James C. Vanderkam

Advantages: Well written, balanced, concise, comprehensive
Disadvantages: -

...If you have read articles and heard references, and would like to know more about the Dead Sea Scrolls; if you are interested in the development of the Hebrew Scriptures, and would like more background; if you are interested in life in Israel around the time of Christ; if these or other similar questions apply to your interests, this is a book for you. James VanderKam, professor of Hebrew Scriptures at Notre Dame (Indiana, not Paris), and member of the official international team charged with preservation, reconstruction and translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, has put together a one-volume introduction and exposition of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is an accessible volume that presupposes no particular background of study in language, hermeneutics, biblical development, or archaeology. Yet, it does not 'talk down' to the audience either... Read review

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Advantages: Great one-volume coverage of the topic
Disadvantages: -

...James Vanderkam and Peter Flint are names well-known to those who follow the scrolls. Each has contributed their own work in book and article form to the body of literature about the Dead Sea Scrolls. This volume, 'The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance for Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus and Christianity' is one of the most comprehensive, in-depth and well-organised introductions and overviews of the scrolls done to date. Published just a few years ago, it takes into consideration all but the very latest of scroll research and publication. As Emmanuel Tov, another name well known to scroll aficionados, states in the foreword, the publication of information about the scrolls has proceeded so rapidly during the past decade that it has become necessary for a new volume such as this to provide an adequate... Read review

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Advantages: Fascinating survey of the history, research, and controversy
Disadvantages: none

...would have once seen the following classified advertisement: Miscellaneous for Sale: Four Dead Sea Scrolls Biblical manuscripts dating back to at least 200 B.C. are for sale. This would be an ideal gift to an educational or religious institution by an individual or group. Box F 206, Wall Street Journal. ---Where They Came From--- In this section, articles by noted scholars Lawrence Schiffman, James VanderKam, Raphael Levy and Hershel Shanks discuss the possible origins of the scrolls. Were they developed by the Essenes, a shadowy sect that might have encamped at Qumran? Were they written by another minor group of Sadducees? Were the Essenes an off-shoot of the Sadducees? Of course, not a lot of people realise that the first discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls occurred fifty years prior to the discovery in the caves near Qum'ran, and hundreds... Read review

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