The Dead Sea Scrolls Community The Essenes

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The Dead Sea Scrolls CommunityThe Essenes
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The Essenes

• WHO
• Strict Jewish sect
• 1st century BCE 68 CE
• messianic
• WHERE
• Qumran, Jerusalem, throughout Israel

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The Essenes the Dead Sea Scrolls

• WHY IMPORTANT
• Oldest known biblical manuscripts
• Significant firsthand glimpse into a 1st century
  BCE 1st century CE Jewish community
• OTHER JEWISH GROUPS besides the Essenes
• Sadducees
• Pharisees forerunners of the rabbis
• Zealots
• (1st century CE) Jesus and his first followers

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• 1. WHERE

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Qumran
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Qumran - THEN
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Qumran - NOW
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Qumran - Views
The watchtower
Looking south, along the shores of the Dead Sea,
towards Masada
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Qumran Views Writing room
inkwells
the Scriptorium or Writing Room
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• 2. WHEN

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BCE
CE
150 60
1 68
70
1. Originated here? After Antiochus Epiphanes
persecution
68 Qumran destroyed 70 Jerusalem destroyed
3. Originated here? Reign of Queen Salome
2. Originated earlier?
5 BCE 30 CE Jesus 30 62 CE James Mid 30s
mid 60s Paul 70 Destruction of
Jerusalem After 70 rabbinic Judaism After 70
first gospels
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The Teacher of Righteousness

• Led by the Teacher of Righteousness
• A community of priests, laypeople
• Went into the wilderness

• Violent men have sought my life
• Because I have clung to Thy Covenant.
• I thank Thee, O Lord,
• For Thou hast fastened Thine eye upon me.
• Thou has saved me from the zeal
• Of lying interpreters,
• And from the congregation of those
• Who seek smooth things.

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A few facts

• The community existed for almost 200 years
• In 68 CE, Qumran destroyed, along with all its
  inhabitants.
• Prior to the Roman conquest, they deposited their
  scrolls in jars and hid them in caves.
• These were discovered in 1947, 1948.
• Over 800 scrolls have been found.
• First scholars to work on the scrolls were
  Christian, largely Roman Catholic

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A Sensational Find

• The Dead Sea Scrolls
• The most important
• biblical archeological find
• of the 20th century

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Why all the excitement ??

• Jewish

• Christian

• Earliest biblical manuscripts
• New Jewish writings
• No writings from other groups -- except
• Philo 1st century CE
• Josephus 70/80 CE
• Talmud 2nd century reflecting earlier traditions

• Messianic Jewish community
• Led by an inspired teacher
• Strict Torah-observance
• Purification ritual
• Meal of bread and wine
• Terminology Community of the Way New Covenant

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• 3. WHY
• DID THEY FORM
• THIS COMMUNITY?

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Why? ?

• To create a congregation of the righteous
• To be ready for Gods messianic kingdom
• World is evil worst time in human history
• God has to intervene soon to create a better
  world

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What did they Expect Would Happen?

• Restoration of the Davidic monarchy
• Jerusalem will be the pre-eminent city
• Israel the pre-eminent state
• Rule of the righteous
• Righteous will triumph eternal life
• Righteous dead will be resurrected
• The unrighteous will be killed eternal death

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What did they Expect Would Happen?

• Universal implications
• God will be worshipped by
• all humanity
• Universal peace
• .and best of all
• Eternal life for the righteous

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How would this come about?

• They were actively preparing for such a world
• In the wilderness,
• prepare the way of the Lord,
• make straight in the desert
• a highway for our God
• (Isaiah 403)

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How would this come about ?

• Some thought God would do it directly.
• ZAP!
• Others thought that a messiah would help God
  achieve this new state of affairs
• So Whats a messiah?

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Whats a Messiah?

• A Messiah is a human being who
• appears at the end time, when God recreates the
  world.
• becomes the Davidic king over a restored Israel
• assists God in eliminating all the unrighteous
  people and rulers, rewarding the righteous with
  eternal life.

In sum, a messiah is a world-transformer It will
be a time of unparalleled peace.
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• 4. HOW
• WERE THE SCROLLS
• DISCOVERED?

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Scrolls found in Large Jars
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Some Key Players
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The Scrolls Some in Fragments Some Whole
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The Scroll Team
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The Scrollery
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• 5. WHAT
• DO THE SCROLLS
• SAY?

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The Scrolls

• Books of the Hebrew Bible except Esther
  OLDEST BIBLICAL MANUSCRIPTS
• Own writings
• Community Rule
• Copper Scroll
• Temple Scroll
• War Scroll
• Hymns
• Messianic texts
• Damascus Scroll

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Year I Vow to uphold Torah as interpreted by the community Vow to separate Studies Torah
Year II Examined admitted conditionally into the community, the new covenant Property held in escrow
Year III Full acceptance into the Community Property reverts to the community Admitted to the pure meal Allowed to participate in discussions
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From the Community Rule

• What awaits the righteous
• It shall be healing, great peace in a long life,
  and fruitfulness, together with every everlasting
  blessing and eternal joy in life without end, a
  crown of glory and a garment of majesty
• in unending light.

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From the War Scroll

• This shall be a time of salvation for the
• people of God, an age of dominion for all the
  members of His company and everlasting
  destruction for all the company of Belial
  SatanThe dominion of the Kittim Romans
  shall come to an end and iniquity shall be
  vanished, leaving no remnant for the sons of
  darkness there shall be no escape.
• The sons of righteousness shall shine over all
  the ends of the earth they shall go on shining
  until all the seasons of darkness are consumed
  and, at the season appointed by God, His exalted
  greatness shall shine eternally to the peace,
  blessing, glory, joy, and long life of all the
  sons of light.

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From the Copper Scroll

• In the vale of Achor under the stairs
• which go eastwards 40 cubits, a box
• filled with silver weighing in all 17
  talents
• In the tomb of the third, 100 gold bars.
• In the great cistern which is in the courtyard of
  the little colonnade, at its very bottom, closed
  with sediment, 900 talents.
• In the cistern of the esplanade which is under
  the stairs, 42 talents
• In the cave of the old Washers House, on the
  third platform, 65 gold bars.

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From the Thanksgiving Psalms

• Violent men have sought my life
• Because I have clung to Thy Covenant.
• I thank Thee, O Lord,
• For Thou hast fastened Thine eye upon me.
• Thou has saved me from the zeal
• Of lying interpreters,
• And from the congregation of those
• Who seek smooth things.

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From Psalms attached to the Community Rule

• My eyes have gazed
• On that which is eternal,
• On wisdom concealed from men
• On knowledge and wise design
• Hidden from the sons of men

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Significant Similarities

• Jesus First Followers

• DSS Community

• Messianic
• Torah-observant
• Inspired teacher Jesus
• Baptism
• Communal meal
• Opponents
• Paul
• Sadducees/Temple priests

• Messianic
• Torah-observant
• Inspired teacher the Teacher of Righteousness
• Water ritual purification
• Communal meal
• Opponents
• The Liar
• Sadducees/Temple priests

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Why Important?

• Oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible

• First-hand Glimpse into 1st century Judaism
• 1st Century BCE 1st century CE

• Helps us understand Jesus First Followers in
  Jerusalem
• who shared many of their beliefs and practices

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York at Qumran
Barrie lecturing at Qumran to 29
York/Atkinson Students - 2001