SUMMARY: A recent article publishes how Dead Sea Scroll fragments in storage since the 1950s have been discovered to contain scriptural texts.
While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses. Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan… Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it before the king. And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes. – 2 Chronicles 34:14-19 (ESV)
Dramatic Appearances of Ancient Biblical Texts
Ancient biblical texts have a habit of making dramatic appearances. Sometimes, this is because they have been discovered in the most unlikely of places, such as with the so-called “European Genizah” that were recovered from the bindings and notarial files of old books sitting in libraries. On some occasions, though, their discovery has been in predictable spaces, but of such quantity, condition, or age that the discovery is genuinely extraordinary (such as with the Cairo Genizah).
As we will see, the Bible records instances when texts showed up when least expected. Still, at other times, ancient biblical texts have emerged from where they were simply hiding in plain sight. This is apparently the case with the John Rylands’ Ronald Reed Collection at the University of Manchester.
Blank Scroll Fragments or Faded Text?
A press release issued by the University in May 2020 has announced the discovery of hidden Hebrew/Aramaic text on fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls. According to the announcement, a recent study was conducted on a collection of seemingly blank Dead Sea Scroll fragments. The collection had previously been gifted by the Jordanian Government to Professor Ronald Reed, leather expert at the University of Leeds, for the purpose of experimentation. Since the fragments appeared to be blank, they were believed to be good candidates for the purpose of analysis on their physical and chemical composition.
When it Pays to Take a Closer Look
Professor Reed originally received the fragments in the 1950s, at which time they were studied, published, and subsequently stored away. In 1997 the collection was transferred to the University of Manchester’s John Rylands Library. This was part of an initiative with textual specialist, Professor George Brooke, but had sat virtually “untouched” since. Recently, though, they became the subject of a new study after Professor Joan Taylor thought she observed the Hebrew letter lamedh on one of the fragments.
Professor Taylor explained, “Looking at one of the fragments with a magnifying glass, I thought I saw a small, faded letter – a lamed, the Hebrew letter ‘L’, …. Frankly, since all these fragments were supposed to be blank and had even been cut into for leather studies, I also thought I might be imagining things. But then it seemed maybe other fragments could have very faded letters too.” She was right.
The result of Professor Taylor’s curiosity was that 51 fragments over 1 cm in size and appearing to be blank were imaged front and back using multispectral imaging. Of these, 6 were identified for further analysis out of which 4 were discovered to contain legible Hebrew/Aramaic text. Ruled lines were also observable, and some fragments contained trace elements of letters no longer visible. (See one of the last remaining Dead Sea Scrolls deciphered.)
When asked about her hunch, Professor Taylor explained the motive for her investigation. She stated, “With new techniques for revealing ancient texts now available, I felt we had to know if these letters could be exposed. There are only a few on each fragment, but they are like missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle you find under a sofa.”
New Revelations: Textual Discoveries In Context
The most significant of the fragments contained 15-16 partially preserved letters over four lines of text, including the word Shabbat. The team speculated that the text may have come from Ezekiel 46:1-3.
The results of the investigation are significant for several reasons, the first of which is the timing. The study and press release appear as many recent reports related to Dead Sea Scroll fragments have been connected to cases of fraud or forgeries. This has cast an unfortunate shadow on the field of Dead Sea Scrolls studies.
What makes the Manchester University case unique, by way of contrast, is that the fragments in the John Rylands Library were unearthed as part of official excavations undertaken in the Qumran caves. These fragments were identified, recovered, and catalogued in sanctioned field work in the 1950s and have been in secured environments ever since. This means that they were never part of the antiquities market and so possess a clear provenance, meaning that their authenticity is not in question.
Even though the fragments are meager, and the text is slight, the findings are important for all disciplines and researchers that interact with artifacts. For example, the project illustrates how even seemingly insignificant artifacts can yield valuable insight when handled appropriately. The holdings do not have to be large; the collection does not have to be dramatic. Yet, the relatively insignificant fragments studied in this project are of no small consequence for this University.
