Significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Old Testament - Lester L Grabbe - September 1975

Lester L Grabbe

It all began in the spring of 1947. Muhammed Adh-Dhib, a fifteen- year-old Bedouin boy, stumbled onto the first scrolls on the northwest shores of the Dead Sea. According to one story, he threw a stone at a runaway goat. The stone landed in a cave, and the boy heard the tinkle of breaking pottery. This led him to the manuscripts. When scholars examined these first manuscripts, they were astonished. Among them was a copy of the book of Isaiah, almost complete and dating from before the time of Jesus. Surprising Discovery. What caused biblical archaeologists to leap for joy when news of the Dead Sea Scrolls spread? The reason was clear. Valuable new information was now available in the field of Jewish studies. More important, here was background material for the study of the Old Testament biblical text itself. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library