One of the greatest Biblical discoveries occured in 1948 when 2,000 year old Hebrew scrolls of the Bible was discovered near the Dead Sea. Within these scrolls are texts from every Book in the Hebrew Bible, except the Book of Ester. While some portions were missing due to rot, a majority of the texts are represented. This book is an English translation of all the Biblical scrolls found. These scrolls are dated to the first century BCE. Until their discovery the oldest existing Hebrew copy of the Bible was 1,000 CE (Codex Leningrad). With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls we know have copies of the Hebrew Bible over 1,000 years older. While the Biblical books found within the Dead Sea Caves are very similar to the Bible we use today, their are differences. Since our Hebrew Bibles today are based on later copies, the Dead Sea Scroll Bible a more ancient versions. This translation is easy to read and is true to the Hebrew text. When more than one manuscript of a passage is included within the scrolls, this translation gives all of the differing variants of the passages so that the reader can be well informed. Passages that are missing are also noted.

From the dramatic find in the caves of Qumran, The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible presents the world's most precious and ancient version of the Bible. One thousand years older than any existing manuscripts, these scrolls allow us to read the Bible as it was in the time of Jesus. Preserving parts of all but one biblical book, the scrolls confirm that the text of the Old Testament as it has been handed down through the ages is largely correct. Yet, they also reveal numerous important differences.

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The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English is the first full English translation of the Hebrew scriptures used by the Essene sect at Qumran. (The Essenes, along with the Pharisees and Saducees, were among the three most influential Jewish groups of their time [150 B.C. to 68 A.D.]). Between 1947 and 1956, in 11 caves overlooking the Dead Sea, more than 800 manuscripts of two types were found. The first are called "biblical"--because they contain material that was later canonized in the Hebrew Bible; the second are called "non-Biblical"--because they contain poetry, rules for holy living, and imaginative, midrashic interpretations that are unique to the community that produced them.

The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible comprises the biblical manuscripts, including many new Psalms, Apocryphal books, and previously unknown readings of Deuteronomy and Isaiah (which appear to have been among the most important books of the Bible to this group of Essenes). The translation of each book is preceded by an introduction that describes the text's importance to the Essenes, their distinctive interpretations of the text, and suggestions of how historical and political events may have shaped these interpretations. Translators Martin Abegg Jr., Peter Flint, and Eugene Ulrich have loaded this volume with scholarly notes and commentary, but their interpretations are formatted in a way that does not impede the general reader's enjoyment of the book. The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible breathes new life into scripture by delving into the earliest source material yet discovered. It is a crucial work to reckon with for anyone interested in Jewish life around the time of Jesus. --Michael Joseph Gross

Three eminent Biblical scholars have translated previously unpublished Biblical manuscripts for inclusion into this book which contains all 220 of the Dead Sea Scrolls, with hundreds of new and different readings from the Old Testament. While largely confirming texts that have been in use for 2,000 years, the Scrolls also contain a number of differences in wording that clarify puzzles, restore lost Psalms, reveal details of biblical characters' lives, and offer new readings on how the Hebrew Bible was developed. Includes clear, concise commentary.

From the dramatic find in the caves of Qumran, The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible presents the world's most precious and ancient version of the Bible. One thousand years older than any existing manuscripts, these scrolls allow us to read the Bible it was in the time of Jesus.

Preserving parts of all but one biblical book, scrolls confirm that the text of the Old Testament as it has been handed down through the ages is largely correct. Yet, they also reveal numerous important differences. The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible:

• Offers new and striking textual readings that clarify millennia-old puzzles
• Restores lost psalms
• Reveals previously unknown details about the lives of biblical figures
• Provides new information on how the Hebrew Bible was created

The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible presents all 220 of the Dead Sea biblical scrolls, arranged to be read in canonical order. The texts are translated into English by Eugene Ulrich, one of the three general editors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Peter Flint and Martin Abegg Jr., the directors of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute. Commentary by the editors provides insight into the rich cultural and religious traditions behind the scrolls and the Bible itself.

