First Posted: 1/16/2015
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a favorite of the tabloids at the checkout stand. “Dead Sea Scrolls Predict Tragedy in 2015 for the Kardashians,” their headlines scream.
But what are the Dead Sea Scrolls really?
They are ancient documents that experts in ancient handwriting and in ancient manufacture of writing materials have dated between 200 BC and 100 AD. (Radiocarbon dating has confirmed the work of earlier analysts.) They were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in caves near the Dead Sea in the Judean desert.
A young Bedouin boy who was watching his family’s flock of sheep made the first discovery. He was idly throwing stones into a cave when he heard the sound of breaking pottery. He decided to explore the cave and found large clay jars containing ancient manuscripts wrapped in linen. This led to archeologists scouring the caves in the Dead Sea area for more ancient documents. Scrolls, or fragments of scrolls, were discovered in 10 more caves. The scrolls are presently located in museums in Jerusalem and Amman, Jordan. Scholars and the public have access to all except to those that are too delicate to be put on exhibition. (None are in Rome. Although the Catholic Church provides money and scholars for Dead Sea Scroll research, it claims no ownership of any of the scrolls or other artifacts.)
Who produced the scrolls?
The most common opinion is that they are the work of the Jewish community at Qumran, on the western shore of the Dead Sea. This is a community that engaged in prayer and study. They withdrew from Jerusalem because they believed that Jerusalem temple worship was corrupt, and because they felt called to stay out of political conflicts, and to wait quietly for the Day of the Lord.
The contents include whole or partial copies of every Old Testament book except Esther and Nehemiah. This was a bonanza for Old Testament scholars, because before these discoveries, the oldest known Old Testament manuscript was dated about 1000 AD. There are non-Biblical books among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including commentaries on the Old Testament, the “Manual of Discipline” (presumably the rule of life of the community that wrote the scrolls), hymns, and the so-called “War Scroll” which describes the end-time battle between the Sons of Darkness and the Sons of Light. The non-Biblical books have advanced our understanding of religious thought in Jesus’ day and in the centuries immediately before him.
There are no New Testament books among the Dead Sea Scrolls; neither Jesus nor any other New Testament person is mentioned in documents that archeologists have discovered so far. There are a few fragments in Greek, mostly from the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament. Some scholars think they have identified partial copies of verses from Mark and Acts, but most scholars believe that the fragments in question are so small that they cannot be identified.
Catholic coverup?
The manuscripts that were wrapped in linen and sealed in pottery are well preserved, thanks to the dry desert climate. But some caves contained documents that were simply stacked on the ground, probably in great haste. Vermin attacked these documents, reducing them to fragments. In Cave 4, archeologists found more than 15,000 fragments, which are thought to be from 584 different books. It took well over a decade to sort these and piece them together. One text was etched on two copper plates, which were then rolled up, one inside the other. After more than 1900 years, these were so corroded that they would crumble if anyone tried to unroll them. After 10 years of discussion on how to proceed, scholars decided to use a jeweler’s circular saw to cut them into pieces, sawing down the margin of each column. The text on the copper scrolls described the fabulous Temple treasures that the Sons of Light would discover after their successful battle against the Sons of Darkness.
Some people have charged that there has been a cover-up of Dead Sea Scroll materials that might prove embarrassing to Christianity, especially to the Catholic Church. This rumor arose because of the long delay in publishing the 15,000 fragments from Cave 4. Many could have been published more quickly, but some scholars withheld manuscripts that were entrusted to them for study for 30 years or more. But this is more the result of scholarly jealousy and inertia rather than of a cover-up by the Catholic Church or any other Christian body.
But thanks to the Biblical Archeology Society, photographs of all the fragments were published in 1991. Most serious bookstores carry English translations of all the Dead Sea Scrolls. Complete texts, with photographs and accounts of their discovery are available in a series called Discoveries in the Judean Desert. This is a journal that is published from time to time whenever enough new material has been found to warrant publication. It is available in the libraries of Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame. Closer to home, Winebrenner Theological Seminary in Findlay has a set in its library.
