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Anne's Reviews > The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction
The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction
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A quick look at the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Not all of it was zippy dialogue and some of it rather bored me, but I came away with a few new nuggets of information rolling around in my head, so I consider it a win.
I think I'd only recommend this to those people who have no idea what they are or what they contain. And as Lim points out, there's a lot of unnecessary controversy linked to these things.
I believe several authors have tried to sell folks on the idea that there is some kind of secret history of Christ hidden in these, but the truth is that they are mostly ancient Jewish texts that only deal with Jewish law, different Jewish sects, and the Torah.
You're really stretching all levels of imagination to come up with anything that had to do with Jesus.
He starts off with the history of how the scrolls were found, the international politics involved with them, and a few conspiracy theories that were floated about the Vatican's supposed suppression of information that might rock the foundations of Christianity.
Sure. Why not.
The Essenes are usually attributed to the writings and Lim goes into some detail describing what we do and don't know about that sect, when they operated, and what may have happened to them.
While there may have been a sister group that had families, for the most part, they were made up of men who thought that the best way to be holy was to give up sex, live out in the middle of the desert, eat cans of hobo beans (jk, I don't know what they ate), and forgoing normal-people pleasures.
They also did ritual bathing and had some weird ideas about not pooping on the Sabbath.
Well. Ok, then.
There are also sections about where the caves are located in Qumran and some of that region's basic history.
And Lim gives a bit of insight into why it's so difficult to say exactly how many scrolls there are (some are just scraps and do they count?) and why translation isn't always cut and dry.
Very few of the scrolls are discussed, but he does point out that some of the text has versions of Old Testament/Torah books that are slightly different here and there. An extra line at the end of a verse may be from an older version of the text or just a different version.
Either way, it's interesting.
Recommended. Ish
Not all of it was zippy dialogue and some of it rather bored me, but I came away with a few new nuggets of information rolling around in my head, so I consider it a win.
I think I'd only recommend this to those people who have no idea what they are or what they contain. And as Lim points out, there's a lot of unnecessary controversy linked to these things.
I believe several authors have tried to sell folks on the idea that there is some kind of secret history of Christ hidden in these, but the truth is that they are mostly ancient Jewish texts that only deal with Jewish law, different Jewish sects, and the Torah.
You're really stretching all levels of imagination to come up with anything that had to do with Jesus.
He starts off with the history of how the scrolls were found, the international politics involved with them, and a few conspiracy theories that were floated about the Vatican's supposed suppression of information that might rock the foundations of Christianity.
Sure. Why not.
The Essenes are usually attributed to the writings and Lim goes into some detail describing what we do and don't know about that sect, when they operated, and what may have happened to them.
While there may have been a sister group that had families, for the most part, they were made up of men who thought that the best way to be holy was to give up sex, live out in the middle of the desert, eat cans of hobo beans (jk, I don't know what they ate), and forgoing normal-people pleasures.
They also did ritual bathing and had some weird ideas about not pooping on the Sabbath.
Well. Ok, then.
There are also sections about where the caves are located in Qumran and some of that region's basic history.
And Lim gives a bit of insight into why it's so difficult to say exactly how many scrolls there are (some are just scraps and do they count?) and why translation isn't always cut and dry.
Very few of the scrolls are discussed, but he does point out that some of the text has versions of Old Testament/Torah books that are slightly different here and there. An extra line at the end of a verse may be from an older version of the text or just a different version.
Either way, it's interesting.
Recommended. Ish
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Reading Progress
October 30, 2023
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Started Reading
October 30, 2023
– Shelved
November 11, 2023
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Finished Reading
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Brent wrote: "Fun review, as usual, and nice to hear you on a nonfiction title! I like this series, we sell 'em, and have read a few [Blues, Koran, Human Evolution, and, of late, Global Catastrophes.] They range..."I have been reading a lot of nonfiction lately. Not sure what's wrong with me!
I've been on a Great Courses kick. This is a series? I didn't know that!
![[Name Redacted]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1347082397p1/287915.jpg)
Rabbi Lawrence Schiffman is my go-to for insight to the Qumran texts. He revolutionized the field and to this date provides the best analysis in any of his work. I had the privilege of studying under him at NYU -- it's always nice to meet a luminary who doesn't disappoint in person.
Cool! I've added 3 of his books to my reading list. Thanks, Redacted.
If you can, definitely check out his "Who Was a Jew?" -- it offers a refreshingly different perspective on the Jewish/Christian split. Instead of making it all about Jesus, Messianism or Torah-compliance, he places the focus on the divergent approaches to Jewish identity (with Christians claiming it to be a religion which imputed ethnicity and Rabbis defining it as an ethnicity with a religion attached).
Ahhhh! That was one of the ones I added.
Write on.