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Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Reader From the Biblical Archaeology Review

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The Dead Sea Scrolls have been the focus of controversy since their discovery in 1947. Recently, a collection of articles from _Biblical_Archeology_Review_ have been published by Hershel Shanks in _Understanding_the_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_. This work illuminates the material unearthed by people from different walks of life and interpreted by scholars from around the world. The articles contained in this book tell the discovery stories of scrolls and fragments, as well as some of the different conclusions reached by historians and critics on their origin and meaning.

Most scholars maintain the opinion that the bulk of the written material unearthed in the caves near Qumran along the Dead Sea and other related sites were the collection if not the actual work of the Essenes--sectarian Jews who differed from the Pharisees in observance of the law, and from the Sadducees in authority over the temple. Many of the texts are biblical, such as the most famous and best preserved Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa) displayed in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem. Others, such as _Serekh_ha-yahad_ or the Manual of Discipline (1QS)--unknown before its discovery--gives new insight into the community at Qumran. Some items, such as the Copper Scroll (3Q15) present puzzling anomalies that will occupy scholars for years to come.

The scrolls complete many gaps in our knowledge of the scriptures. For example, in I Samuel 11, The Scroll provides another early Israelite document which complimented the Pentateuch, though was perhaps excluded from canonization by Ezra after the return from Babylonian exile. The _Miqsat_Maíaseh_ha-Torah_ or "Some Rulings on the Torah" (4QMMT) illustrates Essene doctrine and theology, com-paring point by point their disagreements with their religious adversaries.Speculation has been made that John the Baptist began his ministry out of the Qumran community, "Some Rulings on the Torah" (4QMMT) illustrates Essene doctrine and theology, com-paring point by point their disagreements with their religious adversaries.

Speculation has been made that John the Baptist began his ministry out of the Qumran community, and that Paul and the apostle John incorporated phrases and theological arguments stemming from Essene writings. However in other articles, Jesus is interpreted to have criticized the Essenes, referring to them as Herodians (Mark 8:15) because of the support they enjoyed from Herod the Great. From the scrolls we learn about certain Jewish practices and their implications. For example, when Jesus stayed in Bethany on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem, his visit there scandalized the Pharisees and Essenes because Bethany was unclean--an area designated for lepers.

We learn of the controversies surrounding access to the Qumran literature. Scholars initially given the responsibility to study and publish the texts have not released the material in their custody with the alacrity anticipated. Preservation of the material has also become a concern as deterioration has transpired even while under study. The anti-semitic comments from the former Chief Scroll Editor John Strugnell are also discussed. Recent attacks on the Vatican have charged suppression of evidence from the scrolls speculated to be unfavorable to Christianity. These spurious polemics are skillfully dispatched in the article, which addresses the historical and theological implications surrounding the Qumran literature.

In short, this brief digest from _BAR_ will enable laypersons to gain new insight into the intrigue of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the excitement surrounding their interpretation by biblical scholars. We can thereby gain a more complete awareness of the political and religious milieu into which our Lord and Savior lived during his sojourn on earth.

Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, has compiled in his book, Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of some of the most important articles on the Dead Sea Scrolls to appear in the magazine and its companion, Bible Review in the half-century since they were discovered.

The Find
Scholars Harry Thomas Frank and Frank Moore Cross discuss in this section the initial discovery of the scrolls, the political intrigue surrounding their sale and acquisition, the difficulties of ascertaining what in fact had been found, and some of the historical context behind the scrolls, including dating the scrolls. This is a tale of Bedouins, an antiquities dealer (not always on the up-and-up) named Kando, dealings with the Orthodox and Roman Catholic clergy hierarchies, the British Mandate administration, and the newly-formed Israeli and Jordanian administrations. Sometimes the history takes bizarre twists -- the astute reader of the Wall Street Journal would have first seen reference to the scrolls in the classified, for sale.

Where They Came From
In this section, articles by noted scholars Lawrence Schiffman, James VanderKam, Raphael Levy and Hershel Shanks discuss the possible origins of the scrolls. Were they developed by the Essenes, a shadowy sect that might have encamped at Qumran? Were they written by another minor group of Sadducees? Were the Essenes an off-shoot of the Sadducees? Of course, not a lot of people realise that the first discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls occurred fifty years prior to the discovery in the caves near Qum'ran, and hundreds of miles from the Dead Sea, in a genizah in Cairo. There, in the repository for worn-out holy texts, a text was found that scholars have grouped with the Dead Sea Scrolls in paleographic and content terms. This is the Damascus Document (try explaining that a Dead Sea Scroll entitled the Damascus Document was in fact found neither in Damascus nor near the Dead Sea, and you begin to understand the confusion that has always surrounded the scrolls!).