Introduction; How to Read This Book; Torah; Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy; Jubilees; Prophets; Joshua; Judges; Samuel; Kings; Isaiah; Jeremiah; Ezekiel; The Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets; Hosea; Joel; Amos; Obadiah; Jonah; Micah; Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah; Haggai; Zechariah; Malachi; 1 Enoch; Daniel; Other Books; Psalms; Job; Proverbs; Ben Sira (Sirach); Ruth; The Song of Songs (Canticles); Qohelet (Ecclesiastes); Lamentations; The Epistle of Jeremiah; Esther; Chronicles; Ezra-Nehemiah; Tobit; Bibliography

Martin Abegg Jr. is co-director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at Trinity Western University in British Columbia. He is one of the translators of The Dead Sea Scrolls (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996).

For the 1st time, the biblical portion of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been translated into English. It's a 649 page book entitled 'The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible', translation by Abegg, Flint, and Ulrich who are highly respected scholars in this field. Extensive notes and ingenious, but easy to understand punctuation are used which are a tremendous help in understanding just what the DSS includes. Thank you Martin, Peter and Eugene!!! I just cannot thank you enough! Now, at last, one can, in English, compare, using this new translation, what was written in approx 125 BCE (the date of the Isaiah scroll) with the Masoretic text (the basic text used in the translation of the Old Testament of most modern Bibles) which was written in 1008 CE, and we can personally check to see whether any significant changes have occurred in the Bible over a period of about 1,132 years. Also, be sure to read the enlightening introduction. I listen to the a tape of the Bible, but follow along in this new translation and note the differences. It's quite a confidence builder and a fun way to do Bible reading. Two unfortunate notes: the translators of the DSS Bible opted to use LORD instead of the Divine Name, deferring to the method used by the RSV (why, oh why do they do this when the name is actually there in the text?), and they seem to be succumbing to political correctness by, as they said, using 'inclusive language...with respect to humans', though not for God, and promising to do more in that area in future editions. (How reputable translators can surrender to what is currently in vogue or politically proper and allow it to color their translation is just beyond me.) Still, to be able to compare the DSS to the Masoretic text makes it a most welcome translation, and except for the 2 quibbles mentioned above, it is a job very well, make that, exceptionally well done!

Among the 800 manuscripts found at Qumran, some 220 are biblical texts._The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible_ is for those who would like to be able to compare these variant readings and do so in English.

The works are presented according to the usual Hebrew Bible method, the Tanakh: first comes the Torah followed by the Nebuim and then the Kethubim. Like BHS and UBS, variant texts are presented in footnotes along with the references which identify the source of these texts.

So for example...in the book's text, Deut 8.12 reads: Otherwise when you have eaten and are full, and have built (fine) house(s) and have lived in them... In this case the text has been amended based upon integrating material from other scrolls. The reader is directed to 5QDEUTcorr LXX. However a variant reading in 5QDEUT MT SP says that the reading of in them is not found in the MT nor the Samaritan Pentateuch.

Perhaps the most significant textual variant is noted on page 224 and 225. 4QSAMa records a variant reading which is recorded no where else but Josephus in which it is explained why Nahash wanted to gouge out the right eye of "every one of you" from Jabesh-gilead. This reading indicates the pluriformity of texts prior to the Common Era.

If one is interested in what the Dead Sea Scrolls had to say about the text of the Bible, this book has the answers. Between this book and works by Florentino Garcia-Martinez or Michael Wise, there should be no more mysteries about what was contained in the DSS.

At the time of Jesus and rabbi Hillel - the origins of Christianity and rabbinic Judaism - there was, and there was not, a "Bible." This critical period, and the nature of the Bible in that period, have been freshly illuminated by the biblical Dead Sea Scrolls.

