Truth Magazine

By Mike Willis

The Dead Sea Scrolls are particularly important for the study of the text of the Old Testament. Without minimizing the contribution that the Scrolls make for the backgrounds of the New Testament era and for vocabulary, one needs to emphasize the contribution the Scrolls make to the study of the text of the Old Testament. K.A. Kitchen said, “Ultimately, by far the most important contribution of the Dead Sea Scrolls for biblical study lies in their witness to the recopying and transmission of the Hebrew text of the books of the Old Testament” (The Bible in Its World 129).

What Was Found at Qumran

In this section, I will limit my comments to what biblical texts were found at the caves near Wadi Qumran. Lasor said, “Tens of thousands of fragments were gathered from the floors of the caves, and are gradually being sorted and classified in the Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem. The exact number is probably not known, and would be of no great value. Dr. Frank Cross says that 382 different manuscripts are represented by the fragments so far identified from just cave 4Q alone. Add to this number the different manuscripts represented by the fragments in each of the other caves (none of which yielded as much as cave 4Q), and it is possible that the total number of manuscripts was between 600 and 800. Some of the fragments are so small that they contain a single letter of the alphabet. These are of little value. Other fragments contain just a few words, and still other fragments contain two or more columns (or portions of columns) of text” (The Dead Sea Scrolls 39). Here is a partial list of what was found:

Genesis: fragments of 5 different manuscripts (mss.) 
Exodus: fragments of 6 mss. 
Leviticus: fragments of 5 mss. plus one nearly complete scroll 
Numbers: 4 mss. 
Deuteronomy: 16 mss. 
Joshua: 2 mss. 
Judges: 3 mss. 
1-2 Samuel: 3 mss. all following the LXX text 
1-2 Kings: 2 mss. 
Isaiah: 14 mss. The Isaiah scrolls were the most significant texts found 
Jeremiah: 5 mss. 
Ezekiel: 3 mss. 
Minor Prophets: 8 mss. 
Psalms: 11 mss. 
Job: fragments in 2 caves 
Ruth: 4 mss. 
Song of Solomon: 3 mss. 
Ecclesiastes: 2 mss. 
Lamentations: 2 mss.
Esther: none 
Daniel: 4 mss. plus fragments 
Ezra-Nehemiah: 1 mss. 
Chronicles: 1 mss.

The Significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Biblical Texts

Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest extant copy of the Hebrew text was Codex Leningrad which is dated A.D. 916. The rabbis had a practice of destroying worn out copies of the Scriptures. Hence, the earliest Hebrew texts are very late. Most scholars think that rabbis in the Council of Jamnia (approximately A.D. 90) worked out a standard text; hence, variant readings are relatively few in the Old Testament as compared to the New Testament. The translation of the Old Testament into Greek, known as the Septuagint (abbreviated by the Roman numeral LXX for the seventy men who worked on it) was made in approximately 250 B.C. It differs significantly on some passages from the Masoretic text. Because of the variants between the LXX, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Masoretic Text, scholars questioned how reliable is the Hebrew text on which we depend. There was no basis on which to check the reliability of the Masoretic text.

Suddenly in 1947 the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, providing a copy of Isaiah that is conservatively dated approximately 200 B.C. It predated our existing Hebrew texts  of Isaiah by over 1000 years. For the first time, scholars could examine the accuracy of the Masoretes. What conclusions have scholars drawn from the texts?

1. The accuracy of the Masoretic text. Millar Burrows wrote, “What has been said may be enough to indicate the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls and fragments for the technical study of the text of the Old Testament. The general reader and student of the Bible may be satisfied to note that nothing in all this changes our understanding of the religious teachings of the Bible. We did not need the Dead Sea Scrolls to show us that the text has not come down to us through the centuries unchanged. Interpretations depending upon the exact words of a verse must be examined in the light of all we know about the history of the text. The essential truth and the will of God revealed in the Bible, however, have been preserved unchanged through all the vicissitudes in the transmission of the text” (The Dead Sea Scrolls 320). 

