When the scrolls were first discovered and their translation commenced, it was obvious that they bore similar language and ideology to the New Testament. Many people were confident that Jesus’s religious background had been discovered.
From the time the Jews returned from exile in Babylon during the fifth century B.C.E. (Before Common Era – the non-sectarian way of referring to B.C. dates), and rebuilt the Jerusalem Temple, to the catastrophic Jewish Revolt that began in 66 C.E. (Common Era – the non-sectarian way of referring to A.D. dates), and culminated in the destruction of that Temple, Jewish society and religious attitudes underwent enormous changes. The world of Second Temple Judaism was very different from that depicted in the historical books of the Hebrew Bible, which tell us of events during the earlier Israelite period of the kings and prophets. Change and conflict were brought about by the impact of the sophisticated cultural world of the Greeks, and later the Romans, upon a conservative Jewish society. The previous belief in the special relationship with God that was the hallmark of the Israelite religion had been undermined by the misfortunes that befell the Jewish people. Many of them now sought new answers to their unfortunate situation. It was a time of miracle workers, and would-be messiahs and prophets, each attracting a large following of desperate people who sought security and reassurance that God had not abandoned them.
The content of the scrolls can be classified as follows:
- Rules or manuals describing the constitution and regulations of the “Union”, as the community who owned the scrolls called itself.
- Interpretations of biblical texts or commentaries relating to the sect and its times.
- Liturgical texts ie relating to public worship rituals, which focus on angelic worship in the heavenly Temple and the Thanksgiving Hymns.
- Collections of laws, frequently dealing with cultic purity.
- Verses of scripture.
Early literature from this period was very limited, little had survived from the decades immediately before and after the birth of Jesus and not much was known of Jewish spiritual life beyond what could be made from the Christian Gospels, the historian Josephus or the philosopher Philo of Alexandria. All this was to change with the discovery and gradual publication of the scrolls.
Most of the scrolls were made of papyrus or animal skin however there was one found which had been written on two rolled up pieces of metal: copper mixed with 1 percent tin. This came to be known as the Copper Scroll. It wasn't until the late 1950s that a way was found to unroll the pieces, using a special sawing machine which had been invented specifically for the purpose. The writing used is similar to Mishnaic Hebrew, yet the style differs from the standard Hebrew, and it appears that a hammer and chisel were used to engrave the script. Scholars have had difficulty in deciphering and translating the text of this scroll however they do know that it includes a listing of over 60 sites where considerable amounts of treasure had been hidden.
The Copper Scroll
Sources:
Jesus the wicked priest : how Christianity was born of an Essene schism./Vining, Marvin. 2008. Bear & Company, Vermont.
Jesus the wicked priest : how Christianity was born of an Essene schism./Vining, Marvin. 2008. Bear & Company, Vermont.
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