In 1947, a discovery was made in Qumran that shook the religious world to its foundations. Scroll jars were discovered in eleven different caves and were hidden there approximately around 68 AD. The writings were not only handwritten on papyri or leather, but even on copper plates.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, apocryphal writings from the distant past.
The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of more than 800 handwritten texts. They were given the name Dead Sea Scrolls because they were all found in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. The most famous papyrus scrolls were found in the caves of Qumran. They contain Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek manuscripts found in a total of eleven different caves. They were probably hastily hidden in the caves around 68 AD to keep them out of the hands of the Roman legion who would otherwise have destroyed them. The Dead Sea Scrolls appeal to a very large audience mainly because they contain the very oldest Bible manuscripts.
The papyri of Samaria.
The name Samaria is used for the area between Judea and Galilee. In the time of Jesus Christ, this was the area where the Samaritans lived.
Remains of papyrus scrolls from the fourth century BC have been found in this area. They were discovered in caves about 15 km north of Jericho. They contained a large amount of papyrus manuscripts that appeared to be written in Aramaic. Writings have also been found in other places near the Dead Sea. But the most extensive and most important Bible-related finds are those from Qumran.
The finds of Qumran.
It is early 1947. A young man from a group of Bedouin from the Taamireh tribe is looking for a lost sheep from his flock. He also searches a number of caves in the hills. Thinking that his sheep has crawled into a higher cave, he throws a stone into it to scare the animal out. But to his great surprise he hears pottery breaking. Once he climbed into the caves, he saw old jars (so-called scroll jars) containing handwritten scrolls wrapped in linen. He then took the find to an antique dealer in Bethlehem.
Later, a major investigation was initiated through the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. At that time, discoveries of very old handwritten writings were made in a total of eleven caves . Unfortunately, only scraps or fragments of the scrolls were found in cave four.
In the Christian world, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been welcomed with open arms because it provides direct insight into the time during the life of Jesus and also provides more information about the origins of earliest Christianity.
The special thing about cave eleven.
In February 1956, this cave was also discovered by Bedouin. The remarkable thing about this cave was the discovery of a Temple Scroll. This scroll remained in the possession of an antique dealer in Bethlehem until it was roughly confiscated by the Israeli army in 1967.
The Temple Scroll is the largest scroll found, measuring a whopping 8 meters in length. The Temple Scroll describes a direct revelation from God to Moses. It is a kind of Divine speech that we can find in Deuteronomy as a communication from Moses to the people. It also includes the construction of the Temple sanctuary and the altar, the Temple squares and the outbuildings located there.
A cycle of annual festivals and associated sacrifices is discussed. And then there is a theme that relates to certain purity laws. The ritual surrounding the cleanliness of the Temple and the holy city are also described.
The contents of this Temple Scroll are also seen as the sixth book of the Torah, while others believe that it is a supplement to the Biblical Deuteronomy.
Texts relating to the End Times.
Manuscripts from caves one and four tell the story of the End Times . The text from cave one tells a predictive story about The Role of War . It tells about the final battle between the angelic hosts of children of light and the children of darkness led by Belial (the devil).
A piece of text regarding the End Times:
Blessed be thy name, O God of favors, who keepest the covenant with our fathers, and hast wonderfully shewed thy favors to the remnant of thy inheritance in all our generations, during the reign of Belial.
Despite all the secrets of his hostility, they have not turned us away from your covenant. You have driven out from us the spirits of his destruction, and you have driven out the wicked man and his dominion.
Beatitudes in the Scrolls of the Dead Sea.
Scientists think most scrolls date from about 165 BC to the first century. These mostly concern Biblical manuscripts. But very striking is this literary Jewish text found in cave four and which shows parallels with the series of beatitudes in Matthew:
Blessed are those who speak the truth with a pure heart, and on whose tongue there is no slander.
Blessed are they who hold fast their statutes, and do not hold fast to evil ways.
Blessed are those who rejoice in her, and do not turn to foolish ways. Blessed are those who seek her with clean hands, and do not seek her with a deceitful heart. Blessed is the man who attains to Wisdom, who walks in the law of the Most High Stone, his heart is set on her ways, Who is devoted to her discipline, and always accepts her correction, who does not cast her off in the time of oppression, nor forsakes her in the time of trouble
, nor forgets her in the days of distress, nor despises her in the time of his affliction, soul.
The Copper Scroll.
The most remarkable thing about the discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls is the discovery of some writings that were not written on papyri or leather, but on three plates of pure copper.
One was found separated on a plate and the other two were found rolled up and completely oxidized. It contains texts that most closely resemble a collection of treasure finds. The content of these texts therefore differs completely from all writings of all other Dead Sea Scrolls.
The provenance of these documents and their dating are still a point of contention for scholars.
Even today we can still conclude that not all texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been translated. It is particularly striking that little or no information has been released about the person of Jesus in the ancient writings. As a result, stories are circulating that the Vatican is hiding a found scroll from the first cave.
Where?…nobody knows that, and whether that is true?…not even.