Dead Sea
Scrolls
Ancient
documents give a glimpse into Second Temple life.
By Hannah Wortzman
The Dead Sea Scrolls are the most prominent historical record of Jewish life
in the Second Temple period. In the past century, scholars pieced together more
than 900 documents that comprise this collection--mostly in Hebrew with a few
in Aramaic and Greek--and concluded that they belonged to an ancient Jewish
sect.
Because this library was discovered in the Judean desert in Israel, most
scholars believe that the sect lived in this area. Communal halls and buildings
have also been discovered close to the caves where the scrolls were found. Scholars
believe the sectarian community hid the documents in nearby caves, fearing the
Roman invasion of Palestine in 68 CE.
The Discovery of the Scrolls
In 1947 the first jars containing what is known today as the Dead Sea
Scrolls were accidentally discovered by a young Bedouin shepherd near the
northwest shore of the Dead Sea, in Wadi Qumran, present day Israel. One of the
most important finds within the Scrolls are the oldest known records of the
Hebrew Bible, dating back to the second century BCE. Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
texts were also found within the Qumran library. Altogether, the 900 documents
that were found in and around Qumran include legislative material, commentaries
and embellishment on the Pentateuch, and hymns that scholars believe were
recited by the Qumran community on special occasions.
The Dead Sea Scrolls have added a major chapter to Jewish history by
giving scholars a better understanding of the Jewish community during the
Second Temple period. The texts seem to have been produced by a sectarian community
that was apocalyptic in nature, expecting a battle between good and evil in the
near future. This community embraced a distinctive, older calendar that
differed from the calendar used by the Jerusalem community. Based on this, scholars
believe the Qumran sect fled to the Judean wilderness due to a schism with the
mainstream Jewish community, probably related to priestly practices and
authority in the Temple.
Biblical
Texts
Scrolls and fragments of scrolls from all books of the Hebrew Bible have
been discovered at Qumran, with the exception of Esther and Ezra/Nehemiah. The best
preserved document is the Great Isaiah Scroll, which includes all 66 chapters roughly
intact. Two full Isaiah scrolls were discovered at Qumran along with fragments
from at least twenty additional Isaiah scrolls. Scholars believe the book of
Isaiah was one of the more revered writings of this sectarian community, which
might have believed it was fulfilling the words of the prophet: "In the
wilderness prepare the way of the Lord (Isaiah 40:3)."
The text of the Qumran Isaiah scrolls sometimes differs from the Isaiah text
in today's Hebrew Bible. Scholars believe that when the Dead Sea Scrolls were
composed, only the Pentateuch was considered canonical. All supplementary books,
including those found in Prophets and Writings, were considered complementary
to the fixed Bible text--and multiple versions of these books existed.
Apocrypha
and Pseudepigrapha
A number of Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha documents were also discovered
at Qumran. Although not preserved by later Jewish communities, these texts were
sustained by different branches of Christianity. The two most prevalent in the
Qumran library were the books of Jubilees and Enoch, which both have been
preserved in the Ethiopian Orthodox canon.
Jubilees is a text that deals mainly with adjusting the calendar to
biblical events from the beginning of Creation. Its prominence among the Dead
Sea Scrolls suggests the meticulous nature of the Qumran sect Enoch predicts an
assortment of apocalypses. Its prominence is consistent with the messianic mentality
of the community.
Two texts preserved from the Apocrypha are the books of Tobitand
Sirach, also known as the Deuterocanonical books, preserved in the Roman
Catholic canon. Their discovery among the Dead Seas Scrolls is evidence of the
Jewish origin of these texts.
Legislative
Documents
Perhaps the most interesting content found in the Dead Sea Scrolls are
texts unique to the Qumran community. These fall into three categories:
legislative documents, hymns, and biblical embellishments.
The legislative documents from Qumran indicate the community was strict
and particular in its performance of biblical laws, and also implemented its
own, non-biblical regulations. The Manual of Discipline identifies
distinct practices of the group, while the Damascus Document condemns
the ritual practices of the sect's opponents in Jerusalem.
