James VanderKam and Peter Flint. The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Harper, 2004.
I have wanted to read something about the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) that took into account all the scrolls. Years ago I had read some things by Burrows and De Vaux, but those were written before many of the scrolls had been opened or deciphered.
The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls is comprehensive. The title may be a bit misleading. The authors do draw certain conclusions about the scrolls, especially about the community at nearby Khirbet Qumran that kept and in most cases probably copied the scrolls. A few of the scrolls deal with community behavior and membership; those were probably authored by the community. In spite of the title, the book is more of a presentation than an interpretation.
The book does a good job of explaining the history of the DSS since 1947 when the first ones were publicly discovered. This includes the eleven caves that were eventually found to contain old manuscripts and the people who found them and worked on assembling them and publishing their contents. It also includes a few professional squabbles and the details of one lawsuit concerning the scrolls. Typically, in the suit there would be “a large chunk of money to pay the lawyers” (402).
I had the opportunity a number of years ago to see some of the scrolls (or facsimiles) when they came for display in New York City. I noted that at least one Greek document had the name of God in paleo-Hebrew letters. Not only did that show respect to the name of God (YHWH), but also the use of the older lettering showed that the scribe did not even want to mess with the way Moses would have written the Name.
Most DSS were written in Hebrew, but some were written in Aramaic and some in Greek. Most were written on parchment—DNA tests showed the fine leather came from different animals: sheep, cattle, and wild antelope. A few were written on papyrus. One was written on a copper sheet.
While there were over 900 separate pieces, they were found to be from about 200 different documents. Many of the pieces would painstakingly be put together to show that they were parts of the same document that had fallen apart over the centuries.
I can recall in the seventies reading an article that one fragment with just a few Greek words on it may have come from a Gospel, rather than a Judaic document. Years later, people realized that the piece was part of a larger document that they could reassemble as they matched the papyrus fibers. It turned out to be from the Apocryphal Book of Enoch, which is both Messianic and Apocalyptic and uses language that would be found in the New Testament.
The DSS have been a godsend for Bible scholars. They show that for the most part the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Scriptures is probably closest to the originals. However, texts more similar to the Greek Septuagint (a translation made around 200 B.C.) were also found. Differences were especially notable in the Book of Jeremiah.
There are at least some portions of every book in the Jewish Bible (a.k.a. the Old Testament) except Esther. There are also numerous commentaries. There were many portions from the Pentateuch, the first five books, indicating the importance of Moses and the Law. That fact also suggests, along with some of the other writings, that the Qumran community was a priestly party. While they clearly believed in angels and the supernatural, their sympathies were with the Sadducees rather than the Pharisees. The authors present both sides of the case that they were a group of Essenes. While they likely were, the authors leave the final determination open.
There is a chapter on dating methods. The scrolls all date from the the third century B.C. to the first century A.D. The community was likely disbanded or destroyed in A.D. 68 by the Romans. The book also takes into account a few scrolls discovered at Masada, a location not too far away in the desert that held out against the Romans until A.D. 73.
The most substantive chapters for the Bible student are the chapters devoted to the different types of writings. There are discussions about the Hebrew canon and the apocryphal and pseudepigraphal writings. There are fairly long chapters devoted to the Biblical scrolls and the non-Biblical scrolls. Many of the non-Biblical scrolls are commentaries, so they shed light on how the Scriptures were interpreted in those days or by that community.
According to several scrolls, the community began 390 years after the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, or around 196 B.C. After twenty years an unnamed Teacher of Righteousness led the group for about forty years. There may have been a hiatus around the time the Herod began to rule, but they were back in business a few years later.
They were very strict about behavior and seemed to emphasize celibacy. They were also apocalyptic. Because of the upheavals in the Promised Land (the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Hasmoneans, the Herodians, the Romans), they believed that they were living in the end times. A lot of the non-Biblical literature such as that Book of Enoch (at least three and maybe as many as eleven manuscripts of this book are represented) have to do with the end times. Interestingly, the single New Testament quotation from this book, Jude 1:14-15, is about the coming of the Lord at the end of the age.
Because they were Apocalyptic, they were also Messianic. There may be hints in some of the writings that they treated the Teacher of Righteousness as a kind of Messiah figure, but there does not seem to be an actual cult developed around him. I think of the late Rabbi Menahem Schneerson who had a following and was considered a potential Messiah.
Even today, Jews discuss whether Messiah will be merely human or divine as well. This was a discussion even before the time of Jesus. While Jews today tend to see Messiah as merely human in reaction to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, it seems pretty clear that the Qumran community considered Messiah divine as well as human. Citing Isaiah, for example, they say he will be “Son of the Most High,” “Son of God,” and speak of “when God has fathered the Messiah” (335-336, 266). There are also a few references to a “suffering servant,” not only in the way Isaiah 53:11 is worded (see p. 133) but in some of the interpretations.
