I will include a partial list of such similarities and parallels to Mormon doctrine and practices that I have found in my studies of the various Dead Sea Scrolls, and in books by many authors dealing with the subject of the Scrolls. I will be trying to not duplicate efforts made by FARMS and Hugh Nibley in their many publications. Some of the information and materials are included in papers that I prepared as early as 1954 and published by BYU, and tapes that were prepared by 1974, before FARMS was formed and their preparation and publication of all of the works of NIBLEY. My personal Library includes more than 800 titles on the Dead Sea Scrolls, accumulated as they were being published, beginning in 1951. Most of them are now out of print.
I will refer to various scrolls and publications, and those books and authors that I will refer to the most include: THE DEAD SEA SCRIPTURES IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION by THEODOR H. GASTER (referred to hereafter as GASTER). THE SECRETS OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS by HUGH J. SCHONFIELD, (SCHONFIELD), the DEAD SEA MANUAL OF DISCIPLINE by WILLIAM HUGH BROWNLEE (BROWNLEE), one of the first publications on the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1951. THE SCROLLS AND CHRISTIAN ORIGINS, by MATHEW BLACK, (BLACK), THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS, by A. DUPONT-SOMMER (SOMMER), THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY by JEAN DANIELOU (DANIELOU), ESSAY ON THE SEMITIC BACKGROUND OF THE NEW TESTAMENT by JOSEPH A. FITSMYER, (FITZMYER), DISCOVERY IN THE JUDAN DESERT, by GEZA VERMES, (VERMES), DEAD SEA DISCOVERIES: MESSIANISM, VOL 2, NO. 2, JUNE 1995, by JAMES C. VANDERKAM (VANDERKAM), THE BOOKS OF ENOCH, ARAMAIC FRAGMENTS OF QUMRAN CAVE 4, Edited by J.I. MILIK, (MILIK), THE FAITH OF CUMRAN, by ELMER RINGGREN (RINGGREN) and A GENESIS APOCRYPHON, by NAHMAN AVIGAD & YIGAEL YADIN (YADIN), as well as others mentioned in the text. SCROLLS are referred by cave number in which they were found, an abbreviation for the scroll or some feature about it, and sometimes some other identifying letter (1QS) . Fragments are identified by cave and fragment number. (4Q376). This is not intended to be an exhaustive study, but hopefully it will be sufficient to indicate the many avenues that can be productively pursued.
I will number the ideas, practices, and doctrines, that seem to be parallel or suggest some similarity to LDS doctrine and practices in sequence for future reference and perhaps enlargement; sources can be referred to for context.
- 1 - Prayer
- 2 - Restoration
- 3 - Church of Some Type
- 4 - Conclave
- 5 - Bishops and Presiding Bishops
- 6 - Godhead of Three
- 7 - Tithing
- 8 - Theology of History and a Plan
- 9 - Doctrine of Translation
- 10 - Restoration in Last Days
- 11 - Gifts of the Spirit and Crown of Glory and Garments of Glory
- 12 - Laying of of Hands for Healing
- 13 - Dwell with God on an Eternal Height in Eternal Light and Fill the Universe with Your Seed
- 14 - Genealogy
- 15 - Tradition of Buried Records
- 16 - Peculiear Manner of Burying the Scrolls
- 17 - New Name and Key Words
- 18 - Angels-Prophets-Ancient Writings-Prophecies
- 19 - Patriarchal Blessings
- 10 - Temple to be Built in Last Days
- 21 - World to be Destroyed by Fire
- 22 - New Jerusalem
- 23 - Melchizedek
- 24 - Messianic Vision
- 25 - Urim and Thummim
- 26 - Zenos a Lost Prophet
- 27 - The Devil, Satan
- 28 - Baptismal Rites
- 29 - Elect of God
- 30 - Proclaiming Salvation and an Assembly of Gods
- 31 - The Ten Copies of Isaiah in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Book of Mormon
- 32 - Two Witnesses
- 33 - Prophets
1. PRAYER:
In the HODAYOT SCROLL (Thanksgiving Psalms), prayer, over a long period of time, some 20 years it seems, resulted in what appears to have been some kind of restoration or dispensation of knowledge and direction, leading to the organization of the Community of Qumran, under a teacher called The Teacher of Righteousness, by whatever name it called itself, sometime about 176 to 150 B.C. The QUMRAN community may have been true priests exiled from the Temple and Jerusalem, into the Desert, some seven miles south of Jericho, on the northwest side of the Dead Sea. They may even have taken a portion of or most of the Temple Library with them. After fifty years there is still debate on who they were and where they came from, and why.
2. RESTORATION:
In the HODAYOT (THANKSGIVING PSALMS), there appears to be a direct appearance of God-face to face to their leader. VERMES, p. 97, has this to say: " His (referring to the leader, called the Teacher of Righteousness) teaching consisted mainly of the interpretation of the word of God, and most of all, the writings of the Prophets. The understanding of mysteries (often this word means, ordinances) was, according the HABAKKUK COMMENTARY, revealed to him not by an angel, as was the case with Daniel, but directly by God. He had a better knowledge than even the Prophets of the events concerning the end of times" In the HODAYOT, it seems to refer to the idea that the doctrines had been had five times before.
PSALM D: "I give The thanks, Adonai! For Thou hast illumined my face by They Covenant and I sought Thee: then, like a veritable dawn, like Destiny Thou didst appear unto me." SOMMER, p. 74. He goes on to foot note No. 3 this quote for the word ˜Destiny: "In Hebrew: LWRTWM: in common with Sukenik I recognize in this the word Ur-tum, singular of urim-tummim, an expression which indicated the sacred lot in ancient Israel." Perhaps a reference to Aaron and descendants of Aaron of old having the Urim and Thummim, and perhaps its use to confront and access God.
3. CHURCH OF SOME TYPE:
Organized as the YAHAD, same name as used by early Christians in ACTS,. though could have been a common name for religious communities in general. In SOMMER, p. 98, we find: "Thus, the revelation of the Jewish "New Covenant" which has just been brought to us in such detail by the Dead Sea discoveries, enriches very substantially our knowledge. In the last two centuries B.C. and the first century A.D. this represented a movement in Judaism as widespread as it was deep, both inside and outside Palestine. It is from the womb of this religious ferment that Christianity, the Christian ˜New Covenant emerged." SOMMER, p. 99, goes on to say: "In the Christian Church, just as in the Essene Church, the essential rite is the sacred meal, whose ministers are the priests. Here and there at the head of each community there is the overseer, the "bishop". And the ideal of both Churches is essentially that of unity, communion in love "even going so far as the sharing of common property".
An intriguing passage is found in BROWNLEE, p. 22, "And it shall be when they arrange the table to eat, or arrange the wine to drink the priest shall first stretch out his hand to invoke a blessing with the first of the bread or the wine to drink, the priest shall first stretch out his hand to invoke a blessing with the first of the bread and the wine."
