A Layman's Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls

By Donald R. Clowers

1

Credits:

This booklet was composed from presentation notes based on the works listed in the bibliography.

All scripture is quoted from the King James Version.

All Dead Sea Scrolls Quotations from "The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation", by Michael Wise, Martin Abegg Jr., and Edward Cook, unless otherwise noted.

All pictures from "The Dead Sea Scrolls In Pictures", by the Biblical Archeology Society..

Note: Picture on cover page is the entrance to Cave 1.

2

INTRODUCTION

In 2003, I completed a degree program from Colorado Christian University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management, with an emphasis in Christian Leadership. During that program, I was introduced to many topics of study, secular and religious. For example, along with survey classes encompassing the Old and New Testaments, other classes concentrated on various aspects of leadership using biblical characters, like David, as practical examples of leadership and leadership principles. Other classes delved into topics regarding the biblical text itself, such as exegetical analysis of scripture and textual criticism.

I found this subject matter so interesting that ever since, it has been a hobby of mine to study various scholarly material regarding these topics. In these studies, I found that scholars often referred to the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) and how they have increased our understanding of various aspects of ancient Judaism and early Christianity. Late in 2006, I decided to do a more in depth study of the scrolls in order to better understand the context, content, and application of DSS material, particularly with regards to my faith, Christianity. This study culminated in a trip to Kansas City in April 2007 to a seminar hosted by the Biblical Archaeological Society where various DSS topics were discussed by scholars that have spent their lives studying them. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to see some actual scroll fragments and other artifacts at an exhibit hosted nearby. To look upon objects over 2000 years old, some of which personal in nature, was an awe inspiring experience, to say the least.

Upon my return from Kansas City, I was discussing some of what I had seen and learned with a friend of mine, and he was so interested that he afforded me the opportunity to give a presentation about the material to his home based church. There is no doubt that I have only scratched the surface of this material, and I in no way consider myself to be any kind of biblical, historical, or ancient language scholar. However, I have given this topic enough study to provide the hundred thousand foot view, so-to-speak, of much of the material. That is what I provided during my presentation, and this booklet is a reflection of that presentation.

For the reader who wants to do some additional study, I have provided a bibliography of the source material I used at the end of this booklet. There is also a vast amount of material both online and at your local bookstore.

As for this booklet, I hope you enjoy it for what it is, a layman's interpretation of material about some ancient writings, the people who wrote them, and the implications this material has for people of faith today. For many of the areas covered in this booklet, there are varying opinions as to the proper interpretation and potential applications thereof, so please do not consider what is written here to be etched in stone.

The following pages will provide a broad overview of relevant history, describe the geography and how it not only drove history but enabled the preservation of the DSS material, and discuss the major religious groups of the region in and around ancient Israel. This is necessary in order to provide a basis for the context of the scrolls, and with this foundation in place, the discovery, contents and implications the scrolls have on Judaism and Christianity will be discussed. This booklet will conclude with some final thoughts about the scrolls and the people who wrote them.

3

WHAT DOES “THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS” REFER TO?

There have been many archaeological finds in the Middle East over the past century or so, but with the exception of discoveries in Egypt and the Sinai, few examples of ancient writing can compare with the spectacular finds in the region of the Dead Sea. The climate around the Dead Sea is very arid with rainfall amounts in the millimeters annually. Such a dry climate has proven to be very conducive for the preservation of materials used for recording writing in ancient times. Among these writings are legal documents, the personal correspondence of Bar Kokhba, leader of the last major Jewish rebellion of 132-135 A.D., and of course, the writings this booklet is

concerned with. Much of this material is referred to as Dead Sea Scrolls, but when that term is used here, it is in the context of those documents found in caves in the area around an ancient settlement called Qumran, along the Dead Sea east of Jerusalem and south of Jericho.

GEOGRAPHY SETS THE PACE

For most of recorded history, the land of Israel has been fought over by many world powers. Ray Vander Laan, in his video series "Faith Lessons", contends that in recorded history, the Jezreel Valley in Israel has been the location of more battles than anywhere else on Earth. The region has also been the birthplace of at least three of the world's major religions and even to this day, it remains unsettled.

Of the many causes for this, is the geography in and around Israel itself. Ancient Israel, while not the largest nation in the region, had one thing about it that was very significant. It was situated strategically at what Vander Laan calls “the crossroads of the world.” To the southwest, is Egypt, an established major world power well before there was any Jewish nation, and to the north and east there has existed various empires. Whether these empires desired to trade or engage in war with each other, the roads to get there went through Israel.

Geographically, on the west, Israel's coastal plain borders the Mediterranean. Heading east, the coastal plain rises to the foothills of the shephelah, the hill country. Continuing eastward, the land rises to the Judean Mountains. After crossing the mountains, the land then descends into the rift valley and rises again as one heads east towards modern day Jordan. The Dead Sea, a body of water fed by the Jordan River south of the Sea of Galilee, is located in the rift valley and constitutes the lowest point on earth below sea level. The picture at left looks out cave 1 towards the ancient settlement of Qumran and the Dead Sea in the distance.

