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Re: orion-list Sunday Times article on 'new scroll'



On Sun, 7 Nov 1999, Dave Washburn wrote:
> > I thought folks might be interested to see this article in the Sunday Times
> > about the 'new scroll' (watch the wrap):
> > 
> > http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/99/11/07/stifgnmid01001.html?99
> > 9
> 
> I see a lot of fantastic claims, nothing more.  A few questions I 
> would like to ask:

I agree. I tend to distrust sources who speak only on condition of
anonymity.
 
> 1. What exactly is a "mixed text"?

Probably a reference to the presence of Hebrew and Aramaic in the same
text.

> 2. Who is supposed to have carbon dated it and where is the data?

No idea. Greg, do you know?

> 3. Yeshua is Hebrew for Jesus - so what?  It says Yeshua ben 
> Padiah.  Yeshua was a fairly common name, who the heck is 
> Padiah supposed to be?

Yes, Yeshua was a common name. I presume that the reference is to names
thought to refer to Jesus that were excised from the Talmud, such as
Yeshua, son of Pandera. But the presence of the name "Yeshua ben Padiah" 
doesn't mean that this text is about Jesus of Nazareth. I'd take that
claim with a box of salt. 

> 4. Even assuming the story of its discovery is true, why was this 
> one scroll clear across the Dead Sea from the others?

Good question. Maybe because it's been quiet on the Scrolls front for a
while and the newspapers need a good story? I don't understand why so much
coverage is given to Stephen Pfann's evaluation. He's a good scholar (a
bit stressed out right now because he's finishing his doctorate) but he's
not the only Scrolls scholar in Jerusalem. This is the first I've read of
Magen Broshi having something to say about the scroll's text.

> 5. Why doesn't somebody just publish this thing so the rest of us 
> can evaluate it, instead of relying on all this sensationalistic 
> innuendo?

Er, right-- and how long did it take to publish the other scrolls? <g>

Avital

Avital Pinnick, Ph.D.                      tel: 972-2-588-2063
list moderator/bibliography/web            fax: 972-2-588-3584
Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls
http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il - DSS bibliography updated weekly.


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