Part 3/9:
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls between 1946 and 1957 was a watershed moment for biblical scholarship. It pushed back the oldest known manuscripts of the Old Testament by nearly a thousand years, offering remarkable insights into the ancient texts' authenticity and translation over time. The Scrolls, predominantly written in Hebrew, but also containing Aramaic and Greek, showcase a diverse literary landscape.
One interesting example mentioned was the Great Isaiah Scroll—an intact manuscript of the Book of Isaiah—found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. This scroll bore striking similarities to the previously oldest known text, the Masoretic text, which dated to the Middle Ages, thus leading to tremendous shifts in scholarly perspectives on the history of biblical texts.