THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away.”

-Matthew 24:35

It has finally happened: the long-awaited Dead Sea scrolls are now available for scholarly translation. We will soon learn why Israeli officials have withheld releasing the translation of these very important documents.

The whole controversy centers around some 800 different fragments or scrolls which were written between the year 200 B.C. and A.D. 67. The scrolls which had been meticulously copied by members of the Qumran Community (an ascetic, monastic group) had been hidden in caves. In their wildest nightmare, monks never thought that for almost 2000 years the scrolls would remain hidden until they were discovered in the twentieth century. Dr.William F. Albright, an authority on biblical antiquities, called the Isaiah scroll, “The most important discovery ever made in Old Testament manuscripts.”

Of the 800 documents of the collection, about 127 are biblical texts including portions of every Old Testament writings, there have been no known New Testament fragments found on public record.

Why are the scrolls important? If the text of the Bible had been corrupted or altered, comparing these very old copies of scripture with modern ones would indicate that quickly. Are they different? The answer is no! Analyzing the most important one, the Isaiah scroll, scholars conclude there are no doctrinal differences at all, only minor differences in spelling and the syntax of sentences. That is extremely significant.