The Dead Sea Scrolls

By R.W. Fra. Harold W. Hampton 8°

Delivered to Charles Darwin College No. 73 28th June 2014

(Originally delivered to Pythagoras College July 1997)

I am sure Fratres that most people have heard mention of the Dead Sea Scrolls
but I wonder how many have more than a passing knowledge of what they consist.
Speaking for myself I had no detailed knowledge of what they were before visiting the
Holy Land and seeing part of them displayed in the museum known as The Shrine of
the Book. This museum is in Jerusalem and was built specifically to house the Dead
Sea Scrolls. It was opened in 1965 and is of striking appearance. The roof has every
appearance of the science fiction version of a flying saucer, but was, in fact, designed
after the shape of the lids on the vessels in which certain of the scrolls were deposited.

The first of the scrolls were discovered in 1947 in a cave towards the north
western end of the Dead Sea at a place called Qmran. This ancient and ruined
settlement lies in a desolate and deserted area, and at 1300 feet below sea level is the
lowest point on earth. Although a well surfaced road now runs the length of the
Western shore of the Dead Sea, in 1947 when the scrolls were discovered no such road
existed. It was in this setting, therefore, that a young Bedouin shepherd was reportedly
looking for a lost sheep or goat and threw a stone into a nearby cave. Hearing a sound
of breaking crockery, he climbed into the cave and discovered numerous earthenware
pots; some broken, but some still intact and with their lids in place. Inside one of these
he discovered three leather rolls. Having made a discovery which he deemed of
importance he returned later with friends when further rolls were found. Needless to
say they had no idea what they had found, but supposing that the rolls may be of value,
they took them to a dealer in antiquities, who purchased them and, in turn, passed them
on to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. It seems astonishing to me, fratres, that such
precious documents should have remained undiscovered for nineteen centuries.
However as I mentioned earlier the area is particularly desolate and was somewhat
inaccessible. One must also bear in mind that much of Jerusalem itself was not
excavated archaeologically until the Palestine Exploration Society .was set up by
General Gordon in the late nineteenth century. It was only then that the caverns
beneath the ancient city of Jerusalem were explored, and which are now believed to be
the quarries from which the stone for Solomon's Temple was excavated. It then
becomes clear that the indigenous population have far less natural curiosity than their
western counterparts.

Although the discovery of the scrolls had taken place in 1947 this momentous
event was not made known until 1948. Following this, further searches took place and
discoveries were made in adjoining caves. Later exploration took place at Masada, a
hilltop fortress to the south of Qmran where many more scrolls were discovered. Both
Qmran and Masada were believed to have been settled by the Essenes who were a strict
Jewish sect existing in Palestine and Syria from the 2nd century BC. From
archaeological excavations made at Qmran and Masada in the early 1950's many coins
have been found together with other artefacts at the settlements. None of these coins
has been found to date from a period earlier than the reign of Alexander Janneus - 103
to 76 B. C. It is also known that the settlements were destroyed by earthquakes in
31 B.C. The dating of the Dead Sea scrolls can therefore be established within this
relatively short period of history.
The fortress of Masada was later occupied by the Jewish Zealots and was their last stronghold to fall
to the Roman conquest of Palestine in 73 AD. The fortress was besieged by the Romans for three
years and on its fall the entire community of Masada committed suicide. Before their defeat the
scrolls of religious and other important writings were carefully concealed. It was these scrolls
that were discovered in the later excavations made in 1963 and 1964.

I suspect that many would imagine that the Dead Sea Scrolls are in their
entirety Biblical texts. It is true to say that a majority of them are Biblical. Indeed the
scrolls and fragments cover every book of the Old Testament with the exception of the
Book of Esther. The most spectacular of the rolls is probably the Isaiah manuscript. This
is about twenty four feet in length and written on strips of leather. It is on permanent
display in the museum of the Shrine of the Book and is remarkably well preserved. The
Scroll is virtually complete and on it is transcribed practically the whole of the Old
Testament Book of Isaiah. It was a great excitement to Jewish scholars to discover that,
but for very minor variations, the text of the scroll was the same as that of the
Masoretic text then in use. The earliest extant manuscripts of the Masoretic text date
from 916 to 1000 AD and the origins of these texts are said to have been laid down in
the first or second centuries AD. To find documents which predated the earliest origins
of the Masora was of considerable importance to Biblical scholars.

