The Dead Sea Scrolls

by Gary A. Rendsburg

The discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls in the caves of Qumran could be considered the most remarkable archaeological find of the past century. This course explores the archeology, publication, content, and interpretations of the historical period of the scrolls.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Historical, Ancient History, Judaism

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[فؤاد · Rating 4 out of 5]

یک دورۀ خیلی خیلی عالی. تقریباً در مورد این طومارها چیزی نمی دونستم کتاب قبلی که خوندم (سرگذشت طومارها) تقریباً هیچی از محتویات طومارها نگفته بود. اون کتاب اونقدر نزدیک به کشف طومارها نوشته شده بود که هنوز خیلی تحقیقات کمی انجام شده بود، حتی هنوز تمام طومارها منتشر نشده بودن.
برعکس، این دوره که ده دوازده سال پیش منتشر شده، بعد از چندین دهه بحث و بررسی و نظریه پردازی منتشر شده، توسط یه نفر که سال ها متخصص طومارها بوده. به خاطر همین هم خیلی خیلی عالی محتویات طومارها رو شرح می ده، هم خیلی خیلی عالی نظریه هایی که در مورد این طومارها و نویسنده های احتمالیشون مطرح شده رو بررسی می کنه. در نتیجه آدم رو از نظر علمی کاملاً ارضا می کنه.


طومارهای بحرالمیت

در ۱۹۴۷ یه بز به غاری در قُمران، در ساحل شمالی بحرالمیت، فرار کرد. چوپان سنگی داخل غار انداخت که بز رو بترسونه و از غار بیرون بکشه، اما صدای برخورد سنگ به یه کوزه توجه چوپانو جلب کرد. وقتی داخل غار رفت، کوزه‌ای حاوی هفت طومار با قدمت دو هزار ساله پیدا کرد. وقتی قدمت حیرت‌انگیز اسناد معلوم شد، باستان‌شناس‌ها شروع به گشتن باقی غارهای اون حوالی کردن و طومارهای بیشتری توی ده غار دیگه پیدا کردن. همینطور در پای کوه‌ها خرابه‌ای کشف شد که معتقدن صومعه‌ای متعلق به یه فرقۀ زاهد به نام «اِسِنی‌ها» بوده که این طومارها رو تولید کردن.

از اسنی‌ها تا قبل از این اطلاعات زیادی باقی نبود. فقط دو مورخ یهودی (یوسفوس و فیلون) به این گروه زاهد اشاره‌ای کرده بودن و تلمود هم اسمی از فرقه‌ای به نام «بیت‌اسین» برده که با علمای تلمود اختلاف نظر فقهی داشته. حالا محقق‌ها بر اساس محتویات طومارها و مشخصات خرابه، اعتقاد پیدا کردن که صومعۀ کشف شده متعلق به این گروه بوده.
اسنی‌ها دو قرن قبل از میلاد در نتیجۀ اختلاف شدید با پادشاه حشمونی که می‌خواست مقام کاهن اعظم رو هم غصب کنه، راه خودشونو جدا کردن و همراه با کاهن اعظم سابق که توی طومارها «معلم راستی» نامیده شده، انزوا پیشه کردن. به نظر میاد در یه برهه حتی پادشاه حشمونی به صومعۀ اسنی‌ها حمله کرده و احتمالاً قتل عامی رخ داده. یوسفوس می‌گه اسنی‌ها معتقد به تقدیر بودن و توی طومارهای بحرالمیت این به وضوح دیده می‌شه: نویسنده‌های طومارها معتقد بودن یهودی‌ها یا جزء فرزندان نورن یا فرزندان ظلمت، و این از بدو تولد تعیین شده. نباید برای اصلاح و هدایت گروه‌های دیگۀ یهودی تلاش کرد، فقط باید در انتظار رسیدن آخرالزمان بود که فرزندان ظلمت نابود می‌شن و فقط فرزندان نور باقی می‌مونن.

