Dead Sea Scrolls

I

Introduction

Dead Sea Scrolls, collection of more than 700 Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek manuscripts discovered in a group of caves near Khirbat Qumrān in Jordan, at the northwestern end of the Dead Sea. The leather and papyrus scrolls, which survive in varying states of preservation, came to light in a series of archaeological finds that began in 1947. The manuscripts have been attributed to members of a previously unknown Jewish brotherhood. The scrolls include manuals of discipline, hymnbooks, biblical commentaries, and apocalyptic writings; two of the oldest known copies of the Book of Isaiah, almost wholly intact; and fragments of every book in the Old Testament except that of Esther. Among the latter is a fanciful paraphrase of the Book of Genesis. Also found were texts, in the original languages, of several books of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. These texts—none of which was included in the Hebrew canon of the Bible—are Tobit, Sirach, Jubilees, portions of Enoch, and the Testament of Levi, hitherto known only in early Greek, Syriac, Latin, and Ethiopic versions.

II

Discovery and Exploration

The seven principal scrolls were discovered by Bedouins and were purchased partly by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and partly by the Syrian monastery of Saint Mark in Jerusalem. The scrolls in the possession of the Syrian monastery were later purchased by the government of Israel.

The initial discovery of the scrolls was followed by scientific exploration of the neighboring caves under the auspices of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, the Dominican École Biblique et Archéologique of Jerusalem, and the Palestine Archaeological Museum (now the Rockefeller Museum). These explorations, and further purchases from the Bedouins, yielded tens of thousands of additional fragments, as well as a record of buried temple treasures punched out in Hebrew characters on strips of copper.

The manuscripts appear to have belonged to the library of the community, which was located in what is now Khirbat Qumrān, near the place of the scrolls' discovery. Paleographic evidence indicates that most of the documents were written at various dates between about 200 bc and ad 68 (see Paleography). Archaeological evidence further supports the latter date, since excavations at the site establish that it was sacked in ad 68. The community may have been plundered by the army of Roman general Vespasian, which was dispatched in February of ad 67 to suppress a Jewish rebellion that had begun the year before. Presumably, then, the documents were hidden at some time between ad 66 and 68.

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III

Contents of the Scrolls

The Qumrān brotherhood is portrayed in the manuals of discipline as an idealized House of Israel, designed to prepare the way for the imminent coming of the kingdom of God and the day of judgment. The brotherhood was constituted along communistic lines and in imitation of the organization of Israel under Moses. Members underwent a two- or three-year probation and were ranked in ascending degrees of purity. Promotions and demotions were put to a vote at an annual review. The spiritual direction was vested in 3 priests, aided by 12 lay presbyters (elders), and each of several so-called chapters was administered by an overseer whose position resembled that of a bishop. The overseers were subject in turn to the archbishop, or prince, of the entire order. Study of the Torah, the first section of the Hebrew Bible, was obligatory, and it was claimed that the correct interpretation of it had been handed down by a series of spiritual monitors, known as correct expositors, or teachers of righteousness. The members of the community expected their own era to end with the appearance of a new expositor and prophet (Deuteronomy 18:18). Prophetic details of a final war between the so-called sons of light and the sons of darkness are contained in one of the scrolls.

Similarities between the beliefs and practices described in the scrolls and those credited to the Essenes by Jewish-Hellenistic philosopher Philo Judaeus and by Jewish historian Flavius Josephus have suggested to many scholars that the Qumrān brotherhood is related to that sect. Further evidence for this identification may be found in the works of the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, who reported that in his day the Essenes lived in the Khirbat Qumrān area. Other scholars, however, stress the dissimilarities between the Qumrān brotherhood and the Essenes, which suggest a general affinity rather than absolute identity.

IV

Historical Import

Allusions have been found in the scrolls to figures and events of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods of Jewish history (3rd to 1st centuries bc). For example, a commentary on the Book of Nahum mentions a figure named Demetrius and seems to refer to an incident in 88 bc recorded by Josephus. It involved Demetrius III, king of Syria, and Alexander Jannaeus, the Hasmonaean (Maccabean) king. Similarly, repeated allusions to a persecuted teacher of righteousness have variously been thought to refer to such religious figures as the last legitimate Jewish high priest, Onias III, who was deposed in 175 bc; the Maccabean leaders Mattathias, the high priest, and his son the military leader Judas Maccabeus; and Menahem, leader of the Zealots in ad 66. Attempts have also been made to trace allusions, specifically those mentioning a “wicked priest” and “man of lies,” to certain notorious figures such as the sacrilegious Jewish high priest Menelaus; Antiochus IV, king of Syria; the Maccabean leader John Hyrcanus; and Alexander Jannaeus. All these identifications are tentative, however, and scholarly opinions on the subject vary dramatically. See also Maccabees (family).

The various biblical manuscripts found among the scrolls offer a text several centuries older than that of the traditional Masora, and they occasionally corroborate readings preserved in the Greek Septuagint and other ancient versions. They are consequently an invaluable aid in establishing the original text of the Hebrew Scriptures.