Menuby Rev. Jeff Nickel, Holy Cross Lutheran Church
My family and I returned from a visit to the Holy Land earlier this summer. A highlight for me was seeing the Great Isaiah Scroll in the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem. The Dead Sea Scrolls, some of the oldest Biblical manuscripts, were discovered in the Judean desert near the Dead Sea between 1947 and 1956, many in caves near the ancient settlement of Qumran. They are about 2000 years old, dating from ~250 B.C. to ~67 A.D. Most are written on parchment (animal skin), though some are on papyrus. Most are written in Hebrew, though some are in Aramaic or Greek.
Most of the Hebrew and Aramaic scrolls found at Qumran were handwritten in the “square” Hebrew script or font, which is similar to that which I studied in seminary, and which was common in Judea during the time Jesus spent on earth with His disciples. A few scrolls, however, were written in “paleo-Hebrew” script, a very ancient script which resembles Phoenician script, which goes back at least to the time of King David (who reigned ~1010-970 B.C.) and King Solomon (who reigned ~970-930 B.C.), and perhaps even to Moses (who wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy probably ~1446-1406 B.C.).
Although a few scrolls were found intact, most survived only as fragments. According to the Israel Museum, scholars have managed to reconstruct from these fragments approximately 950 different manuscripts of various lengths. About two hundred of these manuscripts are biblical texts. The rest include some apocryphal works and other non-biblical religious writings, such as materials for prayer, worship and devotions, commentaries, rules for the community, etc.
The biblical scrolls represent some of the earliest evidence for the biblical text in the world. Fragments of nearly all of the books of the Old Testament (also known as the Hebrew Bible) were found at Qumran, many with multiple copies, with the exception of the short book of Esther. (Arguably, the book of Nehemiah also was not found; the Hebrew Bible contains a book called Ezra-Nehemiah, and only one Ezra fragment survived.)
Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, the earliest full Hebrew text of the Hebrew Bible was the Leningrad Codex dating from 1008 A.D. That text was the result of the work of the Masoretes – faithful Jewish scribes in Jerusalem and Tiberias from the 6th – 10th century A.D. who preserved the tradition of God’s Word by scrupulously copying it by hand, and then counting and comparing the number of words and letters on each page to make sure of no error. Many of the Qumran texts are nearly identical to the Masoretic text, which is the basis for most modern translations.
Some of the Dead Sea scrolls resemble translations of the Hebrew Bible, such as the Greek translations known as the Septuagint (~250 B.C.), and the Samaritan versions of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
To me, the most interesting of the Dead Sea scrolls on display at the Israel Museum is the “Great Isaiah Scroll.” Remarkably, this scroll of the Book of Isaiah, among the oldest found, was preserved in a clay jar in a cave in its entirety (all 66 chapters!), and it about 24 feet long. Scholars estimate that it was written around 100 years before Jesus Christ. Isaiah wrote about the coming of the Christ when he lived in the Kingdom of Judea about 740-681 BC, so this handwritten manuscript of the Book of Isaiah is four times closer in time to Isaiah’s original than we are to it!
Writing in ~66 A.D., the Apostle Peter, a witness of Jesus’ resurrection, quoted from the Book of Isaiah: “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” (1 Peter 1:24-25 ESV) Peter quotes Isaiah to remind us that the prophets prophesied about the grace that was to be given to human beings through the coming Messiah (Jesus), as Jesus suffered, died and rose in accordance with those prophecies, all for the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of eternal life for all who repent and believe. Indeed, the Word of the Lord endures forever!
Rev. Jeff Nickel, Holy Cross Lutheran Church