The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament
What do the Dead Sea Scrolls say about Jesus?
What do the Dead Sea Scrolls say about Jesus? Nothing.
What do they say about the world in which Jesus lived? Lots.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are comprised primarily of two types of texts: parts of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and sectarian works written by the small group (or groups) of Jews who lived at Qumran. The scrolls date from the mid-third century B.C.E. until the mid-first century C.E.
While the Dead Sea Scrolls do not shed light on the person or ministry of Jesus, they do illuminate practices and beliefs of ancient Judaism. Since Christianity began as a sect of Judaism, the scrolls are very important for understanding the earliest Christians and their writings—the New Testament.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the caves by Qumran, a site in the Judean Wilderness on the west side of the Dead Sea. James C. VanderKam explores similarities between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament in the March/April 2015 issue of BAR. Photo: “Caves@Dead Sea Scrolls (8246948498)” by Lux Moundi is licensed under CC-BY-SA-2.0.
In the March/April 2015 issue of BAR, James C. VanderKam, the John A. O’Brien Professor of Hebrew Scriptures in the theology department at the University of Notre Dame, examines the overlap between these two bodies of texts in his article “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament.” Dr. VanderKam was a member of the committee that prepared the scrolls for publication.
FREE ebook: The Dead Sea Scrolls: Discovery and Meaning. What the Dead Sea Scrolls teach about Judaism and Christianity.
In his BAR article, James C. VanderKam explains, “The earliest followers of Jesus and the literature they produced were thoroughly Jewish in nature. As a result, the more one knows about Judaism during the time of Christian origins, the stronger basis we have for understanding the New Testament. And the scrolls are the most significant body of Hebrew/Aramaic literature related to a Jewish group or groups from roughly this time and thus are potentially invaluable for shedding light on the meaning of New Testament texts.”
What do the Dead Sea Scrolls say about Jesus? Nothing. However, they shed some light on the world in which Jesus lived. This scroll, the Messianic Apocalypse (4Q521), has a list of miracles very similar to Luke 7:21–22, even though it was written approximately 150 years before Luke’s Gospel.Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem.
There is no reason to suggest that the New Testament authors knew any of the sectarian works discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Further, it is quite possible that the two groups never interacted with each other. VanderKam points out that there is no overlap between the cast of characters in the scrolls and the New Testament (except for figures from the Hebrew Bible). He notes that “not even John the Baptist, who for a time lived in the wilderness and around the Jordan, not too far from the Dead Sea Scroll caves (see Luke 1:80; 3:3)” appears in the scrolls—let alone Jesus, much of whose ministry happened in Galilee.
The worldviews of early Christians and the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls were also starkly different. VanderKam explains, “A group that set a goal of spreading its religious message to all peoples to the ends of the earth had a very different understanding of God’s plan than ones who seem to have done no proselytizing and had no interest in bringing the nations into the fold.”
Nevertheless, there are some similarities between the two groups and their writings, which make for interesting comparisons. For example, a list of miracles appears in both Luke 7:21–22 of the New Testament and the Dead Sea Scroll known as the Messianic Apocalypse (4Q521). In Luke 7, Jesus gives these miracles to the disciples of John the Baptist as proof that he is the messiah. In the Messianic Apocalypse, which was written approximately 150 years before Luke’s Gospel, the Lord is the one who will perform these miracles. The source for both of these lists is Isaiah chapters 35 and 61. While not all of the same miracles appear in Luke 7 and the Messianic Apocalypse, the miracles that do appear in both are listed in the same order (see chart).
Parallels between Luke 7:21–22 and 4Q521 and the parts of Isaiah from which they come.
The curious thing is that not all of these miracles, such as “raising the dead,” appear in the passages from Isaiah, which were the source material for the lists—the prophecies being fulfilled. Yet the miracle of “raising the dead” appears in both Luke 7 and the Messianic Apocalypse right before bringing “good news to the poor.” Rather than suggesting that the writer of Luke 7 copied from—or was even aware of—the Messianic Apocalypse, this similarity suggests that both groups shared certain “interpretive and theological traditions on which writers in both communities drew.”
Visit the Dead Sea Scrolls study page in Bible History Daily for more on this priceless collection of ancient manuscripts.
