The Dead Sea scrolls today / James C. VanderKam. [print]

1. Discoveries. Introduction ; The Qumran discoveries: The first cave ; The seven original scrolls ; The cave itself ; The other caves ; The ruins of Qumran ; The de Vaux excavations and interpretations ; The buildings ; The cemeteries ; Subsequent studies and interpretations ; The buildings ; The cemeteries ; Methods for dating the discoveries ; Methods for dating the texts ; Paleography ; Accelerator mass spectrometry ; Internal allusions ; Methods for dating the other archeological remains ; Carbon ; Pottery ; Coins

2. Survey of the manuscripts. Biblical texts: Biblical scrolls ; Targums ; Tefillin and Mezuzot Apocryphal and pseudepigraphal texts: Apocrypha ; Tobit ; Sirach (Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira) ; Letter of Jeremiah (= Baruch 6) ; Psalm 151 ; Pseudepigrapha ; Enoch or 1 Enoch ; Jubilees ; Testaments of the twelve patriarchs ; New pseudepigrapha ; Other texts: Commentaries on biblical material ; Continuous commentaries ; The Habakkuk Commentary (1QpHab) ; The Nahum Commentary (4Q169) ; The Commentary on Psalms (4Q171,173) ; Thematic commentaries ; Florilegium (4Q174) ; The Testimonia (4Q175) ; The Melchizedek text (11QMelch) ; A commentary on Genesis (4Q252) ; Paraphrases ; Legal texts: The Damascus document ; The rule of the community ; The Temple scroll Some of the works of the Torah (4QMMT) ; Writings for worship: The cycle of worship ; Liturgical texts ; Calendrical texts ; Poetic compositions ; The thanksgiving hymns ; Other poems ; Eschatological works: The war rule ; Texts about the New Jerusalem ; Wisdom texts: 4Q184 Wiles of the wicked woman ; 4Q185 Sapiential work ; Instruction ; The copper scroll (3Q15) ; Documentary texts

3. The identification of the Qumran Group. The case for the Essene hypothesis ; The evidence from Pliny the Elder ; the contents of the Qumran texts and Essene beliefs and practices ; Theology: Determinism ; The afterlife ; Practice: Nonuse of oil ; Property ; The pure meal ; Bodily functions ; Spitting ; Problems with the Essene hypothesis ; Entry procedures ; Marriage ; The name Essene ; Other theories: Sadducees ; Jerusalem origins

4. The Qumran Essenes. A sketch of the Qumran group's history ; The pre-Qumran period ; The Qumran period: Phase I ; Phase II ; A sketch of Qumran thought and practice: Predeterminism ; The two ways ; The community of the New Covenant ; Scriptural interpretation: The latter days ; Special laws ; The Universe ; Worship ; The end and the messiahs ; The Qumran Essenes and their place in Judaism

5. The scrolls and the Old Testament. The test of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament ; The period of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament ; The pre-Qumran textual witnesses: The Masoretic text ; The Septuagint ; The Samaritan Pentateuch ; Qumran contributions: The great Isaiah scroll ; Qumran agreements with the Septuagint against the Masoretic text: Minor examples ; Major Examples: Jeremiah ; Samuel ; An unusual case ; Theories about textual development: A theory of local texts ; A theory of textual plurality and variety ; successive literary editions ; New information about the history of some texts: The Book of Psalms ; Daniel 4 ; A canon of scripture ; Evidence outside Qumran: The prologue to Sirach (the Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira) ; 2 Macc 2:13-15 ; Philo, On the contemplative life 25 ; Luke 24:44 ; Matt 23:35 ; 4 Ezra 14:23-48 ; Josephus, Against Apion 1.37-43 ; Evidence from Qumran: Criteria ; Authoritative books: Books quoted as authorities ; Other authoritative books: Jubilees ; 1 Enoch ; The Temple scroll

6. The scrolls and the New Testament. Introduction ; Similarities between the scrolls and the New Testament ; Language and text: Language ; The many ; The guardian ; Other examples ; Text: New Testament papyri in cave 7? ; Qumran words and phrases in the New Testament ; The Sermon on the Mount ; Characters: John the Baptist ; Others ; Practices: Shared property ; The meal ; Calendar Eschatology: Messianism ; Biblical interpretation ; Teachings ; Conclusions

7. Controversies about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Editing and publishing the scrolls ; Events since 1989.

"The Dead Sea Scrolls Today" is the second edition update to the study of the Dead Seas Scrolls, manuscripts which provide a decidedly different and insightful view of the Bible.

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