طومارها شامل چی‌ان؟

تورات
مهم‌تر از هر چیز، متن تورات. حجم زیادی از طومارها، کتاب‌های مختلف توراتن و از هر کتاب چندین طومار، گاهی سالم، گاهی پوسیده و تکه تکه، وجود داره. غیر از کتاب استر که به دلیل نامعلومی غایبه و احتمالاً مورد قبول اسنی‌ها نبوده.
اهمیت این طومارهای تورات چیه؟ قدیمی‌ترین متن تورات عبری تا قبل از این، تورات حلب (قرن ۱۰ م) بود. هر چند ترجمه‌های یونانی قدیمی‌تر وجود داشت. با کشف طومارهای بحرالمیت که هزار سال قبل از تورات حلب نوشته شدن، ما هزار سال به متن اصلی تورات نزدیک‌تر شدیم. آیا متن تورات بحرالمیت با تورات رسمی تفاوت داره؟ نه چندان. تفاوت متن تورات بحرالمیت با تورات رسمی، در حد تفاوت‌هاییه که بین نسخه‌های مختلف گلستان سعدی وجود داره و توی پاورقی گلستان می‌نویسن. یعنی تفاوت در استنساخ، بعضی اصلاحات جزئی و به‌روز کردن زبان باستانی تورات، و به ندرت تفاوت‌های ناچیز الهیاتی. نظریۀ تحریف رو بذارید کنار.
اما همین تفاوت‌های کوچیک هم برای نسخه‌شناس تورات خیلی خیلی مهمه و کمک می‌کنه با مقایسۀ نسخه‌ها، نزدیک‌ترین متن به متن اولیۀ تورات رو بازسازی کنه. اگر عهد عتیق پیروز سیار رو ببینید، مکرر از طومارهای بحرالمیت در تصحیح متن تورات استفاده کرده و خیلی بخش‌ها که متن تورات رسمی مبهم بوده، به کمک نسخه بدل‌ها، از جمله طومارهای بحرالمیت، متن قلبل فهم‌تری ارائه شده.


آپوکریفا
علاوه بر متن تورات، متون غیر توراتی، یا آپوکریفا و سوداپیگرافا هم کشف شده. این‌ها کتاب‌هایی بودن که یه زمان مورد اعتقاد همه یا بخشی از یهودی‌ها بودن، اما به تدریج اعتبارشون مورد تردید قرار گرفت و کنار گذاشته شدن. از جمله کتاب خنوخ، کتاب یوبیل، کتاب طوبیت و حکمت بن سیرا. قبلاً فقط این کتاب‌ها رو از طریق ترجمه‌های یونانی یا اتیوپیایی می‌شناختیم، اما با طومارهای بحرالمیت اصل عبریشون پیدا شد.

متون دیگۀ بحرالمیت، متون فرقه‌ای‌تر هستن، یعنی مورد اعتقاد باقی یهودی‌ها نیستن. شامل:

طومار جنگ
طوماری که جنگ آخرالزمان رو پیش‌بینی کرده و گفته افراد فرقه (فرزندان نور) چطور خودشون رو آمادۀ جنگ کنن و در طول جنگ چه اتفاقاتی خواهد افتاد و خدا چطور بر نیروهای شر (فرزندان ظلمت) پیروز می‌شه. گذشت که اسنی‌ها منتظر وقوع قریب آخرالزمان بودن.

سند دمشق
دستورالعمل‌های زندگی در فرقه رو شرح داده که هر کس برای ورود به فرقه باید چه مراسمی رو پشت سر بذاره، ترتیب دعا و آیین‌های دیگه چطوریه، و...
متن کامل این طومار چند دهه قبل در گنیزای قاهره کشف شده بود. محقق‌ها فهمیده بودن که این دستورالعمل یه فرقۀ یهودیه، اما اطلاعات بیشتری نداشتن و نتونسته بودن هویت این فرقه رو کشف کنن. حالا تکه‌هایی از اون سند در غارهای بحرالمیت کشف شد و معلوم شد دستورالعمل فرقۀ اسنی‌ها بوده.