For VanderKam’s full analysis of this text and to learn more about the similarities and differences between the scrolls uncovered at Qumran and the New Testament, read his full article “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament” in the March/April 2015 issue of BAR.
BAS Library Members: Read the full article “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament,” by James C. VanderKam in the March/April 2015 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
Not a BAS Library or All-Access Member yet? Join today.
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on February 16, 2015.
Read more articles by James C. VanderKam in the BAS Library
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A Harmonious Library
“Prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit.”—2 PETER 1:21.
HOW IS THE BIBLE DIFFERENT? Even contemporaneous records from ancient times often contradict one another. Books written by different men, in different places, at different times rarely harmonize completely. Yet, the Bible claims that all of its 66 books have but one Author—presenting a unified and harmonious message.—2 Timothy 3:16.
AN EXAMPLE: Moses, a shepherd of the 16th century B.C.E., wrote in the Bible’s first book that a “seed” would come to save mankind. This book later foretold that the seed would be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Genesis 3:15; 22:17, 18; 26:24; 28:14) About 500 years later, the prophet Nathan revealed that the seed would be in the royal line of David. (2 Samuel 7:12) One thousand years after that, the apostle Paul explained that the seed would be made up of Jesus and a group of his chosen followers. (Romans 1:1-4; Galatians 3:16, 29) Finally, by the end of the first century C.E., the last book of the Bible prophesied that members of the seed would bear witness to Jesus on earth, be raised to heaven, and rule with him for 1,000 years. This composite seed will destroy the Devil and save mankind.—Revelation 12:17; 20:6-10.
WHAT BIBLE COMMENTATORS SAY: After a thorough investigation of the Bible’s 66 books, Louis Gaussen wrote that he was astonished by “the imposing unity of this book, composed during fifteen hundred years by so many authors, . . . who yet pursued one and the same plan, and advanced constantly, as if they themselves understood it, towards that one great end, the history of the world’s redemption by the Son of God.”—Theopneusty—The Plenary Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/pc/r1/lp-e/1200270805/331/0
What about? In a series of publications in German beginning in 1984, Thiede has championed this theory of Mark among the Dead Sea Scrolls, but for nearly a decade his views attracted little interest. Recently, however, interest has been fueled by two publications, one by Thiede (The Earliest Gospel Manuscript? The Qumran Fragment 7Q5 and Its Significance for New Testament Studies [Exeter: Paternoster, 1992]) and the other a book of scholarly papers given by Thiede and several well-known New Testament scholars at a symposium on this alleged fragment of Mark held at Eichstätt, Germany.
Essenes the First Christians?
Many religious scholars claim that early Christianity sprang from the Jewish sect of the Essenes. Recently (before 1978) a major study and translation of a 27-foot-long (8.2-meter-long) Dead Sea Scroll was published in Hebrew by Yigael Yadin, the famed archaeologist. Does it support the claim that the Essenes were a link between Judaism and Christianity? According to Yadin, this scroll surprisingly showed that the Essenes were, “not only the most extreme in their legalistic approach to all temple laws of purity, but ardently believing that the sacrifices and all that go with them are essential, as prescribed in the Torah [law of Moses].” Yet, clearly, Christians were noted for their not observing such rituals.
Though Mr. Yadin believes that the Essenes influenced Christianity, he was obliged to ask: “How come that such an extreme sect influenced early Christianity, which broke away from this very law of Moses . . . ?” In answer, he could only offer a guess that the “early Christians came in touch with the Essenes in a late phase,” when the Essenes had changed some of their views.
However, the Bible makes irrelevant such unfounded speculations about how Christianity got its teachings. They came from God himself.
Commentator Kurt is correct in that Christianity was created by God, not unlike the evolutionary process described in Genesis chapter 1 where God does not say “it was good” in regard to the second day when the newly formed planet was bombarded with meteors and tradition has it that the rebellious angels were cast down to Hell on this day. From the books of Acts 1:3 and Luke 6:15 we have a reference to Simon the Zealot who is a likely candidate for a former member of the sect that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Through trial and error, though, the extremism of the zealots was rooted out of the early Christian movement(s), especially after the catastrophe at Masada (at which time the scrolls were stashed in the cave). In the blessing of Jacob (Genesis 49:5-7) we are reminded that the refined priestly tradition of the stateless tribe of Levi doesn’t mix well with the territorial instincts of the tribe of Simeon dwelling the Negeb desert and that religion should not be given sole custody to a click of sword-toting hicks.