4

There are two major ancient trade routes that go through Israel, the first being the Via Maris, or the way of the sea, that runs north and south through the coastal plain. The second is known as the Kings Highway that runs north and south located east of the rift valley. There are few routes that link the two, one of which runs through Jericho in the north. Any nation that controlled these routes, these crossroads, could exercise great control over their passage, whether for trade or war, and in turn could influence the potentially larger nations nearby, thus virtually controlling the known world at the time.

To control a region, a people must posses various technological and organizational skills superior, or at least comparable to those who would want to take it from them. Christians often assume that Jewish people excelled in these areas and that those around them were the less advanced, but for much of their history, the situation was the opposite. For example, nations like the Philistines had the ability to work with iron, specifically to make weapons with it. This advantage allowed them to control much of the coastal plain, as we see in the Old Testament (OT). Obviously, their technological edge put the Hebrews of the time at a considerable disadvantage militarily. Later, during the time of David, this technology had been acquired, and God's people enjoyed a higher degree of military success with their rivals. Scholars debate whether David brought this technology to his people after his time with the Philistines, or whether it came about in another way, and it is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss it much further, but this example shows how often perceptions differ from what was actually the case.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, preserved in this arid climate and influenced by Israel's history up to the point of their composition, have likewise provided material that show how perceptions of the people and their religious beliefs before Christ differ from how these early writings show them to have actually been. Before discussing the scrolls further, an overview of Israel's history will help set the context of their writing. Various sources, including the Bible provides this detail. Please note below some of the highlights that deal particularly with the OT and the time between the Old and New Testament (NT):

1. Jericho, an already ancient city, is taken by Joshua around 1200 B.C.2. The united kingdom of David and Solomon is divided in two, around 920 B.C..3. Israel, the northern kingdom, is conquered in 722 by the Assyrians.4. Judah, the southern kingdom, is conquered in 587 by the Babylonians and is exiled to that nation.5. The Babylonians fall to the Persians in 539.6. Jews return from exile in 515.

In the time period above, the Bible records the tragedy that is the OT. In it, God chooses his people but fallible as all sinful men are, they falter and are judged. Periods of revival occur, but in the course of time, the people are snared by the influences of the cultures around them again and again, and are judged by God in a cycle that repeats until a final judgment resulting in the divided kingdom falling to invaders. Fortunately, the OT goes on to tell of a comeback.

The Israelite nation returns from their exile with the Babylonians, and not only do they regain their land, they rebuild their temple and the wall around Jerusalem. From a Jewish perspective, the people only look forward to complete restoration through the coming of the Messiah. Their expectation is somewhat different from what Christians understand about the Messiah of the NT, and understanding what this Messiah meant to a Jewish citizen in the first century B.C., the period during which the Dead Sea Scrolls were gathered and compiled, is key to understanding much of the scroll material. This will

5

be discussed more later.

While the Bible is silent regarding this time between the Old and New Testaments, God is not done with His people or the region, so as time continues:

7. The Greeks defeat the Persians in 333.8. The Romans defeat the Greeks in 146 and assume control of Israel by 63 B.C.

While the desire for any people is to live free from the rule of others, particularly from nations that do not share the same cultural values and belief system, for much of the time after the exile, the Jewish people were indifferent with regards to the occupying power. Generally, they were able to exercise their beliefs with little outside interference which was most important to them. Because of this, there was not a strong desire for political sovereignty, but this would all change around 167 B.C.

YEARNING TO BE FREE!

Many occupying powers of the time would subdue a population in part by relocating the inhabitants of a conquered region into some other part of their empire, as with the Assyrians and Babylonians, and in turn, relocate people from around the empire into the conquered region. Often those relocated would adapt in various degrees to the language, customs and even religions of the region they relocated to. While an empire may be united politically and militarily in this manor, it may be quite fractured in other ways. This would begin to change when the Greeks came on the scene in ancient Israel.

The Greeks felt that the people throughout their empire, rather than remaining as individual cultures united only for political and military purposes, should be unified culturally and religiously as well. For those cultures that were polytheistic anyway, as the Greeks were, this was not as great a problem. But for the monotheistic Jewish culture this arrangement could never work, and it came to a head in 167 B.C.

The story goes something like this. A Greek emissary arrived on the scene expecting the priest Mattathias to set a good Greek example, by offering a sacrifice on a pagan alter in the village of Modin, west of Jerusalem. When he refused, another Jew stepped up to do it. It is said, Mattathias was so angered by this that he killed the Jew and the emissary. Along with his sons, Mattathias fled into the hills to avoid capture and this marked the start of what would become known as the Maccabean revolt. The revolt grew with the rebels eventually moving on Jerusalem where they purged the temple of anything pagan. In celebration, and with a thankful heart to God for the victory, they lit a menorah with only one day's worth of oil, but it burned for eight days, and ever since this event has been celebrated as Hanukkah. The revolt also lit a fire for a sovereign Jewish nation.

