What did the Dead Sea Scrolls say?
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a rather large library believed to have been the collection of a religious community that lived near where the scrolls were found. The scrolls themselves are in various states of preservation — from almost complete to mere shards and fragments. Like any library, the scrolls contain a number of books, ranging from copies of Old Testament books, like Ecclesiastes, to commentaries — Isaiah Pesher being the best know of these — to books never before seen. Among these last are a book of rules for living in a religious community, a collection of sayings and verses about the coming of the Messiah, and a Book of Moses, which resembles loosely the book of Deuteronomy. There are a great many publications on the Dead Sea Scrolls and their contents, from coffee table format to dense academic studies. For more detail, a Google search or a trip to the local library will yield extensive information.