GASTOR p. 20, carrying this thought forward says: "FOURTH-and, perhaps, most important-even if, for arguments sake, this document did refer to a divine eschatological Messiah attending a banquet with his disciples, it would still not be a eucharist in the Christian sense, for there is not the slightest suggestion that the bread and wine were regard as his flesh and blood or that consumption of them had any redemptive power. At most, it would be an agape, or "love-feast." We would agree with this because the present LDS practice is more like the ancient practice and not the eucharist of more than 750 Christian denominations and off shoots.
They were called Saints: DANIELOU, on p. 99 quotes a Scroll source: "God gave them a heritage partaking of the lot of the saints (DSD xi. )7). Similar to Paul in Col. l:12.
SHONFIELD p. 30, quoting from the DAMASCUS TESTAMENT "The former saints whom God pardons. The commentator speaks of the "first" or "former saints" whom God pardones. These are the repentant remnant from Israel and Aaron of the first part of the Testament of Damascus who lived at the time of the period of wrath." The people of Qumran considered themselves to be Saints. Today, the LDS call themselves, the "Latter Day Saints".
SOMMER, p. 98 states: "Thus, the revelation of the Jewish "New Covenant", which has just been brought to us in such detail by the Dead Sea discoveries, enriches very substantially our knowledge.In the last two centuries B.C. and the first century A.D. this represented a movement in Judaism as widespread as it was deep, both inside and outside Palestine. It is from this form of this religious ferment that Christianity, the Christian "New Covenant emerged." And on p. 99 he writes: "In the Christian Church, just in the Essene Church, the essential rite is the sacred meal, whose ministers are the priests. Here and there at the head of each community there is the overseer, the "bishop". And the ideal of both Churches is essentially that of unity, communion in love "even going so far as the sharing of common property." On page 24 he writes: "The outstanding interest of the Dead Sea documents is to be found in another direction: its lies rather in all that they tell us of the religious milieu of the JEWS in the last TWO CENTURIES BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA. It is precisely this that we may now proceed to learn." What the Jews believed from 400 B.C. to the time of Christ is of great interest to LDS scholars. The Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic Canons were developed during that period. The Canon of the Brass Plates was already in place before 600 B.C.
4. CONCLAVE OF 15: COUNCIL OF 12 AND THREE PRIESTS:
"In the Council of the Community (there shall be) twelve layman and three priests who are perfect in all that is revealed of the whole Torah, through practicing truth and righteousness and justice and loving devotion and walking humbly each with his fellow in order to maintain faithfulness in the land with steadfast intent and with a broken spirit, and to expiate iniquity through practicing justice.and be witnesses of truth". BROWNLEE pp 30-32. BROWNLEE comments by a note on page 31 that "Mention is not made of this group of fifteen men in what is extant of the CDS; ..If a distinction is to be made between the Council (of 12) and the Conclave (of three) this inner group may be the Conclave." A ruling body of three? Or a ruling body of fifteen?
BLACK, p. 115-116, states: "The Qumran sect was a hierarchic, non-egalitarian body, the unity of which and the texts make much of the "unity" of the sect-depend on its "aristocratic" or "oligarchic" structure.
There were two features of special interest, the character and organization of a small body of "saints" at the apex (or at the foundations) of the Qumran hierarchy, and the office of an individual known at the Examiner (mebaqqer). The first has been claimed as the prototype of the College of the Twelve Apostles in the early Jerusalem Church and the second as the forerunner of the Christian Bishop". The Book of Mormon nearly 600 B.C. refers to a Council of 12 that would follow Christ. Other ancient documents may yet be found that clarifies an earlier understanding of these offices and callings. BLACK continues, p. 116: "Moreover, the most natural understanding of the words (quoted in BROWNLEE ABOVE), is that the number of this group of fifteen, (includes) twelve laymen and three priests." In reference to the group of fifteen men.
AARON RULER AND JUDGE IN COMMUNITY: "..the men of the Community shall be set apart as a house of holiness for Aaron being united so as to constitute a holy of holies and a house of the Community..A most holy abode belongs to Aaron with eternal knowledge to enact laws, and to offer up an agreeable odor; and a house of perfection and truth is in Israel to establish a covenant with eternal ordinances." BROWNLEE p. 32 "Only the Sons of Aaron shall have authority in matters of law and property; and according to their judgement the decision shall be reached in regard to every rule of the men of the Community and in regard to all the property of the holy men who walk in perfection." BROWNLEE p. 34.
5: BISHOPS AND PRESIDING BISHOPS:
SOMMER, p. 62, points out that the word in the documents "inspectors" is translated as bishop and he says: "In the other hand it appears that in addition to the inspectors of each camp an "inspector of all camps" is to be recognized "the bishop of bishops" as it were (Dam. A XIIV. 9-10): "As for the inspector established over all the camps, he shall be between 30 and 50 years old, competent in the organization of men and in all sorts of languages according to their (various) families." Here he is concluding the documents speak about bishops and presiding bishops as well.
BLACK, p. 116-117, has this to say about bishops: "The function of the "Censor of the Camps" presents an interesting analogy with the early Christian Bishop, but any suggestion of the direct derivation of the one from the other is ruled out, if only by the fact that (bishop written in Greek) is a Christian coinage for the office, with its origin almost certainly to be traced to the use of the word in trade guilds and societies of the Hellenistic world. Nothing in the function of these lay bishops, however corresponds to the nature of the office of the Christian Bishop, and the Essene "bishop" and Qumran mebaqqer does provide a much closer analogy." BLACK, then make an assertion that states what the ancient bishops were like, and close attention to that description matches that of a Mormon Bishop. "He has the role both of judicial authority (the priests are obliged to consult him, (CD xv.7) and he is also a teacher and a "father in God" to the members of the sect (xvi.1-12). He has also the duties of examining novices" (xvii.6-8), p. 117. The Mormon bishop is quite different from that of the general Bishops of current Christianity, but the Mormon Bishop is clearly like the ancient bishop as BLACK describes him.
6. GODHEAD OF THREE:
VERMES, p. 159, states: "He made known His holy spirit unto them through His Anointed One." This was written in a context that also provides some other profound parallels to the pre-existence and Gods foreknowledge and eternal increase: "For God chose them not from the beginning of the world and before they were created He already knew their works. He held in abomination the generations of their congregation and hid His face from the land (at) the time of their destruction. He knew the years of (their) office, the number and exact epochs of their appointed times from all eternity and for every more, that which shall befall at the appointed times of all the years of the world. An in each of them He raised up for Himself (men) called by name in order to leave (a group) of survivors for the land and PEOPLE THE FACE OF THE UNIVERSE WITH THEIR SEED." Then follows the sentence about Elohim making known his Ruah elim through his Messiah.