THE MAJOR PLAYERS

In any significant population, there are bound to be a myriad of groups in which people belong, many of which sharing common traits with each other. For example, in today's political environment, there are two major political parties, the Democrats and Republicans. While it would appear that citizens would lean one way or the other, and many do, often people fall into subgroups agreeing with certain aspects of both parties. Scholars believe that the same is the case with ancient Israel as well, with people believing and exercising a more diverse set of beliefs than would fit in two or three major

6

groups. But for simplicity of this discussion, the assumption will be made that the people practiced their religion along the lines of one of three major groups. During the Maccabean period, three distinct Jewish groups emerged, in part because the religious leadership became entwined with the rapidly changing political leadership then and afterwards. Josephus, a first century A.D. Jewish historian, identifies these groups as the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes.

As noted earlier, two of these groups, the Pharisees and Sadducees, would become entwined with the political powers of the day. The third group, the Essenes, believing the nation's way had been lost, set out into the desert toward the area of the Dead Sea. In their minds, they were preserving God's true people and religion. While these groups shared a common heritage, they differed in significant ways. These differences include their views regarding scripture and the bodily resurrection. Other differences will be discussed as well.

The Pharisees were perhaps the largest group of the three and much of the faith they subscribed to has been preserved in the beliefs held by Jews and Christians today. They believed that the written scripture formed a framework or guide to the faith that was made applicable in a present time by the oral law, a tradition Jews believe to date back to Moses. The Pharisees believed in both a bodily resurrection and an immortal soul. They maintained a lifestyle of separation from ritual defilement, but even so, mixed with common people enough so that they enjoyed popular support from them. With regards to the poor, they believed it was nothing to brag about, but that poorness happens. The positions they often held in society was that of teachers and scribes of the law.

On the other hand, the Sadducees were the aristocracy of Jewish society. They looked down on the poor and apparently much of society looked down upon them. The people's view ranged from distrust to believing they were generally corrupt. The positions they held was that of the priestly order. Their view of scripture was that it was the ultimate authority and rejected the use of oral law. Surprisingly, they did not believe in an immortal soul or bodily resurrection.

The Essenes, the group that had gone into the desert, seems to have held beliefs in common with both Pharisees and Sadducees. Like the Sadducees, the Essenes placed a very high value on scripture and maintained pure copies, but they also incorporated scripture into documents along with what may have been the oral law as well. So extensive were their writings that they developed a library of sorts to contain and study it. The Essenes went further in documenting what they believed to be hidden laws they found based on their own interpretations of scripture. All of this material together appears to have been considered authoritative scripture by them. While the Pharisees put a high value on oral law as well, they kept them in separate writings to distinguish man's words from God's, because they believed if they were mixed, one could not tell which was which and it was important to be able to do so. Also, like the Pharisees, the Essenes believed in an immortal soul and bodily resurrection, and like the Sadducees they were very concerned with ritual purity, but even more so.

In Jewish society, the state of cleanness and uncleanness is covered in much detail in scripture. But some areas were in doubt and debates raged regarding them. For example, if one pours water from a ritually clean pitcher into a ritually unclean cup, at what point is the water unclean. This sounds silly in the 21st century, but no more so than debates in early Christianity about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin! Items like this were a serious topic of debate at the time. Many contended that when the water was being poured from a clean pitcher into an unclean cup, only once inside the unclean cup was the water unclean. The Essenes, on the other hand believed in absolute ritual purity, and so they

7

believed that once the water hit the cup, the uncleanness spread up the flow of water and into the pitcher, making it all unclean.

Despite their more extreme take on ritual purity, they were very well liked by the society at large, even though the Essenes had as little to do with them as possible. They were known for their hospitality towards visitors and for their caring for the sick and elderly. Historians like Josephus, Philo and Hippolytus considered them to be beyond reproach. Their documents seem to show they were sincere in their faith and were not consumed by a lust for power like the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The Essenes were perhaps the poorest in society and were proud of it. They were common people, even the few that were priestly trained. They lived a life of labor like most of the population around them. They lived a communal lifestyle based on a rigid set of rules, the breaking of which could result in anything from loss of privileges to excommunication from the group. They did not own private property and shared any possessions they brought into the group. They avoided any show of luxury, eating simple meals and wearing simple clothes, usually a white robe with a green belt. They lived this way, in part, because they had come to believe that Adam and Eve did not fall due to any sin nature, but because of the affluence they enjoyed in the Garden of Eden, thus, affluence was to be avoided.

One final thing that separated the Essenes (if they were the scroll writers) from the other two groups was their calendar. For most cultures of the time, a lunar calendar was used, in part for the ease of determining when a new cycle would begin, usually with an observation of when the first sliver of light began to appear after a new moon. This resulted in a 354 day calendar, which worked well for scheduling ritual events, but suffered from seasonal drift in a very few number of years.

The Egyptians, on the other hand, were one of a very few cultures that adopted a solar calendar of 365 days. They were not concerned with scheduling rituals, but in predicting the annual flooding of the Nile, to get out of the way and plant accordingly. Why the Essenes chose the solar calendar is not entirely clear, but the ritual schedules between the Essenes and the rest of Jewish society would obviously be different. Because the Essenes believed they were being more faithful in this area to scripture, it was just another reason to separate from the rest of society.