Yigael Yadin added,  “The great importance of the antiquity of the Dead Sea Scrolls, therefore, lies in the fact that they belong to the period in which no standardization of the holy scriptures had been effected. This is at once obvious by comparing the text of the scrolls with that of the translations on the one hand and the Masora on the other. What is astonishing is that despite their antiquity and the fact that the scrolls belong to this pre-standardization period, they are on the whole almost identical with the Masoretic text known to us” (The Message of the Scrolls 83). 

The conclusion drawn by textual scholars is that the Dead Sea Scrolls confirm the accuracy in the transmission of the text of the Old Testament back 1000 years earlier than the manuscripts that existed prior to their find.

2. The value of the LXX. Charles F. Pfeiffer said, “Although many of the Qumran Biblical texts are not yet available to the student, the information which we now have has caused the whole question of the relationship of the Septuagint to the traditional Masoretic text of the Old Testament to be reopened. Competent scholars have indicated their belief that the Septuagint is a literal translation of a Hebrew text in some respects different from the traditional one. This does not, of course, deny that the Septuagint, like translations in all ages, expresses the theological viewpoint of its translators in many areas, but it does insist that the Septuagint is a witness to an ancient text of the Old Testament as well” (The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible 106). The effect of this is to re-assess the testimony of the LXX when it varies with the Masoretic text. Scholars are suggesting that the difference in the two readings may not be caused by a less than literal translation of the LXX, but may reflect a different Hebrew text behind the translation.

The full impact of Dead Sea Scrolls for the text of the Old Testament will be assessed for many more years. However, already they are demonstrating the accuracy of our Old Testament text, although there obviously will be cases of specific improved readings.

The Isaiah Scroll And The Text of Isaiah

The most important text found at Qumran was the Isaiah scroll. A replica of this scroll is displayed at the Shrine of the Book museum in Jerusalem. Regarding the influence of this manuscript on the Revised Standard Version (RSV, Old Testament copyrighted in 1952), Burrows wrote, 

Thirteen readings in which the manuscript departs from the traditional text were eventually adopted. In these places a mar­ginal note cites “One ancient Ms,” meaning the St. Mark’s Isaiah scroll. A brief review will show that even in these thirteen places the superiority of the manuscript’s reading is not always certain. For myself I must confess that in some cases where I probably voted for the emendation I am now convinced that our decision was a mistake, and the Masoretic reading should have been retained.

In eight of the thirteen instances the reading of the scroll is supported to some degree by the ancient versions (305).

Of the thirteen readings adopted by the RSV, the New American Standard Bible follows the Dead Sea Scrolls text in four places. In the other nine places, the translators thought the received text is superior. One should remember that antiquity is not synonymous with accuracy. Thus for the 66 chapters of Isaiah, only four changes occurred as a result of transmission of the text by hand over a period of 1000 years and none of these changes made any significant difference in our understanding of God’s will for mankind.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and Inspiration

How did the first century Jews view the Old Testament? Charles F. Pfeiffer wrote, “While the Dead Sea Scrolls can neither prove nor disprove inspiration, they clearly indicate that a community of Jews more than nineteen centuries ago possessed a library of sacred writings which, in all essential details, is the same as the Bible which we have regarded as authoritative. They also had books which we term apocryphal, as well as works distinctive to their sect. Their regard for the Old Testament was, however, supreme. Commentaries were written on its books. Scholars who have examined the manuscripts assert that the Biblical scrolls are written in a style of writing which is distinctive — as if to mark them off for special consideration. Those who believe in an inspired Bible find much encouragement in the Qumran texts” (The Dead Sea Scrolls and The Bible 111). The belief in an inspired Old Testament existed years before the coming of Christ.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Canon of the Old Testament

