the dead sea scrolls was one of the greatest discoveries for the jewish people. the dead sea scrolls contained some of the oldest versions of many jewish texts. this discovery validated the transmission of the torah’s contents to the beginning of the common era. they represent proof that the jewish people lived and practiced judaism in israel dating back for thousands of years.
the recent dead sea scroll discovery texts were written in greek and not hebrew. the fact that they were written in greek provides us insight into the ten commandments provision of using god’s name in vain.
prior to roman occupation of israel, the greeks occupied it. during the greek occupation, the greek language became popular. the bible was transcribed into greek. the famous version of the greek bible translation is called the septuagint. it was published before the common era.
in the recent scroll discovery, passages of the prophets were found. some passenges included god’s name. rather than using greek, the scribes of these scrolls wrote the god’s name in hebrew. the reason for this language change was to comply with the ten commandments’ provision of not using god’s name in vain.
according to the national geographic article, christopher rollston, an expert in the field professor of northwest semitic languages and literatures at george washington university. he indicated that, in the scrolls found that the name of god was written in paleo hebrew script. he reported it as sort of a reminder not to even speak the divine name aloud. the article noted that “the third commandment of the hebrew bible in exodus 20:7 states not to take the name in vain. “it prohibits saying it in some sort of casual, off-handed way,” rollston explains. “
this recent discovery is evidence that adherence to the third commandment took place in the dead sea scrolls’ era. times and acceptance of the bible by other religions has changed the way that this commandment is adhered to in present day. since then, the bible has been translated into a multitude of languages. the bible has been adopted by other religions, i.e. christianity. christianity has established its own rules, regulations and belief systems with respect to the commandments. further both christianity and judaism have expanded into different branches and denominations which again have their own rules, regulations and belief systems with respect to the commandments. thus, these changes in society and religious practice have created a vast more bible publications and have dealt with the issue of god’s name in a variety of ways.
be well!!
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