Scholars have learned much about ancient people from various things they have left behind. While artifacts can tell something of how a group of people lived, once in a while something is found that can shed more light than pottery or art ever could. This something would be a people's thoughts, beliefs, and way of life preserved in writings.

WHAT LAY HIDDEN

Scholars have known since antiquity that manuscripts were hidden in the area around the Dead Sea. The earliest such indication known today is a letter from a Syriac Bishop around 790 A.D.. It relates his inquiry about manuscripts discovered by a hunter in the region. He was apparently so excited about the possibility, that he said "a fire burns in my heart quite intensely." Unfortunately, the reply to this letter, if there was one, has been lost over time.

8

The next hint came in 1897 A.D., when the scholar Solomon Schecter heard of a collection of documents going on the market from a synagogue's genizah in Egypt. A genizah is a repository for storage of retired documents and relics. He purchased some of these and published a work called "Fragments of a Zadokite" in 1910 A.D.. Scholars would later learn that these documents were copies of part of the Damascus Document, one of the more important works found among the Dead Sea Scrolls containing clues to the history, theology and conception of the group that collected them.

The next major discovery, and perhaps one of the most incredible archaeological discoveries of all time, would happen in late 1946 or early 1947, the exact date is unknown. A Bedouin named Muhammed edh-Dhib (pictured left, standing on the right), known as “the wolf”, was trying to find a stray goat and threw a rock into a cave to scare it out. Instead of the sound of the animal, he heard that of breaking pottery. A few days later, he returned with his cousin, Jum'a Muhammed and upon entering the cave, they found the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in what may have once been food jars. They carried three of them back to their camp, which are believed to have been the Isaiah Scroll, the Manual of Discipline, and the Habakkuk Commentary. They would discover four more nearly intact scrolls (a second partial copy of Isaiah, thanksgiving hymns, a paraphrase of Genesis, and the war scroll) over the next few weeks. If they had known what they had discovered, they probably would have cared for them better, but for weeks, until they could reach an antiquities merchant, the scrolls were stored in a sack and hung on a tent pole.

The scrolls would find their way first to Bethlehem and into the hands of Khalil Iskander Shahin, or Kando, a cobbler who ran an antique shop in a back room. He would be the middle man between the Bedouin and various buyers for most of the scrolls. Another player involved in the buying and selling of scroll material was Metropolitan Samuel, a bishop in the Syriac Church.

By 1948, a scholar named Eleazer L. Sukenik (pictured left), a distinguish archaeologist of Hebrew University, viewed the scrolls and rightly understood that they were of very ancient origin despite their very good condition. As it turns out, the manuscripts the Bedouin found would provide copies of old testament books 1000 years older than anything known to exist at the time.

Another prominent scholar involved is an archaeologist named Roland de Vaux (pictured right). He would provide insights not only about the scrolls, but about a nearby community named Qumran and the caves which the scrolls were discovered in. Many of his theories are still widely held by scholars today..

9

In all, eleven caves were found near the ancient settlement of Qumran containing scrolls, scroll fragments, and other artifacts. There are many theories of how the scrolls came to be there. Some say that they were dumped in the caves as people fled Jerusalem and the surrounding area when the Romans were putting down the rebellion of 68-70 A.D.. Others say the caves are nothing more than a genizah created by people unknown. The theory this writer sides with, however, is based on that put forth early on that the Essenes, or an Essene-like group, had settled in Qumran and used caves in the surrounding hills to store their most prized possessions, the scrolls, and actively studied and copied them. The condition of the scrolls themselves gives evidence of being actively worked on due to evidence of repair, editing, and manuscript recensions by scribes. It has also been shown through archeology that the caves were actively used, with trails leading to them and artifacts like broken lamps and pottery found in nearly all of them. The pottery and lamps also match that found at the nearby settlement of Qumran, tying them together.

It is believed that the scrolls were gathered from other places in the region, copied, composed, taught and read from about 120 B.C. until the Romans came through in 68 A.D. on their way to Jerusalem. Some of the caves appear to have been man made. Some are noteworthy for what was found in them. For example, the cave 1 scrolls were the only ones found in what were originally food jars. Cave 3 contained the only scroll to have been made of copper containing a map of sorts to where the temple treasures were hidden. Cave 4 was a library cave where scrolls were originally stored on shelves, and when discovered, had to be dug up from beneath 6 feet of bat guano! Cave 11 contained the largest scroll, the Temple Scroll containing various cleanliness guidelines among other things. When unrolled, it measured 28 feet in length.

But what about the nearby settlement of Qumran?

KHIRBET QUMRAN AND IT'S INHABITANTS

Khirbet Qumran means the ruins of Qumran, the name taken from a nearby wadi. While this booklet is interested in the occupation of the site during the time relevant to the scrolls, the use of the site actually encompasses a much larger period of time. Qumran was occupied from the 8th to the 6th century B.C. by people's unknown. Relevant to the scrolls time, there are three periods of occupation. The first was from 120 B.C. to 30 B.C. when it was abandoned due to an earthquake. It was reoccupied and abandoned briefly in 4 B.C. due to a fire. Perhaps a disease was spreading and fire was used to cleans the settlement. The exact reason for or the cause of the fire is unknown. The second period of occupation is from 4 B.C. to 68 A.D., abandoned ahead of the Roman invasion. In the third period of occupation, Qumran was briefly used as

10

a Roman outpost, but this only lasted a few years and once abandoned again, it would remain so until archaeologists uncovered it in the 1940's and 50's.