نامه‌های هلاخایی
این طومار اختلافات فقهی اسنی‌ها با گروه‌های دیگۀ یهودی اون زمان (صدوقی‌ها، فریسی‌ها) رو بازگو کرده. از جمله اختلاف در تقویم که باعث شده اعیاد مذهبی اسنی‌ها تفاوت زمانی زیادی با اعیاد باقی گروه‌های یهودی داشته باشن. اسنی‌ها از تقویم خاصی استفاده می‌کردن که روزهای سال قابل تقسیم بر هفت بود، در نتیجه روزهای هفته همیشه ثابت بود. مثلاً روز اول سال همیشه چهارشنبه می‌افتاد یا یوم کیپور همیشه جمعه می‌افتاد. ببر خلاف تقویم گروه‌های دیگۀ یهودی که روزهای هفته می‌چرخید و هر سال تغییر می‌کرد.

طومار معبد
این طومار مشخصات معبد اورشلیم رو می‌گه. ظاهراً اسنی‌ها معتقد بودن که معبد اون طور که باید ساخته نشده و باید به ترتیبی که اونا می‌گن بازسازی بشه. همچنین توی این طومار قواعد و قوانین معبد رو شرح داده. از جمله عجیب‌ترین قوانینش اینه که توی تمام شهر اورشلیم نباید قضای حاجت کرد و هر کس از اهالی شهر که خواست قضای حاجت کنه، باید یک کیلومتر از شهر خارج بشه.

تفسیر کتاب حبقوق
طومارهای بحرالمیت تعداد زیادی تفسیر از کتب مختلف تورات دارن که اغلب تکه تکه شدن. اما تفسیر حبقوق سالم مونده. نویسنده این تفسیر خواسته پیشگویی‌های کتاب حبقوق رو به زمان خودش تطبیق بده و بگه آخرالزمان پیشگویی شده توسط حبقوق به زودی محقق خواهد شد.

طومار مسی
این طومار در غاری دور از باقی غارها کشف شد و احتمالاً مال اسنی‌ها نیست. روی طومار نشانی چندین گنج دفن شده در نقاط مختلف ثبت شده که باستانشناس‌ها نتونستن پیدا کنن. مجموع این دفینه‌ها بالغ بر چند ده تُن طلا و نقره است و احتمال می‌دن خزانۀ معبد اورشلیم بوده که در آستانۀ حملۀ روم، از شهر خارج شده و تکه تکه در جاهای مختلف دفن شده تا اگه یکی غارت شد، الباقی محفوظ باشن.

[Angela Blount · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd long meant to research this topic more in depth, and this proved a great opportunity. Rendsburg is a surprisingly engaging academic mind, with a solid grasp on material presentation and how to explain information to laymen. He has a dry, ironic sense of humor that occasionally accents certain applicable material. Example: He is forgivably proud of the repeatedly used term, 'Secutally explicit.'

I also love how Rendsburg opened the meat of his lecturing by giving a thorough background on how the discovery of the scrolls came about. He makes a point to hail the "real hero" of the initial Dead Sea Scroll find--the random goat who wandered off into a cave. (Because if not for said goat, a shepherd wouldn't have pitched a rock into said cave as a scare tactic and heard the sound of rock striking pottery.)

