The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient Jewish religious manuscripts that were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in caves near the Dead Sea in modern-day Israel and Jordan. They consist of thousands of manuscript fragments written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and include copies of books from the Hebrew Bible as well as extra-biblical documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls represent the oldest known biblical manuscripts, dating over a thousand years earlier than previously known manuscripts. As such, they provide invaluable insight into the textual history of the Bible and the religious ideas circulating in Judaism before, during, and after the time of Jesus.
The Dead Sea Scrolls contain fragments from every book of the Old Testament except for the Book of Esther. Multiple copies exist for some of the books, including 25 manuscripts of Deuteronomy, 21 of Isaiah, 18 of Psalms, and 17 of Genesis. The scrolls show that the books of the Hebrew Bible were essentially standardized by the first century BCE, centuries earlier than previously thought. The minor variations between the scrolls and later manuscripts also allow scholars to piece together how the biblical text evolved over time.
In addition to biblical manuscripts, the Dead Sea Scrolls contain previously unknown extra-biblical Jewish documents dating back to the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE. These include commentaries on biblical books, religious legal texts, lists of biblical traditions, hymns and psalms, apocalyptic visions, and wisdom literature. The diversity of documents sheds light on the broad range of Jewish theology and piety that existed during the Second Temple period beyond what is found in the Hebrew Bible. Key texts include the Community Rule, War Scroll, Temple Scroll, Thanksgiving Hymns, and the Aramaic Apocalypse.
The Dead Sea Scrolls provide a wealth of information on Second Temple Judaism and the context of early Christianity. They show that many ideas previously thought to be Christian innovations, such as concerns about ritual purity, messianism, and determinism, already existed in Judaism. The messianic interpretations in the scrolls give insight into Jewish expectations that may have shaped Jesus’s ministry and early Christian beliefs about him being the Messiah. The scrolls also attest to a diversity of Jewish belief that challenges the notion of a single “Judaism” during this period.
In addition, study of the Dead Sea Scrolls has shaped the field of textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible. By comparing the biblical Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts to later copies, scholars can identify errors and changes that crept into the biblical text over centuries of copying. This helps scholars reconstruct what the original text more likely said. The scrolls thus play a major role in translating and interpreting the Hebrew Bible.
While many scrolls remain unpublished decades after their discovery, the publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls represents one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. They offer an unparalleled window into Judaism and Christianity at the dawn of the Common Era, as well as the history and transmission of the biblical text.
Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in a series of 11 caves near Khirbet Qumran and the ruins of the ancient settlement of Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. The first scrolls were accidentally found in 1947 by Bedouin shepherds searching the cliffs of the Judean Desert for a lost goat. The shepherds stumbled upon a cave (now known as Cave 1) containing jarred manuscripts wrapped in linen. Seven of the scrolls were relatively well-preserved, including a complete scroll of the Book of Isaiah.
News of the discovery reached the academic world in 1948 after the shepherds brought some scroll fragments to an antiquities dealer in Bethlehem. Over the next decade, archaeologists excavated the Qumran caves discovering a cache of 972 manuscripts written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek from over 900 documents. The scrolls were labeled based their content grouping (e.g. “Community Rule”) and the cave in which they were found (e.g. 1QIsa from Cave 1).
The original seven Dead Sea Scrolls found by the shepherds in Cave 1 included:
- The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa)—the only complete biblical book discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls
- The Community Rule (1QS)—detailing the rules and beliefs of a certain Jewish sect
- The Pesher on Habakkuk (1QpHab)—commentary on the prophetic book of Habakkuk
- The War Scroll (1QM)—describing a coming battle between the “Sons of Light” and “Sons of Darkness”
- The Thanksgiving Hymns (1QH)—a collection of religious hymns and poems
- The Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen)—stories from the Book of Genesis
- The Isaiah Commentary (1QIsab)—commentary on the prophetic book of Isaiah
Archaeologists found additional manuscripts in 10 other caves (labeled Caves 2-11) over the next decade, nearly all written on parchment (animal skin). Cave 4 alone contained around 15,000 fragmentary manuscripts. The Dead Sea Scrolls represent over 900 separate documents—by far the largest cache of ancient manuscripts discovered from antiquity. Most scholars date the scrolls from the last three centuries BCE (300-100 BCE) to the first century CE before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Origin and Ownership of the Scrolls
Most scholars link the Dead Sea Scrolls to a Jewish sect called the Essenes based on ancient historical accounts describing their practices and beliefs. The Essenes were an ascetic, closed Jewish community centered around Qumran during the late Second Temple period (2nd century BCE to 1st century CE). They are thought to have deposited the scrolls in the Qumran caves to hide them from the Romans during Jewish revolts.
Physically, Qumran is located in a remote area by the Dead Sea suitable for the separatist Essenes. The content of certain Dead Sea Scrolls, like the Community Rule, also matches their descriptions. Archaeological excavations at Qumran uncovered inkwells, writing tables, and plastered scriptoriums for document production matching the scrolls. Based on this collective evidence, the majority of scholars believe the Essenes at Qumran originated the Dead Sea Scrolls.
However, a minority of scholars dispute a sectarian origin for the scrolls, arguing that they come from multiple Jewish groups and the Jerusalem Temple library. While Essenes may have stored some of the scrolls, they propose other Jews also hid documents in the Qumran caves.