The Temple Scroll
In this section, the longest of the scrolls is addressed by none other than the legendary Yigael Yadin, together with Magen Broshi, Shanks, and Hartmut Stegemann. This scroll has an intriguing history, too, having been negotiated for by a Virginian clergyman who gives a very different account of the 'return' of the scroll to the Israeli officials than does Yadin. According to Yadin, this scroll represented the Torah of the Essenes. Stegemann addresses the question of 'how can you tell if a document is sectarian or biblical?' With this question, he opens up the possibility that his book belonged as part of the Bible, or even the Torah, for Judaism at the time of the Roman occupation. A startling conjecture!

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible, Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism
These sections are perhaps the heart of the matter for most people who have an interest in the scrolls. While archaeological discovery and intrigue might make for entertaining and even educational reading, the true value in the scrolls lies in what they do to enlighten us in our knowledge of religion. Scholars Frank Moore Cross, Ronald Hendel, VanderKam, Otto Betz, Schiffman, and Shanks explore matters of textual accuracy and variation with current Bibles, address a few particular passages that held particular meaning or insight in variation from the current texts, address questions such as 'was John the Baptist an Essene?'

The Copper Scroll
P. Kyle McCarter discusses the Copper Scroll, a piece unique in substance as well as content. The scroll was inscribed on thin sheets of copper, thus obviously a piece of great importance. It is written in a variety of Hebrew different from all other scrolls, and does not fit into any of the scroll categories (biblical, sectarian, etc.). Through political vicissitudes, the scroll is in fact in Jordanian ownership, who prize it highly, rather than the museums in Jerusalem. McCarter discusses the meaning of the scroll, which may be a treasure guide (not a map, but rather an accounting) of the Temple treasures and other religious holdings during the period between the first and second revolts against Rome (the years 70-130 CE).

Reconstructing the Scrolls
Stegemann discusses here the time-consuming and nearly-impossible task of reconstructing the scrolls. Unlike the Temple scroll, most of the Dead Sea Scrolls in fact consist of fragments and bits of parchment, that have been worn away by time, rodent-chompings, water and fire damage, and mis-handling damage. Sometimes the text left a mirror-impression on the opposite side of the rolled scrolls -- sometimes this mirror-impression, highlighted by photographic technique, is easier to read than the actual text.

Controversy and the Scrolls
Controversy has followed the scrolls since the day they were discovered. The bedouins who found them wondered what in fact they were, and what to do with them. The newly forming state of Israel was at odds with much of the world; they did not have resources to track all of the scrolls (in fact, Kando and other antiquities dealers maintained that there might be more scrolls being hidden, but not recoverable due to heavy-handed tactics used to recover the scrolls to Israeli ownership). Given that most of the Dead Sea area was in Jordanian administration, the task of scroll scholarship was turned over to a predominantly-Christian academic establishment; in fact, it was problematic to include Jewish scholars, given the political situation. More recent scroll developments have both put Jewish scholars at the head of research teams, and opened the scrolls for all to see, albeit, not without lawsuits and claims of academic and intellectual property theft, as if the scrolls 'belonged' to particular scholars. Given the lack of progress of release of the scrolls for decades, speculation arose that the church (most scholars working on the scrolls in the early years were Roman Catholic clerics) was suppressing information that would be damaging or embarrassing to the church.

This book is an excellent compilation of articles appeared in the Biblical Archeology Review. The articles have been selected and are organised in a way that provides the reader with a superb summary of the key issues around the scrolls.

The book does not get into the details of the archeological side of the scrolls but is estraordinarily good in providing a balanced view of the controversy surrounding the scroll's meaning and interpretation.

Undoubtly, it is the best one-volume source of information on the topic for the lay audience.

Readable to the armchair scholar, the essays contained in this book avoid the extremes of esotericism that many books on the subject fall victim to. One is introduced to the story of the scrolls, their exciting discovery, and their contribution to our understanding of the history surrounding the Jewish nation and culture - as well as some of the challenges and controversies that have attended the handling of the scrolls by an elite group.