The lectures are a hardy balance of scroll content and translation nuance, along with a good deal of necessary background on both the historical context and the customs of the Jewish sect believed to be the ones who preserved the scrolls. A significant portion of his talks define the divergent beliefs between the Pharisees and Saddusees, and contrasts them to the curiously insular Essenes, with their monk-like dedication to rigorous religiosity. A sect so strict about their interpretation of Jewish law, there is significant evidence they didn't even defecate on the Sabbath. (Talk about anal retentive... >.>)

When Rendsburg says he saved the best for last, he isn't exaggerating. The Copper scroll is FASCINATING. Never mind the fact that I hadn't realized any of the scrolls were recorded on rolled sheets of metal. The contents are essentially a treasure map--the trouble with this being, they use coordinate instructions that would only be known to native people of that time period. (Think asking directions in a small town from a lifelong local. i.e. "Go on down past the old oak tree and turn left where Edgar's gas station used to be"--that kind of unhelpful, with the addition of 2,000 years of cultural and geographical changes.)
Seriously... National Treasure has nothing on this. >.>

While it can be a touch tedious at times, this series is an excellent resource for fleshing out one's introductory knowledge of the Dead Sea Scrolls, along with their literary, historical, and religious significance.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic set of lectures from the Great Courses. This is the second time I have listened to them.

[Mathew · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there is a lot of great content here and Rendsburg is a very knowledgeable and convincing presenter, I didn't like the format or the style in which the information was presented.

The lectures are put together in such a way as to be as brief and efficient as possible, which is usually a good thing, but in this case there was so much to get through and much of the information was interrelated, so Rendsburg kept mentioning things time and again that were "to come", and indeed this kind of lecture can be good for cementing things into one's memory, but it also made the contents feel very repetitive rather than reinforcing by the end of the series.

I also personally felt the conclusion to be a bit tacked on, even if it was valid in it's closing arguments and statements. I think this content probably would have worked better in book format for me, but I still enjoyed learning, or unlearning things about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Rendsburg is always on point, covers all aspects and arguments, and is a clear and entertaining presenter which made this series go very quickly.

If you're new to the topic, strong recommend.
If you're a more experienced hand, there will be lots of good information, but you might also be frustrated by format.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dead Sea Scrolls is one of the Great Courses. I ordered this Great Course from Audible and listened to it in my car over the past couple weeks. This course was 24 half hour lectures, so the whole course is 12 hours. The Narrator Gary A. Rendsburg is an expert on Jewish History and a Professor at Rutgers University. He knows his material! All the great course professors are experts in their fields. I also found Rendsburg easy to listen to, he has a clear voice and doesn't have any annoying vocal ticks. He also sounds enthusiastic about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Enthusiasm for a subject can make a huge difference in a good course and an excellent one.

The subject was certainly fascinating. Most people have at least heard of the dead sea scrolls, some 900 plus parchments found in a cave near Kumran in the 1950s. It was a major historic find that provided a new look at Judaism, Early Christianity and the history of the time some 2,000 years ago.

Pr. Rendsburg details a background of the history of both the finding and translating of the scrolls and the history of the time in which they were thought to have been written. He does not go through all 900 scrolls, instead he picks what he considered to be 27 of the most important and interesting scrolls. Many were Bible manuscripts with almost every chapter of the Old Testament. Others outline Jewish laws and traditions to be followed by the group that wrote the scrolls. One, the War Scroll detailed an apocalyptic battle between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. Anther, the copper scrolls was a treasure map to millions in gold that reminded me of an Indiana Jones movie!

He included detailed information on how the scrolls are labeled and categorized. Each has a number or letter that details which cave they were in and the subject matter.

Rendsburg mostly covers the main stream view of what the scrolls mean for the history of the Jewish people and early Christianity, but he also covers even the most radical theories surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls. He does add in why those theories are not accepted, but they are presented for you to consider.

Before I listened to this lecture, I knew very little about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Now, although no expert, have a much better idea and vision of this amazing historic find. I felt like I was on an archeological adventure that transported me back to biblical times.

I enhanced my listen of this book by a website The Leon Levy Dead Sea Scroll archive, which let me look at the actual dead sea scrolls and the book The Dead Sea Scrolls - A New Translation so that I could actually read many of the scrolls that Rendsburg discussed in his lectures.

