Dead Sea Scrolls

They have been researched for a good while now, books have been written on them. I wasn’t aware they changed anything but simply verified what was already known.

This reminded me of a book I have 'The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception' by Michael Baigent & Richard Leigh. I have had it for a few years and have decided to go threw it now to see what they are opposing about the DSS. The main thing I know is the sect was a group of celibate men with strict routines. Thx for the topic, it is very interesting indeed.

The Essenes are not mentioned in the New Testament even though they existed as a group during the time Christ lived here on earth. They were active from about 200 BC to about AD 100 according to scholars.

Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, we only knew of the Essenes from contemporary writers like Pliny, Philo and Josephus.

It is surprising that the authors of the New Testament books did not mentioned them. As scholars translate more of the scrolls over time, we will hopefully learn more about the Essenes and their relationship with contemporary Christians. This is indeed a very interesting subject.

I don't think knowing of the Essene Sect of time of Christ, or that the NT is not mentioned are the way the DSC impact our life today. What they have done for us is to give us copies of scripture about a thousand years older than any we have had. These scriptures and today's scriptures are almost the same, verifying that our scripture today is accurate.

Even though it does not mention Christ or Paul, the wording used in the gospels, Rev. and by Paul is much the same in DSS. These writings give us the culture of biblical times, helping with an understanding of Christ.

Our modern church has gotten farther and farther away from understanding the OT, or taking it seriously. Because it tells of cultures and times not like ours, and speaks of rituals that do not apply to us, our church has separated itself more and more from those times. Because God is part of the OT this separation has also separated us from Christ within us. With the new understanding the DSS has brought, there is new understanding of the God of the OT, understanding the NT God is the same God.

Our modern church has become more and more Greek, a culture that is not the culture of our Lord. Almost all of the DSS is in Hebrew, bringing us back to a Hebrew God.

The Essenes were still a classification of being a Pharisee. They highly disagreed with the writings of Paul and did not accept that Yeshua was Divine. Their few scriptures that we do have from their "Bread Basket," or Bible does not speak about the version of Yeshua being born. They have Yeshua's first appearance on scene when He meets John and seeks out to be baptized. Interestingly though, they claim when Yeshua was age 30, this was the actual time Herod was king (the man who had all 2 year old and under males be killed).

My favorite verse of theirs has Yeshua threatening the Jews by exclaiming, "if you do not stop animal sacrificing, His Father will not stop with His wrath against them."

Interesting point of view, the Essenes had!!

TE="obedienttogod, post: 3834736, member: 279371"]The Essenes were still a classification of being a Pharisee. They highly disagreed with the writings of Paul and did not accept that Yeshua was Divine. Their few scriptures that we do have from their "Bread Basket," or Bible does not speak about the version of Yeshua being born. They have Yeshua's first appearance on scene when He meets John and seeks out to be baptized. Interestingly though, they claim when Yeshua was age 30, this was the actual time Herod was king (the man who had all 2 year old and under males be killed).

My favorite verse of theirs has Yeshua threatening the Jews by exclaiming, "if you do not stop animal sacrificing, His Father will not stop with His wrath against them."

Interesting point of view, the Essenes had!![/QUOTE]
I don't think the study of the religion of the Essenes captures the positive effects of the DSS. I am sure, as these scrolls were in plain sight for 2,000 years that God had a purpose in our finding them, finally. I was hoping that we could all search for the purpose of this finding for us, but I am sure that the purpose is not in dissecting the religion of a sect.

If finding them was through God's working for us, we know demons will try to make that purpose support Him. It could be the finding was not under God's direction so they work for good. I was so hoping this subject could be explored by Christians. I have found much good that has resulted from the findings. Besides, the fight for them from the Arabs makes an exciting do done it sort of tale.

I was clarifying something to the poster who introduced the Essenes to this thread. I agree, they do not correlate nor relate to the DSS at all.

Scholars believe that the Essenes wrote or collected most all of the parchment and papyrus scrolls found at Qumran. They are said to have lived in a settlement nearby. Among the languages of the DDS and fragments are Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic ( language spoken by Christ) and paleo-Hebrew.