During the scroll period, the inhabitants of Qumran used the buildings there as communal structures rather than as personal living quarters. It is believed the inhabitants lived in the nearby area. Nearly all the buildings had two stories, with one extending higher, most likely used as an observation tower and is the only structure surviving that still has a second story. A cemetery nearby has 1100 graves, and based on this, archaeologists estimate the population at the site to have averaged between 50 and 150 people, most of the time. It was a place most likely used to train members, not leaders, possibly a study center. Reproduction of the membership was through recruiting new members from around the region. Much discussion centers on whether the Essenes in general, and the Qumran inhabitants in particular, were celibate. At best it can be said that religious study was mostly a male pursuit and a high male count is reflected in the nearby cemetery. The ancient historians indicate that various Essene groups could be celibate while others were not. It is known that women were at times present at Qumran and the scrolls are not silent on issues of marriage and such. Most artifacts that have been found are gender neutral, so it may never be known for sure how much women were involved at Qumran. More revelations about these people are made by the scrolls themselves.

THE SCROLLS

The scrolls embody the largest collection of ancient religious writing found to date. There are approximately 801 scrolls, 236 of which being copies of Old Testament biblical books. All known text types (Samaritan, proto-Mesoretic and Septuagint) and some previously unknown are represented in the scrolls, some in Hebrew for the first time. It appears the Qumran inhabitants knew of the variants among the scrolls and preserved

them in addition to creating a few of their own, due in large part by their belief in continual inspiration, thus allowing for a considerable amount of diversity in the manuscripts.

11

The rest of the scrolls are sectarian and apocrypha writings. Sectarian writings provide the point of view used to interpret the Old Testament books. Apocrypha writings provide some historical material for the time between the testaments, and while they are not considered authoritative scripture now, at the time it appears they were. Some scrolls are rewritten bible (exemplified in the next section), done for improving clarity and/or incorporating oral tradition material. Still others are commentaries on the biblical books, wisdom literature like that of Proverbs in today's Bible, psalm material like the book of Psalms, and apocalyptic material like the book of Revelations. Not all the material was exclusive to the Qumran inhabitants as copies of some have been found in other places.

The scrolls themselves were written on a variety of materials including copper (pictured right), leather, and parchment. A few were preserved so well, that some of the first scholars thought they to be forgeries or items stolen from a current synagogue. Others were so damaged by weather, time, rodents, and human error, scholars spent decades just assembling them before transcription (the documenting of scroll contents in the original language) and translation to other languages could begin. The finished product translated looks something like this:

Excerpt from “The Sage to the Children of Dawn” - 4Q298

Introduction exhorting the initiates to listen to the words of the Instructor.

Frags. 1-2 Col. 1 1 The [word]s of the Instructor which he spoke to all the Sons of Dawn: Hear[ken unto me, a]ll you men of understanding. 2 [You who purs]ue righteousness unders[ta]nd my words. You who seek faithfulness, l[iste]n to my words, all 3 [that com]es out of my lips. [For those who k]now have sou[gh]t [th]ese things and turne[d to the way of] life. O m[en of] 4 His [wil]l, and eterna[l righteousness (or light) which cannot be] searched out [...]

Fellowship to be established on wisdom and law (?).

Col. 2 1 its roots went [out ...] 2 in the deep be[neath ...] 3 consider [...]

The above is a translation by Martin Abegg Jr., and is an example of wisdom literature found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The designation at the top, 4Q298, identifies the scroll or scroll fragment as number 298, found in Qumran cave 4. It is one of a few scrolls that were encrypted with a letter cipher by the writer. No one is sure who the "children of dawn" referred to above are. The scrolls never identify the Essenes or any other group directly. For example, other scrolls mention how the group is lead by the “Teacher of Righteousness,” the enemy of the “Wicked Priest.” The “Kittim” are often discussed, probably referring to the Romans. References are made to the “Man of the Lie” who leads the “Flattery Seekers”, probably referring to the Pharisees and their leader. Other examples can be found in the Damascus document (4Q266-272).

12

Returning to the text above, Notice that parts of the text are in brackets. This is where there was damage to the scroll and the exact contents within the brackets are uncertain. If it can be inferred from the scroll or from other sources, it is provided, and if not, then the translator notes this with [...]. Other notations include column numbers relative to columns in the scroll and line numbers. Some confuse the line numbers as being verse numbers, but in scroll translations, these are line numbers within the columns. When viewing translations of the scrolls as a whole, some are very complete while others provided only words here and there leaving little intelligible text for the reader.

