THOSE who love the Bible as the Word of God are always interested when they hear of new discoveries which bear upon the Scriptures. At present there is considerable discussion in certain magazines and journals about a number of ancient manuscripts which have recently been brought to the attention of the religious world. Some who have examined these manuscripts assert that they are very old, some of them even belonging to the second century before Christ. Others are not convinced that they are pre-Christian in origin. What are these manuscripts and what is their importance?
The Manuscript Find
The account of the discovery of these manuscripts makes fascinating reading. During the month of February 1948, the director of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem, Dr. Millar Burrows, left the school for a two-week trip to Iraq. On Wednesday afternoon, February 18, Dr. John C. Trever, a Fellow at the school, whom Dr. Burrows had left in temporary charge, was informed that a priest of the Syrian Orthodox Convent of St. Marks, Father Butros Sowmy, was on the telephone and wanted to talk about some ancient scrolls which were in the library of the convent. At two-thirty the next afternoon Father Sowmy came to the school and produced five scrolls and a small fragment. Among these the most important and significant was a copy of the entire book of Isaiah. The story of the discovery of these treasures is as follows:
During 1947 some Bedouin found the manuscript in a cave in the wilderness by the Dead Sea, a place known as Ain Faschkha. Thinking that the scrolls were Syriac, they took them to a merchant in Bethlehem who belonged to the Syrian community. The Bethlehem merchant told a Jerusalem merchant, also a member of the Syrian community, about the find. This latter, during the Holy Week festivals (April 1947) told the Syrian Archbishop of Jerusalem and Transjordan, Mar Athanasius Y. Samuel, about the find, stating that the scrolls had been wrapped like mummies. The Archbishop was interested and endeavored to see the scrolls.
A few days later both merchants appeared before the Archbishop with one of the scrolls. He recognized that the writing was not Syriac, but Hebrew. It was some weeks later, however, before the Bedouin finally brought the scrolls to the convent. However, when three of the Bedouin did finally appear, they were so rough looking, and the scrolls which they had were so dirty that the gatekeeper refused them entrance into the convent. The Bedouin later became separated with the result that some of the scrolls found their way ultimately to the Hebrew University at Jerusalem rather than to the American School of Oriental Research. One of the Bedouin took the scrolls which he had to the Moslem Sheikh at Bethlehem, and thus they were lost to the American School.
Two weeks later, however, two of the Bedouin returned, and the Archbishop purchased five scrolls and a few fragments which they had with them. At the direction of the Archbishop a priest was sent with the Jerusalem merchant to investigate the cave in which the manuscripts had been found. He brought back the report that the floor of the cave was strewn with pieces of manuscripts and cloth beside broken jars.
In September 1947 the Rev. J. van der Ploeg, a Roman Catholic scholar and author of a very worthwhile book upon the subject of the Servant of the Lord in the prophecy of Isaiah, examined the scrolls and declared that the largest was the book of Isaiah. Apparently, then, van der Ploeg was the first to identify the Isaiah manuscript. When he later mentioned the find at the Dominican School in Jerusalem, however, he was told that the scrolls could not be as old as he had dared to think.
The Archbishop continued to believe that the discoveries were very old. A friend sought to dissuade him, but he adhered to his convictions, and finally, at the suggestion of the Rev. Butros Sowmy, a Syrian priest who was killed in May 1948 when the convent was shelled, decided to approach the American School in Jerusalem.
The American School Manuscripts—Isaiah
Dr. Trever relates that when he first saw the long scroll, he compared it with a slide of the Nash Papyrus, and thus was convinced of its antiquity. Most important of these scrolls which were brought to the American School is this long manuscript of the book of Isaiah. This is a parchment consisting of fifty-four columns and containing, apart from a few minor exceptions, the entire Biblical book of Isaiah. It is about ten and one-quarter inches in height and consists of seventeen sheets sewn together. The material is said to be either rough parchment or animal skins carefully prepared so as to approach the refinement of parchment. These sheets vary in their length and consequently in the number of columns which are written upon them. Two of these sheets have only two columns of writing, whereas ten sheets have three columns and five have four columns. The columns also vary in their width, the narrowest being but a little under four inches and the widest about six and one half inches.
