Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls so important?
Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) so important? Is it just that we found ‘old stuff’ that intrigues us or is there more to their significance than their age? Well, certainly the age of these documents stimulates interest and appreciation, but it is the content of these scrolls that makes them the greatest find in modern times. One should recognize the valuable contribution this discovery has made to contemporary scholarship simply based upon the cultural and religious information gleaned from the DSS.
Though many scholars identify two categories, Biblical and Non-Biblical, others have further distinguished the contents by highlighting three categories, Biblical, Apocryphal/Pseudepigraphal, and Sectarian. Adopting the later approach, one can begin to appreciate the importance of the scrolls by considering what is discovered in each of these three groups.
The Biblical texts are astounding. In this category, we have every book of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian’s Old Testament) with the exception of Esther and possibly Nehemiah. These manuscripts predate, what used to be, the earliest extant manuscripts by nearly 1000 years. One ironic detail is worth mentioning at this point. When evaluating the number of Biblical texts discovered, scholars identified Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah as being the most prevalent. The number of scrolls located for each of these is 36, 29, and 21 respectively. It is interesting to note that these three books are also the most quoted Old Testament books in the New Testament.
The next category, Apocryphal/Pseudepigraphal, though related to the Biblical texts, still should be distinguished as a separate group of scrolls. These texts for various reasons are not recognized as belonging to the canon of Scripture (this author writes from a Protestant perspective). Apocryphal texts found among the DSS are Tobit (4Q196-200), Sirach (2Q18 & 11QPsa), Baruch 6 (7Q2), and Psalm 151 (11QPsa). The Pseudepigraphal works discovered are those texts, though not all, that were written by individuals who then attributed the works to another individual. This common practice was employed to see that the works were well received by others. This group includes works previously discovered as well as those unknown prior to the DSS. Cave 4 produced a large number of fragments of the text known as Enoch. Other examples of texts of this nature are Jubilees, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, and the Genesis Apocryphon.
Sectarian manuscripts have helped to provide much needed information about the people, community, beliefs, and expectations of those who dwelled at Qumran. Commentaries such as 1QpHab, communal texts like the Damascus Document and the Manual of Discipline, worship texts like The Thanksgiving Hymns, and eschatological texts like The War Rule provide examples of sectarian works discovered. We have come to understand a great deal about the people of Qumran, their similarities and dissimilarities with that of 1st Century Judaism and the early Christians all because of this family of scrolls/fragments.