Updated American Standard Version
Giving Bible readers what God said not what translators think God meant
The Essenes were a Jewish sect that lived in Palestine during the time of the Second Temple period, from about 200 BCE to 70 CE. They are known for their strict observance of Jewish law and their focus on spiritual purity.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are perhaps the greatest archaeological discovery of the present century. The seven scrolls were found by a Bedouin in a cave near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, in 1947.
WHAT DO WE KNOW? Some eminent papyrologists, H. Hunger and O. Montevecchi, have affirmed Marcan identification. Still, the debate of positive Marcan identification goes on; Some papyrologists argue for it, some argue against it, and one scholar has come up with a new identification altogether, namely Zechariah 7:4-5. In addition to proposing Marcan identification for 7Q5, O’Callaghan proposed identification of 1 Timothy 3:16-4:1 for 7Q4.
We have determined that, the Dead Sea Scrolls were the library of the Qumran community, who were its people? Early on, in 1947 Professor Eleazar Sukenik obtained three scrolls from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; thereafter, suggesting that these scrolls had belonged to the Essene Community.