Qumran 10 min presentation by Kan

Transcription

1 Qumran 10 min presentation by Kan Qumran always directs us to think of the archeologists findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls. When one speaks of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it refers to Qumran texts, scrolls and fragments that were written in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek that dating from about 200 BCE to A.D It was about the Qumran community that were constructed by one of the Jewish groups (mostly refers to the Essenes( 愛色尼派 )that they had their own sight which different from the standpoints of the Sadducees, Pharisees, also they could not stand long with the Romans, they chose to live and hid on a dry plateau that were a mile inland of the Northwestern shore of the Dead Sea area, to set up his own community, the Qumran community. 2 Some archeologists found this community shall be in probably B.C.E 2 centuries ( B.C.E.) as bronze coins found on the site. It finally came to an end in 68 C.E destroyed by the Romans the Great Revolt. Here are some pictures copied from the internet research that can be share with you to know more about this Qumran community now became the Khirbet Qumran( 昆蘭廢 墟 )today. This is the archeological site in the West Bank. See Pictures As of the First Jewish-Roman War occurred in 66-73C.E., believe that this Qumran community moved their books, their bible scrolls, their commentaries etc to keep in different caves in the sheer desert cliffs and beneath, in the marl terrace. 3 Since 1947, 1-2 scrolls has been found in a cave by a pass-by little shepherd boy, extensive excavations have taken place in Qumran and nearly 972 texts were discovered. Most were written on parchment, or Papyrus. Some were said also written on Bronze. 4 There were about 100 texts of OT and our current entire OT Bible were all included there except the book of Esther. Overall we read Qumran, or Khirbet Qumran, we ll probably refer to Dead Sea Scrolls. Below I ll try to summarize briefly the excavation by year, if we have time then can talk briefly the caves a little bit right after the conclusion. 1 W.S. LA SOR, Bibliography of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Fuller Theological Siminary

2 Initial Discovery ( ) The Shepherds discovered 7 scrolls. Dr. John C. Trever of the ASOR (American School of Oriental Research) was the 1 st team to go excavation. Cave 1 was discovered in Search for the Qumran caves ( ) Additional scroll fragments were found. Qumran caves rediscovery and new scroll discoveries ( ) The rediscovery of Cave 1, found the additional Dead Sea Scroll Excavations of Qumran ( ) Cave 2,3,4,5,6 were found in 1952, Cave 4 is the very important where ninety percent of the scrolls were found, about 500 texts there. Cave 11 was found in (but Anchor Bible Dictionary said it was 1955 ) Cave 7,8,9, 10 The Significance Before the Qumran Scrolls were discovered, the oldest datable Hebrew OT manuscript was from A.D Once found these Qumran Scrolls in about 100 B.C.E, it takes the textual witness back about 1000 years. The earlier the more close to original reading, it should be more correct before the later textual tradition had become corrupt. According to this Qumran Scrolls, it generally helps the scholarly research with greatest effect. It s the oldest original written text and it helps the scholars to compare with the Septuagint (LXX) and the Hebrew Masoretic text. Before the Qumran Scrolls/Dead Sea Scrolls was founded, most scholars compare LXX with the Masoretic text and would think the LXX text always eliminate certain features in the Masoretic tradition. Now, it appears that the LXX was a rather accurate translation of a different Hebrew recension of the book. Furthermore, the comparison of the complicated text situation in the Qumran documents with the OT texts from the Murabba at caves (A.D.132), which display a remarkable similarity with the later Masoretic tradition. 5 5 W.S. LA SOR, Bibliography of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Fuller Theological Siminary 2

3 Referring to 聖經新辭典上冊 the bible Dictionary of Tin Dao talks about the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Essenes believed at the end of the world, there should have 3 persons appear as a sign. One will be a prophet like Moses, one will be Messiah who came from the house of David, one will be the priest from the house of Levi. It was quite differently interpret from our NT as we all knew Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the priest, and the prophet. 6 The meaning of Righteous teacher was also interpreted very differently between the perspective of Jesus and of His followers and that of the Qumran sect. 7 6 M.Burrows, The Dead Sea Scrolls, 吳羅瑜編, 聖經新辭典上冊 ( 香港 : 天道書樓,1993), W.S. LA SOR, Bibliography of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Fuller Theological Siminary 3

