THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

 

   The field of biblical archeology and the science of textual studies are not usually what one would expect to find on the front page of the newspapers but in 1947, that is just what happened. A veritable goldmine was found in the land of Palestine, near the shore of the Dead Sea, hence the name “Dead Sea Scrolls.” It has continued to be of great interest even down to this day. Books have been written, articles galore continue to be seen (including this one) in various different journals and the general interest in this amazing find has not died down.

The find was purely accidental. A Bedouin shepherd boy was herding goats in the wilderness near the northwest end of the Dead Sea. A goat had taken refuge in a cave and the lad was apparently being a bit lazy, and instead of going in after the beastie, he threw a stone into the cave, hoping to drive the animal out.  He heard the sound of shattering pottery and then climbed in to find out what the sound came from. He found several jars which contained manuscripts that were wrapped in cloth. The lad gathered up the scrolls and took them to a sheikh in Bethlehem. After looking them over and finding writing which was not at all familiar, the sheikh sent them to a local merchant who was apparently more of a scholar than the sheikh himself.  This other merchant felt that the  writing was Syriac and passed them on again. This time they went to the archbishop of Jerusalem.  He examined them and found that the writing was not Syriac but Hebrew. He did some negotiating and managed to purchase five of these scrolls. Another Bedouin found more and sold his elsewhere. The scrolls were not all found in the same location and were in various states of preservation. One of the best preserved which was unrolled with the least difficulty, was a manuscript containing the book of Isaiah which is in fact almost 1000 years older than any previous known version.

Some of the works found among the various scrolls were a commentary on the book of Habakkuk,  two sections of The Manual of Discipline which belonged to the original owners of the documents. This group, known to us as the Essenes, were a very strict sect among the Jews of that time period. Josephus mentions them in his catalog of Jewish religious groups. Both Josephus and Pliny the Younger related that the largest group of Essenes was located on the western side of the Dead Sea north of Engedi. Unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees, they were not involved in daily life among the masses of the Jewish people. They separated themselves into communities which were isolated from society.  In personal habits, they were extremely clean. They bathed before meals and wore white all of the time except when doing daily tasks. Food was taken in a community dining hall and the giving of thanks was both before and after meals. Those seeking admission to the group were required to live according to the group for one complete year. They were given a small mattock, loincloth and the required white garments. If the candidate was able to follow the rules for this period of time, he was then put on probation for a period of two more years. If they were able to do this, after an oath of allegiance to God, they were allowed to enter the group.

The Essenes were devoted to the study of the Law. Strict Sabbath observance was required as would be expected. Josephus tells that they were greatly interested in the study of angels. This was of particular interest to the group located in Qumran. There was also a strong interest in future life after death.

Among the documents which were discovered among the scrolls were one which came to be known later as The Damascus Document, The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness and The Thanksgiving Psalms.  The Manual of Discipline mentioned earlier was sort of a “code of conduct” for the membership of the group. The Damascus Document talks about the covenant that bound the groups together. The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness  is a figurative document describing the conflict between Israel and her enemies in the Land of Palestine. The Sons of Light were in conflict with Edom, Moab, and Ammon. These Old Testament names were applied to contemporary foes who were various different groups then in existence.  It is thought that two  particular groups were the Hasmonean dynasty and especially the mounting political as well as military pressure from the encroaching Roman empire. These were of particular concern to the Essenes of that day. The reason for the scrolls being found in those caves were that the Essenes were hiding their library scrolls in the caves to protect them when the Roman Legions were going through Israel, putting down the rebellion which ultimately resulted in the complete destruction of Jerusalem and particularly the temple which Herod had constructed. This was in A.D. 70 and is the event that Jesus was speaking of in the Gospel accounts. As always, Jesus was right on target with his description! This event was also the end of the Essene groups.

Now, in regards to the title: “The Importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls.” The historical importance of the Essenes and their contribution to first century political and religious society cannot be denied. All the writings and commentaries and other various contributions also are of great importance, BUT, these are not the most important contributions made. The greatest and most important contributions are rather subtle but are truly of the greatest importance. These are found in the actual physical documents themselves. In the field of textual studies, the importance is in the age of the documents themselves and their constitution themselves. This is: among those documents themselves, as an example, the book of Isaiah itself. As mentioned earlier, the age of the document itself is of the most importance. It is about 1000 years older than the oldest document that is in the possession of anyone today. Having this book, of this age, having been wrapped up in cloth in a jar in a cave near the Dead Sea, we have in effect a snapshot of that Book  from then. The greatest fact is that if you could set them down (figuratively of course) side by side and compare them with each other, you are able to see how much of a change has occurred in the text over the period of the 1000 years that Isaiah has been copied and recopied and recopied by scribes. As you all well know, anything that is involved with humanity is most definitely capable of being changed during the recopying process, whether intentionally or by accident.. Things change. As an experiment,  I heard of one time, someone  once began by whispering a message into the first person’s ear, as the message went from person to person and arrived at the last person in the chain, person number ten repeated what he had told exactly , by person number nine and the message was almost totally changed and completely different from what person number one said. Can you imagine what could happen over 1000 years-even despite the stringent controls that we know were in use among the Jewish scribes involved in that particular work? Well, when compared to each other with an emphasis on the differences, a minuscule percentage of differences were noted with absolutely NO change in the essential message. To my understanding, the changes were found to be in spellings or whatever punctuation that was used. That is to the best of my understanding that is-and I am no scholar. To me, that is a HUGE thing. Can you imagine that happening in any other field than that of the Lord Jehovah? I just can’t see it. So, in effect, what this shows is that God is still in the business of protecting His book and that when we look at and compare these old-timers, we can clearly see His wondrous hand at work in the preservation of his evidence. That is, in effect what this is; evidence of His provision and that we can in effect trust his word. In this sense, even man can’t screw that up!!

This IS importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They are that snapshot which we can look at and wonder of God’s great provision in the process of his plan to save mankind. As the song says: “Our God, He is Alive.”