The scrolls are by no means all of a biblical character however. Included

amongst the scrolls are certain books of the Apocrypha - notably Tobit and
Ecclesiasticus. Other non-canonical books included amongst the scrolls are the books
of Jubilees and Enoch. One of the most interesting of the non-biblical scrolls is known
as the Genesis Apocryphon. Unlike the other scrolls it is written, not in Hebrew, but in
Aramaic, the vernacular language of the time. It is a paraphrase of certain of the
chapters of the Book of Genesis but expands the details of certain of the stories and
even introduces certain new characters. Perhaps the most interesting variations from
the Genesis narratives concern the birth of Noah and Abraham's journey to Egypt with
his wife Sarah. In the Genesis Apocryphon there is a suggestion that Lamech, Noha's
father, suspected that it was not he who had sired his son but an Angel. A similar
narrative is to be found in the apocryphal book of Enoch. Regarding Abraham's journey
to Egypt, the Genesis version implies that his passing off of his wife, Sarah, to Pharaoh
as his sister was a deception by Abraham. In the Apocryphon, however, this is said to
have been an injunction from God given to him in a dream in order to prevent Abraham
from being murdered.

Entirely different in its content is the scroll known as the Manual of Discipline.
It is written on five sheets of parchment giving it a length of approximately six feet. To
the original text are appended marginal notes and there are editorial alterations which
appear to have been added at a later date. This seems to suggest that the scroll was in
use for a long period. It is thought to have been written towards the commencement of
the first century B. C., although it is likely that it was simply a copy of an earlier
document. In his English translation of the scrolls published in 1957, Theodor Gaster
provides headings for the various sections of the text.
 These headings give an insight into the nature of the Manual of Discipline, and I will
read them to you, fratres :-

Of the Commitment Of initiation Of those who are to be

Of the two spirits of man Of social relations excluded
Of the obligations of holiness Of the examination of Of accusations and
Of communal duties initiants grudges
Of the General Council Of postulants and Of false, impudent and
Of fraud novices blasphemous speech
Of vindictiveness Of improper speech Of misconduct at public
Of indecorous acts Of slander and sessions
Of defection incrimination Of the appointment of
Of the conduct of presbyters Of the authority of presbyters
Of the property of presbyters priests Of the daily conduct of
Of religious discussion the faithful
Of loving and hating fellow men; and of duty to God.

Reciting these headings does, I hope, give an overall picture of the form and content of
this fascinating document.

I now come to the conclusion of my paper, fratres, and to an hypothesis which I

put forward as my own; not having seen it postulated elsewhere. I mentioned earlier in
the paper that the only book of the Old Testament not to be found among the Dead Sea
Scrolls is the Book of Esther. This omission is not the subject of comment in the
various books which I have read and is simply dismissed, I suspect, as pure chance. This
may be so but it is a fact that all other Old Testament books are represented to a greater or
lesser extent. Whilst Esther is less than the average length of the Old Testament Books it
does, nevertheless, run to ten chapters with a total of one hundred and sixty seven
verses. The book of Obadiah has but one chapter with twenty one verses and the book
of Haggai two chapters and thirty eight verses. One cannot therefore ascribe the
absence of Esther, from amongst the many documents discovered, merely by the length
of its text. Is it not therefore strange that amongst the manuscripts discovered at many
different caves near Qmran and overlooking the Dead Sea and also at Masada no part
of the Book of Esther should have been discovered, and I wonder whether some other
explanation than pure chance can be put forward.

