Martin G. Abegg

In 1946, the world of biblical studies was rocked by the discovery of several scrolls in caves around the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea Scrolls contained translations of portions of the books of the Hebrew scriptures, a manual of discipline for the community responsible for producing the scrolls and a scroll that narrated an apocalyptic battle between the sons of light, led by a figure called the Teacher of Righteousness, and the sons of darkness. These documents gave biblical scholars a show more tantalizing glimpse of the then relatively unknown period of first-century Judaism and of the theology of at least one of its sects. Very quickly, though, the ownership of the scrolls became a point of great political contention between the Israeli government and American scholars like Frank Moore Cross at Harvard, and, consequently, translations of the scrolls appeared very slowly, if at all. Finally, in 1991, author Martin Abegg, then a graduate student at the University of Cincinnati, published a volume of previously unreleased scrolls. Following this publication, the Huntington Library announced that it had photographs of all the unreleased scrolls and that it would allow unrestricted access to the photos. Wise, Abegg and Cook's collection is now the most complete collection of the Dead Sea Scrolls available. The authors' English translations capture the nuances of the Hebrew, and sometimes the Greek, of the scrolls, many of which are merely fragments. Also contained here is a thorough introduction to the history of the discovery of the scrolls and a theory about the community that produced the scrolls: the authors convincingly argue that the Essenes, to whom the scrolls are traditionally attributed, were likely not the community responsible for writing the scrolls. For all interested in learning from primary texts about the development of first-century Judaism, this is an essential volume

Wise and his team of scholars and writers occupy what might be called the minority position in scrolls scholarship: The Qumran group cannot be identified simply as "Essenes," the site itself was not a headquarters, and few if any of the scrolls were written at Qumran. The position of Wise et al., in contrast with the "Standard Model" (as they call it), is set forth in a brief introduction along with the usual information about the discovery and publication of the scrolls. One of the most helpful things these translators do for nonspecialist readers is to explain the process of manuscript reconstruction and the use of brackets and parentheses to indicate missing portions of text and the like. The translations themselves are generally more idiomatic and less stiff than those in Florentino G. Martinez's The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated (Eerdmans, 1996. 2d ed.). As the fruit of an alternative approach to the origins and significance of the scrolls, and as a smooth translation, this work should be in collections where there is scholarly and popular interest. show less

The next best thing to owning the Discoveries from the Judaean Desert Series is this book. And while the DJD Series costs $200-$300 apiece, this beauty goes for less than $20. One of the only translations available (but a pretty decent one) of the canonical books from the Dead Sea Scrolls collected together in one volume. Like a Critical Edition, extensive notes list important or interesting variants between the DSS and various other manuscripts. Lacua, breaks, and gaps in the DSS books (as show more compiled from the various texts for each book) are filled in using the Masoretic--the Masoretic is clearly distinguished from the DSS. Several additional goodies are included such as newly discovered Psalms and Sirach. show less

I've become somewhat of an expert - as to a reader, that is - on the Dead Sea Scrolls. This summary is not as captivating as that by Millar Burrows - one of the first archaeologists involved with the Bedouin, Kando and Shaia when scraps of velum were offered for sale to the world in 1946/47. The reader is introduced to the Essenes one of three branches of Judaism in the first century - along with the Pharisees and Sadducees. See similarities to the early Christians. You'll wonder if John the show more Baptist had been an Essene. show less

Essential for the "Lifetime Learner" who wishes to live by his own evaluation of the Bible free of 3rd party conflicts and denominational quirks. Find where the most current manuscripts stand when compared to the older Qumran writers. Challenge yourself to find manuscript prejudices and conflicts.