The Dead Sea Scrolls’ ownership has a debated history as well. After their discovery, the scrolls were tightly controlled by a small academic elite and unpublished for decades. This changed in the 1990s after complaints about access arose along with controversies over forged fragments. The Huntington Library in San Marino, California challenged the monopoly and made their photographs of the scrolls public in 1991. Today, the majority of the scrolls are housed in the Shrine of the Book museum in Jerusalem under the ownership of the State of Israel. However, Jordan disputes Israel’s full ownership of the scrolls found in Jordanian territory.
Contents and Highlights of the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls contain a treasure trove of materials representing Second Temple Judaism. They can be broadly categorized into three major genres:
- Biblical texts: copies of biblical books, commentaries, and paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible
- Sectarian documents: rules, prayers, and religious writings unique to the Qumran sectarians
- Extra-biblical documents: legal texts, hymns, wisdom literature, apocalyptic writings, and other religious documents
Here are some of the major highlights among the Dead Sea Scrolls:
Biblical Manuscripts
The Dead Sea Scrolls contain fragments from every Old Testament book except for Esther. Multiple copies exist of several biblical books, allowing comparison between manuscripts. Examples include 25 manuscripts of Deuteronomy, 21 of Isaiah, 18 of Psalms, and 17 of Genesis. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Minor Prophets are also well-attested.
These biblical Dead Sea Scrolls differ slightly from later Masoretic manuscripts. The variations are mostly minor spelling differences or scribal errors. However, in some cases the Dead Sea Scrolls provide better readings where later manuscripts may have changed the text. The scrolls also show that the Hebrew canon was stabilized earlier than previously thought.
Sectarian Documents
The Dead Sea Scrolls contain sectarian Jewish documents likely authored by the Essenes. These offer a window into the unique theology and rules of their sect. Major sectarian documents include:
- Community Rule (1QS): Regulates communal life, initiation, and sect doctrine
- War Scroll (1QM): Describes a coming apocalyptic war between the “Sons of Light” and “Sons of Darkness”
- Temple Scroll (11QT): Describes an ideal temple for the sect and their beliefs
- Damascus Document (CD): Summarizes the sect’s history and rules
- Thanksgiving Hymns (1QH): Sectarian hymns praising God
These documents show the sect had a highly ritualized way of life governed by purity laws. They also messianically believed they were God’s chosen “elect” living in the end times and awaiting salvation.
Extra-biblical Documents
The Dead Sea Scrolls also contain Jewish religious documents not part of the biblical canon. These include:
- Jubilees: Rewrites Genesis and Exodus in the form of revelations to Moses
- Enochic literature: Books discussing the angel Enoch’s prophecies
- Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: Moral last commands of Jacob’s twelve sons
- Pseudo-epigraphal Psalms: Additional psalms attributed to biblical figures
- Calendrical texts: Religious calendars and horoscopes
- Pesharim: Commentaries applying prophecies to the sect
These extra-biblical works shed light on wider Jewish thought during the Second Temple period beyond the Hebrew Bible texts alone. They demonstrate the fluidity of the biblical canon at this time, with various works considered authoritative scriptures alongside biblical books.
Significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls
As the oldest collection of biblical and Jewish manuscripts, the Dead Sea Scrolls provide invaluable insight into Judaism around the dawn of Christianity. Major areas where the scrolls have advanced scholarship include:
Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible
The biblical Dead Sea Scrolls play a crucial role in studying the textual history of the Hebrew Bible. Prior to their discovery, the oldest extant copies of the Hebrew scriptures dated to the medieval period. With manuscripts over a thousand years older, the Dead Sea Scrolls allow scholars to analyze how the biblical text changed over centuries of copying. This aids in producing modern translations and reconstructing the best approximation of the original text.
Overall, the Dead Sea Scrolls show the “Masoretic Text” behind modern Bibles faithfully preserved the scriptures. But there are some variant readings where the Masoretic copyists made errors or altered the text. The Dead Sea Scrolls provide textual evidence to identify the older reading. For example, scholars have used Deuteronomy 32:8 in the Dead Sea Scrolls to correct a monotheistic alteration to the Masoretic Text.
Second Temple Judaism
The Dead Sea Scrolls give an unparalleled look at Jewish theology and Jewish life during the Second Temple period (530 BCE – 70 CE). This period saw major developments in Jewish thought and texts leading up to early Christianity. The scrolls reveal Jewish scriptural interpretation, beliefs, messianism, apocalypticism, ritual purity, eschatology and more. They show diverse sects and teachings rather than a single “Judaism.” Scholars even find possible influences on early Christian beliefs.
Origins of the Bible
The Dead Sea Scrolls shed light on the formation of the biblical canon during the Second Temple era. Differences in the books included and excluded illustrate shifting scriptural authority. Sectarian manuscripts also show beliefs about ongoing revelation that were later excluded from rabbinic Judaism. While the Dead Sea Scrolls illuminate canon fluidity over time, they also attest to widespread recognition of most biblical books by the turn of the era.
Qumran-Essene Community
The sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls provide a unique glimpse into the previously obscure Jewish community centered around Qumran near the Dead Sea. The identity, beliefs, and practices of this group have been elusive in historical accounts. But their writings found among the scrolls have provided insight into this Jewish sect and new comparisons to early Christian communities.
Scholars continue studying the wealth of material from the Dead Sea Scrolls and making new discoveries. Their importance for biblical history and the origins of Judaism and Christianity is widely agreed. After surviving two millennia in desert caves, the scrolls’ discovery providentially illuminates a pivotal era for Western and Middle Eastern religions.