If you have an interest in history and religion, the Dead Sea Scrolls lecture was a fascinating listen.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This course starts by covering very briefly some of the story of the finding of and publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls. But, by far the bulk of the course delves into the content of the scrolls, what they say, how the content of the scrolls helps historians identify the beliefs of the the people who lived at Qumran and their relation to both broader Judaism and early Christianity.

Most of my reading tends to be from books that are written for a broader audience, but this series of lectures feels like it is aimed toward students in the antiquities department of a University who are focusing on ancient Judaism or ancient Biblical studies, and is likely to be less interesting to a more casual audience.

It kept my interest well enough as a person who, because of my own religious beliefs and personal study, has an interest in the Bible, the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, the Biblical Canon, textual variation in scripture that originated from ancient sources, and other closely related topics.

In the end-of-course summary, Professor Rendsburg says that about 50% of the decipherable content in the Dead Sea Scrolls is covered in this course.

One interesting takeaway for me is that Rabbinic Judaism, which has been the mainstream of Judaism since the 6th century A.D. came directly from the Jewish sect of the Pharisees. Studying the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus contained therein have always led me to think of the Pharisees as being very strict in observance of lots and lots of rules. But the Dead Sea Scrolls teach us that the Pharisaic sect was actually one of the more easy-going sects in many ways.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audio download
These lectures...very well presented by Dr Rendsburg (love the NY accent) ...require some background in Judaism and the history of that religion. There are many terms and references to the Hebrew Bible (Torah, Talmud, etc) that just don't roll off the tongue of a gentile such as me. So, if you are considering this course, come prepared...these are very specific discussions of possibly the most significant archeological discovery within the last millennia.
The history included within the Dead Sea scrolls adds greatly to our understanding of the transition from biblical Judaism to the (more) modern (rabbinic) Judaism, by way of the preservation of manuscripts from a minor sect within the Hebrew culture some 2300 years ago (300 BCE - 70 CE). The discovery of these scrolls in 1947-48...discovered in a series of caves along the western shores of the Dead Sea...document the important religious texts of Judaism as well as the more specific beliefs and laws of a particular Hebrew sect, that most believe to be the Essenes. These texts record in some 930 scrolls (though Wikipedia suggests 981 scrolls) copies of Hebrew Scriptures, non canonized texts and sectarian manuscripts that provide an historic snapshot of the thoughts of the 'monks' who recorded them in the time just before the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70 CE. Many of those thoughts were not generally accepted by the overall Hebrew population at that time. In fact, some of those ideas were very similar to the soon-to-emerge Christian religion that would ultimate engulf most of the western world.

These are very much worthwhile lectures (sale+coupon, of course) for the serious history buff and I highly recommend them.
As an aside, by coincidence, I have recently read an interesting book by Karen Stollznow ("God Bless America: Strange and Unusual Religious Beliefs and Practices in the United States") that gives examples of sectually explicit (blame Rendsburg for that term) variations within our modern Christian world that sound very similar to the variety of sects described in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a Teaching Company Course on the Dead Sea Scrolls and composed of 24 x 30 minute lectures. This is a survey course covering every major aspect of the Dead Sea Scrolls from their discovery to the final publication.

My wife and I both thoroughly enjoyed this course to what is the greatest Biblical manuscript discovery of the 20th century.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dead Sea Scrolls are something that I see referenced often. I saw this lecture on the Dead Sea Scrolls on Audible, and knew it was time to learn more about them.

This lecture on the Dead Sea Scrolls was a comprehensive dive into their discovery, research, and the implication they had on the understanding of pre temple destruction Judism.

I througally enjoyed this lecture. I previously had just listened to a lecture by the great courses plus that detailed the Hellanistic Age, which included the Maccabean revolt. This lecture detailed how a more conservative group of Jewish people felt about the Maccabean revolt, and the feelings about the lasting effects on Judism.