The Dead Sea Scrolls are also important for what they show us about what books of the Old Testament were considered a part of their canon of inspired books. Were the Apocryphal books incorporated in the Catholic Bible a part of the canon of the community at Qumran? Pfeiffer wrote, “Indicative of the fact that the Old Testament as we have it was regarded as sacred Scripture at Qumran is the fact that every book except Esther is represented, at least in the form of fragments. In editing the Zadokite work, Chaim Rabin notes that quotations or allusions to every book in the Old Testament except Joshua, Joel, Jonah, Haggai, Ruth, and Lamentations are made in that document. Since the Zadokite work is related to the Qumran community, and copies of it have been found at Qumran, this gives added testimony to the canon of Scripture. Thus every book of the Old Testament is found either in manu­script, quotation, or allusion in the Qumran literature. The absence of Esther from the Qumran library may be due to the fact that it was not composed among Palestinian Jews. Since its locale is Persia it may not have been well known by the Qumranians. It is not quoted in the New Testament” (Ibid. 111-112).

The evidence of Qumran regarding the Old Testament canon confirms the testimony of Josephus (Against Apion I:8) and the testimony of Scripture (Luke 11:51, the “blood of Abel” to the “blood of Zacharias” reflects the death of the first and last persons in the Old Testament according to the accepted order of the books of the Old Testament in the Hebrew Bible). The 39 books that we accept in the Old Testament were the 39  accepted in the time of Christ.

Conclusion

The Dead Sea Scrolls have confirmed that the text of the Old Testament has been transmitted accurately to modern man. Finding the scroll of Isaiah enabled textual scholars to see how accurately the text had been transcribed over a period of 1000 years. The result is that modern Old Testament scholars found that the text of the Old Testament was accurately transcribed for that period, leaving one with the confidence that the text one has in his hand is the text of Scripture as it was inspired by God. 

6567 Kings Ct., Avon, Indiana 46123 mikewillis1@compuserve.com

By Mark Mayberry

Jerusalem occupies a rather unique position, at least for a city serving as a national capital. Most capital cities are situated near a lake, a river, or with easy access to the sea. However, Jerusalem, located atop the spine of a mountain range in the central highlands of Palestine, is far removed from any significant body of water. 

Water, or the lack thereof, always has a major impact upon man’s ability to live in a particular area. This is particularly true of the city of Jerusalem. The original city of David was easily defended, surrounded on three sides by valleys: the Kidron to the East, the Hinnom to the South, and the Tyropeon to the West. Commanding heights provided strategic superiority. Nevertheless, despite strong fortifications, Jerusalem had no permanent water supply within her protective walls. There are, and have been, various reservoirs, wells and pools. However, all depend upon the rains or aqueducts to fill them. The ancient city had only one reliable, perennial water source — the Gihon Spring, located in the Kidron Valley, outside and below the defensive walls.

The Jebusites, the original inhabitants of Jerusalem, cunningly overcame this limitation. Channeling water from the Gihon Spring back under Mt. Zion, into a pool at the bottom of a shaft that rises to join an inclined tunnel, the Jebusites were able to provide for secure access to a permanent water supply from behind their fortress walls. 

The Gihon Spring plays a role in two renowned Bible stories, both of which, incidentally, well demonstrate the problem of pride. During the time of David, the Jebusites arrogantly boasted of their ability to defend Jerusalem. During the time of Hezekiah, the Assyrians arrogantly boasted of their ability to destroy Jerusalem. In both cases, pride went before destruction (Prov. 16:18; 18:12). Therefore, let us study both incidents, discovering such historical, archaeological and ethical lessons as the text may hold.

