Seminari Theoloji Malaysia

The Dead Sea Scrolls & the Bible

Semester 1, 2017
th
9 11th February 2017
10.00am-6.00pm daily (6 hours of lectures excluding coffee breaks
and lunches)
Course Instructor: Dr Benjamin Wold
(3-credit hours elective for TEE/2-credit hours for BD/MDiv)
Course Description:
In the region of Judea during the Greek and Roman periods there
was great discontent with religious leaders and institutions, corrupt
politics, disparity between rich and poor, and strife and hardships
were part of daily life. Among reactions to this situation were two
popular teachers: a priest now known only by his nickname, the
Teacher of Righteousness, and Jesus of Nazareth. Although these
two figures and their groups never met, their religious thought
worlds, patterns of thinking, and fierce unhappiness with the status
quo are remarkably similar. The Dead Sea Scrolls preserve literature
that reflects the religious and theological world of the Teacher of
Righteousness, as the New Testament expresses that of Jesus and
his followers. The aim of this course is to introduce students to the
significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the study of the Bible.
Topics to be covered:
Introduction to the discovery of the Scrolls
The Archaeology of Qumran
The significance of the DSS for the study of OT and NT
The development of Jewish groups from the second cent. BC to
second cent. AD
Messianic Ideas in the DSS
Biblical interpretation in the DSS
Course Textbooks (see fuller bibliography further below):
Magness, Jody., The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea
Scrolls (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002).
Collins, John J., The Sceptre and the Star: The Messiahs of the Dead
Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature (New York/London:
DoubleDay, 1995).
Methods of Assessment:
1) Write a research paper of approximately 2,500 words on ONE of
the following topics (60%):

1. Assess the ways Scripture is interpreted in the Dead Sea

Scrolls and how this has influenced our understanding of
the use of Scripture in the New Testament.
2. Evaluate figures presented as Messiah in the Dead Sea
Scrolls and discuss continuities and discontinuities with the
portrayal of Jesus as Christ in the Gospels.
3. Was Qumran inhabited by Essenes and why does it, or
does it not, matter for the study of Christian Origins?
4. Do the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gospels share a
common aetiology of demonic beings?
5. Compare and contrast the Teacher of Righteousness and
Jesus of Nazareth.
6. Discuss the role the discovery of the Scrolls has playe
in conversations related to the New Perspective on Paul.
2) Write a critical review of ONE of the following books
(approximately 1,500-2000 words) (20%)
1. Magness, Jody., The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead
Sea Scrolls (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002).
2. Collins, John J., The Sceptre and the Star: The Messiahs of
the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature (New
York/London: DoubleDay, 1995).
3) Write a reflection paper on how by understanding the Dead Sea
Scrolls could aid you in the understanding the NT/OT and how
this could be used in your preaching/teaching ministry in your
ministerial context. Give specific examples in your reflection.
(approximately 2,000 words) (20%)
Deadline for submission of all papers: 12th May 2017 (Friday),
4.00pm
Bibliography
Allegro, J.M. The People of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Garden City, New
York: Doubleday, 1958).
Allegro, J.M. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth (Newton
Abbot: Westbridge Books, 1979)
Baigent, M. and Leigh, R. The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception (London:
Cape, 1991).
Baumgarten, J., Who Cares and Why Does It Matter? Qumran and
the Essenes, Once Again! Dead Sea Discoveries 11 (2004):
174-190.
Betz, O. and Riesner, R. Jesus, Qumran and the Vatican (London:
SCM Press, 1994).

Black, M. The Scrolls and Christian Origins (New York: Scribner,

1961).
Black, M. The Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Doctrine (London:
Athlone Press, 1966).
Black, M. The Scrolls and Christianity (London: SPCK, 1969).
Boccaccini, G., Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of the
Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism (Grand
Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans, 1998).
Brooke, G. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament (London:
SPCK, 2005).
Campbell, Jonathan G. Deciphering the Dead Sea Scrolls, 2nd ed.
(Oxford: Blackwell, 1996, 2002).
Charlesworth, J.H. (ed.), The Messiah (Mineapolis: Fortress Press,
1992).
Coloe, Mary L. and Thatcher, Tom (eds.), John, Qumran, and the
Dead Sea Scrolls: Sixty Years of Discovery and Debate (Atlanta:
Society of Biblical Literature, 2011).
Collins, John J., The Sceptre and the Star: The Messiahs of the Dead
Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature (New York/London:
DoubleDay, 1995).
Collins, John J., Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls (New
York/London: Routledge, 1997).
Collins, John J., The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to
Jewish Apocalyptic Literature (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984).
Collins, John J. Scriptures and Sectarianism, WUNT 332 (Tubingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 2014).
Cross, F.M. Jr. The Ancient Library of Qumran (Sheffield: Sheffield
Academic Press, 1995, 3rd ed., 1958, 1961).
Dunn, J.D.G., The New Perspective on Paul, Revised Edition (Grand
Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2008).
Eisenman, R. and O. Wise, M.O. The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
(Shaftsbury, Maine: Element Books, 1992).

Eisenman, R. Maccabees, Zadokites, Christians and Qumran: a new

hypothesis of Qumran Origins (Leiden: Brill, 1983).
Eisenman, R. James the Just in the Habakkuk Pesher (Leiden: Brill,
1986).
Eisenman, R. James the brother of Jesus: the key to unlocking the
secrets of early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls (New
York: Viking Press, 1997).
Fitzmyer, J. The Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Origins (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000).
Golb, N. Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? (New York: Scribner,
1995).
Harrington, Daniel J. Wisdom Tests from Qumran. (London/New York:
Routledge, 1996).
Lim, Timothy H. The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction
(Oxford: OUP, 2006).
Lim, Timothy H. & Collins, John J. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the
Dead Sea Scrolls (Oxford: OUP, 2010).
Magness, Jody, The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea
Scrolls (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002).
Milik, J.T. Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judaea (London:
SCM Press, 1959).
Rowley, H.H. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament (London:
SPCK, 1957).
Schiffman, L.H. Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls (Philadelphia:
Jewish Publication Society, 1994).
Schiffman, L.H. & VanderKam, J.C. (eds.), The Dead Sea Scrolls
Encyclopedia, 2 vols. (Oxford: OUP, 2000).
Stuckenbruck, L.T. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament,
in Qumran and the Bible: Studying the Jewish and Christian
Scriptures in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (eds. N. David & A
Lange; Leuven: Peeters, 2010) 131-70.
Ulrich, E. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Bible (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999).

VanderKam, J.C. The Dead Sea Scrolls Today (Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans, 1994).
VanderKam, J.C. JCVKs monograph on the Calendar at Qumran
(London: Routledge, 1998).
VanderKam, J. & Fint, P. (eds.) The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years:
A Comprehensive Assessment, vol. 2 (Leiden: Brill, 1999/2002).
VanderKam, J. & Flint, P., The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their
Significance for Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus and
Christianity (New York: Harper Collins, 2002).