Categories
Archeology

[Archeology] A Dead Sea Scroll of Stone

A three-foot-tall tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew that scholars believe dates from the decades just before the birth of Jesus is causing a quiet stir in biblical and archaeological circles, especially because it may speak of a messiah who will rise from the dead after three days.

The New York Times published an article about a new-ishly-discovered Dead Sea Scroll of stone called Ancient Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection.

Joel Rosenberg explains,

A respected Israeli scholar and professor at Hebrew University is making an intriguing and compelling case that it is a distinctly Jewish notion to expect the Messiah to come, die as a “suffering servant” as an atonement for sins and the redemption of Israel, and then to rise from the dead on the third day. … the scholar is also arguing that this notion of the Messiah rising on the third day is a pre-Christian concept that dates back to before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem Ephratah.

This discovery has sparked several articles in Biblical Archaeology Review — see here, and here, and here.

You can also read what Joel Rosenberg shares about this discovery here.