Spencer Camp
June 10 2010
Behind the Papyrus: Examining the Dead Sea Scrolls
Biblical archeologist, and foremost authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls, W.F.
Albright, deemed the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls as “the greatest manuscript
discovery of modern times!”1 "No matter your religious affiliation, these scrolls have
universal interest,"2 says Ariel Orlov, senior coordinator for temporary exhibitions
museum of the Dead Sea Scrolls. But, what are the Dead Sea Scrolls, and why are they
important? The Dead Sea Scrolls are a library of well-preserved biblical and nonbiblical manuscripts, which were hidden in the arid Judean desert until their
unexpected discovery in 1947. A young Arab boy named Muhammad adh-Dhib one
day was searching for his lost goat, a mile west of the Dead Sea, in the district of
Qumran. There he came across a series of caves where a remarkable library of
frayed manuscripts were hidden, preserved from before the time of Christ (B.C.).
This discovery sparked a chain of similar, and often far more productive cave
discoveries in the same area (eleven caves in total), leading to the unveiling of
thousands of fragmented manuscripts, which are referred to today as, the Dead Sea
Scrolls. The majority of scholars believe that a small Jewish religious sect, called the
Essenes, performed the meticulous copying of several ancient religious texts,
namely, the Old Testament, between 250 B.C. and A.D. 135. The Jews hid these texts
in A.D. seventy, due to their fear of the Romans during the Invasion of Jerusalem.
These manuscripts are a key component to the discussion of the reliability of the
Bible’s transmission. The question of whether the Bible has maintained its ‘textual
integrity’ throughout the thousands of years it has been passed-down, clings on to
this discovery. Initially though, the ‘big question’ was asked first by Sir Frederic
Kenyon in 1939: “Does this Hebrew text, which we call Masoretic, and which we
Geisler, Norman L. & Nix, William E. A General Introduction to the Bible (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1986), 361.
2 “Weighty Words,” Chicago Tribune, (March 10, 2000)
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2000-0310/entertainment/0003100271_1_dead-sea-scrolls-field-museum-testament
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have shown to descend from a text drawn up about A.D. 100, faithfully represent the
Hebrew text as originally written by the authors of the Old Testament books?”3 The
Dead Sea Scrolls undeniably answer this question, pushing aside almost all affronts
to the veracity of the Bible.
In 1947, an ominous grey cloud of anxiety accompanied the initial discovery
of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Those skeptical of the Bible, anticipated a ‘rude awakening’
for those who adhered to belief in the Old Testament’s reliability, with the discovery
of a more ancient and reliable manuscript source. John D. Price, a Ph.D expert in the
field of Middle Eastern Studies clearly describes this view. He writes of their
assumption to expect several direct and blatant contradictions between the
antiquated texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the oldest texts we had at that time (i.e.
the Masoretic texts), because of a faulty copying process. They were wrong. He
writes in reply to such a view, “Those who expected the [Dead Sea] Scrolls to
produce a radical revision of the Bible have been disappointed, for these texts have
only verified the reliability and stability of the Old Testament as it appears in our
modern translations.”4 Furthermore, instead of the Dead Sea Scrolls creating doubt
in the Old Testament, the text has lined up almost word-for-word with the Old
Testament text we have today, confirming it’s accuracy. Dr. Mike Fabarez, pastor
and theologian articulates, “If all the copies and fragments of all of the biblical books
found in the Dead Sea Scroll discovery were laid side-by-side, nearly every sentence
of the Old Testament could be accounted for. And these Hebrew scrolls irrefutably
penned before the time of Christ, read just as our English Bibles do today with only a
slight variance here and there.”5 He even encourages the reading of the Dead Sea
Scrolls by anyone with even the slightest misgivings (see for instance, The Dead Sea
Scrolls & Modern Translations, Tyndale 1993). This version footnotes every time an
inconsequential difference occurs between the Dead Sea Scrolls and our oldest
Hebrew texts. It is clearly evident in the translation, and all are able to see, how
Frederic Kenyon, Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts. London: Eyre and
Spottiswoode, 1939.
4 John Ankerberg & John Weldon. Hand Book of Biblical Evidences: The Facts on Jesus,
Creation, and the Bible (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House, 1997), 276.
5 Dr. Micheal, Fabarez, Why The Bible? (Laguna Hills, Focal Point, 2010), 17.
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piddling small the difference is between our modern English translations and the
Dead Sea Scrolls Bible. No revisions to the Bible are necessary; rather the find has
reaffirmed our confidence in the Bible’s trustworthiness.
Another popularly held view, is that the Old Testament prophesies, namely
the book of Isaiah, had been written after the time of Jesus’ life, in order for his life
to fit the Messianic ‘image’ that was put forth in the Old Testament, as some sort of
religious conspiracy. The skeptical rationale for such a view is that since the
exacting prophecies of the Messiah fit so perfectly the historical Jesus’ identity, the
Old Testament had to have been written after Jesus’ life. How could anyone fulfill so
many prophecies (more than 40), without ever altering the Bible to fit his life? In
this view, clear evidence is pushed aside. Gleason L. Archer, a Ph.D graduate of
Harvard University, and a highly qualified archeologist, states that the Isaiah scrolls
found at Qumran “proved to be word-for-word identical with our standard Hebrew
Bible in more than 95 percent of the text. The 5 percent of variation consisted
chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling.”6 To illustrate the
insignificance of these minor blunders, Millar Burrows, an authority and first-hand
expert in the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery writes, “Of the 166 words in Isaiah 53, there
are only seventeen letters in question. Ten of these letters are simply a matter of
spelling, which does not affect the sense. Four more letters are minor stylistic
changes, such as conjunctions. The remaining three letters comprise the word
“light,” which is added in verse 11, and does not affect the meaning greatly.
