Synopsis: In The Dead Sea Scrolls for a New Millennium, Phillip R.
Callaway presents the most comprehensive survey of the Dead Sea Scrolls
since the final publication of the cave 4 fragments. The chapters on
editing the Scrolls, on the caves, on the scrolls, and on Khirbet Qumran
present the evidence without getting bogged down in older controversies.
Callaway discusses the so-called yahad ostracon, as well as a
fascinating writing exercise, and the supposed Dead Sea Scroll on stone.
Those who desire to know more about the Bible among the Scrolls are
offered brief comments on over one hundred readings from Qumran's
biblical manuscripts and other biblical texts. In the chapter on the
pseudepigrapha and apocrypha, Callaway emphasizes the rich literary
production of the mid- to late Second Temple period, with sections on
Enoch, Jubilees, the Genesis Apocryphon, a Genesis commentary, the
Reworked Pentateuch, targums on Leviticus and Job, the Temple Scroll,
the New Jerusalem, an Apocryphon of Joshua, the psalms, various works of
wisdom, Tobit, Ben Sira, the Epistle of Jeremiah, and the Greek
fragments from cave 7. The chapter on the Community Scrolls deals with
the Damascus Document, the Rule of the Community and its appendages, a
Hybrid Rule, the Rule of War, the Thanksgiving Hymns, Florilegium,
Testimonia, Melchizedek, the pesher commentaries on Habakkuk, Nahum, and
Psalm 37, Ordinances, Calendar texts, Some Works of the Law, the Angelic
Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, and the phylacteries. In terms of the
Scrolls and Jewish history, Callaway discusses the text called Praise
for Jerusalem and King Jonathan, the Copper Scroll, the documentary
texts (which may or may not be from Qumran), the history of the Qumran
community, and some similarities to early Christian thought and
language. In addition to clarifying discussions of all the works
mentioned above, the author hopes that The Dead Sea Scrolls for a New
Millennium will help readers understand the Scrolls not as the product
of a radical, separatist community, but rather as the literary heritage
of many of the greatest Jewish minds that lived in the Second Temple
period. Endorsements: "Phillip Callaway takes his readers through the
stories of discovery, conveying with a cool and authoritative touch the
major theories and issues that the Scrolls have engendered, and leading
us into the heart of the scrolls themselves. His account is readable,
reliable, undogmatic, up-to-date, and strongly recommended for students
and non-specialists alike." --Philip Davies University of Sheffield "If
you are looking for a refreshing guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls that
introduces you to most of the major compositions in a clear and
sympathetic way, then this is the book for you. Callaway presents a wide
range of views about the Scrolls, and yet overall he sees them not as
the products of a maverick minority but very much as part of the Judaism
of their time. As such he argues that they need to be taken seriously by
all who understand themselves as in any way the heirs of that formative
period two thousand years ago." --George J. Brooke, University of
Manchester Author Biography: Phillip R. Callaway studied the Dead Sea
Scrolls with Hartmut Stegemann and worked at the Qumran Institute at the
University of Marburg and the University of Göttingen, Germany. He
received the PhD in Religion from Emory University. He has published
widely on the Dead Sea Scrolls and is the author of The History of the
Qumran Community: An Investigation (1988) and the coauthor of The
Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls (2002).