There seems little doubt that the Dead Sea Scrolls belonged to, and probably
were transcribed by, the Sect known as the Essenes. They were a Jewish religious
brotherhood which existed between the second Century B.C. and the second Century
AD. Their principal settlements were on the shores of the Dead Sea precisely where
the Dead Sea Scrolls were deposited and later discovered. The Essenes were known to
be a devout and puritanical sect, imposing strict rules of conduct on their adherents.
They rigidly observed the Sabbath, had high moral standards and were scrupulous in
their cleanliness, which involved washing in cold water and wearing white garments.
 This strict form of conduct and teaching conforms closely to the precepts
contained in that part of the Scrolls known as the Manual of Discipline and to which I
have made mention previously. This scroll opens with the Initiation rite for new
members of the sect and requires these new entrants to take an oath to uphold the principals
of the Qmran faith, and not to be motivated by any action that may be taken
as the "dominion of Belial". After initiation the candidates became "Sons of Light" and
were pledged to hate all "Sons of Darkness". The Manual explains that the Lord in His
wisdom made for man "two spirits by which to walk" - the spirit of Truth and the spirit
of Perversion. Truth dwells in the "abode of light", and Perversion in the "abode of
darkness". Those deemed to be unfit for initiation were said to "plough in the slime of
wickedness".

Clearly the Essenes and the "Sons of Light" referred to in the Manual of
Discipline were an ascetic and puritanical people.

Now let us consider in more detail the Book of Esther and its place in the canon
of the Old Testament. Although the early Christian Church accepted the Old Testament
canon from the Jews almost without critical discussion, the fixing of the canon of the
Old Testament was not completed until the end of the first century A.D. Without doubt the
Book which presented the most difficulty in acceptance was the Book of Esther.
Indeed in certain of the earlier lists of the Biblical Books in the Christian Church, that of
Esther is omitted. As late as the fourth century Athanasius regarded it as non-canonical.
Even within the Jewish Church the greatest teacher of his day, at the end of the second
century A.D., Rabbi Jehuda also declared it to be no part of Jewish canon. Nowhere in
this Book is the name of God mentioned nor is there to be found any reference to
prayer or worship. The Book sets out the events which led to the institution of the
Feast of Purin. This feast was an entirely secular one and consisted of much
merrymaking, excesses, and was little short of an orgy. It is suggested by some scholars
that it derived from a Persian or Babylonian pagan festival. Writing in a commentary on
the Bible the Rev. Oesterley ( who incidentally was lecturer to the Palestine
Exploration Society which I mentioned earlier) states that few scholars would regard
Esther as an historical record, but rather more in the nature of an historical romance.
He states that its purpose seems to be the glorification of the Jewish nation and to
express their hatred and contempt for the Gentiles.

I would suggest, fratres, that the whole ethos of the Book of Esther would be
anathema to the Essenes. This rather dubious history was no more than a justification
of a Jewish feast which no doubt, due to its excesses, formed no part of the Essenes
form of worship. I put forward therefore that the absence of these writings from the
version of the Old Testament found in the Dead Sea Scrolls is not simply an accident of
history but that this Book was deliberately excluded by the sect as not worthy of
inclusion within their scriptures.

Fratres, whether or not you may agree with my proposition, or indeed consider
the argument to be inconsequential, I hope at least that this paper has engendered
interest in an archaeological discovery which was, arguably, the most important of the
twentieth century.

Appendix

In a word search of the Book of Esther in the Desktop Bible Old Testament, none of the
following words were to be found :

Angel, Ark, Bless, Christ, Covenant, Creation, Forgive, God, Heaven, Hell, Holy,
Immanuel, Jehovah, Justice, Lord, Love, Kind, Messiah, Miracle, Neighbour,
Perfect/Perfection, Pray, Priest, Redeem/Redemption, Salvation, Sin, Spirit, Tabernacle,
Temple, Testament, Wisdom, Worth.
 Books of reference used in the paper

1. The Holy Bible Authorised version

2. Dictionary of the Bible James Hastings (Editor) Edinburgh 1909

3. The Scripture of the Theodor H. Gaster London 1957

Dead Sea Sect
4. The Dead Sea Scrolls G. Vermes 2nd Edn. Penguin 1975
in English
5. The Dead Sea Scrolls John M. Allegro London 1979
and the Christian Myth
6. The Dead Sea Scrolls in Moshe Pearlman Jerusalem 1989
the Shrine of the Book
7. The Dead Sea Scrolls M. Baigent and R. Leigh Corgi 1991
Deception
8. Encarta Encyclopedia Microsoft 1995