The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English - Hardcover

Geza Vermes

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713991313 ISBN 13: 9780713991314

Publisher: Allen Lane / The Penguin Press, 1997

Synopsis

The first complete edition of the English version of the Dead Sea Scrolls offers direct access to the text of the priceless documents, as well as scholarly information about their history and their significance.

About this title

Review:

It's been 50 years since a Bedouin youth named Muhammed edh-Dhub went looking for a stray sheep and instead found the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the intervening decades, the scrolls have been enveloped in a storm of controversy and bitter conflict: the scholars entrusted with translating and editing the texts sat on many of them instead, creating suspicions that escalated to conspiracy theories about supposed cover-ups of sensitive, even damaging material. Geza Vermes, a former professor of Jewish studies at Oxford and a noted authority on the scrolls, marks the 50th anniversary of Muhammed edh-Dhub's find with his book The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English; the title, however, is misleading, for the collection of documents is by no means complete.

Vermes has left out the copies of Hebrew scriptures that are available elsewhere, instead focusing on the sectarian writings of the Essene community at Qumran and the intertestemental texts, and these are indeed complete translations. Vermes has also included an overview of five decades of research on the scrolls and a thumbnail sketch of the Qumran community's history and religion. For anyone interested in biblical history, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English is a worthwhile read.

About the Author:

Geza Vermes’s pioneering work on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the historical Jesus led to his appointment as the first professor of Jewish studies at Oxford University, where he is now professor emeritus. He is the author of several books, including The Authentic Gospel of Jesus.

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen Lane / The Penguin Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0713991313
• ISBN 13: 9780713991314
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 648