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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No a single Scroll about the Man Yuska was ever discover at Qumran, good things is I live not far from Judea desert, this is another Xanian poor propaganda. No Xatian scrolls ever exist here in Israel may be in Turkey where Paul founded the sect or Rome and it must be in Latino language
“and sectarian works written by the small group (or groups) of Jews who lived at Qumran.” One must know that there were three main tribes living in Judea; Jews, Levites and Benjaminites. The sectarian group you mentioned was not Jewish, but rather Levites, whom had separated themselves from the corruption of the Temple and the Sanhedrin. Nothing was legit anymore at that time, including Herod, who was a gentile and not of the house of David.
The scepter shall not depart from Judah . . . except that it DID. The prophet Samuel anointed a Benjaminite named Saul as the first king of the Israelites. That shouldn’t have been even a possibility if that ‘prophecy’ was, indeed, made prior to that time. If anything, it proves that the ‘Scepter promise’ passage was written AFTER the time of the Davidic Monarchy being established, and (perhaps) before that line came to an end with the deposing of Zedekiah and the slaughter of all his sons.
This of course assumes that all the sons of Zedekiah were actually killed. There are accounts that one son survived…
“…behold, also Zenock, and also Ezias, and also Isaiah, and Jeremiah, (Jeremiah being that same prophet who testified of the destruction of Jerusalem) and now we know that Jerusalem was destroyed according to the words of Jeremiah. O then why not the Son of God come, according to his prophecy?
And now will you dispute that Jerusalem was destroyed? Will ye say that the sons of Zedekiah were not slain, all except it were Mulek? Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us, and they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem” Helaman 8:21
If this account proves true, the bloodline of Judah has not been broken, and a true king could still exist.
Excellent comment! We’ll written and researched.
Slight adjustment, “Since the tragic destruction of the Temple and its records in A.D. 70 it would be impossible for anyone else to ever prove their claim to be the Messiah based on their genealogical descent from King David.”
Unless of course one of the sons of Zedikiah survived. IF one of his descendants were to return to Jerusalem, with the ark, he could prove his lineage.
Our God’s hourglass was turned over in 1947-1948, within a period of a year, the Most Holy of Israel revealed His works to open the eyes of the blind by bringing two separate events together, which revealed His Word lives.
A little over 75 years ago, or one generation, the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, and among the first findings was the Great Isaiah Scroll, in which is found ISA 66:8: “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children.” Also, within a time period of about a year, after the horrors of evil during WWII, the United Nations granted the rebirth and sovereign state of Israel, (surely seems to be fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy).
Amos tells us in 3:7 the Lords tells His people before He moves, and as a second voice we hear Isaiah further declare in 42:9 “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; Before they spring forth, I tell you of them.”
These messages are for those with ears that hear (tuned to His frequency, His Living Word). He wants us to know He is still on the throne and in charge, and not to fear, He is always with us, stay strong in His Living Word, and celebrate!