Some of the Qumran writings, as is typical of other Jewish intertestamental writings, suggest two Messiahs, a priestly Messiah from Levi and a Kingly Messiah from Judah. However, some of the Qumran writings also treat Melchizidek (Genesis 14:18-20) as a Messianic figure since he is both a priest and king. Citing Psalm 82:1, a scroll calls Mehchizidek, who shall appear again at end times, as a “god-like being” (225). To use the authors’ term, this “authenticates” the ideas that Messiah is divine and that he is like Melchizidek, a discussion detailed in the New Testament Book of Hebrews.
While the authors wisely are hesitant to say much about any reflection or influence of the Qumran writings with the New Testament, they do say that the DSS “authenticate” (344, authors’ italics) the New Testament. That is, the scrolls illustrate that the concepts and language in much of the New Testament were consistent with Jewish thought during that time period.
Two scrolls known as the Apocryphon of Moses include supposed extra details on the life and teachings of Moses. One stands out. The Scriptures tell us about the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:30), two stones kept in the high priest’s breastplate. They were consulted to give the priest and the people direction. Apparently one stone’s reply meant yes and the other meant no. The Apocryphon of Moses tells us that the stone that was giving God’s answer would be “lit with tongues of fire,” (229) similar to what was experienced in Acts 2:2-4 on Pentecost.
The Damascus Document must have been important to the Qumran group as ten copies have been found. It uses the Biblical term sons of Belial to describe sinful people who reject God and His Law. Specifically, it warns about the “three nets of Belial (fornication, wealth, and defilement of the sanctuary)” (215, authors’ italics). This corresponds fairly precisely to the three worldly temptations in I John 2:16, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and pride of life.
One interesting item that no doubt has helped Bible scholars and translators put together a more authentic Hebrew text was from Psalm 22:16. A verse from this Psalm was quoted from the cross by Jesus. Verse 16 in the Septuagint says “they pierced my hands and my feet,” the Masoretic text literally says something like “like a lion are my hands and my feet.” The Masoretic text is a little vague, to say the least. The DSS text of the verse has the Masoretic text except that the word lion is rendered as a verb, literally, “they lioned my hands and my feet.” In other words, they attacked my hands an my feet like a lion attacks with its claws. This helps us understand the Septuagint translator’s choice of words and likely is what the original text meant (125).
One of the group’s leaders, perhaps the Teacher of Righteousness, had successfully predicted the Roman conquest of 63 B.C. (he was off by two years and thought it would be the Syrians but he was close), and after that the community grew to about 4,000. He had also predicted the end of the age by 34 B.C. When that did not happen, the whole community broke up for a few years. It would later be reconstituted. The more things change the more they stay the same.
There are many other interesting details about the scrolls, their history and their content. This book is well worth reading.
The authors note near the beginning:
A problem faced by archaeologists and by anyone doing careful research is achieving as much objectivity as possible—not letting one’s assumptions or hopes influence the reporting of results. This issue has frequently arisen in excavating and explaining the data from places mentioned in the Bible. Depending on one’s theological stance, confirming or debunking biblical accounts has been prominent on the agenda. As we shall see, Qumran archaeology has not escaped the charge of bias. (21)
While the authors are pretty careful to present the various sides of an issue, their bias came through in a couple of things that perhaps tell us something of their approach. For example, they call Ernest Renan (1823-1892) “a renowned Bible scholar” (321). Notorious might be a better word. No doubt he was familiar with Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, but his scholarship was focused on a Unitarian, if not atheistic, view of Jesus. He also would take an anti-Semitic view of history. Indeed, his view that Jesus “Aryanized” the Scriptures was similar to the thesis which Hitler apparently believed as described in Ibsen and Hitler.
This reviewer’s biggest quibble is with their view of the Book of Daniel. The Biblical book tells us Daniel was the author and that he was an advisor to kings during the Babylonian Captivity and the early Persian rule. The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls tells us that the Book of Daniel was written much later, around 165 B.C. They claim that “most scholars” agree with this.
Perhaps “most scholars” like Renan a hundred and fifty years ago might have accepted this, but now it is just Bible skeptics. Anderson first wrote his Daniel in the Critics’ Den in 1899 to debunk this theory. McDowell had a book with the same title in 1979. Peeler presented a paper on the subject in 2001, so the need to refute the idea persists.
That position is especially surprising because the DSS take Daniel seriously as a canonical book. If the authors are correct, the community and its Teacher of Righteousness both appear before Daniel was written, yet there are eight copies of the book among the scrolls and at least ten other works that cite Daniel. It seems strange that would be the case if the book were not written until thirty years after the Qumran group was established, especially considering the apocalyptic nature of so much of their theology.
Enough of my soap box. The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls gives thorough background story to the discovery and dissemination of the DSS. It also notes significant readings and summarizes many of the texts. Perhaps most importantly to this reader, it shows the challenges the scholars had in piecing the scrolls together and reading them, all to further enhance what we know about the origin and interpretation of the Bible and Biblical and Apocalyptic literature.