2001 Dead Sea Scrolls Conference

An international conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls as Background to Postbiblical Judaism and Early Christianity

26-28 June 2001

Organizer: Dr. James R. Davila (Lecturer in Early Jewish Studies, University of St. Andrews)

Sponsors: the Divinity School of the University of St. Andrews; the School of Greek, Latin and Ancient History of the University of St. Andrews; and the British Academy

The Conference

This conference gathered scholars from around the world to explore how the Dead Sea Scrolls contribute to our knowledge of the background of both rabbinic and noncanonical forms of Judaism, and of the origins and early development of Christianity. It consisted of seven seminar papers (one-hour presentations followed by 20-30 minutes of discussion) and fourteen short papers (20-25 minute presentations with 5-10 minutes of discussion).

A related online course module and discussion list

In preparation for the conference, Dr. Davila taught a course module on the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Divinity School of the University of St. Andrews, in which students read and discussed the major sectarian texts from Qumran with a view toward understanding their place in Second Temple Judaism. Attention was also given to the archaeological context of the Qumran discoveries, as well as to the revolutionary importance of the scrolls for our understanding of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and later Judaism. The module was taught alongside an international Internet discussion list (qumran@st-andrews.ac.uk) which began in February 2001 and closed on 30 June 2001. For more details, see the Dead Sea Scrolls web page.

Seminar presenters

• Richard Bauckham, "The Qumran Community and the Early Jerusalem Church"
• James R. Davila, "The Macrocosmic Temple, Scriptural Exegesis, and the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice"
• James R. Davila, "Melchizedek, the 'Youth,' and Jesus: the Dead Sea Scrolls and Messianism, Christology, and Mysticism"
• Steven Fraade, "The Torah of the King (Deut. 17:14-20) in the Temple Scroll and Early Rabbinic Law"
• Timothy Lim, "Studying the Qumran Scrolls and Paul in Their Historical Context"
• Bilhah Nitzan, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Liturgy"
• Lawrence Schiffman, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic Halakhah"

SHORT-PAPER PRESENTERS

• Ra'anan Abusch, "Seven-fold Praise in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and the Hekhalot Literature: Literary Context and Historical Continuity in Early Hebrew Hymnic Poetry"
• George Brooke, "From Qumran to Corinth: Veiled Allusions to Women's Authority"
• Brian Capper, "The New Covenant in Judaea at the Time of Jesus"
• Sidnie White Crawford, "'Mother' and 'Sister' as Titles: Literary and Inscriptional Evidence from Qumran to First Timothy"
• J. Harold Ellens, "The Son of Man at Qumran"
• Crispin H. T. Fletcher-Louis, "4Q381 (4Qnon-Canonical Psalms B) Frag. 1 lines 10-11: The Angelic Veneration of Adam in its Historical Context"
• Helenann Francis, "The Use of Purity as a Strategy for Group-Definition in 1QS and the Mishnah"
• Alexander Golitzin, "Recovering the Glory of Adam: Selected Themes from the Dead Sea Scrolls Present in the Macarian Homilies and Other Christian Ascetic Writings of Fourth-Century Syro-Mesopotamia"
• Maxine L. Grossman, "Priesthood as Authority: Interpretive Competition in First-Century Judaism and Christianity"
• Angela Y. Kim, "Strategies for Authorizing Non-Biblical Hymns and Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Later Jewish and Christian Traditions"
• Albert L. Lukaszewski, "The Markan Parable of the Sower and Its Interpretation in the Light of Qumran Aramaic"
• Nicholas Perrin, "Paul, Qumran and the 'Righteous One'"
• Juhana Saukkonen, "Implicit and Explicit Chronology in 4Q252 (Commentary on Genesis A)"
• Kenneth Schenck, "Jesus and 'Enochic' Views of the Afterlife: More Commonality between the Historical Jesus and Qumran"

Last updated 30th June 2001

Dr James R Davila (jrd4@st-andrews.ac.uk)