The Hebrew Bible in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Until recently, most non-biblical manuscripts attested in the Qumran library were regarded as copies of texts that were composed after the books of the Hebrew Bible were written. Students of the Hebrew Bible found the Dead Sea Scrolls therefore mostly of interest for the textual and interpretative histories of these books. The present collection confirms the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for both areas, by showing that they have revolutionized our understanding of how the text of the biblical books developed and how they were interpreted. Beyond the textual and interpretative histories, though, many texts attested in the Qumran library illuminate the time in which the later books of the Hebrew Bible were composed and reworked as well as Jewish life and law in the time when the canon of the Hebrew Bible developed. This volume gives important examples as to how the early texts attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls help to better understand individual biblical books and as to how the later texts among them illustrate Jewish life and law when the canon of the Hebrew Bible evolved. In order to find an adequate expertise for the seminar The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hebrew Bible, the editors invited both junior and senior specialists in the fields of Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Judaism, Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinics to Rome

Until recently, most non-biblical manuscripts attested in the Qumran library were regarded as copies of texts that were composed after the books of the Hebrew Bible were written. Students of the Hebrew Bible found the Dead Sea Scrolls therefore mostly of interest for the textual and interpretative histories of these books. The present collection confirms the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for both areas, by showing that they have revolutionized our understanding of how the text of the biblical books developed and how they were interpreted. Beyond the textual and interpretative histories, though, many texts attested in the Qumran library illuminate the time in which the later books of the Hebrew Bible were composed and reworked as well as Jewish life and law in the time when the canon of the Hebrew Bible developed. This volume gives important examples as to how the early texts attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls help to better understand individual biblical books and as to how the later texts among them illustrate Jewish life and law when the canon of the Hebrew Bible evolved. In order to find an adequate expertise for the seminar The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hebrew Bible, the editors invited both junior and senior specialists in the fields of Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Judaism, Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinics to Rome.

• Contributions by Arie van der Kooij
• Contributions by Emanuel Tov
• Contributions by Eugene Ulrich
• Contributions by Kristin De Troyer
• Contributions by Armin Lange
• Contributions by Corrado Martone
• Contributions by Steven Fassberg
• Contributions by Michaela Bauks
• Contributions by Bennie H. Reynolds III
• Contributions by Vered Noam
• Contributions by Matthias Weigold
• Contributions by Jutta Maria Jokiranta
• Contributions by Hanna K. Tervanotko
• Contributions by Cecilia Wassén
• Contributions by Lutz Doering
• Contributions by Julio Trebolle
• Contributions by Karin Finsterbusch
• Contributions by Lawrence H. Schiffman
• Contributions by Russell Fuller
• Contributions by Sidnie White Crawford
• Contributions by Thomas Römer
• Contributions by Esther G. Chazon
• Contributions by Mika S. Pajunen
• Contributions by John J. Collins
• Contributions by James L. Kugel
• Contributions by Sarah Pearce
• Contributions by Michael Segal
• Contributions by Hanne von Weissenberg
• Contributions by Paul Heger
• Contributions by Alexander Samely
• Contributions by Marcus Tso
• Edited by Armin Lange
• Edited by Kristin De Troyer
• Edited by Shani Tzoref
• Edited by Nóra Dávid

"[Sidnie White Crawford] not only critically reviews current theories on the development of the Hebrew Bible...but also pushes forward their most valuable insights by envisaging a 'free' and 'conservative' approach among the scribes." -- H. Debel, ETL (89/1, 2013) "...this volume constitutes a faithful guide to a period important in the history of the Bible. Students of the OT and NT, as well as Second Temple Judaism, will benefit from this important volume, which offers a comprehensive, state of the art discussion of the Qumran evidence for the texts that were soon to become the biblical canon." --Mark W. Hamilton, Restoration Quarterly 57:3 (2015)
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