This collection of essays goes beyond basic information about the Dead Sea Scrolls and focuses on issues related to the text and contents of the ‘Bible’ at Qumran and the use of biblical texts and figures by non-biblical Qumran texts. The essays are divided into two parts. Part one, ‘The Scriptures, the Canon and the Scrolls’, focuses on the nature of canon (James Sanders), the text of the Scriptures of Israel represented by the Dead Sea Scrolls (Bruce Waltke), the biblical books and shape of the canon at Qumran (Eugene Ulrich and Craig Evans) and non-canonical works at Qumran (Peter Flint). Part two focuses on the interpretation of biblical texts at Qumran, including the interpretation of Genesis in 1 Enoch (James Vanderkam), Abraham in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Craig Evans), Moses in the Dead Sea Scrolls (James Bowley), Korah in the Qumran literature (James Scott), the understanding of ‘works of the law’ in 4QMMT and Paul (Martin Abegg) and the intertextual use of the story of Rahab in James 2:25 (Robert Wall). I will focus primarily on essays in part one, as these will likely be of greatest relevance to students of the Bible.

In ‘How We Got the Bible: The Text and Canon of the Old Testament’, Waltke describes the nature and practice of textual criticism, and its significance for exegesis. Waltke examines the various stages the text of the Scriptures of Israel has undergone from the earliest times into the Middle Ages. He states that from 400 BCE to 150 BCE, both the canon and precise form of the biblical text was open. During this time there was a tendency both to preserve and to revise the text (32). The Dead Sea Scrolls and the LXX enable us to trace the history of the text in this period. Waltke argues that, based on the history of the text, ‘we can now restrict the aim of OT text criticism to that of recovering the original text that lies behind the proto-MT recension’ (42). Waltke disagrees with P.R. Ackroyd and J.A. Sanders who argue that the various recensions held equal canonical status. Based on the history of the text, the Church has good reason to continue confessing the reliability and purity of the OT text.

The question of the contents of the canon of the Scriptures of Israel in the early Church is important for students of the NT, and the canon at Qumran may help shed light on this issue. Ulrich examines the question of the canon at Qumran in ‘The Bible in the Making: The Scriptures Found at Qumran’. He discusses the collection(s) of Scripture in the late Second Temple period, at the beginnings of rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. About one fourth of the MSS found at Qumran are scriptural texts, and every book of the traditional Hebrew canon is represented except for Esther and Nehemiah. The most common are MSS of Deuteronomy, Isaiah and Psalms, which are also the works most-often quoted in the NT. While the books used by various groups differed, e.g., the Samaritan Pentateuch versus the scriptural texts at Qumran, Ulrich contends that there is no clear evidence that anyone was asking explicitly in Second Temple Judaism which scrolls did or did not belong in the ‘Scripture’ jar. In general, the Torah and the Prophets were considered authoritative works of Scripture, while ‘works nearer the periphery were still finding their place’ (57). Ulrich next examines the text represented by each scriptural work at Qumran. For example, while all of the Genesis MSS exhibit essentially the same text, MSS of Exodus present two editions. Two major editions of the Psalms can also be seen in the Qumran scrolls. Books like Jeremiah and Daniel were considered Scripture in this period, but their textual form was not fixed. Ulrich concludes that while a Bible translation ought to reflect the best text based on all the available data, and not just the MT or LXX, it may not yet be practical to do so.

Craig Evans in ‘The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Canon of Scripture in the Time of Jesus’, focuses on a three-fold division of Scripture in the Second Temple period, the Law, Prophets and Writings. Evans follows this with a consideration of how Scripture in its three-fold divisions bore witness to Jesus. Sirach 39:1 may be the earliest reference to the three-fold division of Scripture. 4QMMT refers to the law of Moses, the prophets and David (which may refer solely to the Psalms). No other intertestamental documents, including those at Qumran, refer to the tripartite division of Scripture. Evans states that establishing the contents of the second and third divisions in this period is difficult. Luke, like the author of 4QMMT, found support for his faith in all three divisions of Scripture.

Peter Flint (‘Noncanonical Writings in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Apocrypha, Other Previously Known Writings, and Pseudepigrapha’) argues that the terms apocrypha and pseudepigrapha are ambiguous, so he begins by providing narrower definitions for these terms than are often assumed by others, even if these definitions run counter to scholarly or public conventions. Flint offers this definition of the Apocrypha: ‘Jewish works of the Second Temple period that are excluded from the Hebrew Bible but are included in the Old Testament of some but not all churches’ (86). The pseudepigrapha is used generally to refer to both previously known Jewish works which are not part of the Apocrypha but not like Philo or Josephus, and falsely attributed works. Flint argues, with regard to Qumran, that these two categories should be separated, so that pseudepigrapha refers only to falsely attributed works, while other previously known works form a third group of texts. Next, Flint provides an overview of texts in these categories found at Qumran, such as Jubilees, Psalm 151 and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. Flint discusses evidence for the scriptural or authoritative status of the various works surveyed. Works like Psalm 155, Jubilees and 1 Enoch likely had ‘scriptural status’ at Qumran, while works such as Sirach or The Prayer of Nabonidus seem to have lacked scriptural status at Qumran. This essay concludes with a select bibliography for the works Flint discusses. Students of the NT will find valuable Abegg’s essay ‘4QMMT, Paul and Works of the Law’. Both 4QMMT and Galatians refer to ‘works of the law’. Abegg discusses the possible connection of these two instances of the phrase and implications of this for the ‘new perspective’ on Paul. Abegg understands the ‘works of the law’ in 4QMMT along the same lines as E.P. Sanders understands Jewish views of the Law in general, viz., keeping the Law is a consequence of being in the covenant. Abegg suggests further, then, that we have likely misunderstood Paul, and that the apostle does not argue in Galatians against a Jewish view that salvation was earned by obedience to the Law. The occurrence of ‘works of the Law’ in only Galatians and 4QMMT suggests they were addressing the same issue, and confirms that the ‘new perspective’ on Paul is correct. It may be asked, however, if the new perspective on Paul is actually attempting to include the data from Paul’s letters in its analysis or simply reinterpreting them in order to force Paul to say what other Jewish texts assert, as opposed possibly to what the ‘average Jew on the street’ may have believed?

All in all, this volume does a good job of compiling a lot of information on an area where much work remains to be done. The discussion of the canon of Scripture at Qumran and in Second Temple Judaism in general is important for how we read the NT. Abegg’s discussion of the ‘works of the Law’ is important in the ongoing debate over the ‘new perspective’ on Paul. Other essays on biblical interpretation at Qumran will assist readers in understanding emphases in the Dead Sea Scrolls, such as how the Dead Sea Scrolls viewed Abraham and Moses. This book should be on the shelf of anyone who wants a better understanding of textual criticism, the Jewish background of the NT or the use of the Jewish Scriptures in the NT.

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