Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered - The Preterist Archive

Chapter 3 - Biblical Interpretation
The Jews at the time of the writing of the Scrolls can truly be described as a 'people of the Book'. But
which writings were recognized as sacred? The situation represented by the literature before us was
still to a certain extent fluid. The Bible recognized by Jews and Protestants was put in its final form
around AD 100 after the fall of the Temple in AD 7 0 by those in the process of developing Rabbinic
Judaism. Nor would the decisions made by these heirs of the Pharisee Rabbi Yohanan ben Zacchai,
the individual who in Talmudic sources is described as having applied 'the Star Prophecy' to
Vespasian - the destroyer of Jerusalem and future emperor in Rome - have been particularly welcome
among the supporters of the tradition represented by the literature of the Scrolls.
Yet it is possible to say a few things about which books were already considered holy or authoritative
merely on the basis of inspecting the Scrolls themselves. Certainly the Law as we have come to know
it (that ascribed to Moses), as well as the Prophets, had already acquired the aura of sacredness, and
they are referred to in this manner by the authors of the Scrolls, though additional books like the
Temple Scroll and additions like those to Ezekiel above would appear to have still been in the process
of being created. Psalms, too, with some additions, would appear to have been recognized.
Most surviving writings from Qumran and later materials about these times, like the Rabbinic
Mishnah and Tosefta, are concerned with understanding and applying the requirements of books and
writings already considered sacred. Where the books ascribed to Moses and the Prophets, and to
David (the Psalms) were concerned, there appear to have been few sceptics. The problem in the
literature before us was not really where to look for God. Writings like the Law, Prophets and Psalms
represented His direct communication with His people. The problem was how to understand that
communication.
Various techniques developed to solve this. One method was to extrapolate the basic principles of life
from the literature already recognized as sacred and then weave an entertaining story illustrating them.
Books like Judith and 3 Maccabees, not so far found at Qumran, represent this kind of approach, as do
the stories of Tobit and the Persian Court in this Chapter. A related technique was to 'rewrite' Biblical
stories, expanding or revising them with new details in accordance with one's own understanding of
what God required or how certain aspects of this legacy needed to be interpreted or approached.
The Genesis Apocryphon from Cave 1, published earlier, is an example of such rewriting. So are parts
of the document with which we start this Chapter, the Genesis Florilegium. Both of them are
concerned with rewriting certain aspects of the Genesis narrative which their writers for some reason
considered important. As in the story of the Biblical flood, they insert interpretative words into long
passages of Biblical text while at the same time paring away what they regarded as dross. In this way,
a new, more focused - if tendentious story emerges; and overlaps, reflecting the amalgam of previous
textual traditions, either by design or otherwise disappear.
The various stories involving the mysterious Enoch who, because he was described as 'walking with
God' in Gen. 5:24, was thought not to have died, are another variation of this genre. A lively
pseudepigraphic tradition developed in Enoch's name, intent on capitalizing on the apocalyptic,
visionary and mystical insights implicit in his having visited Heaven and lived. The jubilees cycle is