In the Dead Sea Scrolls there is an attempt to avoid the name Yahweh. The usual designation for God is the archaic "el", and infrequently the normal "elohim. "Adonay, "the Lord" occurs also, as in the Thanksgiving Psalms quoted by RENGGREN p. 48: "I thank Thee, Lord. The epithet "God of the gods" is also found (lQM), and "prince of the gods", and the Most High" (1QS) a great reverence for the divine name with emphasis on the transcendence of God. "who names anything with that name which is honored above everything". On p. 49 he continues: "God is great, glorious, sublime; he is eternal, strong and powerful, wise and omniscient: In 1QH xi.7-8, (which one might compare with Alma 40:11, and Mosiah 3:17), it states: "Behold, thou art prince of the gods, and king of the honored ones, Lord of every spirit (here RENGGREN points out that the title "Lord of spirit" occurs about fifty times in l Enoch). Sixteen fragments of Enoch materials were found at Qumran. "And ruler over all works, Without Thee nothing is done", and on p. 40 1QH i.20 is quoted "Through His knowledge everything comes to pass." Says RENGGEN, p. 50-51 "The goal and purpose of creation lies not with man but with God, it is nothing other than God's glory. God's glory is the only acceptable reason for his actions. He has stretched out the heavens to his glory (1QH i.10) and to his glory has he created all things (x.12), given the Law and founded his congregation (vi.10). It can also be said that he acts for the sake of hi name (1QM xviii.8)." Compare with Moses l:33-37.
God is the Creator in 1QH xvi.8 it states: "Through the thought of Thy heart hast Thou made everything, and without Thee nothing is done And without Thy will nothing exists, and no one understands Thy counsel or beholds Thy mysteries." RENGGREN p. 52.
"Through the holy spirit, ruah qedosah he is cleansed from all sins" "Through truth hast Thou supported me and through Thy holy spirit hast thou delighted me" 1QH ix. 32 . "Through Thy holy spirit hast thou opened to mine inmost parts the knowledge of the mystery of thine insight. 1QH xii.11-13 RENGGREN p. 87. "In the Dead Sea Scrolls, "the holy spirit" is especially connected with cleansing and forgiveness or with the granting of knowledge and insight. In the former case the spirit is compared through the use of the verbs henip (1QH vii.6 f., xvii.26) and nazah (1QS iv.21) with the water of purification which "is sprinkled" on one who has become impure. The spirit is a "power granted by God which becomes active in man for salvation." RENGGREN p. 89. Thus, in the INTERPRETER'S BIBLE, p. 661, the students of the subject conclude: "The "Prince of Light" or "Spirit of Truth" is appointed, according to the Essenes, as a helper to all children of light. The figure of the Paraclete or Advocate of John (John 14:17, 15:16, 16:13, l John 5:6.8) is derived from this complex of ideas. His function described as "to witness" "to intercede", "to speak," yet "not on his own authority" has always been puzzling, for it does not fit the expected description of the Holy Spirit. And the origin and meaning of the Term "Paraclete" as an appellation of the Spirit of Truth has been much in dispute. In the light of the new Essene parallels, we now understand the title and vocation of the Advocate-Spirit of Truth for the first time with some clarity." Could the LDS agree with most of this?
BLACK, p. 146, describes a text found at Qumran from Samuel 1QSA. "The important words are those rendered in the event of God "begetting" the Anointed One to be with them, and the description of Messiah of Israel."
7. TITHING:
Tithing is collected by and received by the Bishops. CDC and Serek scrolls, and in the case of Abraham, as can be seen from the Genesis Apocryphon (22:17): "And he (Abraham) gave him (Melchizedek) a tithe of all the goods of the King of Elam and his companions". FITZMYER p. 239. Josephus says: "Abram then offered him the tithe of the spoil, and he accepted the gift."). The Tithe was paid to Melchizedek. p. 239. As noted elsewhere, the bishops of the camps collected tithes.
8. THEOLOGY OF HISTORY AND A PLAN:
RENGGREN on p. quotes from 1QH i.20: "Through His knowledge everything comes to pass And everything that is, He secureth through His plan, And without Him nothing is done", he states: "Nothing happens in the world save by the will of God, and quoting from 1QH x.8-11 "According to Thy will everything comes to pass And without Thee nothing is done".
9. DOCTRINE OF TRANSLATION:
GENESIS APOCHROPHON, p. 16, Lamech, son of Methuselah, who was the son of Enoch, as a problem and wishes to have Methuselah inquire of Enoch on his behalf, "begging him to go to his father, Enoch, who abides with angels and is all-knowing. Methuselah goes to Enoch to learn the truth from him." We learn from JOSEPH SMITH'S EGYPTIAN ALPHABET AND GRAMMER (large edition) that Methuselah had a Urim and Thummim (p. 24) and discovered Kolob: "Kolob in the first degree. It signifies the first great grand governing fixed star which is the fartherest that ever has been discovered by the fathers which was discovered by Methuselah and also by Abraham," p. 34. "Kolob..the eldest (first created of this order) of all the Stars, (the closest to where God Dwells, Abraham 3:9, and D&C 130), the greatest body of the heavenly bodies that ever was discovered by man" p. 32. MILIK, p. 20, dealing with some of aspects of the Book of Enoch, found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and related materials, refers to "A clear reference to the last section of the Astronomical Book of Enoch which lists many names of angels, presiding stars" JOSEPH SMITH'S EGYPTIAN ALPHABET AND GRAMMER, p. 24, gives a list of the twelve stars that govern. Also see Facsimile No. 2 and its explanation in the Pearl of Great Price. Abraham 3:9 also states that "Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God to govern all those planets which belong to the SAME ORDER AS THAT UPON WHICH THOU STANDEST." This introduces us to an interesting geography of the Universe. The Church Doctrine is that there is only one Universe (PROGRAM OF THE CHURCH, by John A. Widtsoe, p. 188), so all the contents of the Universe, the various kingdoms of glory and no glory, and the Celestial as well as the material mortal universe restricted by the type of matter that comprises the son-moon-stars and bodies of this order, and the various spirit kingdoms, are all geographical aspects of this one Universe. But it raises astrophysical question, how is the matter of this order, or this part of the universe protected? And the answer is found in the EGYPTIAN GRAMMER BOOK, p. 24, "so God has set the bounds of light lest it pass over and consume the planets." MILIK further comments on allusions to other Enoch materials and quotes passages that refer to Kokabel, "Star of God". Compare this with Kokaubeam, the plural for stars found in Abraham 3:13. There is much more to be said on this, but it will be treated at a later date with additional materials and sources.
GASTER, p. 358, in the MEMMOIRS OF THE PATRIARCHS, especially LAMECH, states that "Enoch who, in reward for his piety, and been translated to heaven (or to the ends of the earth) and made privy to celestial lore." Methuselah, at the request of his son Lamech, who implored him greatly, makes contact with his father Enoch. (1QapGen, YADIN, p. 17). Enoch is a translated being and like all Translated Beings has access to the Celestial Kingdom (Moses 7:31).
