Structured by four important themes, the book discusses various aspects pertaining to the interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The first theme is comprised by a number of essays that deal with different aspects of textual interpretation of particular Qumran writings. The second theme centers on the question of historical referentiality. How can the purported referentiality of particular Qumran writings be used in order to reconstruct an underlying historical reality? The third theme includes essays that pertain to different dimensions concerning the methodology of interpretation. The fourth theme focuses on problems relating to the textual reconstruction of specific Qumran texts. In the final section of the book, the perspective is widened to other writings outside the more specific Qumran context.

Scholars working with ancient scrolls seek ways to extract maximum information from the multitude of fragments. Various methods were applied to that end on the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as on other ancient texts. The present book augments these methods to a full-scale protocol, while adapting them to a new computerized environment. Fundamental methodological issues are illuminated as part of the discussion, and the potential margin of error is provided on an empirical basis, as practiced in the sciences. The method is then exemplified with regard to the scroll 4Q418a, a copy of a wisdom composition from Qumran.

In The Dead Sea Scrolls for a New Millennium, Phillip R. Callaway presents the most comprehensive survey of the Dead Sea Scrolls since the final publication of the cave 4 fragments. The chapters on editing the Scrolls, on the caves, on the scrolls, and on Khirbet Qumran present the evidence without getting bogged down in older controversies. Callaway discusses the so-called yahad ostracon, as well as a fascinating writing exercise, and the supposed Dead Sea Scroll on stone. Those who desire to know more about the Bible among the Scrolls are offered brief comments on over one hundred readings from Qumran's biblical manuscripts and other biblical texts. In the chapter on the pseudepigrapha and apocrypha, Callaway emphasizes the rich literary production of the mid- to late Second Temple period, with sections on Enoch, Jubilees, the Genesis Apocryphon, a Genesis commentary, the Reworked Pentateuch, targums on Leviticus and Job, the Temple Scroll, the New Jerusalem, an Apocryphon of Joshua, the psalms, various works of wisdom, Tobit, Ben Sira, the Epistle of Jeremiah, and the Greek fragments from cave 7. The chapter on the Community Scrolls deals with the Damascus Document, the Rule of the Community and its appendages, a Hybrid Rule, the Rule of War, the Thanksgiving Hymns, Florilegium, Testimonia, Melchizedek, the pesher commentaries on Habakkuk, Nahum, and Psalm 37, Ordinances, Calendar texts, Some Works of the Law, the Angelic Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, and the phylacteries. In terms of the Scrolls and Jewish history, Callaway discusses the text called Praise for Jerusalem and King Jonathan, the Copper Scroll, the documentary texts (which may or may not be from Qumran), the history of the Qumran community, and some similarities to early Christian thought and language. In addition to clarifying discussions of all the works mentioned above, the author hopes that The Dead Sea Scrolls for a New Millennium will help readers understand the Scrolls not as the product of a radical, separatist community, but rather as the literary heritage of many of the greatest Jewish minds that lived in the Second Temple period.

Papers presented at the IOQS meeting in Ljubljana Qumran Cave 1 Revisited: Reconsidering the Cave 1 Texts Sixty Years after Their Discovery, on the two Isaiah scrolls, the Community Rule, the War Scroll, the Thanksgivings Scroll, and the Genesis Apocryphon.

Until recently, most non-biblical manuscripts attested in the Qumran library were regarded as copies of texts that were composed after the books of the Hebrew Bible were written. Students of the Hebrew Bible found the Dead Sea Scrolls therefore mostly of interest for the textual and interpretative histories of these books. The present collection confirms the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for both areas, by showing that they have revolutionized our understanding of how the text of the biblical books developed and how they were interpreted. Beyond the textual and interpretative histories, though, many texts attested in the Qumran library illuminate the time in which the later books of the Hebrew Bible were composed and reworked as well as Jewish life and law in the time when the canon of the Hebrew Bible developed. This volume gives important examples as to how the early texts attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls help to better understand individual biblical books and as to how the later texts among them illustrate Jewish life and law when the canon of the Hebrew Bible evolved. In order to find an adequate expertise for the seminar »The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hebrew Bible«, the editors invited both junior and senior specialists in the fields of Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Judaism, Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinics to Rome.

