(Timothy Lim) The Dead Sea Scrolls were found near the site of Qumran, at the northern end of the Dead Sea, beginning in 1947. Despite the much publicized delays in the publication and editing of the scrolls, practically all of them had been made public by the time of the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery. That occasion was marked by a spate of major publications that attempted to sum up the state of scholarship at the end of the twentieth century. A decade or so later, the Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls has a different objective and character. It seeks to probe the main disputed issues in the study of the scrolls. For indeed, many issues remain in dispute, despite the apparently impressive syntheses at the turn of the millennium. There has been lively debate over the archaeology and history of the site, the nature and identity of the sect, and its relation to the broader world of Second Temple Judaism and to later Jewish and Christian tradition. It is the intention here to reflect on diverse opinions and viewpoints, highlight the points of disagreement, and point to promising directions for future research.
The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls ed. Timothy H. Lim and John J. Collins (Oxford: OUP, 2010) has just been published in the UK on the 28th of October. The US publication will follow soon. The book will be reviewed by a distinguished panel of scholars (Shaye Cohen [Harvard], Sidnie W. Crawford [Nebraska], and Eibert Tigchelaar [Leuven]) at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Conference in Atlanta on Monday the 22nd of November, 9.30-11.30am (S22-134 in the program book).
Introduction: Current Issues in Dead Sea Scrolls Research
Timothy H. Lim and John J. Collins
PART I ARCHAEOLOGY OF KHIRBET
QUMRAN AND THE JUDAEAN
WILDERNESS
1. Khirbet Qumran and its Environs
Eric M. Meyers
2. The Qumran Cemetery Reassessed
Rachel Hachlili
PART II THE SCROLLS AND JEWISH HISTORY
3. Constructing Ancient Judaism from the Scrolls
Martin Goodman
4. The Origins and History of the Teacher’s Movement
Michael O. Wise
5. Women in Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Tal Ilan
PART III THE SCROLLS AND SECTARIANISM
6. Sectarian Communities in the Dead Sea Scrolls
John J. Collins
7. The Classical Sources on the Essenes and the Scrolls Communities
Joan E. Taylor
8. Sociological Approaches to Qumran Sectarianism
Jutta Jokiranta
9. Qumran Calendars and Sectarianism
Sacha Stern
10. The Book of Enoch and the Qumran Scrolls
James C. VanderKam
PART IV THE BIBLICAL TEXTS, INTERPRETATION, AND LANGUAGES
OF THE SCROLLS
11. Assessing the Text-Critical Theories of the Hebrew Bible after Qumran
Ronald S. Hendel
12. Authoritative Scriptures and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Timothy H. Lim
13. Rewritten Scripture
Molly M. Zahn
14. The Continuity of Biblical Interpretation in the Qumran Scrolls and Rabbinic Literature
Bilhah Nitzan
15. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek in the Qumran Scrolls
Jan Joosten
PART V RELIGIOUS THEMES IN THE SCROLLS
16. Purity in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Jonathan Klawans
17. Apocalypticism and Messianism
Michael A. Knibb
18. Exploring the Mystical Background of the Dead Sea Scrolls
James R. Davila
19. Wisdom Literature and Thought in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Armin Lange
20. Iranian Connections in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Albert De Jong
21. Was the Dead Sea Sect a Penitential Movement?
David Lambert
PART VI THE SCROLLS AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY
22. Critical Issues in the Investigation of the Scrolls and the New Testament
Jorg Frey
23. Monotheism, Principal Angels, and the Background of Christology
L. W. Hurtado
24. Shared Exegetical Traditions between the Scrolls and the New Testament
George J. Brooke
PART VII THE SCROLLS AND LATER JUDAISM
25. Halakhah between the Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic Literature
Aharon Shemesh
26. The Contribution of the Qumran Scrolls to the Study of Ancient Jewish Liturgy
Daniel K. Falk
27. Reviewing the Links between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Cairo Genizah
Stefan C. Reif
PART VIII NEW APPROACHES TO THE SCROLLS
28. Rhetorical Criticism and the Reading of the Qumran Scrolls
Carol A. Newsom
29. Roland Barthes and the Teacher of Righteousness: The Death of the Author of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Maxine L. Grossman
30. The Scrolls and the Legal Definition of Authorship
Hector L. Macqueen
Centre for the Study of Christian Origins 