10. RESTORATION IN LAST DAYS:
"and renew for thee the covenant of eternal priesthood and give thee thy place in His Holy Dwelling-place." BLACK p. 140 HYMNS Col. III. 26-27. BLACK in his study of the RELIGIOUS AND THEOLOGICAL aspects of the Dead Sea Scrolls considers that the thesis of the emergence of the Primitive Church from this side of Judaism will stand or fall depending on what evidence there is. He then summarizes a series of main connections, which we will extract in part: l. Qumran practiced baptismal rites, the Jewish sects did too, but at Qumran the rites were practiced in relation to a movement of repentance, of entry into a New Covenant, and a New Covenanted Israel, in preparation for an impending divine Judgement. The Qumran New Covenant was largely a renewal of the Old Covenant; and the life of the new covenant was subjected to an even more rigorous and burdensome legalism than that of the strictest Pharisee. He became a member of an exclusive sect, of a saved Remnant. The proclamation was: "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand, and by their prophetic and Messianic ministries." p. 168. "The sacred meal of Qumran consisted solely of bread and or/wine.It may be that such a meal was eaten in anticipation of the coming of the Prince of David's line (or Nasi), and his participation in the sacred meal of Ezekiel." p, 169. 2. "Qumran appears also to have developed a doctrine of redemption by vicarious suffering and to have viewed this as among its chief arcana or mysteries. The famous Suffering Servant Prophecies of Isaiah are applied to this group of "saints and potential martyrs." 170. The sect at Qumran had Messianic expectations, still being debated; one is a highly-priestly Messiah. The sect also cherished the expectation of the coming of the Moses-like Prophet of Deut. Xviii.18, which elsewhere has been treated as a forerunner of the true Messiah. This forerunner will be of Ephraim, be killed by lawless men, his blood will cry for vengeance from the ground, and his name will be Joseph. This is particularly developed in 3rd ENOCH-THE HEBREW BOOOK OF ENOCH.
GASTER, p. 438, as part of his translation of a fragment called THE NEW COVENANT, quotes: "Howbeit, in the time of Thy good pleasure, thou wilt (again) choose unto Thyself a people, for Thou has remembered Thy covenant; and Thou wilt make them to be set apart unto Thee as an holy thing distinct from all the peoples; and Thou wilt renew Thy Covenant unto them with a show of glory (perhaps the vision to Joseph in the grove?) and with words of Thy holy (spirit) with works of Thy hand and with a script of Thy right hand, revealing unto them both the basic roots of glory and the heights of eternity; and Thou wilt appoint for them a faithful shepherd, (a new Moses) one who will ..the lowly the." The fragment breaks off there. Historically when did this happen? And who were the new people, and who was the faithful shepherd?
11. GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT AND CROWN OF GLORY AND GARMENTS OF GLORY:
BROWNLEE, p. 14: "These are the counsels of the Spirit for the sons of truth in the world; and the visitation of all who walk by it consists in healing and abundant peace during length of days, and to bear seed with all everlasting blessings and eternal rejoicing in the victorious life of eternity, and a crown of glory, together with raiment of majesty in eternal light." The is as good an expression of bearing seed for eternity reserved for those who are Celestial as any in LDS scripture. In 1 QSb (THE BENEDICTIONS) Col. III.22-29 we can extract: "The Lord bless thee from His Holy Dwelling-place, and make thee a crown of glory in the midst of the holy ones (the saints or the angels, cf. Infra), and renew for thee the covenant of eternal priesthood and give thee thy place in (His) Holy Dwelling-place" BLACK p. 140.
12. LAYING ON OF HANDS FOR HEALING:
In the ISRAEL EXPLORATION JOURNAL, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1957, D. FLUSSER, then of the Hebrew University, on pages 107-108, FLUSSER presents a short note on HEALING THROUGH THE LAYING-ON OF HANDS IN A DEAD SEA SCROLL. After discussing portions of the GENESIS APOCRYPHON, Col. xx.16-29, telling of the Pharaoh having become ill sends for Abram to pray for the king and to lay his hands upon him that he might live, so Abram prayed and laid his hands upon his head and the plague departed from him and the evil (spirit) was gone and he lived. FLUSSER comments: "Thus Abram healed Pharaoh by prayer and by laying his hands on Pharaoh's head. The laying-on of hands for healing purposes is not found in the Old Testament, nor in rabbinical literature (as far as we know), but it appears many times in the New Testament in the stories of healing related there of Jesus and his disciples." We could add that it is a regular practice of most active LDS members. FLUSSER continues: "From the Genesis Apocryphon it becomes clear that healing through the laying-on of hands was practiced among Jews, not only by Jesus and his first disciples, but by other circles as well". The GENESIS APOCRYPHON was composed before Jesus' time. FLUSSER comments: "Jesus was not the first to heal by the laying-on hands, and that this practice was current in some Jewish circles." And to day it is current among the LDS as a regular practice. FLUSSER continues: "Additional proof that Jesus and his disciples used the word .....for laying-on of hands for healing, as in the Genesis Apocryphon, is found in the fact that the words (in greek) and (in greek) are used in the New Testament to translate "the laying on of hands (Hebrew) for ordination. Rabbinical literature also used the root (Hebrew) for ordination".
13. DWELL WITH GOD ON AN ETERNAL HEIGHT IN ETERNAL LIGHT AND FILL THE UNIVERSE WITH YOUR SEED:
See the quote for item 12 above from the Serek Scroll. In the 1QapGen, YADIN, p. 45, there is a reference that enlarges the concept that Abraham's seed will be like the sands of the sea or the stars of the heavens "To thy seed will I give all this land and they shall inherit it forever (in spite of what is happening that threatens Israel today, they will still be there when Christ comes to the Mount of Olives) And I will multiply they seed as the dust of the earth which no man can number." In terms of just the stable hydrogen atom, a single proton, NASA uses in its computations the mass of the earth made up of hydrogen atoms using a number of 10 followed by 52 zeros. Which by the way, if multiplied by millions of earths like this one, will be only a beginning of God's creations on which each of them has billions of his children. Moses 7:30.
14. GENEALOGY:
In one of the large volumes publishing the DISCOVERIES IN THE JUDAEAN DESERT XXXII, QUMRAN CAVE 4 XVII, p. 77 there is a summary of the Genealogy of Bilhah, of importance to LDS as it provides details of the relationship to Jacob because she was a wife and provided him sons. If you recall Rebecca had a nurse, her name was DEBORAH. Rebecca married Isaac. Rotheus was the brother of Deborah. Rotheus married a servant of Laban called Hannah. Rotheus and Hannah had two daughters, the first was Bilhah, she married Isaac and bore him two sons: Dan and Naphtali. The second was Zilpah, also one of the wives of Isaac, she bore Isaac two sons: Gad and Asher. It was Bilhah, who engaged in adultery with Ruben. Ruben forfeited his right to the blessings of the firstborn, and Ephraim took his place. The LDS preoccupation with Ephraim, his origins and blessings is well known.