4 Info copy from Cave 1 In addition to the original seven scrolls, Cave 1 produced jars and bowls whose chemical composition and shape matched vessels discovered at the settlement at Qumran, pieces of cloth, and additional fragments that matched portions of the original scrolls, thereby confirming that the original scrolls came from Cave 1. The original seven scrolls from Cave 1 are: 1QIsaa (the Great Isaiah Scroll, a copy of the Book of Isaiah) 1QIsab (a second copy of Isaiah) 1QS (the Community Rule) cf. 4QSa-j = 4Q255-64, 5Q11 1QpHab (the Pesher on Habakkuk) 1QM (the War Scroll) cf. 4Q491, 4Q493 1QH (the Thanksgiving Hymns) 1QapGen (the Genesis Apocryphon) Cave 2 It yielded 300 fragments from 33 manuscripts, including Jubilees and the Wisdom of Sirach in the original Hebrew. Cave 3 Cave 3 yielded 14 manuscripts including Jubilees and the curious Copper Scroll, which lists 67 hiding places, mostly underground, throughout the ancient Roman province of Judea (now Israel). According to the scroll, the secret caches held astonishing amounts of gold, silver, copper, aromatics, and manuscripts Caves 4a and 4b Cave 4 is actually two hand-cut caves (4a and 4b), but since the fragments were mixed, they are labeled as 4Q. Cave 4 is the most famous of Qumran caves both because of its visibility from the Qumran plateau and its productivity. It is visible from the plateau to the south of the Qumran settlement. It is by far the most productive of all Qumran caves, producing ninety percent of the Dead Sea Scrolls and scroll fragments (approx. 15,000 fragments from 500 different texts), including 9 10 copies of Jubilees, along with 21 tefillin and 7 mezuzot. The Damascus Document Scroll, 4Q271Df, found in Cave 4 Cave 5 Cave 5 was discovered alongside Cave 6, shortly after the discovery of Cave 4. Cave 5 produced approximately 25 manuscripts. Cave 6 Cave 6 was discovered alongside Cave 5, shortly after the discovery of Cave 4. Cave 4

5 6 contained fragments of about 31 manuscripts. Cave 7 Cave 7, along with caves 8 and 9, was one of the only caves that is accessible by Qumran plateau, archaeologists excavated cave 7 in Cave 7 yielded fewer than 20 fragments of Greek documents, including 7Q2 (the "Letter of Jeremiah" = Baruch 6), 7Q5 (which became the subject of much speculation in later decades), and a Greek copy of a scroll of Enoch.[26][27][28] Cave 7 also produced several inscribed potsherds and jars.[29] Cave 8 Cave 8, along with caves 7 and 9, was one of the only caves that is accessible by Qumran plateau, archaeologists excavated cave 8 in Cave 8 produced five fragments: Genesis (8QGen), Psalms (8QPs), a tefillin fragment (8QPhyl), a mezuzah (8QMez), and a hymn (8QHymn). Cave 8 also produced several tefillin cases, a box of leather objects, tons of lamps, jars, and the sole of a leather shoe. List of groups of fragments collected from Wadi Qumran Cave 8: Cave 9 Cave 9, along with caves 7 and 8, was one of the only caves that is accessible by Qumran plateau, archaeologists excavated cave 9 in There was only one fragment found in Cave 9: Cave 10 In Cave 10 archaeologists found two ostraca with some writing on them, along with an unknown symbol on a grey stone slab: Cave 11 Cave 11 was discovered in 1956 and yielded 21 texts, some of which were quite lengthy. TheTemple Scroll, so called because more than half of it pertains to the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem, was found in Cave 11, and is by far the longest scroll. It is now 26.7 feet (8.15 m) long. Its original length may have been over 28 feet (8.75 m). The Temple Scroll was regarded by Yigael Yadin as "The Torah According to the Essenes". On the other hand, Hartmut Stegemann, a contemporary and friend of Yadin, believed the scroll was not to be regarded as such, but was a document without exceptional significance. Stegemann notes that it is not mentioned or cited in any known Essene writing. Also in Cave 11, an escatological fragment about the biblical figure Melchizedek (11Q13) was found. Cave 11 also produced a copy of Jubilees. 5