How did New Testament authors use Israel’s Scriptures? Use, misuse, appropriation, citation, allusion, inspiration—how do we characterize the manifold images, paraphrases, and quotations of the Jewish Scriptures that pervade the New Testament? Over the past few decades, scholars have tackled the question with a variety of methodologies. New Testament authors were part of a broader landscape of Jewish readers interpreting Scripture. Recent studies have sought to understand the various compositional techniques of the early Christians who composed the New Testament in this context and on the authors’ own terms. In this landmark collection of essays, Matthias Henze and David Lincicum marshal an international group of renowned scholars to analyze the New Testament, text-by-text, aiming to better understand what roles Israel’s Scriptures play therein. In addition to explicating each book, the essayists also cut across texts to chart the most important central concepts, such as the messiah, covenants, and the end times. Carefully constructed reception history of both testaments rounds out the volume. Comprehensive and foundational, Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings will serve as an essential resource for biblical scholars for years to come. Contributors: Garrick V. Allen, Michael Avioz, Martin Bauspiess, Richard J. Bautch, Ian K. Boxall, Marc Zvi Brettler, Jaime Clark-Soles, Michael B. Cover, A. Andrew Das, Susan Docherty, Paul Foster, Jörg Frey, Alexandria Frisch, Edmon L. Gallagher, Gabriella Gelardini, Jennie Grillo, Gerd Häfner, Matthias Henze, J. Thomas Hewitt, Robin M. Jensen, Martin Karrer, Matthias Konradt, Katja Kujanpää, John R. Levison, David Lincicum, Grant Macaskill, Tobias Nicklas, Valérie Nicolet, Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, George Parsenios, Benjamin E. Reynolds, Dieter T. Roth, Dietrich Rusam, Jens Schröter, Claudia Setzer, Elizabeth Evans Shively, Michael Karl-Heinz Sommer, Angela Standhartinger, Gert J. Steyn, Todd D. Still, Rodney A. Werline, Benjamin Wold, Archie T. Wright

'Identity' and 'sectarianism', two crucial and frequently used concepts on the study of the Qumran movement, are problematized, praised, and redefined in this book. Sociology of sectarianism and social identity approach inform the investigation of the serakhim (rule documents) and pesharim (biblical commentaries).

This special edition large format LSTS volume presents, over half of them for the first time, ten biblical and five non-biblical fragments from the Judean Desert. The text features 42 photographs of the fragments. The publication of seven new fragments from the Judean Desert will supplement the Discoveries in the Judean Desert series and bring new material to scholars regarding the full textual situation. Two of the new biblical fragments suggest the preservation of substantial textual variants. The new Aramaic fragment reveals the use of interesting linguistic forms. The book includes a 10 page essay by Martin Schoyen about how he has tracked down and acquired Judean Desert fragments and artifacts since 1994. The collection of images, photographs of the fragments, and scholarly commentary from some of the leading experts in the field gives the reader a comprehensive picture of the artifacts from Qumran. The fragments included are: 4QLeviticusi, 4QSamueld, 4QDeuteronomy, and 4Q Twelve prophets; New (additional) fragments of 4QPsalmsq and 4QExodusc; improved version of XJudges frg 3, 4QJoshuac, 1QDanielb, and 4QJoshuac; Apochryphal fragments - 4QTobita and 1QapocrGenesis; and, Other fragments - 1QSb (Rule of Blessings, reedition), 11QTemplea, and 4QAramaic frg.

The Dead Sea Scrolls have opened up for modern readers the ancient world of Jewish interpretation of the Bible during the Second Temple period. Among these scrolls are several manuscripts dating to the first century BC, the oldest surviving texts dealing with interpretation of the Genesis Flood. A literary analysis of the four primary Qumran Flood texts (1QapGen, 4Q252, 4Q370, and 4Q422) reveals how ancient Jews interpreted and employed the Genesis Flood narrative. These texts contain commentary, paraphrase, and admonition, among other things, addressing issues such as the cause, chronology, and purpose of the Flood. In addition, these fragmentary treasures reveal such ancient understandings of the Flood as a reversal and renewal of creation, a restoration of Eden and anticipation of the Promised Land, and an archetype of eschatological judgment.

Revised version of the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Manchester, 2008.