15. TRADITION OF BURIED RECORDS:
Some of the scrolls were deliberately stored in jars, and put into caves, some were so saved about 35 B.C. others were just tossed into nearby caves when the Romans of the Tenth Legion destroyed their compound, about 70 A.D. SCHONFIELD, p 159 states: "All these considerations, and many more, when we go over the records, tell in my opinion of a gigantic effort, of the most careful planning and preparation, so that the Elect of the period of the Consummation would be primed with everything they would need. Everything would be in the books, nothing neglected, and all the books safely stored for their predestined purposes." And "It would appear that in the caves of the Khirbet Qumran area we have stumbled upon books designed for the faithful in the last great struggle with evil, books for the skilled to understand and not meant to be accessible before the time, as well as other books permitted to be circulated among the uninitiated." Who are the skilled? Who are the initiated? Who get any mileage out of the Scrolls today?
16. PECULIAR MANNER OF BURYING THE SCROLLS:
Those scrolls found in jars, were wrapped in linen cloths, soaked with linseed oil, then put into jars of Egyptian manufacture not to come forth before their time, and then only the skilled would understand them.
17. NEW NAME AND KEY WORDS:
In the TESTIMONY OF THE 12 PARTRIACHS, the Testimony of Levi: He awakens from a drunken sleep and realizes he is damned because he has revealed the New Name and the Key Words.
18. ANGELS-PROHETS-ANCIENT WRITINGS-PROPHECIES:
On page 83 of RENGGREN, we find: "in the texts published thus far there is mostly mention of angels in general. They are called "sons of heaven (1QS iv.22, 1QH iii.22). "The host of the holy ones" is used parallel to that expression (also 1QH x.34 f.; simply "holy ones". On page 84 he continues: "As a designation for angels one should also understand such expressions as "the host of heaven" and "heroes of heaven" "Hosts of eternity" and "the communion of the holy ones", "valiant heroes" "when God is called "Prince of gods, the king of the glorious ones, .and the Lord of every spirit," and a reference to "Elim, "divine beings" or something similar." In the WAR SCROLL it is said that angels fight on the side of the children of light together with human armies. In xii.1-9: "A multitude of holy ones are in heaven and hosts of angels in Thy holy dwelling in order to muster the army of thine elect according to their thousands and ten thousand together with Thy holy ones thine angels the congregation of Thy holy ones is among us as an eternal help For the Lord is holy, and the king of glory is with us, a people of holy ones is our strength and hosts of angels are among our leader." The point is that the elect have direct fellowship with the angels and the heavenly world without needing anyone as a mediator. RENGGREN p. 86. GASTER, pp 289-295 translates and comments upon "The LITANY OF THE ANGELS, too extensive to quote here. Many of the Scrolls refer to angels in myriads of forms. Many, if not most, of the books representing to be English Translations of the Scrolls include many commentaries of Biblical Books, and from the fragments it is concluded that there are hundreds of identifiable documents that are not canonical at the present time but are worth while researching for ancient confirmations of present Mormon doctrine and practices.
19. PATRIARCHAL BLESSINGS:
SCHONFIELD, pp 70-91, in part makes references to the various Patriarchal Blessings given to the twelve sons of Jacob, fragments of which are found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and notes for his purposes, that one given to Benjamin TEST BEN, iii includes: "And he embraced him, and kissed him for two hours, saying: "In thee shall be fulfilled the prophecy of heaven, which says that the blameless one shall be defiled for lawless men, and the sinless one shall die for godless men." Begins tracing out traditions of a Joseph Personality who would be filled with the Holy Ghost in his youth, restore God's favor to the Jews, restore priesthood, be killed by lawless men, perhaps with others, or another, and his blood would cry for vengeance from the ground. There is much more to this that needs development, because in the various documents he would be the forerunner of the coming Messiah, suffer death, he would be of Ephraim and his name would be Joseph.
20. TEMPLE TO BE BUILT IN LAST DAYS:
See: THE TEMPLE SCROLL, and THE NEW JERUSALEM SCROLL. See the quote from Black for item 23 below. "The world is to be restored to its "paradisiacal" state before the Fall; the glory which Adam lost as the Fall is to be restored to the renewed mankind, sin and evil are to be banished from the earth, and a renewed and obedient mankind are to live on for a thousand generations, an expression which in fact practically means "eternal" life. Thus Adam is restored to his state before the Fall and lives forever in his new Paradise. The nature of this eternal life is given distinctive expression in the scrolls by the idea that the loyal covenanters will enjoy an angelic existence. They are not only to live like angels and consort with angels, but also to become as angels. The thought has no doubt developed out of the idea of God coming to dwell with men with His holy angels in a restored Temple in Jerusalem." BLACK p. 139. He quotes l QS iv.23, cf CD v. 55-6: "God in His wonderful mysteries forgave their iniquity and built them a sure house in Israel. They that hold fast to it are destine for the life of eternity and all the glory of Adam is theirs." And CD vii (xix).5-6: "all those who walk in these things in the perfection of holiness the Covenant of God standeth fast to preserve them to a thousand generations." Reference to a thousand generations is equivalent to eternal, "olam." BLACK points out on page 139, that the belief "in a doctrine of immortal or eternal life is in the scrolls, and "This is implied by the contrast between "joy in eternal life", and the "fire of dark regions". It is true the concept of "eternity" is q quite different one in modern thought from the ancient Hebrew idea, but in the case of the "(ever)lasting life" of the scrolls, we are almost certainly intended to take the term in the meaning of a life without an cessation by death." BLACK p. 139.
A characteristic feature of the scrolls is the apocalyptic elements, including the "earthly stage where the final conflict is fought out." the whole conflict is lifted up on the plane of the supernatural by the part played by the angelic hosts and Israel's protecting angels, among them Michael himself. This is stated in so many words in the lines describing the final conflict ..a congregation of gods and an assembly of men, the sons of light, and the lot of darkness will fight together the trumpets of gods and men on the Day of Destruction. Where the "Prince of Light" wil "have brought the angel Mastema to the pit." after a reference to the subduing of the Prince of the dominion of darkness, God sends the glorious angel, Michael , with eternal light, to give light to Israel." BLACK p. 154.
In conjunction with the Damascus Document, and in particular, the "the prominence in the expectation of the sect of the idea of a New Temple in a restored Jerusalem, .the expected Kingdom of God (or New Creation) of eternal duration on the present earth, with Jerusalem (and the Temple) as its center. And this new creation, innocent of all evil, reproduces upon earth the state of Eden before the Fall. BLACK p. 136.