When Dr. Trever first saw the scroll, the last two columns, i.e., 54 and 53, had separated from the remainder. The thread which held them together had disintegrated, and since these two columns were on the outside, column 54 was particularly worn as a result of handling. However, from column 52 to column 9 the scroll was intact, but columns 8 to 1 were fragile and in fragmentary condition. At one time there was a cover sewn over the manuscript, for the needle holes and even pieces of thread on the first sheet bear witness to this fact. Needless to say, the cover is now lost.
To date very little of this precious manuscript has been published. The present writer has seen only the photographs which have been printed in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. One of these is particularly striking. It is a photograph of column 33 and on this column there is written the text of Isaiah 40:2b-28a. The top line reads as follows: “--that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all—." This will give the reader an idea of how long a line is. This first line actually contains twelve Hebrew words. In the present writer's opinion, the handwriting upon the scroll—at least upon that portion of the scroll which he has seen—is beautifully done. The letters are clear and easy to read and only occasionally does there appear to be crowding or error of spacing. It is interesting to note that the scribe used a line by which to measure the tops of the letters. We write "on the line," and use the line to guide the bottom of our letters, but the scribe of this manuscript did the opposite. He used his guiding line to regulate the tops of the letters. Only one letter, the Hebrew "L," called lamedth, extends above the line. The result is quite a pleasing effect. The lines are well spaced, and there are twenty-nine of them in column 33.
The words are also well spaced so that in reading one has no difficulty. Chapter and verse divisions are not indicated, but there is a system of paragraphs. A paragraph begins, however, not by indenting a new line, but simply by not filling out completely the last line of the preceding paragraph. The new paragraph begins right at the edge of the margin, without any indenting whatsoever. There are some exceptions to this rule, but they occur usually where the line of the previous paragraph is full. Those of us who have followed the news of this discovery from the beginning are eagerly awaiting the time when this entire manuscript will be photographed and published. Apparently it is the oldest copy of the book of Isaiah in existence, and its value for the study of the Bible is indeed great. In a subsequent article we shall consider that value more fully.
The Remaining Manuscripts
The next scroll is considerably smaller in size than the large Isaiah manuscript. It contains only eleven columns, and is written in a beautiful Hebrew script upon five sheets of parchment. When first seen at the American School, it was in two pieces and required considerable repairing. There appears, however, to have been no evidences of repair in ancient times, and apparently this shorter scroll received far less handling than did that of Isaiah. The scribe was not the same as the one who wrote the Isaiah scroll, but it has been suggested that the two are from the same general period. At present this scroll is known as "The Sectarian Document," and it is thought to be a manual of discipline of some group within Judaism, possibly containing the oath of initiation. In a subsequent article we shall have more to say about the content of the "Sectarian Document.”
The third scroll is identified as a commentary upon the book of Habakkuk. Through the ages, this scroll has been badly damaged, the damage, however, being due more to worms than to age. The handwriting is said to be the most beautifully preserved of any. The total length is five feet, and there are now thirteen columns of writing. The fourth scroll which was brought to the American School was in a bad state of preservation and at first was not unrolled. I have read, however, that it has been examined and that it is written in Aramaic, resembling the Apocryphal book of Enoch in its contents.
In addition to these four scrolls there was a tiny fragment of leather, approximately two and one-half inches by one and two-thirds inches in size. Two words in Aramaic have been made out, but whether this fragment is actually a part of the fourth scroll or not, seems at present difficult to determine. So much, then for a description of the manuscripts which were brought to the American School in Jerusalem. When the reader learns that competent scholars are asserting that the manuscript of Isaiah belongs to the second century B.C., he will immediately perceive how important these scrolls are. Is this judgment, however, correct? It has been challenged, and the challenge has come from men who are expertly qualified to pronounce a judgment.
In a subsequent article we shall first seek to describe the manuscripts which found their way into the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Then we shall endeavor to acquaint the reader with the discussion and controversy which has been carried on with respect to these remarkable manuscripts. Lastly, we shall endeavor, in a cautious manner, to indicate what we believe the importance of these scrolls to be. In doing this, we shall speak more particularly of the Isaiah manuscript.