Jebusite Arrogance

Along with the other Canaanites, the Jebusites were placed under God’s curse because of their sins (Gen. 15:18-21; Exod. 23:23). Joshua conquered southern Palestine, defeating the five allied kings of Canaan, including Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem (Josh. 10). However, the Israelites were unable to drive the Jebusites from their fortified stronghold (Josh. 15:63). Later, the sons of Judah captured and burned the city of Jerusalem (Judg. 1:8), but even then, the rout was incomplete and the victory only temporary. The Jebusites soon recovered, and continued to inhabit the hill country of Judah (Judg. 1:21). Four hundred years passed before David captured the stronghold of Zion. The Jebusites arrogantly boasted in their ability to defend Jerusalem, saying, “You shall not come in here, but the blind and lame will turn you away.” Nevertheless, David’s men entered the city of Jebus by stealth, climbing up through the aforementioned water tunnel (2 Sam. 5:6-10; 1 Chron. 11:4-9). The pride of the Jebusites brought them low.

Assyrian Arrogance

In 701 B.C., Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invaded the Levant. Marching down through Phoenicia and Palestine, his armies wrecked havoc, destroyed numerous cities, carrying away many captives, and much spoil. After the siege and capture of Lachish, Sennacherib sent envoys to Jerusalem, demanding tribute and capitulation. Then, surrounding the city, the Assyrians prepared to lay siege to Judah’s capital (2 Kings 18-19; 2 Chron. 32; Isa. 36-39). 

Anticipating this very threat, Hezekiah had strengthened the defenses of Jerusalem and provided for a more secure water supply. He stopped the Gihon Spring from flowing into the Kidron Valley, and redirected its waters into the Pool of Siloam, located on the Western side of the city of David (2 Chron. 32:30). In a remarkable demonstration of masonic craftsmanship and engineering skill, Hezekiah’s workmen dug a tunnel through a continuous mass of solid rock. The actual length of this channel, with its twists and turns, is 1750 feet, although the direct distance is only 1100 feet. The completion of this project accomplished two goals: (1) it prevented the invading Assyrians from having easy access to water, and (2) it insured a stable and secure water supply for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, even during times of siege (2 Chron. 32:1-8, 30; 2 Kings 20:20). 

Hezekiah carried Sennacherib’s ultimatum into the temple, spread it out before the Lord, and prayed, “Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God” (2 Kings 19:14-19). The prophet Isaiah brought a message of divine comfort and consolation unto this righteous king. Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead (2 Kings 19:35). 

In antiquity, official scribes were normally very selective in what they chronicled, giving a detailed accounting of great victories, but omitting any reference to crushing defeats. As would be expected, no mention is made of this disaster in the Assyrian annals. Yet, sometimes silence speaks louder than words. Sennacherib boasts of having defeated 46 towns and imprisoned Hezekiah “like a bird in a cage.” Yet, he never claims to have conquered the city of Jerusalem, nor do the official accounts tell of the end of the siege. If he had been successful, would he have shown such modest reserve? Certainly not. Calamity had overtaken him. With his army annihilated, Sennacherib returned to his palace in Nineveh. Some years later, he was assassinated by two of his sons. The boastful pride of the Assyrian king led to his downfall.

Modern Arrogance

In 1880, a youth, while wading up this very water channel, accidentally discovered an inscription cut into the wall, located about nineteen feet back from where it opens into the Pool of Siloam. Written in a script used in the days of Hezekiah, this inscription commemorates the monumental task workmen faced in excavating the tunnel through solid rock; it celebrates the moment that two gangs, working from opposite ends, using wedge, hammer, and pickax, finally met: 

This is the story of the boring through: whilst [the tunnellers lifted] the pick each towards his fellows and whilst three cubits [yet remained] to be bored [through, there was heard] the voice of a man calling his fellow, for there was a split in the rock on the right hand and on [the left hand]. And on the day of the boring through, the tunnellers struck, each in the direction of his fellow, pick against pick. And the water started to flow from the source to the pool, twelve hundred cubits. A hundred cubits was the height of the rock above the level of the tunnellers” (Kathleen Kenyon, Royal Cities of the Old Testament 139).

