A First Look at Key Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered: The First Complete Translation and Interpretation of 50 Key Documents Withheld for Over 35 Years

Robert Eisenman and Michael Wise (Rockport, MA: Element Books, 1992) 286 pp., $24.95

This book is a major achievement. Eisenman and Wise here present us with approximately 50 previously unpublished scroll fragments (transcriptions and translations), together with a brief commentary regarding their significance. It is surely not the last word, but in many cases it is the first. Most scholars will appreciate the chance to look at these texts and to benefit from the fight that Eisenman and Wise fought in achieving access to them. I do have some trouble with their interpretations; nevertheless, to see this material at all is thrilling, and we owe Eisenman and Wise our thanks.

In all fairness, the most we can expect from this book is a well-informed preview of the upcoming scholarly editions. And no final judgment can be rendered on these texts until we have the entire Qumran corpus that will enable scholars to interpret these texts in context. In the end, we will still have to settle for some ambiguity.