IMPLICATIONS FOR JUDAISM

The scrolls were written by Jewish people, for Jewish people, and have shed light on areas of Judaism that was little or not understood at all. For example, it has been understood by scholars that not all of what is contained in today's Old Testament was settled before Christ. It is testified in both the Dead Sea Scrolls (4qmmt) and the New Testament (Luke 24:44) that the books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms were clearly considered scripture, but debates about books classified as Writings and for some groups, the Apocrypha, were not yet settled. But one of the biggest surprises to scholars is that beyond this, the contents of even the accepted books were also in flux. It was stated earlier that the scrolls as a whole overwhelmingly support a Masoretic textual tradition (greater than 90%), or more accurately, they display a proto-Masoretic tradition, as the Masorites would not be on the scene to lock down the text for another 500 years. What they locked down was basically the Pharisees text. As stated earlier, scholars found that the scrolls also provide a Hebrew witness for the other known textual traditions where none existed previously, as well as textual variants never seen before.

Torah (Books of Moses) Prophets Writings Apocrypha GenesisExodus

LeviticusNumbers

Deuteronomy

JoshuaJudgesSamuelKingsIsaiah

JeremiahEzekielHoseaJoel

AmosObadiah

JonahMicah

HabakkukZephaniah

HaggaiZechariahMalachi

PsalmsJob

ProverbsRuth

Song of SongsEcclesiastes

LamentationsEstherDaniel

Ezra-NehemiahChronicles

1 & 2 EsdrasTobitJudith

Additions to EstherWisdom of Solomon

EcclesiasticusBaruch

Letter of JeremiahPrayer of Azariah

SusannaBel and the DragonPrayer of Manasseh1 & 2 Maccabees

One such example involves one of the ten commandments, as detailed by Sidnie White Crawford. In this example, the text has been rewritten by the scroll writer in order to correct the confusion of why the Sabbath should be kept. As one can see, Exodus and Deuteronomy provide different reasons, so the scroll writer combined the text in order to clarify the issue. As touched on above, at the time, a variant text like in this example, was in no way considered a corruption. It was not letter for letter accuracy that was important, but rather an accurate reflection of the message in the spirit in which it was intended.

13

Exodus 20:8-11 Deuteronomy 5:12-15 4QDeuteronomyn

Remember the Sabbath day,to keep it holy.

Six days shalt thou labour, anddo all thy work:But the seventh day is a sabbathof the Lord thy God:in it thou shalt not do any work,thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,thy manservant, or maidservant,

nor thy cattle,nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, andall that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORDblessed the Sabbath day, andhallowed it.

Keep the Sabbath dayto sanctify it,as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.Six days thou shalt labour, anddo all thy work:But the seventh day is the Sabbathof the LORD thy God:in it thou shalt not do any work,thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,nor thine ox, nor thine ass,nor any of thy cattle,nor thy stranger that is within thy gates;that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.And Remember that thou was a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day.

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, your ox, nor your ass, nor your cattle, your stranger who is within your gates, so that your male servant and your female servant mayrest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore theLORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day to hallow it. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them and rested the seventh day; so the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

(Note: Crawford's example has been altered by using KJV quotes and the DSS translation from The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible)

Previous to the discovery of the DSS, the oldest extant (existing) copies of the Masoretic Text form of the Old Testament were the Aleppo Codex from the 10th century and the Leningrad Codex from the 11th century, Leningrad being the oldest complete copy. A codex is a collection of manuscripts contained in a volume, or book, similar to what is used today. Found among the DSS are every book of the Jewish Bible except for Esther. It is believed that the Qumran people did not copy this book at all since they did not celebrate Purim, the story of its beginning being based on the Esther narrative. It should be noted that at the time, this book was in dispute by other Jewish groups as well.

If a work can be considered authoritative by an ancient people based on whether they copied and quoted it, then it can be said that the people of Qumran considered the Temple Scroll, Enoch, Jubilees, and Apocryphal works like Judith, Tobit, and Ecclesiasticus as authoritative as the traditional books of the Jewish Bible. They were not alone in this, as Enoch (Enoch 1:9) is quoted in the book of Jude (Jude 14-15) in the Christian New Testament as well.

Aside from the text, another surprise to scholars (despite the evidence in the New Testament) was in the level of legalistic teachings found and apparently followed by this group and presumably Jews in general. It was thought that much of this came about later in the development of Judaism, but the scrolls provide proof of the high degree of legalism far earlier than previously thought.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CHRISTIANITY

While the scrolls teach much about first century Judaism, they perhaps teach more about the cultural shift that was taking place towards teachings that would dominate Christianity generally and the earliest Christians in particular. It is interesting that this would be the case, because the NT mentions

14

nothing of the Essenes or any group with their teachings. It should also be noted that there is no NT material among the scrolls and there is no evidence that Jesus or his Apostles were ever at Qumran. There is speculation that John the Baptist may have had some interaction with the Essenes, but there is no evidence one way or the other. Still, many proto-Christian beliefs were emerging in this group and quite possibly in the Jewish society at large. Many of the ideas will seem very familiar to Christians today.