There was a Bible in the sense that there were certain sacred books widely recognized by Jews as foundational to their religion and supremely authoritative for religious practice. There was not, however, a Bible in the sense that the leaders of the general Jewish community had specifically considered, debated, and definitively decided the full range of which books were supremely and permanently authoritative and which ones - no matter how sublime, useful, or beloved - were not. The collection or collections of the Scriptures varied from group to group and from time to time. All Jews would have recognized "the Law" (the Torah) and most would have recognized "the Prophets" as belonging to that collection. Such a recognition is attested by references in the New Testament to the "Law and the Prophets" (Matt 7:12; Luke 16:16; and Rom 3:21). But the exact contents of "the Prophets" may not have been the same for all, and the status of other books beyond "the Law and the Prophets" was neither clear nor widely accepted. The notion of a wider collection of Scriptures that extended beyond the Law and Prophets is suggested by an intriguing passage in Luke 24, which says that "everything written about me [i.e., Jesus] in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms must be fulfilled" (vs. 44).


Thus, The Dead Sea Scrolls Scriptures may be a more historically accurate title for this volume. At any rate, it presents the remains of the books for which there is good evidence that Jews at that time viewed them as Sacred Scripture.

The word "Bible" has different meanings for different people and groups. The most obvious difference in content is between the Bible of Judaism (i.e., the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament) and that of Christianity, which contains both the Old and New Testaments. The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible does not include any New Testament books for one simple reason: by the time the vast majority of the scrolls had been copied (in 68 CE), the New Testament was only beginning to be written. Not surprisingly, then, there are no copies of New Testament books among the scrolls.

The list of books included in a Bible is termed a "canon." There are three main canons in the different Bibles used today (see Figure 1):

1. The Jewish Bible (or Tanak) contains twenty-four books in three sections: the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings.
2. The Protestant Old Testament contains the same books as the Tanak, but in four sections and in a different order: the Pentateuch, the Historical Books, the Poetical Books, and the Prophets. In addition, the Protestant canon contains thirty-nine books, not twenty-four, because it counts separately several books that comprise single books in the Jewish Bible. For example, the one Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Jewish canon becomes the twelve books of the Minor Prophets in the Protestant Bible.
3. The Roman Catholic Old Testament contains exactly the same four divisions and thirty-nine books as the Protestant Bible, but also includes further writings. Seven of these are entire books (Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, and Baruch [which includes the Letter of Jeremiah]); the others are sections added to Esther (the Additions to Esther) and to Daniel (the Prayer of Azariah, Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon). For Catholics, these additional writings are part of the Bible and are thus known as the "deuterocanonical books" (that is, a second group of canonical books). However, Jews and most Protestants do not view these writings as Scripture, labeling them the "Apocrypha" (plural of "Apocryphon"), which means "hidden books."

Some scholars believe that these books are not in the Jewish and Protestant canons because they are later than most other biblical books (Daniel being an exception), while others point to their supposed secular or unorthodox content as the reason for exclusion. The real explanation, however, is more complicated and goes back to two ancient Bibles. Early Christians accepted the Greek Septuagint, which contains these additional books, as their Old Testament, while early Rabbis finalized the list of books for the Hebrew Bible in the second century CE. It is these two early collections (the shorter Hebrew one and the longer Greek one) that determine which books are included in the Bibles used by modern Jews, Protestants, and Catholics. Jews, followed by Protestants, regard the shorter collection as Scripture, whereas Catholics accept a larger canon that includes apocryphal/deuterocanonical writings found in the Septuagint.

All modern Bibles are translations of older texts. The Scriptures used by most readers of this book (whether Jewish, Protestant, or Roman Catholic) are based on much older manuscripts that have been translated into English. The three most important of these older Bibles are known as the "Masoretic Text" (MT), the "Septuagint" (LXX), and the "Samaritan Pentateuch" (SP). Scholars believe that the books in these three texts are from pre-Christian times, but unfortunately no really early manuscripts were available before the discovery of...