The Dead Sea Scrolls, (2 Vol. Set) [Paperback]

Florentino Garcia Martinez (Author), Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0802844936 | ISBN-13: 978-0802844934 | Publication Date: November 1999 | Edition: Paperback Ed

Combining expert translations with key study resources, this collection examines and explores the manuscripts found at Qumran. Although unidentified and unclassified fragments have been omitted, this indispensable compendium provides newly edited Hebrew and Aramaic transcriptions as well as English translations and summaries of all the biblical and non-biblical scrolls. Ideal for personal reference or classroom use.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1385 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Paperback Ed edition (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802844936
• ISBN-13: 978-0802844934
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 2.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #987,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, June 17, 2002

By 

Ralph Cox (orange, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dead Sea Scrolls, (2 Vol. Set) (Paperback)

Even though it has been 50 years from the time these discoveries started to be published, this is the first time a Hebrew/English edition of the "published texts" has ever appeared. There have always been English translations available, regularly updated as the findings were gradually released, but students who wished to explore the original language always had to visit some college library and make copies from the journals or consult some edition that was in French or German. Individual scrolls or a particular grouping of text might appear in both languages, but nothing presented this corpus to English readers before this Study Edition.
The work itself is not a critical edition. It is actually more of a catalogue of the corpus of manuscripts, providing the non-Biblical texts in their original language (Hebrew or Aramaic) with an English translation on facing pages. As a result, many of the texts occur several times, because every manuscript of each work is provided. This reveals how some of the texts were recovered, as one set of fragments fills the gaps of another. But in each case, the "recovered" text is given in brackets, and the student is able to flip back and forth to see how the fragments are related. However, there are many reconstructions that are not supported by an actual manuscript, so this edition does make it possible to detect unsupported emendations, which is of the greatest importance to any student.
As for the subject of Qumran itself, the site, the caves, the dates of these materials, the place they hold in ancient literature and history, even their relation to the Bible, there is not a word. This is purely the sources without comment, and leaves you to still obtain a good edition of the non-Biblical materials we have always had (Enoch, Jubilees, Testament of the 12 Patriarchs, etc.)which are only represented by fragments in this collection, but essential to understand this corpus. Even worse then this, the Biblical book of Ecclesiasticus (Ben Syrah), also represented by fragments in the Dead Sea Scrolls, does not exist in such a convenient Hebrew/English edition.
While I find this work satisfying and useful, it has occurred to me that, after all these years, even if this edition was worth the wait, we must still wait for such materials as I listed above to be presented in a similar form.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Notch Above the Others, January 30, 2003

By 

Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dead Sea Scrolls, (2 Vol. Set) (Paperback)

There are two reasons that _The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition_ is a notch above other comprehensive translations of the Dead Sea Scrolls. One is that it provides a transliteration of almost all of the manuscripts. The second is that not only non-biblical texts are translated. And since I have a Bruce Zuckerman photo of a couple of the DSS mss, I can verify the translation of the mss. Most of all, this two volume work includes extensive bibliographical work.

I know professional scholars who prefer _The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition_.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Resource for Qumran Scholars of all levels, July 11, 2000

By 

Stephen Marler - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dead Sea Scrolls, (2 Vol. Set) (Paperback)

After many years of hearing about the Dead Sea Scrolls, but not being able to read the original texts, one is now able to read the Hebrew and Aramaic texts from Qumran in modern square script(some Greek texts are also contained). The texts are unpointed just as the manuscripts themselves are. Bibliographical information is listed for the Biblical texts, but their Hebrew/Aramaic/Greek content are not included in the book. In most cases the Biblical texts align with the Masoretic text. Having the Hebrew and English text in parallel allows people who know a little Hebrew to work with the text. The paperback edition is a better investment as there are errors within the book, most of them minor. Overall this book fills a huge void in Dead Sea Scrolls research and despite some flaws, it is a must for any student of the Qumran scrolls.