Church History · 1947
The Dead Sea Scrolls Are Discovered
In 1947 a Bedouin shepherd threw a stone into a cave near the Dead Sea and heard pottery break. Inside were ancient scrolls. Over the next decade, eleven caves at Qumran gave up more than 900 manuscripts, including the Great Isaiah Scroll, copies of the Old Testament about a thousand years older than any known before.
Read it in the Bible: Isaiah 53:5 Isaiah 53:11 Isaiah 40:8 Luke 4:17-21
The Dead Sea Scrolls are more than 900 ancient Jewish manuscripts found in eleven caves near Qumran, on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, between 1947 and 1956. The first cave was found by a young Bedouin shepherd. The scrolls were copied between about the third century BC and the first century AD. They include pieces of every book of the Old Testament except Esther. The most famous, the Great Isaiah Scroll, is a complete copy of Isaiah from about 125 BC. Before 1947, the oldest full Hebrew copies of the Old Testament came from around AD 1000. The scrolls moved our evidence back about a thousand years and showed how carefully the text had been copied.
How Were the Dead Sea Scrolls Found?
In late 1946 or early 1947, shepherds of the Ta'amireh tribe were looking for a lost goat in the cliffs near Qumran. One of them, often named as Muhammed edh Dhib, threw a stone into a cave opening and heard something shatter. When the shepherds climbed in, they found tall clay jars, and inside some of them were old leather scrolls wrapped in linen.
They took seven scrolls to an antiquities dealer in Bethlehem. Three were bought by Professor Eleazar Sukenik of the Hebrew University, on November 29, 1947, the same day the United Nations voted to divide Palestine. The other four were bought by the Syrian Orthodox archbishop Mar Samuel. In 1954 he placed an ad in the Wall Street Journal offering "The Four Dead Sea Scrolls" for sale. Sukenik's son, Yigael Yadin, arranged to buy them for $250,000, and all seven came home to Israel. Probably the best classified ad ever printed.
What Was Found in the Qumran Caves?
From 1949 to 1956, Bedouin and archaeologists found ten more caves. Cave 4 alone held about 15,000 fragments from hundreds of different scrolls. In all, scholars count more than 900 manuscripts. About a quarter are copies of books of the Bible. The rest include Bible commentaries, rules for a religious community, hymns, calendars and books like 1 Enoch and Jubilees that are not in the Bible.
Psalms, Deuteronomy and Isaiah were the most copied books, which matches how often Jesus and the apostles quote them. The first seven scrolls are now displayed at the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, built in 1965.
What Is the Great Isaiah Scroll?
The Great Isaiah Scroll is the only nearly complete biblical book among the scrolls. It is about 24 feet long and contains all 66 chapters of Isaiah. It was copied around 125 BC, more than a century before Jesus was born.
When scholars compared it to the Masoretic Text, the standard Hebrew text copied about a thousand years later, they found it was remarkably close. Most differences are spelling or small word changes that do not change the meaning. A few readings help us. For example, in Isaiah 53:11 the scroll adds the word light, and many modern Bibles, including The Owner's Manual, follow it.
After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11
Think about it. Isaiah 53, with its picture of a Servant who suffers for others, sat in a jar in a desert cave for 2,000 years, written down long before the crucifixion.
But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Near the caves are ruins of a settlement called Khirbet Qumran. Most scholars think a Jewish group lived there, probably the Essenes, a strict Jewish movement described by Josephus and other ancient writers. They saw themselves as a faithful remnant waiting for the Messiah. The settlement was destroyed by the Romans around AD 68, during the Jewish revolt, and many think the scrolls were hidden in the caves before that.
Not every scholar agrees. Some think the scrolls came from Jerusalem libraries and were hidden in the caves for safety during the war. The debate continues, but nearly everyone agrees the scrolls date from before AD 70.
Why Do the Dead Sea Scrolls Matter for the Bible?
The scrolls matter in three big ways. First, they show that the Old Testament we read today is very close to the text Jews read in the time of Jesus. Second, they show variety among ancient copies, which helps translators make careful choices. The Revised Standard Version of 1952 was one of the first Bibles to use readings from the Isaiah scroll, and every major translation since has used the scrolls.
Third, they give a window into Jewish life just before and during Jesus' time. Their hope for a coming Messiah, their language of light and darkness and their focus on Scripture all help us read the New Testament better. You can read more in the Old Testament Introduction and on the Archaeology page on this site.
Why It Matters for You Today
The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of God's great gifts to Bible readers in the modern age. A shepherd's stone in a cave helped show the world that the Scriptures were not changed over the centuries.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:8
When you read Isaiah in your Bible, you are reading words that are almost exactly what a scribe copied by hand before Jesus was born.
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Questions People Ask
How were the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered?
In late 1946 or early 1947, a young Bedouin shepherd looking for a lost goat threw a stone into a cave near Qumran and heard pottery break. He and his companions found jars holding ancient scrolls. Ten more caves were found by 1956.
How old are the Dead Sea Scrolls?
They were copied between about the third century BC and the first century AD. The Great Isaiah Scroll dates to around 125 BC. That makes the biblical scrolls about a thousand years older than the oldest Hebrew Bibles known before.
Do the Dead Sea Scrolls match the Bible?
Yes, very closely. The Great Isaiah Scroll agrees with the later Masoretic Text in nearly every way, with most differences being spelling. A few readings help translators, such as the word light in Isaiah 53:11.
Which books of the Bible are in the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Pieces of every Old Testament book except Esther have been found. Psalms, Deuteronomy and Isaiah have the most copies. No New Testament books were found among them.
Where are the Dead Sea Scrolls kept today?
The first seven scrolls are displayed at the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Most other fragments are cared for by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Many can be viewed online through the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library.
Related
- About AD 600 to 1008The Masoretes Guard the Hebrew Bible
- 1945The Nag Hammadi Library Is Found
- 1844 and 1859Tischendorf Finds Codex Sinaiticus
- 1952The Revised Standard Version