Jesus the Dayspring: The Sunrise and the Visitation of Israel's Messiah

Messianic expectations in the first century ce were varied, but rarely did they include a figure associated with the sunrise or the direction of the east. However, in Luke's gospel the prophetic song (the 'Benedictus') of the priest Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, includes a title for Jesus that means the 'dayspring', 'dawn', or 'rising sun'. Where did this title arise?

In Jesus the Dayspring, Wenkel suggests that the connection between Jesus and the sunrise may have come from any num...