The apocalyptic nature of the community comes out in the War scroll,
which discusses a battle between the Qumran sect, "the Sons of Light,"
and "the Sons of Darkness" and presents instructions for an expected 40-year
war.
The Temple Scroll adds to and revises the laws of Deuteronomy and the
description of the Temple in Jerusalem. Another document, named by scholars 4QDeuteronomy,
combines passages of Deuteronomy and Exodus to explain observance of the
Sabbath. Other issues in these legislative documents include membership in the
community and punishments for offenses committed at Qumran.
Hymns and
Biblical Additions
The hymns found in the Dead Sea Scrolls feature psalms and blessings
probably recited by the community on special days. The Songs of the Sabbath
Sacrifice describes classes of angels and their heavenly worship service on
13 consecutive Sabbaths, covering one quarter of the year. This document
highlights the solar calendar used by the Qumran community. As seen with Jubilees
and Enoch, calendar and time were fundamental issues for the sect. A text
identical to Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice was also discovered at
Masada in 1965, suggesting the hymn traveled with those who took refuge at Masada
when fleeing from the Roman invasion in the first century CE.
Another document, Thanksgiving Psalms, or Hodayot, has
roughly 25 hymns each beginning with "odekha adonai" (thank
you my Lord). Scholars believe these hymns were the community's prayers and
songs of praise appointed to certain days and time of the week. According to Qumran
prayer scholar Esther Chazon, the authors of some of the Hodayot even
claimed to be among the angels themselves and included prayers like the Kedushah,
which echoes biblical narratives of angels' worship.
Biblical embellishments took on two forms at Qumran. Those in pseudepigraphical
style claimed to be authored by biblical characters. Genesis Apocryphon,
for example, is told from the perspective of Lamech, Noah's father. It retells
the stories of Noah and Abraham with enhanced details, and like Enoch was
written in Aramaic. The Qumran copy is the only version of this text that has
been found.
Pesharim were another sort of biblical addition unknown until
discovered at Qumran. In this genre, texts from the book of Prophets are rewritten
and each verse is followed by an interpretation relating to the day and age of
the Qumran community. For example a pesher
relates Habbakuk's "arrogant man" (Habbakuk 2:5) to an contemporary
adversary: the Romans (Kittim).
The
Community at Qumran
When the Dead Sea Scrolls were first discovered, most scholars believed
the Qumran community was connected to the Essenes, a group described by first
century writers Josephus, Philo, and Pliny the Elder. As Josephus describes in Wars,
the Essenes were religious, communal, ascetic, celibate, and held apocalyptic
beliefs. This seemed to resemble to Qumran community.
Today, after the publication of all 930 scrolls, scholars no longer
believe the Qumran sect was the same group described by Josephus. The scrolls
use terms like "female elders," "mothers," "sisters"
and "daughters"--but there were no women leaders in Essene
communities.
Furthermore, the term "Essene," is never mentioned in the
scrolls, and instead the group refers to itself as the Yachad or B'nei
Zadok. The former term was probably a name used for the entire congregation
whereas the latter expression was specific for the governing group of the sect,
namely the priests.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, the earliest Jewish documents we have today,
confirm to historians the longevity of the Jewish religion. But they also
attest to the array of sacred texts within the ancient Jewish world before
rabbinic canonization. Studies in the scrolls are still at a very young stage.
In 2004 two fragments of Leviticus 23 and 24 were discovered at Qumran.
More recently, in September 2007, a tunnel leading from Jerusalem to the area
of Qumran was found, suggesting that some of the scrolls and other treasures
from the Temple were brought to the area to hide from Roman destruction. Radiocarbon
dating and DNA testing are being used to find a more exact date for the
scrolls. Today, the scrolls reside in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem's
Israel Museum.
Hannah Wortzman is a PhD candidate in the Department of Jewish
Thought at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Scholion
Interdisciplinary Research Center for Jewish Studies. She is also a research assistant at the Orion Centre for the Dead
Sea Scrolls and Related Literature.