Almost every scholar who has anything to say about the scrolls has indulged in a little over-interpolation or over-extrapolation, which is to say, reading more into the scrolls than is actually there. Examples of this are the sensational claims made by some that the scrolls contained evidence that John the Baptist was an Essene, or that Christianity was based on Qumran doctrines - all unfounded speculation, of course. You'll find a little of that in here, but the discerning reader can filter it out, if you keep in mind that scholars are just people, and they like to gossip, speculate, and run off at the imagination as much as the rest of us do. And you'll find an equal dose of myth-debunking here too, exposing the folly of some of the sensationalism.

I like this collection of essays, and consider it a valuable window to the mysterious world of Qumran and its hidden scroll collection. Recommended.

As a Yeshiva student I found "Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls" to be the best resource in a complete study of the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Original Texts of the 'Tanach' (Bible). This work incorporates the views of Jewish, Christian, and non-partisan scholars regarding what may arguably be the 'greatest Biblical find of the 20th century'.

The contributions of Mr. Frank Moore Cross were especially enlightening on biblical subjects often ignored by both Jewish and Christian scholars because their truths cut against the grain of modern Biblical interpretation and thought.

This work, edited by Hershel Shanks, compiles several 'Readers Digest' type compilations of much larger works by several noted DSS scholars without sacrificing the essential points of each. All topics pertaining to the events surrounding the discovery and publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as the obvious significance to a clear understanding of the origins of both rabbinic Jewry and the eventual development of Christianity are clearly presented so the Bible student can formulate an accurate viewpoint as to the events that were present in Palestine at the turn of the Common Era that helped to shape modern Biblical interpretation.

Many opinionated viewpoints are presented along side accepted scientific and archaeological proven facts so the DSS student can differentiate between that which is fact and that which is fiction.

A must for any serious DSS student and a valuable resource for the laymen looking for a 'one stop shopping' type resource with articles from several of the leading scholars on this most significant Judeo-Christian subject.

Baruch Hashem
Dave Friday-Freitag

Yigael Yadin was describing the world of dead sea scroll scholarship which began in 1947 when the first scrolls were discovered by a Bedouin boy herding his animals in the Judean hills. The scrolls were then shuttled to the antiquities market; sacred, holy words were now up for sale, and not at dime store prices! The "cloak and dagger affair" then began. (The temple scroll was obtained for $105,000 by the Israeli's after the six day war of 1967). Years later, many other caves were found containing ancient scrolls. Hershel Shanks, in his overview, states that, in this book, the articles discuss the dead sea scrolls from 11 caves at and around Qumran. There are many aspects to these finds: the political dimension, the religious one, the preservation of, the new data itself, and differing opinions of biblical scholars. Hershel Shanks divides the 22 chapters of this book into 9 sections: the find, where they came from, the temple scroll, the dead sea scrolls and the bible, the dead sea scrolls and christianity, the dead sea scrolls and rabbinic judaism, the copper scroll, reconstructing the scrolls, and controversy and the scrolls.

I read this four years ago, in preparation for a pilgrimage to Israel, where we were to see Masada and the Dead Sea manuscripts which are now housed at the Shrine of the Book which is a part of the Israel Museum. I chose this one from many others at my local library; it looked like a good introduction to someone like me with little knowledge of this aspect of biblical scholarship. I was pleased with the contents. Hershel Shanks wrote 5 of the 22 chapters, the rest written by other scholars in this field. Each chapter is prefaced with a brief summary of the contents by the editor. (I admire Hershel Shanks' scientific approach to considering all of the evidence and hypotheses that emerge from the analyses of the many manuscripts; he never generalizes, exercizes great care in making any statement, very fair in his analyses, perfect traits for an editor). The book is comprehensive and captures the aura of this "cloak and dagger business".

