The Dead Sea Scrolls

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 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 show more 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

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 Baptist had been an Essene.

Divided into chapters as subjects.

topics listed and briefly explained within those chapters.

the scrolls are printed as they were deciphered including the blank spaces. This is an awesome accomplishment.

Fragments of 56 texts translated into English. Many non-biblical or extra-biblical. Included are commentaries of portions of Habakkuk, Isaiah, Hosea, Nahum, Psalms, and Genesis. Several reworkings including parts of Genesis, Exodus, Samuel, and Daniel.

NO OF PAGES: 513 SUB CAT I: Dead Sea Scrolls SUB CAT II: SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: From a new generation of Dead Sea Scrolls scholars comes this landmark work. Michael Wise, Martin Abegg Jr., and Edward Cook bring the long-accessible ancient scrolls of Qumran vividly to life, translating and deciphering virtually every legible portion of the fragmented scrolls, with startling results. For the first time since their discovery, this historic volume: Intriguing revelations about biblical history and the roots of Christianity, Never-before-seen stories about Abraham, Jacob, and Enoch-including a text explaining why God demanded the sacrifice of Isaac, Twelve texts not included in the Bible that claim Moses as their author, New psalms show more attributed to King David and to Joshua, Texts illuminating ancient doctrines about angels and writings claiming to be revelations of angels themselves-including the Archangel Michael. The translators provide pointed commentary throughout that places the scrolls in their true historical context. Their compelling, insightful introduction not only presents an overview of the often surprising contents o f the scrolls, it discusses what are perhaps their greatest mysteries-who authored them and why.NOTES: Purchased at the Dead Sea Scrolls Seminar April 30, 2001 SUBTITLE: A New Translation show less

A fully revised and updated edition of the complete Dead Sea Scrolls, making it the definitive translation of the Scrolls in English. (With new texts, updated introductions, a glossary of terms, and other new additions.)

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