Dead Sea Scrolls
The most important archaeological discovery for biblical studies. 972 scrolls from 11 caves, dating 250 BC to 68 AD.
Dead Sea Scrolls Coverage by Book
Percentage of verses attested in DSS manuscripts – hover a cell for details, click to read
In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd named Muhammad edh-Dhib threw a stone into a cave near the Dead Sea. He heard pottery break. Inside, he found clay jars holding ancient scrolls wrapped in linen. It was the first of many remarkable finds in the area known as Qumran.
Between 1947 and 1956, archaeologists found manuscripts in 11 caves near the Dead Sea. Some were nearly complete books. Others were only tiny fragments. Together they form the largest collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts ever found.
Three Categories of Scrolls
Copies of every Old Testament book except Esther. The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a) is the most complete, containing all 66 chapters of Isaiah in near-perfect condition.
Rules, hymns, and teachings written by the Qumran community itself. These include the Community Rule (1QS), the War Scroll (1QM), and the Thanksgiving Hymns (1QH).
Texts not in the Bible but known from other sources, such as 1 Enoch, Jubilees, and Tobit. These help us understand what Jewish people were reading and thinking about during the Second Temple period.
Before 1947, the oldest known Hebrew Bible manuscripts dated to around 900 AD. These were the Masoretic texts, carefully copied by Jewish scholars over many centuries. The Dead Sea Scrolls pushed that date back more than 1,000 years, giving us manuscripts from around 125 BC or even earlier.
Scholars compared the new scrolls to the Masoretic texts and found they matched remarkably well. A few passages were worded differently, but the core message and content were very close. This confirmed that the text of the Hebrew Bible had been copied with great care across more than a thousand years of history.
Messianic Hopes and Jesus
The Dead Sea Scrolls help us understand the world that Jesus and his first followers lived in. The Qumran community expected two messiahs: a priestly messiah from the line of Aaron and a royal messiah from the line of David. This background helps explain why the New Testament writers were so careful to describe Jesus as both priest and king.
The scrolls also shed light on John the Baptist. John lived in the wilderness near the Jordan River, very close to where the Qumran community settled. Like the Essenes, John preached repentance, practiced ritual washing with water, and quoted the same verse from Isaiah 40:3 to describe his mission. Many scholars believe John may have known the Essenes or shared some of their ideas.
Language that once seemed unique to the New Testament now appears in the scrolls: “sons of light” versus “sons of darkness,” the “Spirit of truth,” the battle between good and evil, and the idea of a new covenant. These phrases show that early Christians were drawing on a rich tradition of Jewish thought that the scrolls have now helped us recover.
Comparing DSS manuscripts to the Masoretic text we use today revealed the Hebrew Bible was transmitted with exceptional faithfulness. The Great Isaiah Scroll, 1,000 years older than any previous Hebrew manuscript, matches our current text in nearly every detail.
Because DSS manuscripts predate Jesus by at least 100 years, they prove that messianic prophecies in Isaiah, Daniel, and the Psalms were already recorded before the events Christians believe they predicted.
The scrolls show us how rich and varied Jewish thought was in the centuries before and during Jesus. They preserve ideas, prayers, and interpretations that would otherwise be completely lost.
The scrolls show which books were being read and copied most widely. Books like Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah appear in many copies, confirming their central place in Jewish worship long before any formal council defined the biblical canon.
An ostracon (inscribed pottery shard) from Cave 10 at Qumran, the only find from this cave. It bears just two letters, making it the smallest inscribed artifact among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A manuscript of Leviticus from Cave 11 at Qumran, preserved in 18 fragments with approximately 2.448 surviving words, dating to the late Second Temple period.
2,448 words
The Targum of Job from Cave 11 (11QtgJob) is an Aramaic translation of portions of Job, one of only two targums found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. It demonstrates that the practice of translating the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic for those who could no longer read Hebrew was already established by the late Second Temple period.
An apocryphal Psalms scroll from Cave 11 (11QapocrPs) containing four compositions used for exorcism, including one attributed to David and a version of Psalm 91 adapted for driving out demons. This scroll reveals beliefs about demonic possession and exorcism in Second Temple Judaism.
A manuscript of Jubilees from Cave 11 (11QJub), one of the many copies of this important pseudo-epigraphic work found across the Qumran caves.
The Melchizedek Scroll (11QMelch) describes the enigmatic priest-king Melchizedek as a heavenly figure who will execute divine judgment in the final jubilee and atone for the sins of the righteous. This scroll provides essential background for the Epistle to the Hebrews' portrayal of Jesus as a priest "after the order of Melchizedek" and reveals that Melchizedek was already a subject of eschatological speculation in pre-Christian Judaism.
A copy of the War Scroll from Cave 11 (11QSefer ha-Milhamah), supplementing the text known from the Cave 1 War Scroll with additional battle descriptions.