21. WORLD TO BE DESTROYED BY FIRE:
See the quote for item 23 below. BLACK, on p. 171, "The actual destruction of the present world at the Judgement appears to have been envisaged as a universal conflagration." And there will be a new Creation: "This New Creation of eternal duration appears to have its location on this earth" where there will be "the restoration of the Temple in a New Jerusalem." The NEW JERUSALEM SCROLL describes a Temple that will be utilized for the restoration of animal sacrifices. DANIELOU, on page 21 states: "Then God in His truth will cleanse all the works of each man, in order to purify them by the Spirit" (DSD, vi.20). But it will also be a destruction of sinners by eternal fire (DSC, iv, 12-13), and this notion of destruction by fire is particularly important because it appears in the Qumran texts. One finds it again in the 2 Peter 2:12-13."
22. NEW JERUSALEM:
Qumran "looked forward to a final Visitation or Judgment in which there would be a divine purification of mankind. The state ensuing appears to be conceived as that of the New Creation,.or renewal of Creation; it is the return to the state of innocence before the Fall when Adam's lost "glory" is restored again and he enjoys an everlasting life, under undisturbed by sin or death. The actual destruction of the present world at the Judgement appears to have been envisaged as a universal conflagration. This New Creation of eternal duration appears to have its location in this earth, for the restoration of the Temple in a New Jerusalem seems to have been an integral part of their expectation for the new age. This was accompanied by a belief in an eternal life, a life to be shared with the angels in heaven..There was also probably some form of resurrection hope." BLACK p. 171.
23. MELCHIZEDEK:
In Chapters 11 and 12 of FITZMYER, he develops an interesting study that includes the MELCHIZEDEK material of CAVE 11, 11QMelch; and 4QFlor., including some comments about the priesthood of Melchizedek. "God's son endowed with universal and everlasting royal dominion (cf Rom 1:4). To this notion derived from Ps 2:7, Heb now links another from Ps 110.4: God's appointment of the risen royal Son as the possessor of the eternal priesthood of Melchizedek."p. 224. FITZMYER also develops some parallels with other documents that have come to light in the Quern literature and in the newly discovered Vatican codex of the Palestinian Tarumi Neophyte I. He quotes from Neophyte I: "the upright king of Jerusalem, that is the great Shem, (p. 227) brought out bread an wine; and he was a priest serving in the great priesthood before the Most High God And he blessed him saying, "blessed is Abram before the Most High God, who by his word created the heavens and the earth." The Genesis Apocryphon (YADIN) has this parallel passage covering the same event: "And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out food and drink for Abram and all the men who were with him" p. 228. Are Melchizedek and Shem the same person? The Great High Priest? (See D&C 138:42). See, also, Item 29 below.
24. MESSIANIC VISION:
In and effort to develop a doctrine of MESIANISM in Dead Sea Scroll materials, VANDERKAM, p. 126 ".passages which initiated the present debate (on Mesianism) are four: l. CD 12:23-13:1: Those who walk in these statutes in the age of wickedness until the Messiah of Aaron and Israel takes his stand.." Only one Messiah here. 2. CD 14:18-19: "This is the exact interpretation of the statutes in which they shall be judge until the Messiah of Aaron and Israel takes his stand and he will pardon their iniquity.." Only one Messiah here also. 3. CD 19:10-11: "They shall be rescued at the time of the Visitation, but those who remain shall be delivered up to the sword when the Messiah of Aaron and Israel comes. One Messiah here. But there seems to be an effort in these quotations to draw attention to the fact that the Messiah will be of Judah, of Israel, but have priesthood (by references to Levitical or Aaronic) power or status. The Messiah is the Great High Priest. 4. CD 19:33-20: "Thus all of the men who entered into the New Covenant in the land of Damascus and turn apostate and depart from the well of living waters, shall not be reckoned with the Council of the people or written in its Book from the day of the dead of the "Teacher of the Community until the Messiah from Aaron and Israel takes his stand." One Messiah here. On page 128 VANDERKAM continues: from the T. Dan 5.4-10, "For I know that in the last day you will defect from the Lord, you will be offended at Levi, and revolt against Judah; but you will not prevail over them. An angel of the Lord guides them both, because by them Israel shall stand.And there shall arise from you from the tribe of Judah and Levi the Lord's salvation. He will make war against Beliar; he will grant the vengeance of victory as our goal. And he shall take from Beliar the captives, the souls of the saints; and he shall turn the hearts of the disobedient to the Lord." He quotes Ginzberg "it never occurred to anyone to depict the Messiah as the heir of both the priesthood and the monarchy. And "in their final form the Test 12 Patr. Envisage one Messiah, who associated with both Levi and Judah and is evidently identified as Christ. The final form is usually dated to the second half of the second century, or the beginning of the Third." P. 129. On p. 131, he states "the singular referents from the Testaments would appear to argue for the existence of a singular messianic expectation in Second Temple theology before the advent of Christianity." BROWNLEE in 1QS, lines 11 and 12, does translate a sentence that reads "doing so until there come the Prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel." Many argue from this and similar quotes that there are two Messiahs, but in line with what is said above, the clear meaning of the 1QS quote may be that there is a Prophet to be the forerunner of the Messiah, and the Messiah of Israel. But L.H. Schiffman, VANDERKAM, p. 132, quotes line 11: "The assembly of the men of renown (called to) the feast for the council of the community when (at the end of days) the Messiah shall assemble with them." Somewhat like the sacrament to be attended by the Messiah found in D&C 27. However the discussion goes on.
VANDERKAM then states, p. 135, that " 4Q252 l. v, introduces us to a royal messianic vocabulary which forms the basis of a number of additional Qumran messianic passages. We will select a few of these. On p. 137, VANDERKAM continues "elsewhere the expected messianic personage is he who comes at the end of history, "in the last day," with the backdrop of eschatological battle and judgement of the wicked." "the favored texts on which the scroll writers messianic hope is founded are Gen. 49:10, and Isa. 11:1-5." From 4Q246, THE SON OF GOD TEXT, p. 137, he quotes: "( g)reat he shall be called, and by his name shall be entitled. He will be called the Son of God, and they shall call him the Son of the Most High."
