Archaeology: The Dead Sea scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls are actually hundreds of scrolls and scraps that date between 300 B.C. and A.D. 70. The first of them was found in 1947 in caves of the Qumran area near the Dead Sea about seven miles south of Jericho.

Some of the scrolls were found in jars. About one-third of the scrolls contain copies of portions of Old Testament books (every book but Esther). These copies are over 1,000 years older than most of the manuscripts scholars previously had available for study and translation.

This is one of the most important finds in history because it shows that the Old Testament was copied very accurately over the centuries. When the scrolls were compared with the oldest Masoretic text, on which most modern translations are based, only insignificant differences were found. Therefore we can be confident that our current translations are faithful to the original.

Kyle Campbell