Studying who wrote the DDS gives us a greater understading of the scrolls. Look up the DDS and the Essenes on the internet. Very interesting subject.

One of the most amazing discoveries was that the Isaiah scroll found with the Dead Seal Scrolls was identical to the book of Isaiah found in Masoretic Text.

The Dead Sea Scrolls include biblical and well and non-biblical material. Regarding the biblical manuscripts here is what they discovered:

"Among the Scrolls are partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible (except the book of Esther). About a dozen copies of some of these holy books were written in ancient paleo-Hebrew (the script of the First Temple era, not the standard script of the time).

Many biblical manuscripts closely resemble the Masoretic Text, the accepted text of the Hebrew Bible from the second half of the first millennium ce until today. This similarity is quite remarkable, considering that the Qumran Scrolls are over a thousand years older than previously identified biblical manuscripts.

Strikingly, some biblical manuscripts feature differences from the standard Masoretic biblical language and spelling. Additions and deletions in certain texts imply that the writers felt free to modify texts they were copying..."

https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/introduction

The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm the doctrine of the divine preservation of the Scriptures. As to the manuscripts that are inconsistent, we should keep in mind that the Qumran sect had their own ideas about things which were not necessarily correct (just like the Pharisees). Therefore there was some corruption of the true text (as also found to the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint).

Before the scrolls were found it was thought that Greek was commonly spoken, but the scrolls are mostly in Hebrew. Also, the notes included in the burial boxes of the Jews are in Hebrew.

There is one scroll with words engraved on copper that tells of 64 buried treasures around Palestine that have never been found.

The scrolls have been badly treated, some even patched with scotch tape. The story of gaining control of the scrolls reads like a who done it book. Some have even been advertised for sale in newspapers.

Yes, interesting indeed. I did find it most interesting that the Essenes (Pharisees) completely disagreed with Paul (who as Saul, claimed, he was the son of a Pharisee and was the Pharisee of Pharisees[/b]) and believed that his letters had no business being together with the Gospels. It would have been nice to have had access to everything they had within their possession. I get irritated knowing so many Books were left out of the Canon and destroyed. When we have God (Yeshua) quoting Enoch, Jude writing about Enoch's written scrolls, and Joshua and David mentioning the Book of Jasher and cannot find neither Enoch or Jasher in the Canon it proves how ignorant the Council was. It basically confirms, the only Books accepted, were those whom the leader already pre-chosen and the Council ignored their actual duty by kissing butt!!

I think what they are would be easier seen from Hebrew thinking. Why I say this is from the Hebrew word Ganaz(to hide,hidden) and this is probably a Ganizah where older scrolls that contained his name or religious writings were copied and hidden when they had grown old and unusable. They believed(and still do) that things such as this could not be burned or simply discarded and so would wall them up in temples, caves tombs ect.

The Essenes were not Pharisees but a different isolationist sect altogether, with Gnostic tendencies. Since they belonged to the 2nd and 3rd centuries before Christ (that is the dating for the scrolls), they may not even have been around when Christ was on earth. At least they are not mentioned in the New Testament.

According to their history, which was around 2 BC - 1 AD (so the remnant) would had been around During Christ's time. I wonder if they were referred to as the Scribes. Anyway, there is a claim the Essense were a group of members who once were both Pharisees or Sadducees. But these members were disgusted and formed their own group.

Josephus claims there were 3 idealism's during the time of Christ (Pharisees-Sadducees-Essenes).

Makes me wonder if the English translation in the KJV is calling them the Scribes.

The Essenes couldn't be called the Scribes. They lived in a closed community that required several years testing to join. They never married and all their goods were kept by the community, each shared everything. Before clothes could be replaced the old ones must be completely worn out. Their food was so simple and plain that they lived to a very old age. They took a cold bath each evening before the evening meal and then worked after eating until dark. There were communities of the Essenes in many of the villages.

It is not known for sure if the DSS were of the village of Qumran, What iamsoandso wrote makes more sense.

Certainly the DSS has made a tremendous impact on our knowledge of Christ through their writings giving us history and through the ancient copies of the OT. Also by helping us with language of those times.