The American Jewish Archives Journal, Volume LXI 2009, Number 1

“The Annual Meeting of the Corporation,” BASOR 117 (1950): 6–8. The American Oriental
Society (AOS) held its meeting from 4 to 6 April 1950.
48 Milton Robertson, “American Bible Instructors Convene at Hebrew Union College Dec.
27–28,” for release 20 December 1949, MS 20/J1-5/2, SBL.
49 Milton Robertson, “Hebrew Union College to be Host to National Meetings of Bible Instructors
and Society of Biblical Literature,” for release 23 December 1949, MS 20/J1-5/2, SBL.
50 Milton Robertson, “Jewish Messiah and Pauline Christ Will be the Subject of Biblical Society
Symposium at Hebrew Union College,” for release 26 December 1949, MS 20/J1-5/2, SBL.
51 This was not the first SBL conference where the scrolls were discussed. A panel, “The Jerusalem
Hebrew Scrolls,” was presented at the 1948 annual meeting and included Millar Burrows,
William H. Brownlee, and John C. Trever. See Ernest W. Saunders, Searching the Scriptures: A
History of the Society of Biblical Literature, 1880–1980 (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1982), 44.
52 Pfeiffer, “The Annual Meeting of the Corporation,” 7.
53 A copy of the abstracts of the papers is preserved in: Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis
(SBLE, later SBL), Nearprint File.
54 For public discussion see, inter alia, William G. Weart, “Bible Scroll ‘Find’ Suspected as
Hoax; Dr. Zeitlin of Dropsie College Splits With Other Scholars on Dead Sea Discovery,” The
New York Times (4 March 1949): 19; Eleazer L. Sukenik, “Antiquity of Hebrew Scrolls: Scholar
Presents Evidence for View That Manuscripts are Authentic,” The New York Times (19 March
1949): 14; and, Solomon Zeitlin, “Origin of Hebrew Scrolls; Authenticity of Manuscript Said
Not to Be Established,” The New York Times (2 April 1949): 14. For the academic discussion see
the articles collected in the Jewish Quarterly Review (JQR) between 1949 and 1964. Although
Zeitlin wrote many of the articles against the antiquity of the scrolls and was editor of the
journal, he freely made space available to scholars who disagreed with his views and wished
to debate them.
55 The first news of the St. Mark’s Scrolls appeared in “Ancient MSS. Found in Palestine: Earliest
Known Copy of Isaiah,” Times of London (12 April 1948): 4. Formal news of Israel’s purchase
followed in “Isaiah Find Described: Bible manuscript 2,000 Years Old,” Palestine Post (27 April
1948): 3. See also Julius Louis Meltzer, “10 Ancient Scrolls Found in Palestine,” The New York
Times (25 April 1948): 6.
56 That SBL, ASOR, and the National Association of Biblical Instructors (NABI) agreed to meet
in Cincinnati was even more prestigious because they had traditionally met only in New York.
In 1948 SBL voted to hold meetings outside New York once every four years. See “Proceedings,
December 28 th to 30 th , 1948” JBL 68, no.1 (1949): iv.
57 “Bible ‘Find’ Discussed: Pottery Containing Manuscripts Held of 1 st Century B.C.,” The New
York Times (29 December 1949): 46.
58 “Experts Dispute Age of Bible Documents,” The New York Times (30 December 1949): 4.
59 Ibid.
60 “Scroll Comment Denied: Biblical Scholar Says Date of Text Was Not at Issue,” The New
York Times (8 January 1950): 149. Orlinsky’s remarks should be contrasted with those of Gordis
from the same conference, who suggested:
The extraordinary discoveries of Ain Feshka, particularly the Isaiah Scroll, shed most
welcome light on Hebrew Orthography and other aspects of the Biblical text and suggest
a radical revision with regard to the date and origin of the early Masoretes. Evidence from
Rabbinic sources previously overlooked or ignored also substantiates the conclusion that
the beginnings of Masoretic activity are to be sought in the period before the destruction
of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. [From the abstract preserved in SBLE, Nearprint File.]
61 A copy of the conference papers abstracts is preserved in MS 20/J1-1/6, 1948-1955, AOS.
62 See previous note.
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