Professor Christopher Pressler, John Rylands University Librarian and Director of The University of Manchester Library summarized the idea well. He stated, “Our University is now the only institution in the United Kingdom to hold authenticated textual fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls.” The study is being catalogued as part of an ongoing effort to document and analyze dispersed Qumran Cave artifacts. (See a past Thinker Update investigating who wrote and hid the Dead Sea Scrolls.)
The Irresistible Draw of the Dead Sea Scrolls
The story of the Dead Sea Scrolls is gripping. Few, it seems, are unfamiliar with the story, and almost all who hear it for the first time are captivated by the question: How could thousands of biblical manuscript fragments including a few complete scrolls have survived in desert caves for 2,000 years?
The question is so compelling that today an archaeological park, complete with a visitor’s center and restaurant, is located in the depths of the Judean desert one mile from the Dead Sea – the lowest place on Earth. It is frequently visited by adventurers, explorers, and other enthusiasts. As experienced by Professor Taylor and her research team, the magnetism of ancient biblical texts, written thousands of years ago, and somehow preserved in the desert, is irresistible.
One aspect of the story is simply related to man and nature. When members of the Qumran community discarded their obsolete and worn out sacred texts in their genizah – a kind of pre-burial isolation chamber, the manuscripts remained in an unusually stable condition. The climatological conditions in the caves prevented further decomposition.
Dramatic Biblical Accounts of Biblical Texts Appearing
There’s another aspect to the story, however. Ancient biblical texts have a habit of making dramatic appearances. King Josiah experienced this as recorded in 2 Chronicles 34. The text explains that after Josiah came to the throne of Judah, he instituted a variety of reforms. These included an extensive purge of idolatry, repairs for the temple, and a restoration of worship. (See the inspired exhibit of biblical artifacts in Hong Kong.)
Surprisingly, the biblical narrative records that in the process of making the repairs, Hilkiah the priest “… found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses” (2 Chronicles 34:14 ESV). This was apparently a scroll that contained all or some portion of the Torah. On the one hand it is surprising that the scroll was lost. On the other hand, it showed up and was presented to the right King at the right time. And when he understood its contents, he was shaken to the core. (See evidence of state-of-the-art technology allowing the reading of an ancient charred scroll that proves the purity of the biblical text.)
Later, on a similar occasion, King Josiah’s son Jehoiakim was presented with a scroll from the prophet Jeremiah. The occasion was similar – royal officials brought the prophet’s scroll to the king; however, the reaction was quite different. In the case of Jehoiakim, he had no regard for the Word of God and so he destroyed the scroll by cutting off the columns and casting it into the fireplace in front of him.
As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. – Jeremiah 36:23 (ESV)
What Jehoiakim didn’t know was that texts from Yahweh’s established prophets don’t just go away. In fact, the Word of God came to Jeremiah a second time, and he reproduced the original scroll, but added a customized new section, with a special message just for the stubborn king. The text says,
Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the LORD, You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night…’” – Jeremiah 36:27-30 (ESV)
The Enduring Word of God
The Psalms give some insight into this phenomenon in passages like Psalm 119:89 that says, “Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” What we learn here is that God’s Word is permanently settled. There is an eternal and enduring quality to God’s Word that makes it unique. Our museums and institutions provide countless examples of how this is the case, and the longer we go on, the more extensive the reality demonstrates itself to be. God’s Word just has a habit of showing up, and that’s something about which you can KEEP THINKING!
TOP PHOTO: Reading Room of the John Ryland’s Library (Credit: Mdbeckwith – CC BY 3.0)
NOTE: Not every view expressed by scholars contributing Thinker articles necessarily reflects the views of Patterns of Evidence. We include perspectives from various sides of debates on biblical matters so that readers can become familiar with the different arguments involved. – Keep Thinking!
