The Dead Sea Scrolls Today (Paperback)

James VanderKam, professor of Hebrew Scriptures at Notre Dame (Indiana, not Paris), and member of the official international team charged with preservation, reconstruction and translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, has put together a one-volume introduction and exposition of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is an accessible volume that presupposes no particular background of study in language, hermeneutics, biblical development, or archaeology. Yet, it does not 'talk down' to the audience either, and even the most advanced scholar will find in this volume an excellent encapsulation of the subject.

VanderKam begins his survey with a brief history of the discoveries. This includes a discussion of the caves, geographically and geologically. Then he addresses the ruins of Qumran, which has two components--a building complex, and a cemetery: cemeteries are archaeological treasure-troves, but problematic when dealing with religious sensibilities about disturbing gravesites. Also he talks about methods of dating scrolls and ruins (methods from carbon-14 dating, a process discovered providentially the same year as the first cave with scrolls; paleographic methods, coin and pottery analysis, etc.). Finally, the first section concludes with some various theories about the Qumran location--is it a monastery with a scriptorium, a villa with a large dining hall, a tradepost, or a rebel fortress?

VanderKam then has an survey section on the manuscripts themselves. There are various types of manuscripts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including biblical texts: Hebrew scrolls, targums (Aramaic translations), tefillin and mezuot (scripture pieces with liturgical/prayerful use); apocryphal texts, including biblical apocryphal, pseudopigrapha and other like texts; commentaries, paraphrases, legalistic texts, liturgical and wisdom texts, and 'sectarian' texts, which include the enigmatic eschatological writings about final battles between good and evil, the Wicked Priest and the Teacher of Righteousness.

The third section discusses in more detail the current state of thinking about the Essenes, who they were and what they believed. This includes outside evidence (such as the writings of Pliny and Josephus), as well as internal (Dead Sea Scroll) explanations of theology and practice. VanderKam also addresses the problems of attaching the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Essenes, and includes a brief discussion of the theories that the Scrolls belonged to a Jerusalem sect or to the Sadducees.

The fourth section, however, expands upon the theories that the Essenes were responsible for the Scrolls and were the inhabitants of Qumran (which is the current reigning theory), and talks about their community, worship, thought, and practice. It sketches the most-likely history of Essenes at Qumran based on current archaeological excavation.

The fifth and sixth sections are perhaps the most interesting to those interested in the biblical tie-ins to the Scrolls. In section five, VanderKam discusses similarities and differences of the scrolls with the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and other commonly-held authoritative texts. He also discusses in detail the difference, minor and major, found in each book, as well as some interesting bits (no fragments, for instance, have been found for the book of Esther, although every other book in the Hebrew Scriptures has been accounted for in the scrolls and fragments). Some of the differences have been used to show variants that were accepted at the time of Jesus (first century Judaism), which could account for the apparent mis-quotations of Hebrew Scripture in the New Testament writings.

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain no verifiable, undisputable fragments of New Testament writings. This is not surprising, given that most of the Scrolls were buried during or after the revolts against the Romans during the later half of the first century, and most New Testament writings had not been written and circulated by then (even the earliest of Paul's letters would have only just been composed at this time; insufficient time for dissemination and copying would have passed for them to make it to the library of the scrolls). There is the occasional media stir when a fragment parallels a gospel piece; thus far, however, there has been major doubt over ever potential New Testament claim.

The sixth section, therefore, in dealing with the Scrolls and the New Testament, deals primarily with similarities of teaching and practice among the scrolls and the early Christian movement, including communal mean and property issues, eschatological issues, messianism, ethics, and common disputes with 'mainstream' Judaisms.

VanderKam concludes with a brief discussion, from an insiders perspective, of the controversies surrounding the translation and release of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and some of the events since 1989 that have led to the general release and proliferation of materials available about the Scrolls from non-official sources.

In all, this is a very balanced, fair, well-written and engaging introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls, bound to satisfy many who want more information, and to whet the appetite of those who can't get enough information!

The topics include the discovery of the scrolls, the content of the scrolls, theories on the scrolls' authorship and history, the impact of the scrolls on biblical texts and finally the controversies surrounding the scrolls. Each section is brief but thorough. Perhaps the book's most helpful feature is guiding the reader through the vast spectrum of scroll scholarship, pointing out which theories are most widely held and which are on the lunatic fringe.

As the book was published in the UK by the "Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge", the author is quick to discredit any theories proposed by other schollars that may challenge the views of the lack of relationship between the established beliefs of the Christian church and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

It is rather unfortunate that a well-known researcher on the topic of the Dead Sea Scrolls looses his objective thus not being prepared to advance any theories that may upset the establishment.