Of great interest is: 4Q521, PSALM ON THE RESURECTION. VANDERKAM, pp. 141-142, writes that this Psalm "refers to the messiah in the opening paragraph: The heavens and the earth shall hearken to his messiah and the healing of the sick and the raising of the dead in the second: he shall heal the sick and shall resurrect the dead and announce (glad tidings) to the humble." He goes on to conclude "that the messianism was pervasive in a large percentage of manuscripts, that the word "messiah" itself is found in only 17 (four in MSS of CD) of the nearly 700 sectarian manuscripts. 11of these contain clearly messianic passages while four other offer at least the possibility, and include 4Q287, 4Q375, 4Q521. "If we include the royal messianic vocabulary we have noted, then five additional manuscripts could be described as messianic. Texts referring to the "Son of God" (4Q246), "first born" 4Q369), or understood to evidence the birth of such a figure (4Q534) raise the total of "messianic texts" to 23. Messianism is an eminent, but not a preeminent topic in the scrolls," p. 143. On page 144 he continues: "1QS 9:10, of a priestly consort to the royal messiah. In 1Qsa 2:12) and blesses the bread and wine before the messiah of Israel partakes (1Qsa 2:19) and 4Q376 mentions both the Anointed Priest (4Q376 1 i l) and the Prince (4Q 376 liii l, liii 3). Researchers who conclude that 4Q175 is a collection of messianic proof texts will interpret lines 14-20 in reference to a Priest-Messiah..11Q-Melch 2:18 suggests that a messianic prophet also played a role in eschatological expectations. On page 185 we find: "The recent publication of 4Q369, in which reference is made to God's ("first-born son").."Son of God was understood in a messianic sense." As mentioned elsewhere in these notes 1Qsa 2:11-15 attests "the idea of a divine conception of the Messiah." On page 199 of VANDERKAM, taking a quote from 1QM, one of the important documents, it is stated: "(to the God) of Israel belong all that is and will be: (He Knows) all the happenings of eternity. This is the day appointed by Him for the defeat and over through of the Prince of the dominion of wickedness, and He will send eternal succour to the company of his redeemed by the might of the princely angel of the kingdom Michael..He will raise up the Kingdom of Michael in the midst of the gods, and the dominion of Israel among all flesh." The Kingdom of Michael is taken as all mankind of this earth. The discussion as to the role and presence of Messianism in the Scrolls goes on. It is of great interest to the LDS.
25. URIM AND THUMMIM:
GASTOR, p. 21, states: "The brethren claimed that they were especially "enlightened" or "endowed with insight". Exactly the same claim-expressed by exactly the same Semitic word-is made by the MANAENS; while among the MANICHAEANS, the lay member of the community (nigosag) was known as "the man with insight". Moreover, the Brethren sometimes described this special illumination by the strange compound word Or-Tomm, literally, "Light Perfection" and this was simply a play on the Biblical Urim and Thummim of the high priest".
26. ZENOS A LOST PROPHET:
The Olive Tree references and possibly a missing prophet from the Old Testament times but preserved din the Brass Plates, may have some parallels in the BOOK OF HYMNS, OR THE PSALMS OF THANKGIVING. GASTER, pp 175-177 translates some verses, particularly viii, 4-36, which one might compare with Jacob 5:66-76, 7:26, in the Book of Mormon. Some attention needs to be given to this part of the Psalms.
27. THE DEVIL, SATAN:
RENGGREN, p. 90-91 " Concerning demons or evil spirits there are two different ideas represented in Judaism. ".. In Pseudepigraphic literature demons are associated with the fallen angels and are understood as seducers to instigators of evil deeds. "..in Rabbinic literature they are understood primarily as beings which cause sickness and, as such, are morally neutral. In Qumran, the aspect first mentioned is dominant. This, .is connected with the general view which is represented by the doctrine of the two spirits. The spirit of error, Belial, is the root of all evil in the world of men. From him come all evil thoughts and deeds. In a Thanksgiving Psalm .is he called Satan (1QH fr. Iv.6), in the War Scroll xiii.ll and the Damascus Document xvi.5 he is called the angel of enmity .also elsewhere he is related to enmity. This carries over easily into the idea of the use of Mastema (enmity) as a name for the prince of the evil spirits as, for example, in the Book of Jubilees, where it is he who tempts Abram (17:15-18), wants to kill Moses (48:2, 9), (In Jude the devil wants Moses dead, God wants to translate him and does). The devil hardens the hearts of the Egyptians (the Joseph Inspired Translation changed the reading from what seems that God hardened the Egyptians hearts to Satan did).Belial is reminiscent of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (fragments found among the DSC). In both, Belial is God's adversary (1QS ii.5) CD v.18; T. Simeon 5:3, a tempter and seducer (1QS iii.20 "angel of darkness" CD iii.23, T. Joseph 7:4, prince of the evil spirits (1QS ii.23, CD xii.2; T. Judah 25:3, T. Issacher 7:7. Whether it is he who is meant by Azazel in a fragment from Cave 4 is uncertain-thus is the identification found in later Judaism. Belial has subordinate to him a great multitude of evil angels or spirits. .the Thanksgiving Psalms (iii.18) speak of "spirits of viper" (or possibly: "spirits of nothingness"); the text has ruhe epeh, behind which the gates of eternity finally will be closed."
DANIELOU, p. 107 states: The WAR (SCROLL) tells us in fact of the "day appointed for tipping up the prince of the realm of perdition and the sending of an angel for this purpose, Michael, whom he has made full of glory so that he can exercise his power (XV11. 5-6)." A constant theme runs through many of the Scrolls a theme of a conflict between light and darkness, and ultimately light wins. DANIELOU continues on page 117: "And the Spirit of holiness and intelligence will rest on him upon the waters. He will give the greatness of God to his sons and will have no successors. Under his Priesthood sin will have an end. He will open up the gates of Paradise. And Belial will be bound by Him (LEVI XVIII 3-12)."
28: BAPTISMAL RITES:
BLACK, p. 91, points out: "The prophetic conception of a new Covenant, superseding the Old Covenant of Sinai, is classically presented at Jeremiah xxxi.31. It has its roots in Hosea and appears in variant forms in Ezekiel land in Second Isaiah. .Thus was to be created a new Israel out of the Remnant of the old Israel.More importance is to be attached to the description of it as the Covenant of (divine) Mercy (berith hesedh), and "Covenant of Repentance (berith teshubha), for these names point unequivocally to the foundation of the hole Hasidaean-Essene movement in the prophet ideal of Jeremiah-Ezekiel. It was a movement of repentance in response to the divine initiative in mercy: and "repentance" appears to have been further construed as the condition of admission to the sect. p 92. Candidates for admission are investigated by him (that is, the mebaqqer or Censor ) (Bishop). If their wisdom and deeds are satisfactory, they are bought into the covenant.p. 95. 1QS vi.16 might seem to refer to the admission to the "purer waters of lustration".The sequence of baptizing rites and sacred meal is clearly implied by 1QS v.13. "These (the unrepentant) shall not enter the waters to draw near to the pure things of the holy men. ..As such lustrations were by total immersion we are here confronted with a ritual admitting a neophyte, on repentance, by a bath by total immersion" pp 96-97. BLACK continues: "We have thus a significant point of contract with the New Testament in its general presentation of the baptism of John as a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. The discovery that the Qumran sect practiced such baptismal rites is nothing new; so too did most Jewish sects in the New Testament period. What is new is that these rites were practiced in relation to a movement of repentance, of entry into a new Covenant (and a new Covenanted Israel, the sect itself) in preparation for an impending divine judgement. The entry into the Covenant and the sect by a public confession of sins" recalls events in the Gospels." p 97.