This fascinating book makes archeology come alive like no other ... While herding their flock of goats, Bedouins discovered a cave which contained jars holding animal skin parchments that turned out to be an ancient library. Their discovery in Cave 1 uncovered seven nearly intact scrolls of immense value to Biblical scholars. In "Da Vinci Code" fashion [without the murders thank you very much!] the mysteries surrounding how the scrolls *finally* reached qualified scholars is a great reading experience. The editor Hershel Shanks selected articles from Biblical Archeology Review providing different viewpoints and scholarly opinions regarding the meaning behind the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are multiple views about the identity of the community who lived in Qumran itself. The discovery of these scrolls has been one of the best kept secrets by scholars and dealers of antiquity. They guarded their treasures with fierce passion! This is a very narrow field of study confined to a limited number of qualified experts. Due to the nature of research and jealousies surrounding access to the treasure and the implications for publication, i.e., to be the *first*, information is not readily shared. However nearly 60 years have now passed since their discovery and although over 800 manuscripts and fragments are scattered over the globe, much of it is carefully preserved in Israel for future generations of scholars to explore. The key to their meaning and implications for religous teaching and practice of Judaism and Christainity lies in these ancient documents. The interpretation by scholars is dreaded by some and is welcomed by many. To quote from an ancient passage, "Know the truth and the truth shall set you free". Not everyone is able to handle freedom, many need their myths and legends which masquerade as truth.

There are illuminating articles which discuss the nature of the controversies and differences of religious ideas as expressed by the Nazarenes, the Essenes, Zadokites, Sadducces and Pharisees all of whom were active during the time when the Qumran community existed. These articles are erudite and very readable. One gets a feel for the ancient times when Hellenization, Jewish identity, and the quest to survive in the global world village of their time, the Middle East, caused conflicts both internally and externally ... The reader gets a better understanding of the ancient Jewish writings, the Mishnah, the Talmud, as well as the practice of halakhah. The discussion regarding the Temple Scroll [written about 2,500 years ago] is among the best. This subject is examined by the eminent scholar Yigael Yadin. One can compare his views to that of Hershel Shanks and Hartmut Stegmann. They all provide unique ideas on how religion played an important part in the lives of ancient people.

The chapter written by James C. Vanderkam sheds light on important verses in the New Testament which might have originated from passages in the Dead Sea Scrolls. This has a huge impact on understanding the roots of Christianity ... Another extremely interesting hypothesis is offered by Robert Eisenman of California State University. He postulates that Judas Maccabee, John the Baptist, Jesus and his brother James belonged to the Zadokite movement which was an off-shoot of the Essene community. *Before* the discovery of the Qumran scrolls the only literature that existed about the early Christians was based on Latin and Greek texts. New Testament scholars benefited enormously by the Dead Sea Scrolls which are a primary source written in Hebrew and Aramaic dating back to the times in question. The description of sacred meals, sacred baths and baptism like rituals, and the making of a covenant date back much further than this reader thought. Lastly, the relationship of rabbinic Judaism as practiced before and after the destruction of the Temple (AD 70) shows that there is great continuity in the laws and practices of the Pharisees ... It is hard to summarize just how important the Dead Sea Scrolls are to understanding the role of relgion in the lives of the people in the ancient past and how the roots of religion and continuity of belief systems are connected to both Judaism and Christianity as they exist today. Undoubtedly there may be even more surprising revelations in the future as scholars study the Dead Sea Scrolls further and connect the root sources with current interpretations and writings.
Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

I have always been fascinated by the Dead Sea Scrolls. I found this book and just had to read it. This is a wonderful collection of articles and papers written by Dead Sea scholars and collected by Mr. Shanks. Topics range from the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they came into the hands of scholars, to whether John the Baptist was an Essene and lived in Qumran, to how these scrolls relate with Judaism and Christianity. These articles are wonderfully written and very enjoyable. For anybody interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls, this is a great place to start.

With the anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls coming up and having the scrolls come to my own backyard (San Diego) this year, I decided to do a little research into the scrolls. While I have a pretty good understanding of them, this book was very helpful. I especially enjoyed the stories of the discovery of the scrolls and how they were able to piece together the fragments. The book is filled with contributions from different writers, and honestly, it loses a star because some of the selections were boring and over my head anyway. But that wasn't true with most of them, and I have to say that Shanks did his usual best in putting everything together. Well worth reading for those wanting to know more about these.

I was thrilled to recieve this book. It arrived in a very timely manner, it was in excellent condition, and it had the signatures as it was stated before purchase. They were very sweet in sending a hand-written note of thanks. I will Look for Ron & Bev's link again, when I am shopping for books. I Highly recommend purchasing from these wonderful people. May God continue to Bless both of you. :)