When I was a college student from 1973-77, there was some talk about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Not much was actually known though because the Scrolls were closely guarded by a small group of scholars who greatly limited access. Fortunately, much has changed since then. The Scrolls and fragments have been catalogued, photographed and are widely available for study. They are a fascinating backround source for our upcoming sermon series on Jonah. Let me summarize some take-aways:
Taken Together, The Dead Sea Scrolls Are ANCIENT!
Before the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered and collected beginning in 1948, our oldest Hebrew language copies of the Old Testament - called the Masaerotic Text - were from the 900's. That is 9 centuries AFTER the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. The Scrolls as a collection appear to be from about 0 to 150 BC, basically 9 to 10 centuries OLDER than any other Hebrew language texts we have ever had. That means that in the course of my lifetime alone, our text basis of the Old Testament has become 900 years earlier!
It's Confirmed: There Was Very Little "Change" in the Texts Over Those Nine Centuries
Don't picture the Dead Sea Scrolls being a "xerox copy" of the corresponding texts of the Masaerotic - a "jot-for-jot and tittle-for-tittle" correspondence between the two. But neither are they centuries of hand-copies being altered by translation and error. Differences between the two are the topic of research and consideration by scholars, but overall, they are minor.
For example, consider this evaluation of one of the Dead Sea Scrolls copies of Isaiah:
Of the 166 words in Isaiah 53, there are only 17 letters in question. Ten of these letters are simply a matter of spelling, which does not affect the sense.(Bill - Like Color or Colour) Four more letters are minor stylistic changes, such as conjunctions. The three remaining letters comprise the word LIGHT, which is added in verse 11 and which does not affect the meaning greatly. Furthermore, this word is supported by the Septuagint (LXX). Thus, in one chapter of 166 words, there is only one word (three letters) in question after a thousand years of transmission - and this word does not significantly change the meaning of the passage. (Norman Geisler & William Nix, "A General Introduction to the Bible", Moody Press, Page 263).
CLICK HERE to read more on this point from a previous post of mine with that quotation: The Isaiah Scroll of Qumran: The Message Is Reliable
There Are Three Seperate Fragmentary Copies of Jonah
Each scroll is from a different location in the same vicinity. No one scroll is complete from some 20 centuries of aging and deterioration as seen listed below by their catalouge numbers:
- Item 4Q76 contains Jonah 1:1-5,7-10,15-16; 2:1,7; 3:2.
- Item 4Q81 contains Jonah 1:6-8, 10-16.
- Item 4Q82 contains Jonah 1:1-9; 2:3-10; 3:1-3; 4:5-11.
CLICK HERE for a fascinating photo of one fragment in this collection. It is helpful to see the small bits that scholars have to work with in texts that are this old.
CLICK HERE for the text portions that we DO have from Jonah compared with a modern English transation. You can see the limitations of the fragments but also the few and small differences the two. What stands out to the reader is how much is identical between the Dead Sea Scrolls and our best reconstruction of the text from all known resources.
CLICK HERE to see a detailed list with linked photos of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Wikipedia
