A Cautionary Tale: The Damascus Document and the Dating of Biblical Texts

• In Event: The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Abstract

When the Damascus Document was first discovered by Solomon Schechter in the Cairo Genizah in 1896, it was not known if the text was from the Second Temple Period or from a much later time. Scholars attempted to date the text by analyzing its language and ideas. Later in the 1950's, when copies of the Damascus Document were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, scholars were able to determine when the text was actually written by means of carbon dating and paleographical analysis. This two stage discovery, first in 1896 and then again in the 1950's, allows us the rare opportunity to assess the merit and accuracy of using language and ideas to date a text.

The initial methods of dating applied to the Damascus Document have been pervasive in biblical studies for at least two centuries. While many biblical scholars strongly believe that language and ideas can be used to date a text, others such as Benjamin D. Sommer disagree. This study uses the two stage discovery of the Damascus Document in order to shed light on this debate. As will be shown, the “test case” of the Damascus Document strongly supports one side of the debate between Sommer and his opponents.

author

• David Z. Moster, Tel Aviv University