This book is part of a series on 'Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature.' I've read several books from this series and they're all great stuff.

This one is a work of some world-renown DSS and OT scholars -- a collection of articles edited - he also edited a book on "DSS and the Origins of the Bible," which is likewise very interesting and which was published as part of the same series.

The second part has six articles that deal with biblical interpretation and DSS. Three articles in this section examine how Qumranites viewed and interpreted various events in Hebrew history through stories of Enoch, Abraham and Moses. Another article examines the possible impact DSS on the NT, Galatians to be specific. Both 4QMMT and Galatians discuss the phrase the "works of the Law," and Martin Abegg explores their possible theological connections.

Since the book isn't a work of a single author, it presents multiple views and angles on the topics of scriptures at Qumran and interpretation. It is a good read and good scholarship that challenges some deeply entrenched, yet poorly attested notions about the development of canon and the use of scripture in the late Second Temple period. I highly recommend this book.

My background for this is meager, just a keen interest in the inter-testamental era. (200 BCE to 200 AD) And some careful reading of the excelent books by Golb and Wise.

However, one doesn't need to be a Biblical scholar to enjoy the divers points of view represented here.

My favorite sections were those concerning the copper scroll, which told of the locations of other caches.

Let's evaluate this scroll with a recent article in US News & World Report (July 9, 2001, page 44: "Gone, but not forgotten") In that article it was reported how a Jewish photographer in Poland in October 1942, stashed 400 photographs in numerous different locations.

After the war he returned and found them all. This is remarkable, and leads us to the question as to how many Dead Sea Scrolls remain to be found?

One of the authors notes that in the perios of the Roman conquest (66 AD to 70 AD) the temple at Jerusalem was under the influence of a sect called "Pharisees". (See Mathew and Acts for comparable discussion) Since this group was of an "oral history" bent, as compared with Saducees, who were more inclined to write, it is probable that scribes, not priests were the carriers (buryers) of the thousands of leather scrolls.

This is a great book. A page turner. If you get just one on this topic, buy this one.

Oh, is it possible that more scrolls will be found under the tallis (rubble) at Masada?

Bernie Lumbert Phoenix, AZ