Dead Sea Scrolls Coming to Milwaukee
Early in 1947, Muhammed adh-Dhib made a monumental, unexpected, discovery in a cave at the site we now call Qumran. His discovery uncovered as many as eight scrolls dating back to the first century B.C. These scrolls included portions of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. We call these scrolls, combined with more that followed, the Dead Sea Scrolls. The entire collection includes passages of Old Testament Scripture (in some cases entire books), as well as other historical volumes.
This resource provides archeologists, historians, and Bible scholars with the oldest known records of Scripture by about 1,000 years. The entire collection of eight-hundred plus scrolls contain portions of every Old Testament book except Esther. The most prominent books are Psalms (30 copies), Deuteronomy (25 copies), and Isaiah (19 copies).
The significant result of this incredible discovery is that the manuscripts themselves bear a striking resemblance to the earliest manuscripts previously discovered, the Masoretic Text (approx. A.D. 980). Until the DSS discovery, some scholars doubted the integrity of the MT. But the DSS revealed a word-for-word similarity to the MT 95% of the time. The remaining variations were due to obvious writing errors (slipped pen, etc.). This testimony underscores the integrity of scripture through the ages, despite the erosion of time and the criticism of cynics.
The Old Testament that was present during the first century (e.g., Acts 17:11), the birth of the church, is consistent with the Old Testament manuscripts that are available to us today. God certainly is able to preserve His Word. It is an eternal matter. And if God is able to preserve His Word throughout the ages on this earth, He certainly expects us to continue knowing it and applying it to our lives, the Old Testament included (2 Timothy 3:16)!
This being said, the Milwaukee Public Museum will be hosting the ”Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible” exhibit. This exhibit opens its doors on January 22, 2010, and the doors will remain open until June 6. To learn more about this exhibit, click here.
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Well, if I can’t get to Israel, the next best thing is to bring a piece of it to me. I’m really excited about this opportunity. I noticed the Museum offers discounts on groups of 15+. Perhaps several from the church could plan to go on the same day.
I’m sponsoring a group of college students to the DSS exhibit today. We begin our tour at 12:30PM. This might be a little late notice for you, but thought I’d mention it.
Our DSS exhibit yesterday proved to be very rewarding. The exhibit is professional and informative. It includes plenty of artifacts from the Dead Sea Scrolls region, informative displays about the discovery and excavation process, representative portions of the DSS (including the Great Isaiah Scroll and the Copper Scroll), some Greek manuscripts, and a nice collection of historical Bibles. My favorite item on display (other than the Great Isaiah Scroll) was the actual ossuary of Alexandar, son of Simon of Cyrenian (Mk. 15:21). If you get to visit the DSS exhibit for yourself, I’d be interested to hear your feedback. I hope you get the opportunity. You’ll be glad you did.
Mr. O.
The ossuary of Alexandar, son of Simon of Cyrenian was probably one of my favorites too (that, and the prayer/thought wall) because it related so closely to a Scripture passage!