The first of the Dead Sea Scroll discoveries occurred in 1947 in Qumran, a village situated about twenty miles east of Jerusalem on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. A young Bedouin shepherd, following a goat that had gone astray, tossed a rock into one of the caves along the sea cliffs and heard a cracking sound: the rock had hit a ceramic pot containing leather and papyrus scrolls that were later determined to be nearly twenty centuries old. Ten years and many searches later, eleven caves around the Dead Sea were found to contain tens of thousands of scroll fragments dating from the third century B.C. to A.D. 68 and representing an estimated eight hundred separate works.
2. The Dead Sea Scrolls are perhaps the greatest archaeological find of our time.
Produced by Jewish monastic Essenes, the scrolls number about 800; 200 of which are of biblical material. In 1947, shepherds discovered them quite by accident in caves above the Wadi Qumran Valley, northwest of the Dead Sea.
3. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain at least fragments of every book in the Old Testament except the book of Esther.
More than ten scrolls were beautifully preserved intact including two copies of Isaiah. Professor Millar Burrows of Yale University assigns these copies to the first century BC. Johns Hopkins University Professor William F. Albright places them more conservatively in the second century BC.
4. Proven to be "word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible
These copies of Isaiah, written 1,000 years earlier than the previously oldest known copies have proven to be "word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95 percent of the text. The five percent of variation consisted chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling.
5. Remains with the many individual scholars
Today, much of the Dead Sea Scrolls collection remains with the many individual scholars to whom the various scrolls and fragments were assigned and named after. Some of the documents are owned by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and are on display in the Shrine of the Book Museum in West Jerusalem. These include one Isaiah scroll which was written between 150-100 BC, another around 50 BC, a commentary on Habakkuk penned between 100-50 BC, and two other documents.
6. The Dead Sea Scrolls provided further proof that the Old Testament canon existed
The Dead Sea Scrolls provided further proof that the Old Testament canon existed prior to the third century B.C. Thousands of manuscript fragments from all the Old Testament books except Esther were found predating Christ’s birth, and some date as early as the third century B.C. For example, portions from the book of Samuel date that early, and fragments from Daniel date to the second century B.C. Portions from the twelve Minor Prophets date from 150 B.C to 25 B.C. Since the documents were found to be identical with our Masoretic Text, we can be reasonably sure that our Old Testament is the same one that the Essenes were studying and working from.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, written by Old Testament Jews, reveal the messianic expectations of Jews during the time of Christ. Studies have uncovered several parallels to the messianic hope revealed in the New Testament as well as some significant differences. First, they were expecting a personal Messiah rather than a nation or a sense of nationalism. Second, the Messiah would be a descendant of King David. Third, the Messiah would confirm His claims by performing miracles including the resurrection of the dead. Finally, He would be human and yet possess divine attributes.
- There are 225 Biblical texts included in the Dead Sea Scroll documents.
2. The Dead Sea Scrolls are perhaps the greatest archaeological find of our time.
Produced by Jewish monastic Essenes, the scrolls number about 800; 200 of which are of biblical material. In 1947, shepherds discovered them quite by accident in caves above the Wadi Qumran Valley, northwest of the Dead Sea.
3. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain at least fragments of every book in the Old Testament except the book of Esther.
More than ten scrolls were beautifully preserved intact including two copies of Isaiah. Professor Millar Burrows of Yale University assigns these copies to the first century BC. Johns Hopkins University Professor William F. Albright places them more conservatively in the second century BC.
4. Proven to be "word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible
These copies of Isaiah, written 1,000 years earlier than the previously oldest known copies have proven to be "word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95 percent of the text. The five percent of variation consisted chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling.
5. Remains with the many individual scholars
Today, much of the Dead Sea Scrolls collection remains with the many individual scholars to whom the various scrolls and fragments were assigned and named after. Some of the documents are owned by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and are on display in the Shrine of the Book Museum in West Jerusalem. These include one Isaiah scroll which was written between 150-100 BC, another around 50 BC, a commentary on Habakkuk penned between 100-50 BC, and two other documents.
6. The Dead Sea Scrolls provided further proof that the Old Testament canon existed
The Dead Sea Scrolls provided further proof that the Old Testament canon existed prior to the third century B.C. Thousands of manuscript fragments from all the Old Testament books except Esther were found predating Christ’s birth, and some date as early as the third century B.C. For example, portions from the book of Samuel date that early, and fragments from Daniel date to the second century B.C. Portions from the twelve Minor Prophets date from 150 B.C to 25 B.C. Since the documents were found to be identical with our Masoretic Text, we can be reasonably sure that our Old Testament is the same one that the Essenes were studying and working from.
- The Messianic Expectation of Jew proved to be True
The Dead Sea Scrolls, written by Old Testament Jews, reveal the messianic expectations of Jews during the time of Christ. Studies have uncovered several parallels to the messianic hope revealed in the New Testament as well as some significant differences. First, they were expecting a personal Messiah rather than a nation or a sense of nationalism. Second, the Messiah would be a descendant of King David. Third, the Messiah would confirm His claims by performing miracles including the resurrection of the dead. Finally, He would be human and yet possess divine attributes.