A non-biblical manuscript fragment from Cave 11 at Qumran, written in Hebrew. Part of the diverse literary collection discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A non-biblical manuscript fragment from Cave 11 at Qumran, written in Hebrew. Part of the diverse literary collection discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A copy of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (Shirot Olat ha-Shabbat) from Cave 11, a mystical liturgical work describing angelic worship in the heavenly Temple across thirteen Sabbaths. Multiple copies were found at Qumran and one at Masada, suggesting it was used beyond the Qumran community.
The New Jerusalem text from Cave 11 (11QNJ) describes a visionary tour of an idealized future Jerusalem with detailed architectural measurements. Multiple copies from different caves attest to the importance of this eschatological vision for the Qumran community.
The Temple Scroll (11QT) is the longest of all the Dead Sea Scrolls, measuring over 28 feet, and presents itself as divine law dictated directly by God to Moses. Found in Cave 11, it provides detailed plans for an idealized Temple, regulations for festivals, purity laws, and the duties of the king. The scroll represents the Qumran community's vision of what the Temple in Jerusalem should have been, reflecting their dissatisfaction with the Hasmonean priesthood.
A manuscript of Leviticus from Cave 11 at Qumran, preserved in 7 fragments with approximately 301 surviving words, dating to the late Second Temple period.
301 words
A second copy of the Temple Scroll from Cave 11 (11QTemple-b), confirming and supplementing the text of the great Temple Scroll (11Q19). Its existence demonstrates that this visionary Temple plan held special authority within the community.
A non-biblical manuscript fragment from Cave 11 at Qumran, written in Hebrew. Part of the diverse literary collection discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A non-biblical manuscript fragment from Cave 11 at Qumran, written in Hebrew. Part of the diverse literary collection discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A non-biblical manuscript fragment from Cave 11 at Qumran, written in Hebrew. Part of the diverse literary collection discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A non-biblical manuscript fragment from Cave 11 at Qumran, written in Hebrew. Part of the diverse literary collection discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A non-biblical manuscript fragment from Cave 11 at Qumran, written in Hebrew. Part of the diverse literary collection discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A non-biblical manuscript fragment from Cave 11 at Qumran, written in Hebrew. Part of the diverse literary collection discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A non-biblical manuscript fragment from Cave 11 at Qumran, written in Hebrew. Part of the diverse literary collection discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A manuscript of Deuteronomy from Cave 11 at Qumran, preserved in 2 fragments with approximately 86 surviving words, dating to the late Second Temple period.
86 words
A non-biblical manuscript fragment from Cave 11 at Qumran, written in Hebrew. Part of the diverse literary collection discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A manuscript of Ezekiel from Cave 11 at Qumran, preserved in 6 fragments with approximately 387 surviving words, dating to the late Second Temple period.
387 words
The Great Psalms Scroll from Cave 11 is one of the most remarkable biblical manuscripts from Qumran, containing 41 canonical psalms plus several non-canonical compositions including Psalm 151 and the prose passage "David's Compositions." The psalms appear in a different order than the traditional Hebrew Bible, suggesting the book of Psalms was still taking its final shape during the Second Temple period. This scroll is crucial for understanding the fluid boundaries of the biblical canon before its standardization.
4,517 words
A manuscript of Psalms from Cave 11 at Qumran, preserved in 5 fragments with approximately 217 surviving words, dating to the late Second Temple period.
217 words
A manuscript of Psalms from Cave 11 at Qumran, preserved in 8 fragments with approximately 809 surviving words, dating to the late Second Temple period.
809 words
A manuscript of Psalms from Cave 11 at Qumran, preserved in 15 fragments with approximately 686 surviving words, dating to the late Second Temple period.
686 words
A manuscript of Psalms from Cave 11 at Qumran, preserved in 1 fragment with approximately 57 surviving words, dating to the late Second Temple period.
57 words
A manuscript of Genesis from Cave 1 at Qumran, preserved in 5 fragments with approximately 311 surviving words, dating to the late Second Temple period.
311 words
Every book of the Old Testament except Esther appears somewhere in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some books, like Isaiah and Psalms, survive in many copies with nearly all their verses represented. Others appear only as small fragments. Click any book to read it in the Bible Reader.
Who Were the Essenes?
Most scholars believe the scrolls were written and collected by a Jewish group called the Essenes. This group lived at Qumran, a settlement on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. They chose to live apart from Jerusalem because they believed the priests there had become corrupt. They wanted to practice a purer form of Judaism and prepare for what they believed would be the end of the age.
The Essenes lived a strict community life. They shared their property, ate meals together, bathed in ritual pools called mikvaot, and spent much of their time copying and studying scripture. The Community Rule scroll describes their daily routines, how new members joined, and the punishments for breaking community rules.
When the Roman army marched toward Qumran during the Jewish War around 68 AD, the community hid their most valued manuscripts in nearby caves. They likely planned to return for them. They never did. The scrolls stayed hidden for nearly 1,900 years until that first accidental discovery in 1947.
Transcription data: Martin Abegg Jr. (ETCBC/dss, CC BY-NC 4.0)
View original scroll images at the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library