Completing their task without any of the elaborate equipment on which modern engineers would rely, theirs is truly a remarkable accomplishment. Furthermore, it serves as a call to humility for those who arrogantly boast in modern technological superiority. It is a subtle rebuke to chronological snobbery. Hezekiah’s triumph is a reminder that contemporary man does not have an exclusive claim to genius (Ps. 75:5; Prov. 8:13; 30:13). 

Some wonder at the curiously winding course of Hezekiah’s tunnel, as it carries water down the eastern flank of the hill, and then across the tip of the hill into the Tyropoeon valley. Various explanations have been given for this circuitous route. However, the simplest and most obvious explanation is that the tunnel diggers went astray, and did not follow a straight line. Yet, despite their meandering course, they made the necessary corrections, enabling the two crews to finally meet. The spiritual lesson is clear: We often get off course, but if we correct our mistakes, and press toward the goal, success will be ours in the end (Phil. 3:12-14; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Sadly, the aforementioned inscription was surreptitiously cut from the wall of the tunnel in 1891 and broken into fragments. These were, however, recovered by the efforts of the British Consul at Jerusalem. The Siloam inscription is now housed in the Museum at Istanbul in Turkey.

David’s conquest of the Jebusite stronghold, and the deliverance that Hezekiah experienced from the hands of Sennacherib share two points of reference: both illustrate the perils of pride, and both are connected with the same pool of water — the waters which flowed from the Gihon Spring. In both cases, water served as a means to victory. Herein, one can see a comparison to the waters of baptism — crucifying the old man of sin, repudiating the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, we are saved through the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Rom. 6:3-4; Tit. 3:5-6; 1 Pet. 3:21). 

4805 Sulley Dr., Alvin, Texas 77511

By Joe R. Price

Words are tools by which we teach, transfer knowledge and share insight. God chose the use of words, both oral and written, to communicate with man (2 Pet. 1:20-21; Heb. 1:1-2; John 12:49-50).

The Bible is the inspired record of God’s word and will to us (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 1 Cor. 2:10-13; 14:37; Rom. 16:25-26; Eph. 3:3-5). While the original autographs were inspired of God, we understand that neither the copies nor translations of the biblical manuscripts are inspired. Without an ability to know the languages in which the Bible was written it would be impossible to produce a translation of it, much less a trustworthy one. A language which cannot be understood cannot be translated. Neither can an unknown language communicate its message to others (cf. 1 Cor. 14:9-11).

The ability to understand the Hebrew and Greek languages and to correctly translate them means we can have trustworthy, reliable translations of God’s word. In like manner, the ability to decipher other ancient forms of writing makes it possible to learn about long lost civilizations. And, with such knowledge in hand we have more abundant evidence at our disposal of the truthfulness and accuracy of the Bible.

For example, the ancient Egyptians wrote using hieroglyphics (picture script), while the ancient Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians used cuneiform (wedge-shaped) characters. Until the first half of the 19th century these languages were unknown to modern man. Language “keys” were needed to unlock or decode the meaning of their shapes, symbols, and letters. The Rosetta Stone and the Behistun Rock gave scholars the keys they needed to unlock the meaning of these languages. Amazing details were revealed about past civilizations once it was possible to interpret these dead languages.

The Behistun Rock

Engraved on a cliff ledge 345 feet about the ground, the Behistun Inscription stands as a monumental feat of the ancient world. Located at the foot of the Zagros Mountains in western Iran near the modern town of Bisitun, the Behistun Rock was commissioned by King Darius I of Persia (522-486 B.C.). Here is a typical description of this amazing relief:

King Darius I of Persia had it cut in the rock at the time of one of his great military victories. It includes a large panel which depicts the scene of his victory, and then three panels underneath with the text. Each panel is in a different language: Old Persian, Akkadian (or Babylonian), and Elamite. In the text Darius describes how he established himself as king with the help of the god Ahuramazda by defeating his main rival, Gaumata. Darius had it cut in the rock and then knocked out the ledge which was below the inscription so that it couldn’t be tampered with. This allowed the inscription to survive through the millennia.1 

The value of the Behistun Rock, in addition to its sheer grandeur and the magnificence of its construction, is its tri-language inscription of a single text. The three different cuneiform languages appearing on the rock cliff — Old Persian, Akkadian (or Babylonian) and Elamite — rendered the key needed to understand these languages. 

