AT last it is possible to say something definite about the newly discovered manuscript of the book of Isaiah. Writing in The Biblical Archaeologist, Dr. G. Ernest Wright calls this "The most important discovery ever made in Old Testament manuscripts.” And indeed it is just that.
Sometime toward the end of last February the Metropolitan and one of the priests of the Syrian Orthodox Monastery of St. Mark in Jerusalem came to the American School of Oriental Research. They brought with them four ancient Hebrew manuscripts, two of which were in parchment and two in leather. The Director of the school, Dr. Millar Burrows, was absent at the time, but two of the school's fellows were on hand. One of them, Dr. John C. Trever, identified one of the manuscripts as a copy of the Prophecy of Isaiah. On April 11 Dr. Burrows made the first official public announcement about the discovery. According to him, this manuscript should be dated from the First Century B.C. This was nothing short of astounding, for up until this time the earliest complete Hebrew manuscripts were only from the ninth century A. D.
There was in existence however a tiny fragment of a Hebrew manuscript, the so-called Nash papyrus, which comprised only a part of Deuteronomy. After examining the new find and comparing it with the Nash papyrus, Dr. William F. Albright concluded that the Isaiah manuscript was earlier than at first suggested, and he would place it in the Second Century B.C.
When announcement was first made of this wonderful discovery, it was stated that these manuscripts had been preserved throughout the years at the Syrian Orthodox Monastery in Jerusalem. This, however, now seems to have been a mistake. Apparently it was during the course of this past winter that some Bedouin discovered in a cave near the northern shore of the Dead Sea some earthenware jars which had been wrapped in linen and covered with black wax. In these jars were several hundred pages of Hebrew manuscripts, both Biblical and Apocryphal. This information comes from the archaeologist, Dr. E.L. Sukenik of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who remarks, "The leather scrolls on which these texts are inscribed are only partly deciphered yet, but I am certain some of them are over 2000 years old, which means that they are from the period preceding the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D." In other words, some of these leather scrolls may have been written during the lifetime of our Lord or even earlier.
Evidently these Bedouin brought some of the manuscripts to the Syrian Monastery, and thus they were taken to the American School. The present writer has received a particular thrill from this discovery, since, during his stay in Jerusalem he went almost daily to the Syrian Monastery to study the Syriac language. These monks of the monastery are most certainly to be commended for bringing their precious finds into the hands of those who are capable of studying them properly.
For these are precious finds. While the information about them is yet in the most preliminary stage (the writer has simply based this article upon the report in The Biblical Archaeologist) nevertheless, if it is correct that the manuscript of Isaiah does come from the second century B. C., certain severe blows are thereby dealt to certain schools of negative criticism. For one thing, the school of Bernhard Duhm and of all those who would date parts of Isaiah later than the second century B. C. are shown to be in serious error. Indeed, this manuscript, if it really does comprise the entire book of Isaiah, will make it harder for critics to assert that the book underwent a long period of composition at the hand of various authors and schools.
The present writer knows of no discovery, not even the Ras Schamra texts, which can be regarded as phenomenal as this one is. For this is actually a copy of the Word of God, the oldest copy of any part of the Old Testament now extant. It is only with impatience that one awaits further releases concerning the manuscript, and above all a well-photographed edition of the text itself. The writer promises that, just as soon as further information is available he will communicate it to the readers of THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN. This is a discovery for which we should give great praise to God.