The Dead Sea Scrolls lecture was greay at diving into how things are interpreted differently. The lecturer would share his point of view, and why he felt that way. But he would also explore other people's views, and why they felt that way. I really enjoyed the examination of the language in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and how important that is to the interpretation.


The lecture also provided a wonderful comparison of the strict religious sect the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls were, and how it compared to more mainstream, rabbic judism.

The Dead Sea Scrolls offer very interesting parallels to Early Christian religion as well, although these Scrolls are earlier than that.

I totally suggest this series!

[Zoltán · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice introduction course to the Dead Sea Scrolls. There is so much to learn, especially with the related areas, that despite its length, this is just that, an introduction.

Gary A. Rendsburg did a good job of giving a wide view and touching as many of the scrolls as possible within the constraints. He also gives multiple views on items where there are competing ones, differentiating between views and his personal stance on them, and explaining the reasoning behind his on views.

Things I liked:
- Large selection of scrolls used.
- Geographical, historical and religious background to help understanding and interpretation.
- Includes the historical process of when and how interpretations came to be.
- Gives knowledge of religious views and background but stays neutral.
- Lot of examples where language and translation caused ambiguity, or mistranslation caused misinterpretations.

Things I didn't like:
- I would have enjoyed the "intermediate" level too :)

[Curt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun class if you like ancient history and the origin and evolution of religions. I am giving it three stars because that is what I give books, I like. I am a recent scholar of the Nag Hamadi texts, but I didn't know anything about the Dead Sea Scrolls. This was a fun and adequate discussion. Both troves are fascinating and the coincidence that they happened within 20 months of each other is almost too much to fathom. I hope that they are not the last!

Note on three stars: I grade conservatively. Four stars is for books I really like which are in a topic very dear to me. And five stars is saved for those few favorite books of all time (Lolita, Confederacy of Dunces, 100 Years of Solitude, Lamb). And while we are here, 2 stars is for a book I didn't really like but it had value. 1 star is for books that are absolute crap, don't deserve any stars at all, and the authors should have kept their mouths shut. I have reviewed a couple of these.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Great Courses are always a surprising amount of fun, given that you're essentially choosing to go to a college lecture, and Rendsburg's course on the Dead Sea Scrolls is no exception. I've always been fascinated with archaeology and the Scrolls are a prime artifact for fascinating a youth raised on Indiana Jones and the like. Learning more about the specifics of the actual scrolls was more fascinating than I anticipated, with the most seemingly mundane of discoveries about grammar and culture being far more interesting than I'd expected and bringing a lot of life to an otherwise potentially stuffy topic. Some of the lectures did veer a little technical, still, but all in all these were highly engaging, thoughtful, exciting lessons in a rich and important historical source.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cogent. Credible. Panoramic.

Likes:
• Approachable even to or especially to the less initiated.
•Bite-sized allowing for time between to ponder, wonder, and I suspect thus comprehend more than otherwise.
• Authoritative. The lecturer is unquestionably credentialed, immersed, and passionate in his subject matter. Amazing.
• Succinct and precise. I love words. I love precision in articulation. I found myself thrilling at his diction, definition, and descriptions.
• I love information presented in a non-rhetorical, descriptive manner which allows me to form insight and belief. The material presented in this course is exemplary in that manner.

Dislikes:
• None.

[Jason Farris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is primarily a historical overview of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but it translates poorly to the audiobook format. The material is quite dry, and aside from a few interesting points, much of it feels tedious to listen to.

The author approaches the subject strictly as a historian. At several points he seems dismissive or subtly mocking toward Scripture and the beliefs of both Jews and Christians, which some readers may find off-putting.

Overall, this book may be of interest to amateur academic readers or scholars studying the historical background of the scrolls. For most listeners or general readers, however, it is likely to feel dull and unsatisfying, and I would not recommend it.