29: PROCLAIMING SALVATION AND AN ASSEMBLY OF GODS:
FITZMYER, pp 247-251, translates the 11QMelch text 10-11. "Elohim has his stand in the assembly of the "el, in the midst of gods ("lwhym) he gives judgement take your throne in the heights; let God judge (the) peoples p. 249. And on page 251 "How upon the mountains are the feet of the herald proclaiming peace; the herald of good, proclaiming salvation, (and) saying to Zion, "Your God (is King).and the herald is the one annointed with the Spirit (about) whom Daniel spoke (the Herald of) good, proclaiming salvation)", p. 250. There is much more on Melchizedek that we will provide at a later date.
30. ELECT OF GOD:
This is the text of 4Q MESS AR. FITZJMYER, pp 142-143 translates ".In his youth he will become like (like a ma)n who does not know anyth(ing, until) the time when he shall become skilled in three books. (Th)en he will become wise and will be endowed with disc(retion)..visions to come to him upon (his) knees. And with his father and with his forefa(th)ers life and old age; (and with him there will be counsel land prudence (and) he will know the secrets of man. And his wisdom will go forth to all the peoples, and he will know the secrets of all living things. (Al)l their calculations against him will come to naught, although the opposition of all living beings will be great. (But) his (ca)lculations will exist forever," Who could this person be? J. Starcky made some remarks bout a cryptic fragment (4QarP) which mentions the sending of Elijah before.? Fitzmyer finds his remarks tantalizing. FITZMYER, p. 137, states: "If what he (Starcky) says is true, then this tiny fragment preserves the earlier hint of a late Jewish belief in Elijah as the precursor of the Messiah. Starcky identified him with the "eschatological Prophet" and in the same context speaks of the Essenes of the Pompeian period (70 B.C. )expecting "unseul Messie et son precurseru. We would help out the discussion by simply saying that there would be a prophet in the end time to whom the real, translated Elijah would appear, as a preparation for the final coming of the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the people of Qumran were expecting their Only Messiah and his forerunner.
31. THE TEN COPIES OF ISAIAH IN THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND THE BOOK OF MORMON:
The GREAT ST. MARKS ISAIAH SCROLL from cave 1 of Qumran, "was found to be marked, mainly in the margins, (sometimes between the lines, sometimes in Hebrew written backwards, called ATBASH, and most often by the mark of the Tau, an X, later perhaps incorporated in to XMAS?) with a number of symbols. In the Isaiah MS there are a dozen of these symbols, all different. Some of them look like the letters of the Greek alphabet. One or two of them like combinations of others. It is not in every case possible to determine which is the column and line of the text that is being marked, but it may well be that these symbols represent some kind of exegetical code. By way of experiment let us take first passages marked with one of the symbols as X or Greek chi, and then some marked variously with other symbols" SHONFIELD p. 49. He then identifies from ISAIAH: xxxii. l, xlii. l, 6, and 21, xliv. 28, xlix. 7. Liv. 14, lv. 4, lvi. 1, lviii. 13, lxvi. 5. Compare these with those quoted in the Book of Mormon. Then on page 50, he continues: "It is obvious that some of these passages are identical with those regarded as prophet of Christ and Christianity. But they exactly reflect the Messianic expectations and the teaching of the new Covenant Party." Then SHONFIELD lists another set of references that are identified on the scroll by different symbols: ISAIAH: vii. 8, viii, 16, 19, ix. 2, xxviii, 15, xxix. 13, 21, xxxiii. 1, xl. Ii, xliii. 14, xliv. 1, xlv. 1, xlviii. 20, xlix. 5, 8, li. 7, lii. 7, liii. 1, 5. On page 51, he lists other passages that are also identified by the strange use of symbols: ISAIAH: iii. 1, v. 30, vii. 20, viii. 8, xi. 15, xxi. 12-13, xxx. I., xli. 1, 4, 16, 21, xlii. 12, xlv. 11, xlix. 1, lxi. 9, lvii. 5, lxiv. 12, lxv. 1, lxvi.4. He then points out: "Here again some of the passages were employed as proof texts by Christian as well as by the Qumran Community. .If we are correct in suggesting that the signs have to do with prophetic exegesis we have an important piece of evidence relating to the last period of the Community's existence, where it appears to begin to link on to the Judaeo-Christians." An LDA student of the Book of Mormon will recognize the connection with the use of ISAIAH in the Book of Mormon through these marked passages and the doctrines they expound concerning the Christ. SHONFIELD continues on page 51. "But it is at least obvious that the Nazarenes (a very early Christian group) employed the same method of exegesis as the Commentators of the New Covenant Community. It is also to be noted that out of six passages where Jerome gives the interpretation of the Nazarenes no less than four are identical with marked passages in the Isaiah Scroll. The LDS student will find many many more.
32. TWO WITNESSES:
DANIELOU, on page 40, states: "No one is to bring charges against his neighbor before the Council without first proving them be fore witnesses" (DSD, vi. 1). Now this is exactly like the Christian legislation as we know it in the New Testament: first one must directly approach the person from who one desires to obtain justice; if he refuses, the charge will be brought up before two witnesses."
33. PROPHETS:
DANIELOU (WHO IS OFTEN QUOTED BY NIBLEY) on page 82 states: "Undoubtedly one of the most sensational discoveries of Qumran is the revelation of the existence of one of the great religious figures (prophets) in the history of humanity. Very little is know of his life, and it is difficult to fix exact dates. We know that he came from circle of faithful priests, that a revelation was made to him, and that he ran into violent opposition, that he was maltreated and that he was eventually sent into exile." He eventually died of old age. On page 83 he continues: "Two things about the Teacher of Righteousness are remarkable. The first is the depth of his religious experience, his deep humility before God, his painful sense of sin, his admirable confidence in God, his experience of grace, and his acts of grace. But all these attributes would make of him only a great religious figure. There is a second thing even more extraordinary, A revelation was made known to him concerning the fact that the last days proclaimed by the prophets had arrived and that the Messiah was near. He inaugurated a new exegesis of Scripture. Now what is amazing is that this prophecy was verified exactly. Thus between the great prophets of the Old Testament and John the Baptist he emerges as a new link in the preparation for the Advent of Christ: He is as Michaud writes, one of the great figures of Israel's prophetic tradition. It is amazing that he remained so unknown for so long. Now that he is known the question arises as to what we are to do about this knowledge. It is a question that is posed to the Jews: this great Jew announced the imminent coming of the Messiah some dozens of years before the birth of Christ. Furthermore, the question is put to Christians: how to contest the authenticity of such a message, which they claim has been fulfilled? Why does not this message the, form part of inspired Scripture?" Probably for the same reason the same occurred with Book of Mormon prophets and only through the Book of Mormon are they now known.