In 1835, British officer Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson began his work of copying and deciphering the Behistun Inscription. He literally clung to the side of the cliff in order to copy this massive text which covers the face of a rock half the size of a football field. The work of Rawlinson and his colleagues in first translating the Old Persian, and then unlocking the mystery of the Akkadian (Babylonian) language, provided a means of understanding ancient Babylonia and Assyria as never before.
Rawlinson had . . . thus provided the keys with which to unlock the treasured secrets of the vanished nations of the Babylonian-Assyrian Civilizations. Thriving cities, bannered armies, and industrious citizenry of forgotten centuries came into full view.2

The Rosetta Stone

If the Behistun Rock unlocked the ancient world of the Mesopotamian peoples, the Rosetta Stone did that and more for ancient Egypt. Found in 1799 by a French army officer during Napo- leon’s expedition into Egypt, it is also known as the Stone of Rosette (named for the village in the western Nile Delta near its place of discovery). Still in excellent condition, the Rosetta Stone is housed at the British Museum in London.

A black basalt slab measuring about three feet tall and two feet, four inches wide, the Rosetta Stone contains three scripts of the same text: At the top is Egyptian hieroglyphs (the script of official and religious texts), in the middle is Demotic text (everyday Egyptian script) and on the bottom is Greek. The engraving is the record of a 196 B.C. decree by a council of priests in Memphis, Egypt, in which they honored the first anniversary of Ptolemy V, Epiphanes (ca. 203-181 B.C.). 

Using a knowledge of the Greek language, French Egyptologist, Jean Francois Champollion, and British physicist, Thomas Young, deciphered the hieroglyphics in 1822. The heretofore “silent” symbols of hieroglyphics sprang to life, unmasking the ancient Egyptian world.

The Value of These Discoveries

The Rosetta Stone and the Behistun Rock are of tremendous value in helping to determine the content of ancient texts and their subsequent translation into modern languages. The deciphering tools they hold help to confirm the historical accuracy of biblical references to the same peoples and nations whose languages have been translated. Because of the Rosetta Stone and the Behistun Inscription an abundance of material contemporary with the Bible is now available to us. This material provides a valuable external source of evidence which demonstrates the validity and accuracy of the Bible.

These two archaeological and linguistic achievements stand, not only as monuments to the scholarship of man, but also as monuments to the integrity and historicity of the Biblical text.

Read More About the Rosetta Stone:

Text of the Rosetta Stone: http://pw1.netcom.com/qkstart/rosetta.html
“The Stone of Rosette” (Danielle Jantzen): http://www.students.sunysuffolk.edu/~jantd09/ paper06.html

Read More About the Behistun Rock:

1. Text of the Behistun Rock: http://wwwhost. utexas.edu/courses/classicalarch/readings/ behistun.html
2. “Behistun Inscription” (Jon Bartlett): http://seminary. georgefox.edu/courses/bst550/reports/ Jbartlett/BI.html

1 “Behistun Inscription,” by Jon Bartlett (http://seminary.georgefox.edu/courses/bst550/reports/Jbartlett/BI. html)
2     Archaeology and the Bible, Frederick G. Owen, 36; Cited by Jon Bartlett

6204 Parkland Way, Ferndale, Washington 98248 joe@bibleanswer.com

By Marc W. Gibson

The ancient manuscripts known as the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd in a cave in the cliffs just above the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. In the years that followed, some eight hundred intact and fragmented manuscripts were found in several nearby caves, adding up to the greatest archaeological find of the twentieth century. It continues to be the prevailing view of scholars today that these ancient scrolls were placed in these caves by the inhabitants of the settlement of Qumran, the remains of which lie between the cliffs and the Dead Sea.

