BYU Old Testament

THE ISAIAH SCROLL (Isaiah 38:8–40:28), between 150–100 B.C. The second-longest scroll—and the longest complete scroll—discovered at Qumran is written on parchment. Most likely the skins of three to five animals (wild sheep and/or ibex) were sewn together with linen thread to produce this scroll.

The Hebrew Bible (the books of the Old Testament) was not finalized in its current form until the end of the New Testament period, about A.D. 90. Before this time, various Jewish sects held differing views about which of the Jewish writings were authoritative. Virtually all groups accepted the five books of Moses, know as the Law (Torah). However, the Pharisees, unlike the Sadducees, also accepted the books that constitute the “Prophets” and the “Writings,” books such as Esther, the Psalms, and Job. Jesus refers to this threefold division—Law, Prophets, and Psalms—during a postresurrection appearance (see Luke 24:44).

Outside Jerusalem, Greek-speaking Diaspora Jews read the sacred writings in translation. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, eventually played a much more significant role in the early Christian church than it did in Judaism. It contained more material than what is found in the Hebrew texts. The additional material found in the Greek Bible, but not in the Hebrew Bible, is now found in the Apocrypha.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, beginning in 1947, gave scholars a rare opportunity to study the process of transmission and selection of the Jewish writings that eventually were placed in the Hebrew Bible. Additionally, the scrolls included a variety of other documents, indicating that during this period of creativity, the Hebrew canon was still open, at least for some Jewish groups.