It’s interesting that the festival of Shevuot or Pentecost coincided about same time as the Festival of Weeks which celebrated the period of the sojourn through the wilderness and during which the Israelites constructed booths made of fragrants trees, hence the name of this festival is “Succoth” which means “booths.” The Hebrew word “shekin,” meaning “to dwell,” was the root of the technical term used for the presence of God manifested in this world through the indwelling of the Spirit, known as the “Shekinah.”
The temple-centered cults at Jerusalem and Mount Gerizem had already become obsolete before Stephen emphasized the centrality of the revelation to the congregation in the wilderness where Moses and their ancestors received through a divine mediator “living sacred pronouncements” (Acts 7:38). This tradition endured within post-temple Judaism especially with the mystical writings composed during the golden age of medieval Spain where Jewish communities were wedged in between Christians and Muslims and in a book known as The Faithful Shepherd (Ra’aya Meheimna), the Christian teachings were referred to as “the wrathful waters of Edom” and the Islamic teachings as “the malicious waters of Ishmael.” Among the Jews who were expelled from Christian-dominated Spain was the kabbalist Joseph Karo, who was accredited with being a recipient of the “Shekinah” through the agency of a divine mediator known as the “magid” which is a word based on the root word “mag” which means “to divine.” One such episode was documented on the day of Shebuot after reading the required synagogue readings known as”haftorah.” Compare this account with the revelation on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 as the mystics of Safed near the Sea of Galilee in the 15th century hear an automated voice which is the voice I hear when reading the Dead Sea Scrolls, being androgynous, both male and female:
“All this (readings of the haftorah) we did in dread and awe, with quite unbelievable melody and tunefulness. We studied the whole of the order Zear’im (seads) in the Mishnah and then we studied in the way of truth [ – the Kabbalah]. No sooner had we studied two tractates of the Mishnah then our Creator smote us so that we heard a voice speaking out of the mouth of the saint, may his light shine. It was a loud voice with letters clearly enunciated. All the companions heard the voice but were unable to understand what was said. It was an exceedingly pleasant voice, becoming increasingly strong. We all fell upon our faces and none of us had any spirit left in him because of our great dread and awe” (“Jewish Mystical Testimonies ” by Louis Jacobs, p.124).
Correction: the mystics of Safed during the 16th century.
I got my festivals mixed up, whereas the Festival of Soccoth is distinct from the Festival of Weeks which celebrates the 50th day after the waving of the barley sheaf on the day of Shebuot. “The Festival of Harvest, or Pentecost, called for a more open and hospitable liberality, in this sense resembling the Festival of Booths” (“Insight on the Scriptures” by the Watch Tower Society, vol.2, p.598). There is an illustration from a 15th century Armenian manuscript on page 45 of the current issue of BAR that depicts the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem and three of the participants are dressed in foreign garb and one of them has what the author James VanderKam writes; “the head of a dog, a stylistic decision used by some Armenian artists to represent diversity.”
Interesting also is how the Scrolls reveal how music was incorporated into the liturgy recited on the Sabbath and that they had a designated song for every occasion and this was found in the Dead Sea caves 4 and 11 as well as the site of Masada.
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/scrolls_deadsea/uncovered/uncovered07.htm
Genesis 1:31
After that God saw everything he had made, and look! it was very good.And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
From day 1 to day 6, God say:It was very good.
The “seventh day” was different from any of the preceding six days in that it was a day that God blessed and made sacred, that is, a day set aside for, or dedicated to, a special purpose. What was that purpose?Find out http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200271454
Deuteronomy 32:4
The Rock, perfect is his activity,
For all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness who is never unjust;
Righteous and upright is he.
Psalm 104:24
How many your works are, O Jehovah!
You have made all of them in wisdom.
The earth is full of what you have made.
1 Timothy 4:4
For every creation of God is fine, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
The crucified Messiah scroll and the Son of God scroll of Qumran at least give evidence that there existed in second temple judaism interpretation and beleiving of 1 Suffering Messiah whose suffering possess atonement/redemptive significance, and 2 a human-divine messiah, along other mainline interpretations.
Not true about the Scrolls not mentioning Jesus. There is a great deal in there about his child hood and early years.