The most likely inhabitants of Qumran were the Essenes, a sect of the Jews which separated itself from, and was critical of, mainstream Judaism based in Jerusalem. Though a point of dispute among scholars today, the manuscripts were most likely produced and owned by the Qumran settlement, and hidden when the Romans sent their army to the region to put down a Jewish uprising (A.D. 68-70). The excavators of Qumran have determined that it was destroyed in A.D. 68 by the Romans as they prepared to overthrow Jerusalem. Though Qumran was destroyed, the scrolls were safely hidden in the caves until their discovery 1,879 years later.
The scrolls date from between 250 B.C. and A.D. 68 and include communal (sectarian) laws and regulations, religious documents, and most importantly for biblical textual studies, manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. Every book of the Old Testament was represented except Esther. This discovery pushed the evidence for the Old Testament text back more than one thousand years, and a study of these texts have shown that our Old Testament translations today are extremely accurate and based on solid textual evidence. 

The remaining materials in the cache of scrolls should not be quickly dismissed as inconsequential to the study of the Bible or the New Testament in particular. When one understands that most of the sectarian and religious scrolls were produced and/or collected in a Jewish setting of the two centuries leading up to the time of Jesus and the New Testament (known as Second Temple Judaism), then he will realize that information may be available to shed light on the society and times in which Jesus lived and the New Testament was written. Jesus encountered various opinions and views among the Jews of his day. Could the  scrolls help us identify some of this thinking? In what ways can they illuminate our understanding of New Testament backgrounds?

Dangerous Theories

In reading scholarly works on this subject, one will be inundated with the theories of men concerning the relationship of the New Testament and the Second Temple Judaism in the years before and during the first century. The Christian should beware of the liberal critical opinions that downplay, or even dismiss, the role of divine inspiration as the source of the message of the New Testament. Much speculation is practiced in the attempt to derive the “sources” of the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament. Emphasis is given to the Jewish “soil” out of which Christianity supposedly arose. While it is true that the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament must be understood against the backdrop of the promises, prophecies, and shadows of the Old Testament, Jesus was not dependent on the Jewish thinking of his day to help formulate his doctrine. 

The prevailing Jewish opinions of that day about the Old Testament and the person and work of the Messiah were not the “soil” from which New Testament doctrine was founded. Any parallels that have been suggested are only that, parallels. They do not prove in any way that Christianity borrowed or tweaked the popular thinking of its day, and became just another sect of Judaism. Jesus came to fulfill the Law and reveal divine truth (Matt. 5:17; John 7:16-17). He confronted various erroneous views and faulty interpretations (John 5:46-47; Matt. 22:15-46). The scrolls can help us understand more about both the parallels and contrasts.

Parallel Themes

One of the more interesting parallels in the teachings of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament is the distinction between Light and Darkness. One Qumran text, The Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, speaks of the battle between the forces of Light and Darkness. Jesus used light and darkness to illustrate the distinction between truth and error (John 3:19-21; 8:12), as did Paul (2 Cor. 4:3-6; 6:14) and John (1 John 1:5-6; 2:9-10). Other parallel themes found in the scrolls include criticism of loving riches, righteousness, flesh and spirit, and the necessity of conversion. These parallels illustrate the common use of metaphors and the understanding of general themes revealed in Scripture.

Old Testament Prophecy

The Qumran community cited the Old Testament in its religious texts, but the fulfillments of its prophecies were often interpreted in the context of their ideology. One such example is found in the Manual of Discipline [Community Rule] (8:12-15) where Isaiah 40:3 is applied to the community itself, instead of John the Baptist’s heralding of the coming of Jesus (Matt. 3:1-3). They also understood themselves to be the eschatological “last generation” through whom God would bring final victory for the righteous. Through them would come a “Teacher of Righteousness” that would give the proper understanding of God’s Word. These examples affirm the fact that the Old Testament prophecies and promises were not fully understood until Jesus Christ revealed their fulfillment in him and his kingdom.

