Category: Dead Sea Scrolls
-
Freedman and Kuhlken on Canon
The people who put together the Bible as we know it were very concerned with completeness. Their decisions were not random or haphazard. I believe that the Bible was put together around 400 B.C., well before the time of the Essenes at Qumrân, and that we can glimpse the compilers’ intentions by examining the Bible’s […]
-
More Vermes on the Canon
There is an overwhelming consensus in the most recent scholarship that there was no such thing as “Bible” or “canon” in the Second Temple period, and that is why I find it so entertaining how boldly and shamelessly Vermes says things like this: Some colleagues found the phrase, “Rewritten Bible” anachronistic. It is maintained by […]
-
Martin G. Abegg on Electronic Dead Sea Scrolls
One person stands behind all electronic versions of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Martin G. Abegg, professor and co-director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at Trinity Western University. His name and infamous Mac computer are mentioned in almost every history of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but we wanted to give him the opportunity to tell […]
-
Vermes on the Canon Issue
What did Geza Vermes think about the distinction between “Bible” (i.e. “canon”) and “Scripture”? The Spring 2013 issue of the Journal of Jewish Studies includes his review of Molly Zahn’s Rethinking Rewritten Scripture. At the beginning of this review, Vermes notes that he coined the term “Rewritten Bible” in 1961 in his Scripture and Tradition […]
-
DSS Software: Available Texts
This is the second post of a series in which I am reviewing the four major options for electronically accessing the Dead Sea Scrolls. The plan for this series is posted here. Logos, BibleWorks, and Accordance all offer electronic Dead Sea Scrolls in the original languages and in translation. Brill also sells the Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic […]
-
Peter W. Flint on Greek at Qumran
In a previous post, I summarized Matthew Richey’s answer to the question, “Was Greek spoken at Qumran?” He looked at 4Q350, Qumran epigraphy, and the Copper Scroll and concluded, Taken together, these pieces of evidence suggest that Greek was used by the sect when they engaged in both affairs releated to trade and treasure hiding […]
-
DSS Software: Necessary Background Information
This is the first post of a series in which I will review the Dead Sea Scrolls resources available in Logos, BibleWorks, Accordance, and in Brill’s Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Library. I posted my plan for the series, but if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to let me know in the comments. […]
-
Review of DSS Software
I have begun posting a multi-part comparative review of Dead Sea Scrolls resources in Logos, BibleWorks, Accordance, and Brill’s Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Library. The current plan is to do 7 posts, one on each of these topics: Necessary background information Available DSS texts Interview: Ken Penner talks with Martin Abegg, the person behind all electronic […]
-
Vermes’ The Story of the Scrolls
For the time being, the paperback version of Geza Vermes’ The Story of the Scrolls is only $1.58 on Amazon. Just before the book was published, Vermes gave a lecture with the same title at the Louisiana State University’s Hill Memorial Library. A video of the the lecture is available on YouTube and has been embedded below. […]
-
Lawrence Schiffman Surveys the Scrolls
I have not found online a more engaging, informative, well-balanced survey of the Dead Sea Scrolls than the video embedded below. As far as published resources go, you have a few very good options: Timothy Lim’s The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction, John J. Collins’ The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Biography, and Craig A. […]
Brian W. Davidson 