The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English
The discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls in 1947 heralded a new era in the understanding of the Old Testament. For much of the past half century, however, the significance of the scrolls for the Bible has been obscure to the public. Recent popular translations of the Old Testament cite the different readings found in the scrolls, but only occasionally; for example, reference is made to the scrolls in the notes to the ESV (30 times), NIV (36 times), and the NRSV (87 times).
Thus the appearance in 1999 of The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English by Martin Abegg, Jr., Peter Flint, and Eugene Ulrich (HarperSanFrancisco) was a major event, making available to the public an authoritative, accessible, and affordable translation of the biblical manuscripts and fragments found among the scrolls.
Introductory articles to the volume as well as for each book provide overviews of the place of the biblical scrolls in context as well as provide synopses of the characteristics of individual books. The copious footnotes (for example, numbering nearly 1,500 to Isaiah and nearly 600 to the Psalms!) clearly present the similarities and differences between the scrolls and the other major witnesses to the Old Testament, namely, the Masoretic Text (MT), the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP), and the Septuagint (LXX). The amount of labor that these notes represent will not be lost on scholars!
The Accordance module of this valuable Bible translation (DSSB-E) and notes (DSSB-E Notes) embodies all of these characteristics and adds the power and flexibility that is a hallmark of Accordance modules:
You can search, highlight, and annotate the DSSB-E like any other Bible module:
You can compare texts!
You can search the reference tool DSSB-E Notes by field. For example, you can search for all places where the Scrolls and the Septuagint agree and read differently from the Masoretic Text:
You can also search for every occurrence of a particular scroll manuscript:
Want to know more about a particular scroll manuscript? Amplify to the very handy Qumran Index, and get details on what biblical passages are included and where to find the primary publications of the scroll (attention, scholars: the Qumran Index by itself can save you hours of research time in the library!).
The DSSB-E presents a treasure trove of information that will be extremely useful to both laypersons and scholars.
Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
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Article Author: J.P. Kang, Ph.D.
The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible – Reviews
The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English
Authors: Martin Abegg, Peter W. Flint, and Eugene Ulrich
Publisher: HarperCollins (1999)
Reviews of the Book
“Here, finally, are all the biblical manuscripts from the Judaean Desert caves translated and annotated, with explanatory introductions. It is a splendid complement to the translations of the non-biblical scrolls which HarperSanFrancisco published earlier.”
–James Sanders, President, Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center
“For the first time all the biblical Qumran scrolls are now accessible in translation in this user-friendly book written by three prominent authorities in this field.”
–Professor Emanuel Tov, Editor-in-Chief, Qumran Publication Project
“If you want to know what the Dead Sea Scrolls say about the text of the Bible and you want to read the 2000-year-old-texts themselves, this is the book to own.”
–Hershel Shanks, Editor of Biblical Archaeology Review and author of The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls
“The biblical Dead Sea Scrolls have revolutionized our understanding of the Jewish scriptures, their origin, formation and role. Yet they remain largely ignored by the wider public that has devoured book after book on the non-biblical texts. Scholars, too, will find this volume invaluable.”
–Philip R. Davies, Professor of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield
“[The editors] have completely succeeded in presenting the complex evidence in a very clear and accessible way. It should be used both by scholars and by the general public.”
–Florentino García Martínez, author of The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated and of The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition
“This is an immensely useful work which makes the biblical Qumran material readily available in English for the first time for scholars and students. It deserves to be very widely used.”
–John Barton, Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford
“The authors of The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible have done a great service. . . . Now laymen can judge for themselves whether the biblical manuscr ipts which predate Christian times differ radically from the received text found, for example, in the King James version. The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible is a magnificent piece of work.”
–Frank Moore Cross, Hancock Professor Emeritus of Hebrew, Harvard University
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