Page 14 - Holyland Magazine - 2025 Edition

SHEPHERDS, SCROLLS,
AND SCRIPTURE

The story of Qumran

Bobby Duke, PhD visit Qumran today, it is not hard to imagine The War Scroll. This document tells of a final
this being an ideal place in the desert to eschatological battle between the people of Israel and
I n 1947, the shepherd boys who announce something new that God was the Kittim, a code name for the Romans. The people of
discovered the first cave near Qumran doing. So many important moments in Israel are victorious, and the execution of the king of
had no way of knowing that this biblical history were situated in the desert. the Kittim heralds the messianic age. Photo: courtesy of
chance encounter would forever The archaeological remains at Qumran were Running Subway in partnership with Israel Antiquities
change the study of Scripture and our known before the caves were discovered, Authority
understanding of Judaism two thousand though once the first cave came to light,
years ago. Eventually, 11 caves were an intense interest in the site was renewed.
discovered that produced remains from Excavations were first conducted in the
every book in the Hebrew Bible (Jewish
TaNaK/Christian Old Testament) except for
Esther and Nehemiah.

Besides biblical texts, the scholarly world
was given a gift of many Jewish writings that
were unknown before the Dead Sea Scrolls
were found. Works like the Thanksgiving
Scroll (Hodayot in Hebrew) or the War Scroll
give insight into the group, most likely
Essenes, that fled to the desert to live out
their unique brand of Judaism. They were
not the most embracing group. In these
non-biblical texts, they refer to themselves
as the “Sons of Light.” Those who were not
part of their group were labeled the “Sons
of Darkness.” The War Scroll also describes
a great battle that has similarities to the
ideology and war imagery in the book of
Revelation in the New Testament.
Why the Dead Sea? Not too far from the site
of Qumran is the traditional site of John’s
baptisms, just north of the Dead Sea. A
passage of Scripture that was spoken by
John in the Gospels and highlighted in the
Qumran texts is Isaiah 40:3 (NRSVUE), “A
voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare
the way of the Lord; make straight in the
desert a highway for our God.’” When you

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