Reading through the Community Scroll (1QS), for example, much of this language is evident. The group often referred to itself as "The Way" (Matthew 3:3, Acts 18:25a), referring to walking according to God's ways. They believed they, the believers of light, were living in a time when Satan and his believers of darkness ruled the world around them (2 Corinthians 6:14). As a side note, the good/evil, light/dark comparison was believed to be a thought introduced by Greek/Roman influence, but the scrolls seem to provide evidence this was of Jewish origin. They believed they were entering into a new covenant (Heb 8:6) with God and believed they were near the time when God would come to overturn the evil doers and cast them to everlasting damnation (Mat 25:31-46). They believed God continues to make revelations through His word to those that believe, just as the apostle Paul spoke of (Col. 1:26). They believed in sacramental communal meals, much like the Lord's supper (Mat 26:26-28) and in an immersion ritual often compared to New Testament baptism (Matthew 3:13-15).

In other scrolls, the group held to a strong belief in predestination (4Q258), a belief held by some Christians to this day. They also had a different way of interpreting scripture from that of other Jewish contemporaries. They felt that the writings of the prophets, for example, were not just a framework to develop around, or that they only spoke to the people a given prophet was writing to, but that these scriptures actually applied to them in their day. This is similar to how Christian's regard scripture (Acts 2:16-39), even at times, some contend, at the sacrifice of context. They also used scripture to interpret scripture.

The scroll writers had Christian sounding beliefs about the coming Messiah as well. They believed he would be a suffering servant based on Isaiah. This perspective was probably reinforced by their own experiences recorded in the scrolls of their dealing with the religious authorities at the time. They believed he could resurrect the dead (compare 4q521 with Matthew 11:5 and Luke 7:22). They saw him as the son of Abraham/David/God (compare 4Q246 and Luke 1:34-35). One notable difference in their beliefs about the Messiah, is a slight twist of what believers now know looking back at Jesus. They understood there would be individuals for each position of king and divine priest, and possibly prophet as well (compare 4Q175 and John 1:21, Hebrews 8:1, 1 Timothy 6:15). They understood the priestly Messiah to be somehow related to Melchizedek (compare 11Q13 and Heb 7:1-10). The list can go on and on. What is clear is that the ideas first read about in the New Testament that seem so new as compared to the Old Testament, were actually already percolating through Jewish society.

The following are specific examples of some other areas in common, with quotations from ancient writings that bare witness to common beliefs.

Study of scripture

While early traditions of both Christianity and Judaism may have been passed on strictly by oral tradition, both developed a canon of authoritative scripture. With the advent of written scripture, both Judaism and Christianity deny any further direct revelation from God via a prophet, but rather

15

revelation is gained through study of the written word. With this in mind, both groups consider the study of sacred writings core to their faith and an integral part of the defining of norms in the community, and that this study should be done by the community.

“Till I (Paul) come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” - 1 Timothy 4:13

“These (Bereans) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” - Acts 17:11

“The general membership will be diligent together for the first third of every night of the year, reading aloud from the Book, interpreting Scripture, and praying together.” - 1QS Col. 6:7b-8a

Eschatology

By the time of Christ and well into the first centuries of the early church, Eschatological literature, often referred to as Apocalypse literature flourished among believers. This genre of writing, particularly among the DSS, seems to have been a reaction to the history (discussed above) and the current times the Jews found themselves in, namely ruled by a foreign power that was considered evil from the Jewish perspective. Evil was nothing new as even the early chapters of Genesis testify about evil in the world. Scholars contend, however, that while this is indeed the case, there is no evidence early in the OT of a spiritual power behind that evil. Early in Judaism, as witnessed by scripture, when the people would turn from God, they would be judged. When they turned back towards Him, they would be blessed. But what happens to a people's faith when they experience a revival and turn back toward God, but they continue to endure a harsh life under foreign powers that have rule over them. After all, one cannot possibly believe that God is powerless to lift his people out of the situation.

When the Jewish nation found themselves in this situation, scholars suggest their faith evolved to explain it. The solution, of course, is that God and his forces are in a battle against a nemesis, Satan and his forces. In the end, God will win and Satan will loose and be punished, but until then, just as there is war in the spiritual domain, so there is war in the corporeal domain. Eschatological scripture, scripture dealing with the last days, attempts to explain how the end will come about, and these are exemplified in the War Scroll (1QM) from Qumran, the Book of Revelations in the NT, and is even touched on in some of the last books written in the OT, like the Book of Job. Whether their faith evolved as scholars contend, or God revealed more about evil towards the close of the Old Testament and into the New Testament periods, it is clear that by the time of the scrolls, there was a firm belief about Satan and evil among believers.

Giving of goods

Members of the Yahad (the united), would go through a two year trial period before officially being considered a member of the group. During that time, in addition to learning the ways of the group, any personal possessions they held would be set aside until the individual was properly initiated, at which time their goods would be combined with the others and distributed to anyone as needed. While this was being done for different reasons by the Essenes and early Christians, the idea of sharing with the community is quite similar.

“If it be ordained for him to proceed to full membership in the Yahad, they shall enroll him at the

16

appropriate rank among his brothers for discussion of the Law, jurisprudence, participation in pure meals, and admixture of property.” - 1QS Col. 6:21b-22a

“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” - Acts 2:44-45

Community as a temple

The Jewish community at Qumran had to deal with the basic tenants of their faith, and the fact that secluding themselves in the desert and having little positive interaction with the temple authorities in Jerusalem meant they had to develop a different view of temple sacrifice. They did this by redefining what was to be sacrificed (which will be touched on shortly) as well as what was the true temple. They determined, as did the New Testament writers, that the true temple is the community of believers.

