Dead Sea Scrolls Introductory Works

Note: I am not an expert in the history and text of the Dead Sea Scrolls: this is the reason I decided to read these introductory books for amateurs. Given that I am planning on seeing the exhibit of the DSS in San Diego soon, I wanted to be a semi-informed observer. Here are my brief thoughts on each resource:

1. The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction by Timothy Lim (OUP, 2005)

Lim offers a great overview of the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as a summary of the scholarship on the scrolls. He also includes an entertaining chapter of some of the political and academic drama surrounding the issues of ownership and accessibility of the scrolls since their discovery. Particularly helpful is his discussion of how the DSS contribute to our understanding of the history of the OT text - he points out the major areas in which they have filled in certain gaps in the textual transmission process. His account of the Qumran community is engaging, although he does not do justice to alternative theories that place the origin of the manuscripts outside the Essene community. However, he also does well to place the Essenes in their original context of second temple Judaism. In my estimation, even if the scrolls weren't produced at Qumran, it still helps to know about the time and place in which they first existed, and Lim does provide us with a good glimpse of the original context.

2. What are the Dead Sea Scrolls and Why do they Matter? by David Noel Freedman (Eerdmans, 2007)

Freedman is a formidable scholar of the OT, Early Judaism, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, this book is very accessible. Written in a question and answer format, the book covers all the introductory questions like "How were they discovered?" "What were the distinctive beliefs of the Qumran community?" and "How do the DSS relate to Early Christianity?" His discussion of the eschatology of the Essenes fills in a gap that was uncovered by Lim's book: so if you aren't up to date on the terms "children of light, wicked high priest, and son of light" this book is a good place to turn. Also, Freedman is clearly an expert on OT textual criticism, but he is also able to explain the differences and similarities between the DSS, the LXX, and the Masoretic text in a way that is easily understandable. The book also has a helpful glossary of terms related to the DSS. This is the first book I would read if I was completely unfamiliar with the Dead Sea Scrolls.

3. The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance For Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity by James C. VanderKam (Harper, 2004)

For those interested in a more in-depth introduction, this is the place to look. It is an update of his 1994 work "The Dead Sea Scrolls Today." Unlike Freedman and Lim's work, VanderKam gives several example translations of various passages from the scrolls and places them each in their theological, communal, and historical context, while addressing its relation to the Hebrew Bible, etc. He also devotes more space (which is good!) explaining the alternative theories of the scrolls' origins, although in the end he comes down siding with the traditional Essene community hypothesis. Since it's a larger introductory work, it contains pictures, graphs, and manuscript charts that might aid the visually inclined. He also includes some more technical discussion on the method of dating, and the technology used to study the manuscripts. Of course no book about the DSS would be complete without at least some writing about the scandals and controversies associated with their preservation and editing, and VanderKam does well to present this section in an equally scholarly tone as the rest of the work.

Lastly, for those interested in translations of the Dead Sea Scrolls, there's a few affordable ones out there:

1. "The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation" by Michael Wise and Martin Abegg
2. "The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English" by Geza Vermes