Unravelling the Dead Sea Scrolls

Professor Timothy H Lim’s new book, The Earliest Commentary on the Prophecy of Habakkuk, will be the first major commentary on Pesher Habakkuk in 40 years.

The commentary includes both a detailed textual analysis of Pesher Habakkuk as well as a broad discussion of the historical and theological themes present in the scroll, which was one of the first ancient Jewish manuscripts found within the caves of Qumran in the collection that would later become known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Professor Lim’s volume is the first to be published in the Oxford Commentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls, a new commentary series that aims to provide those interested in the scrolls with scholarship that is both accessible and of the highest level.

Timothy Lim is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism in the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh.

New edition

Professor Lim says,

“Using the latest digitised images, this commentary provides a new edition of the scroll. A fresh English translation accompanies the Hebrew text, along with detailed notes on the palaeography, grammar, interpretative techniques, and historical allusions to the Romans and the Hasmonean high priests.

“The introduction sets the work in context by describing the purpose, redaction, interpretative character, and historical circumstances. The body of the volume consists of notes and comments, providing a running discussion of columns 1 to 13.”

As well as being a contributing author, Professor Lim is the General Editor of the Oxford Commentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls, working alongside an international advisory board that includes John J Collins (Yale), Sidnie White Crawford (Nebraska-Lincoln), Reinhard Kratz (Göttingen) and Raija Sollamo (Helsinki).

Links

The Earliest Commentary on the Prophecy of Habakkuk

Oxford Commentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls

Professor Lim's web page