Furthermore, this word is supported by the [Septuagint], and IQ (one of the Isaiah
scrolls found in the Dead Sea caves). Thus in one chapter of 166 words, there is only
one word (three letters) in question after a thousand years of transmission—and this
word does not significantly change the meaning of the passage.” (Emphasis added)7 In
essence, not a single “iota, not a dot, [has or] will pass from [the Old Testament]
until all [of it] is accomplished,” Jesus of Nazareth prophetically declares, in the
Gleason L. Archer, Jr. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction. Chicago: Moody Press,
1974.
7 Miller Burrows, The Dead Sea Scrolls. London: 1st. English Ed., 1956.
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Gospel of Matthew.8 The Scrolls resemble a near mirror-copy of our current texts.
And the manuscripts of Isaiah were dated to 100 B.C., more than a century before
the birth of Christ, thus quashing the skeptics’ post-written Old Testament
conspiracy theory of an Old Testament written after Christ.
If you had asked any biblical scholar, before the discovery of the Dead Sea
Scrolls, what would constitute his dream for a discovery to validate and buttress the
reliability of the Old Testament, he or she would have said “Older witnesses to the
original Old Testament manuscripts.”9 Essentially, this is what the Dead Sea Scrolls
did with their discovery. They have provided the world with another source of
archeological antiquity, dating a bit closer to the actual date of the original copy, (an
understatement) one thousand years, to reinforce and solidify our confidence in the
Old Testament’s fidelity.10 Skeptics rage against the Bible, possibly because of it’s
unsettling and controversial message, but they do it of no accord. The evidence, if
examined, analyzed, reexamined, and then analyzed once more, and if placed in any
rational human being’s hands will point instinctively toward an unmatched accurate
transmission of the Bible. The Masoretic text has been verified by and confirmed for
accuracy, holding as little as 233 possible discrepancies, no more than forty per
book, most of which are spelling errors and stylistic changes, summing up to
significantly no differences between the two Hebrew texts, the Dead Sea Scrolls and
the Masoretic texts.11 W. F. Albright expressed his excitement at the discovery of the
Dead Sea Scrolls by saying “What an absolutely incredible find! And there can
happily not be the slightest doubt in the world about the genuineness of the
manuscript.” Gleason Archer states further confidence, “In conclusion, we should
accord to the Massoretes the highest praise for their meticulous care in preserving
so sedulously the consonantal text of the Sopherim which had been entrusted to
them. They, together with the Sopherim themselves, gave the most diligent attention
Lane Dennis, The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV). Wheaton: Crossway,
2007.
9 Josh D. McDowell, The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict. Nashville: Thomas
Nelson, 1999, 77.
10 Ibid. 80.
11 Ibid. 80.
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to accurate preservation of the Hebrew Scriptures that has ever been devoted to any
ancient literature, secular or religious, in the history of human civilization. So
conscientious were they in their stewardship of the holy text that they did not even
venture to make the most obvious corrections, so far as the consonants were
concerned, but left their Vorlage exactly as it had been handed down to them…
These bring us very close in all essentials to the original autographs themselves, and
furnish us with an authentic record of God’s revelation. As W.F. Albright has said,
“We may rest assured that the consonantal text of the Hebrew Bible, though not
infallible, has been preserved with an accuracy perhaps unparalleled in any other
Near Eastern literature.’”12
In a league of its own, no ancient literature even ‘hangs on the coattails’ of the
Old Testament’s perfect track record. With impeccable timing, the Dead Sea Scrolls
were unveiled at perhaps the perfect time, just when skeptics’ began to surface
questions doubting the Bible. Perhaps by the providence of God, the increasingly
prevalent questions of the mid-20th century were answered in full by one
extraordinary discovery, a treasure of timeless value, confirming and vindicating the
faithfulness by which the Bible has been passed down for millenniums, from it’s
origin to the bookshelves and laptops of every one who desires it, the Dead Sea
Scrolls. As William Green so lucidly articulates, “It may safely be said that no other
work of antiquity has been so accurately transmitted.”13 Jesus was prophetically
truthful when he spoke of the Bible, declaring that “Heaven and Earth would pass,
away but [God’s] words [would never] pass away.”14 The Dead Sea Scrolls have not
only confirmed, but have silenced every hint of intellectual doubt raised against the
reliability of the Old Testament. The evidence is out, what is your verdict?
12Gleason
L. Archer, Jr. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction. Chicago: Moody
Press, 1974, 65.
13 William Henry, Green, General Introduction to the Old Testament—The Text. New
York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1899, 81.
14 Ibid. Holy Bible, ESV.
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