“They are to walk with all by the standard of truth and the dictates proper to the age. When such men as these come to be in Israel, then shall the party of the Yahad truly be established, an eternal planting, a temple for Israel, and-mystery!-a Holy of Holies for Aaron; true witnesses to justice, chosen by God's will to atone for the land and to recompense the wicked their due. They will be the tested wall, the precious cornerstone whose foundations shall neither be shaken or swayed, a fortress, a Holy of Holies for Aaron, all of them knowing the Covenant of justice and thereby offering a sweet savor.” - 1QS Col. 8:4b-9a

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.” - Ephesians 2:19-22

In the scrolls, just as in the NT, OT scripture was often quoted. Here also, there are similarities. In the New Testament, the Psalms, Deuteronomy and Isaiah are most often quoted and this pattern is the same in the scrolls, with Isaiah providing background Messianic beliefs and Deuteronomy providing the law of how to live in the land and in community with others. There were some differences, of course.

For example, it is the Christian tradition Jesus' has provided for atonement of sin (Rom 5:11) through the shedding of his blood (Heb 9:22). The scroll writers believed atonement was achieved through the sacrifice of prayer, righteousness and blameless behavior, with a proper attitude towards the sacrifice (1QS). There are other differences to be sure, but one must consider that the scroll writers were perhaps the last generation before Christ and did not have the advantage of looking back towards Jesus' work as believers can do today. So what can be concluded from all this?

17

CONCLUSIONS

Hopefully, this booklet has provided the reader with some interesting information about the factors that contributed to the contents and preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the history and geography of the region in and around ancient Israel, along with a high level view of the people and their beliefs during this period of history. Through chance and diligence, the scrolls were discovered and a glimpse of these thoughts and beliefs, from people long ago have been revealed, and the broadest of implications this material has on the faiths of Jews and Christians today has been discussed.

It is clear from the examples above, as Ray Vander Laan also points out in his video series, that the scrolls provide much evidence that Jesus did not suddenly pop onto the scene with a totally new and different message. The scrolls show how God was working since the close of the Old Testament to lay the groundwork for Jesus' ministry and put the seeds in people's minds and hearts of His message. It is known from the Bible what Jesus message was, and it is known from history what the people did with that message. The Jewish nation had two possible roads to take into the future. They chose the road to violence and hate rather than Jesus' message of love and mercy, of considering others before themselves, and turning the other cheek in the face of opposition. While this is true, do not judge these people too harshly. Even after two thousand years and the advantage of being able to look back on the work of Jesus, and to be able to see clearly not only his message, but that revealed by the Holy Spirit by the rest of the New Testament writers, are people today any closer to living God's way in the face of adversity?

It is unknown as to what involvement the Essenes had in the first Jewish revolt. What is known is that after the revolt, the Essenes disappeared from history, fleeing Qumran ahead of the Romans, leaving only artifacts and their writings to testify about their existence and beliefs. The Sadducees also disappeared with the destruction of the temple when Jerusalem fell, leaving only the Pharisaical branch and the small but growing Christian movement to carry on with God's message according to His plan.

From a Christian perspective, the scroll writers were right in some areas and wrong in others. Regardless of perspective, it cannot be denied, whether the scroll writers were Essenes or a sect of the Sadducees or people unknown, they were a people of great faith in God. They were steadfast in holding to the beliefs they held dear, looking on to that upward way. There were no gray areas with them. One was either a member or not, a part of light or darkness, good or evil.

Still, after this study, one has to wonder if they ever heard Jesus' message and how they may have responded to it.

18

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New TranslationCopyright 2005 By: Michael Wise, Martin Abegg Jr., Edward Cook

The Dead Sea Scrolls BibleCopyright 1999 By: Martin Abegg Jr., Peter Flint, Eugene Ulrich

The Dead Sea ScrollsCopyright 2007 By: Biblical Archaeological Society & Society of Biblical Literature

The Dead Sea ScrollsCopyright 2007 By: Documentary Media LLC

The King James Study BibleCopyright 1988 By Liberty Univ

The Jews In The Time Of Jesus: An IntroductionCopyright 1996 By: Stephen M. Wylen

Articles

The Dead Sea Scrolls – What They Really SayBy: Hershel Shanks

The Fluid Bible: The Blurry Line Between Biblical and Non-biblical TextsBy: Sidnie White Crawford

Significance Of The Scrolls: A New Perspective On The Texts From The Qumran CavesBy: Lawrence H. Schiffman

Other

Biblical Archeology Society Seminar – Understanding The Dead Sea Scrolls – April 2007Lecturers include: Lawrence H. Schiffman & Sidnie White Crawford

Video

Faith Lessons on the Life & Ministry of the Messiah with Ray Vander LaanCopyright 2004 The Zondervan Corp.

The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Six-Part SeriesCopyright 1993 Biblical Archeology Society

Version 20080204

19