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The Dead Sea Scrolls have been described as the most significant
manuscript discovery of modern times. They were initially discovered
by a In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd in 1947 who simply stumbled upon
them. Between 1947 and 1956 most all of the scrolls were discovered
in eleven of the Qumran Caves along the northwest shore of the Dead
Sea. These caves are in an arid region about 13 miles east of Jerusalem
and 1,300 feet below sea level. The Dead Sea Scrolls are comprised
of the remains of approximately 825 to 870 separate scrolls, mostly
written between 200 B.C and 68 A.D., and represented by tens of
thousands of fragments. Most of the texts are made of animal skins,
but some are made from papyrus and one is made of copper. The texts
are written with a carbon-based ink, from right to left, using no
punctuation except for an occasional paragraph indentation. It wasn't
until 1991 that the content of the scrolls was made available to
the public.
The Dead Sea Scrolls can be divided into two categories; biblical
and non-biblical. With the exception of the book of Esther, fragments
of every other book of the Old Testament have been discovered. Most
of the texts are written in Hebrew and Aramaic, with a few in Greek.
The scrolls are thought to most likely have been written by a Jewish
sect called the Essenes, who were strictly observant Jewish scribes.
The collection of scrolls appears to have been hidden in the Qumran
caves around 66-70 A.D. as the Roman army advanced against the Jews.
The virtually intact Isaiah Scroll is 1,000 years older than any
previously known copy of Isaiah. The most significant aspect of
the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is that the text is the same
as, or in agreement with both the Masoretic text and today's translations
of the Old Testament! This is most remarkable because it is proof
that the 300 or so Messianic prophecies found in today's Old Testament
(both the Jewish and Christian versions) are the exact same Messianic
prophecies that existed before Jesus was born. I'm smelling the
coffee, are you?
The following is the translation of the actual Great Isaiah Scroll
(Isaiah 53), beginning with line 5 of Column 44:
5. Who has believed our report and the arm of YHWH to whom has
it been revealed And he shall come up like a suckling before him
6. and as a root from dry ground there is no form to him and no
beauty [+to him+] and in his being seen and there is no appearance
7. that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men,
a man of sorrows and knowing grief
8. and as though hiding faces from him he was despised and we did
not esteem him. Surely our griefs he
9. is bearing and our sorrows he carried them and we esteemed him
beaten and struck by God
10. and afflicted. and he is wounded for our transgressions, and
crushed for our iniquities, the correction
11. of our peace was upon him and by his wounds he has healed us.
All of us like sheep have wandered each man to his own way
12. we have turned and YHWH has caused to light on him the iniquity
of all of us He was oppressed and he was afflicted and he did not
13. open his mouth, as a lamb to the slaughter he is brought and
as a ewe before her shearers is made dumb he did not open
14. his mouth. From prison and from judgment he was taken and his
generation who shall discuss it because he was cut off from the
land of
15. the living. Because from the transgressions of his people a
wound was to him
16. And they gave wicked ones to be his grave and [a scribbled word
probably accusative sign "eth"] rich ones in his death
17. although he worked no violence neither deceit in his mouth And
YHWH was pleased to crush him and He has caused him grief.
18. If you will appoint his soul a sin offering he will see his
seed and he will lengthen his days and the pleasure of YHWH
19. in his hand will advance. Of the toil of his soul he shall see
{+light+} and he shall be satisfied and by his knowledge shall he
make righteous
20. even my righteous servant for many and their iniquities he will
bear. Therefore I will apportion to him among the great ones
21. and with the mighty ones he shall divide the spoil because he
laid bare to death his soul and with the transgressors
22. he was numbered, and he, the sins of many, he bore, and for
their transgressions he entreated.
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