Views About the Messiah

One of the most significant subjects that the Dead Sea Scrolls helps us to understand is the confused first century view of the person and work of the Messiah. Those at Qumran reflected their times in that they had a high expectation of the Messiah. References are made to “the Messiah of Righteousness . . . the Branch of David” (Genesis Commentaries [4Q252]; Commentaries on Isaiah [4Q161]), and to a royal and militaristic “Prince of the Congregation” (Damascus Document 7:18-20; War Scroll 5:1) But the concept was taken further in the expectation of two messiahs: “They shall depart from none of the counsels of the Law to walk in all the stubbornness of their hearts, but shall be ruled by the primitive precepts in which the men of the Community were first instructed until there shall come the Prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel” (Manual of Discipline 9:10-11). Actually, three different characters are spoken of here: the Prophet, Messiah of Aaron, and the Messiah of Israel. The Messiah of Israel was a royal messiah, while the Messiah of Aaron was a priestly messiah and is the prominent one in that context. These beliefs again reflected erroneous views of Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messiah. On the other hand, the Messianic Apocalypse accurately speaks of a Messiah whose work would be of liberating captives, restoring sight to the blind, healing the wounded, reviving the dead, and bringing good news to the poor (see Isa. 61:1; Matt. 11:4-5). There were many different views and opinions as to whom the Messiah(s) was and what role he would fulfill, but there is no suggestion that he would be a suffering servant who would die. The expectation that the Messiah would suffer and give his life as a ransom for sinful man is noticeably absent in Jesus’ day and in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Matt. 16:21-23; Luke 24:25-26).

Misunderstanding and confusion is also found concerning the Prophet and the Messiah being understood as two different individuals, instead of two roles being combined in the Coming One (John 1:19-21; Acts 3:22-26). The popular conceptions of the Messiah did not consider him to be a suffering servant who would die (Matt. 16:21-23; John 12:34). The Jews were looking for a victorious earthly warrior-king (John 6:14-15). Christ and the apostles would be the ones who would expound the divine truth concerning Jesus the Messiah as Prophet, Priest, and King (Luke 24:27, 44; Acts 2:36; 17:2-3). Jesus was given all authority and brought grace, truth, and salvation (Matt. 28:18; John 1:9-16). He fulfilled the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most significant discoveries in the history of Biblical archaeology. They reveal snapshots of Jewish thought in the years leading up to Jesus and the New Testament. We view in them the struggle to understand the meaning of the text of the Hebrew Bible. We see the confusion and errors that plagued the thinking of many who needed the light of truth revealed in Jesus. Only in that truth would they be able to find familiar themes placed in their proper context and the divine plan of God revealed in its fullness. Only in Christ would they be able to see the mystery revealed (1 Cor. 2:26-16; Eph. 3:1-7).

Recommended Reading

The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, Geza Vermes (New York: Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 1997).
Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Reader from the Biblical Archaeology Review, Hershel Shanks, ed. (New York: Random House, 1992).
The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Hershel Shanks (New York: Random House, 1998).
The Scepter and the Star: The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature, John J. Collins (New York: Doubleday, 1995).
The Dead Sea Scrolls After Forty Years, Hershel Shanks, et. al. (Washington D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1991).
Solving the Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Edward M. Cook (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994).
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible, Charles F. Pfeiffer (New York: Weathervane Books, 1969).
The Dead Sea Scrolls and Modern Translations of the Old Testament, Harold Scanlin (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1993).
“Dead Sea Scrolls,” William Sanford LaSor, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, rev. ed., (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979), 883-897.

6708 O’Doniel Loop W, Lakeland, Florida 33809marcgibson@aol.com