. The focus of the author of this article is a study of the latter aspect, with an emphasis on the interpretation of the figure of “One like a son of man” (Dan. 7:13–14) and his “correlates” in the Book of Daniel, as well as the character
who appears under the title “Son of God” in the text of Pseudo-Daniel (4Q246=4QpsDand ar) from Qumran. In searching for a possible biblical prototype of these characters, the author of this article stops at the figure of the “Lord” from Psalm 110:1, 5, while offering his own interpretation of Psalm 110.
The author tries to reveal peculiarities of interpretation of this Psalm in the Book of Daniel, in Pseudo-Daniel, and in the Qumran Midrash of Melchizedek (11Q13) in a soteriological and apocalyptic context. Particular attention is given to examining the evolution of views on the figure of Melchizedek, as he is positioned in Psalm 110, at various historical periods of antiquity. The author also attempts to identify the reflection of Judaean soteriological and eschatological concepts relevant to the theme of the article in selected works of the New Testament.