Ancient Christian Witness

"At the time of Jesus and Rabbi Hillel- the origins of
Christianity and rabbinic Judaism- there was, and there was not, a "Bible." This
critical period, and the nature of the Bible in that period, have been freshly
illuminated by the biblical Dead Sea Scrolls.

There was a Bible in the sense that there were certain
sacred books widely recognized by Jews as foundational to their religion and
sepremely authoritative for religious practice. There was not, however, a Bible
in the sense that the leaders of the general Jewish community had specifically
considered, debated, and definitively decided the full range of which books were
supremely and permanently authoritative and which ones-no matter how sublime,
useful, or beloved-were not. The collection or collections of the scriptures
varied from group to group and from time to time. All Jews would have recognized
"the Law" (the Torah) and most would have recognized "the Prophets" as belonging
to that collection. Such a recognition is attested by references in the New
Testament to the "Law and the Prophets" (Matt 7:12; Luke 16:16; and Rome 3:21).
But the exact contents of "the Prophets" may not have been the same for all, and
the status of other books beyond "the Law and the Prophets" was neither clear
nor widely accepted. The notion of a wider collection of Scriptures that
extended beyond the Law and Prophets is suggested by an intriguing passage in
Luke 24, which says that "everything written about me [i.e., Jesus] in the Law
of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms must be fulfilled" (vs.
44).

The Dead Sea Scrolls help us see the state of affairs
more clearly from an on the -spot perspective. "The Bible," or more accurately
then, "The Scriptures," would have been a collection of numerous separate
scrolls, each containing usually only one or two books. There is indeed
persuasive evidence that certain books were considered "Scripture." But there is
little evidence that people were seriously asking the question yet about the
extent or the limits of the collection-the crucial question for a "Bible" or
"canon"-which books are in and which books are outside this most sacred
collection. Thus, the Dead Sea Scrolls Scriptures may be a more historically
accurate title for this volume. At any rate, it presents the remains of the
books for which there is good evidence that Jews at that time viewed them as
Sacred Scripture."
[1] page vii