ment of early Christianity. This may
one appearance of a word to a later
not seem of much interest to Jews, but
appearance of the same word; as a
it is. Jesus lived and died a Jew.
result, he accidentally omitted every-
All scholars now agree that if you
thing in between. The mistake was
want to understand Jesus, you must
copied and the paragraph was lost —
understand the Jewish world in which
until the 20th-century discovery of
he lived. And that's where the scrolls
the Dead Sea Scrolls.
come in. In a way, the scrolls do under-
In another instance, from
mine a certain naive, simplistic view of
Deuteronomy, scholars long suspected
Jesus as someone who was only inci-
that a certain mention of the "Sons of
dentally Jewish and who came down
Israel" was not the original because it
and preached an entirely new message
didn't seem to make sense in this con-
that totally surprised his listeners
text. The passage refers to a time when
because no one had ever heard any-
there was no Israel. A Greek transla-
thing like this. No scholar today sub-
tion of the text, however, has "Sons of
scribes to this view.
God" instead of "Sons of Israel."
On the contrary, Christian doctrine
Could this have been an embarrass-
is deeply rooted in Jewish soil.
ing original? Or was it a corrupt
Concepts like "Messiah" and "Son of
Greek text? The Qumran scrolls now
God" are in Qumran Judaism, and
provide the answer — a Hebrew text
their use in Christianity is part of the
of Deuteronomy from 2,000 years ago
development of these concepts within
has "Sons of God"
Judaism. There are Jewish beatitudes
The scrolls are, of course, central to
among the scrolls. Jesus interpreted
anyone interested in Second Temple
Scripture just like other Jews of his
Judaism. They are a treasure trove of
time, as shown by the scrolls —
original religious documents, many of
understanding the holy books as
them previously unknown. They con-
applying to conditions in his own
firm what scholars have long suspected:
time rather than solely historically.
There was a variety of Judaisms at the
The scrolls also help us understand
time, indeed such a dizzying number
the development of the text of the
that the division of Orthodox,
Hebrew Bible. The scrolls include frag-
Conservative, Reform and
ments of every book of the Hebrew
Reconstructionist seems small and their
Bible except Esther and Song of Songs.
relationships tame by comparison.
Is this accidental or does this reflect
The rhetoric of 2,000 years ago
Essene culture? Esther is the only book
makes a modern political debate
of the Bible that does not contain the
sound like a 1930s ladies' tea party.
name of God, and Song of Songs con-
The scrolls are also beginning to
tains some pretty raunchy love poetry.
answer another puzzle in Jewish histo-
Transmission of the biblical text has
ry: Only one form of Judaism survived
been remarkably accurate over the
the destruction of the Temple: rabbinic
2,000-year period for which we now
Judaism. All modern Jewish move-
have copies. Yet hundreds of small
ments are rabbinic. The first great rab-
changes are suggested by the scrolls.
binic text is the Mishna, which forms
More accurately, there are hundreds
the core of the Talmud. The Mishna
— really thousands — of differences
dates to about 200 C.E. It contains an
in the ancient texts, all of which were
immensely complex, highly developed
considered legitimate.
legal system. Where did it come from?
There is no single original. As the
What are its antecedents?
scholars say, pluriformity preceded
Surely this fully developed halachic
uniformity.
system did not suddenly emerge fully
Occasionally the differences are
formed. The scrolls are opening a new
important. The Book of Samuel
chapter in the study of the early devel-
includes an episode in which the
opment of later rabbinic law.
Ammonite king Nahash offers to lift a
These are exciting times in the study
siege of the Israelites of Jabesh-Gilead if of the scrolls. Since their release in 1991
they would allow him to gouge out the
a whole cadre of scholars has entered
right eye of the men of the city. Why
the ranks of Qumran studies. A new
this strange, horrifying condition?
journal devoted exclusively to the Dead
No explanation is offered in the bib-
Sea Scrolls is now being published.
lical text as we have it. It remains a
Oxford University Press is about to
puzzle. But it turns that out a whole
publish an encyclopedia of the Dead
paragraph in the text that provides the
Sea Scrolls. New books about the scrolls
explanation somehow dropped out (the
are coming out almost weekly.
explanation is too long to go into here).
Who knows what future revelations
How did it drop out? An ancient
all this activity will bring?
scribe's eye apparently slipped from
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