[Bill Dauster · Rating 4 out of 5]

This recorded book is superior to competitors in that it addresses well the content of several scrolls. Unfortunately, it still spends too much time addressing the scrolls’ discovery and supposed links to Christianity, as well as the Professor’s personal journey to understand one issue. Rendsburg argues that the Dead Sea Scrolls attest to greater pluralism among Judaisms in antiquity. For a more Jewish-centered view, consider also Professor Lawrence H. Schiffman’s version, The Modern Scholar: The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Truth behind the Mystique.

[Biblioworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Лектор излагает материал чрезмерно его разжевывая.
Перед тем как выдать вам очередной, малейший, факт, он долго рассказывает, как этот факт интересен и важен.

Весь этот курс заменит прочтение за 15 минут статей в википедиа.

Из анекдотичных моментов - лектор с гордостью рассказывает как написал научную публикацию, посвященную трактованию одного слова в свитках. Его трактовка позволяет понять фразу как "не подтираться после туалета не той рукой"..

[Kevin Marler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a book per se, but it was a well done introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls…what they are and they aren’t. Many people want to use them in ways that betray their history - to accomplish a theological agenda. These lectures are great in that it helps us to understand the documents and the context in which they were written. They are amazing resources for Christians and Jews alike - to better understand our shared roots and varying philosophies.

[Gebo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series. Will definitely revisit. I didn't realize this topic was so huge or deep. I had a few favorites that I'd read, but I'm ashamed to say I was rather ignorant of the truth of the Dead Sea Scrolls. There is SO much there. Even astrological texts, war documents, and a treasure map/description on copper! Mind-blowing stuff. If you're interested in the topic, this is a great series. I imagine even people with a deeper knowledge of the texts might find some lectures interesting.

[Tim Bybee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating exploration into the history of the dead sea scrolls and the Qumran sect. Gary Rensburg is engaging and detailed. I knew very little about the dead sea scrolls when I picked this up, beyond that which I read in the news from time to time. Having said that, I had no problems following along with just a limited knowledge of Jewish and biblical history. I highly recommend if this is a topic that interests you.

[Abstract Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greatly researched, but not easily digested for a non-academic. A study, focused more to the comparisons between the modern Judaism, some references to early Christianity but again, for a non-academic, it is difficult to follow exactly where the author is going with this.

That’s the only not-even-criticism. If a non-academic reader ventures in these lectures, lots can be learned, but without much of a conclusion, which leads one thinking - what did I just listen to.

[Patrick Fay · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most convincing proofs that ancient life was as messy, complex and interesting as anything today - that we have only an incredibly limited view of the range of experience in historical settings. The details on daily life and the significant social consequences of seemingly arcane theological disputes is fascinating.

[Петр Федичев · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you wanted to know about the dead sea scrolls but have yet to dare to ask. All of that: who were the guys (and a few girls) who collected the scrolls, what they believed, what they expected, what of those things was known and came to light after the discovery - lots of stuff, including the rebuke of a few popular conspiracy theories.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! Have borrowed it from library & listened twice, then bought the course.

I highly recommend it! It details what was contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls find and what life in the community (essenes?) may have been like. Btw... Dont poop on the Sabbath!!

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a pretty solid offering. I particularly liked the lecturer's focus on the plural Judaisms present in late antiquity. However, given his expertise, I would have liked 2-3 lectures about the linguistic characteristics of the scrolls, instead of just one.

[Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book. The audible was great because the author is a fantastic lecturer. From the community rule scroll all the way to the copper scroll, walking through the Dead Sea scrolls was absolutely fascinating I learned so much about this!

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would read again and will read again. Would give 5-stars but haven't read enough other sources to know how it compares.

[Brice Lambson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating to see what we've learned about 200-100 BC Judaism from these documents.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series on the Dead Sea Scrolls

[Joann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great series of lectures on the DS Scrolls, accompanied by a PDF. It filled in the gaps in my knowledge and pointed to further reading. It kept me interested right through.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

good , complete

drags a little.