Part 1: The Hebrew Bible, its Text and Interpretation in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Lawrence Schiffman)

Some 250 biblical manuscripts were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. These texts are of great significance for the history of the Bible text as we know it. We will explain how the varying text types found among the Qumran Scrolls and other sites in the Judean Desert allow us to trace the process that eventually yielded the consensus around the Masoretic Text. We will then treat texts presenting varying forms of biblical interpretation, explaining their place in the history of Jewish biblical studies. Lawrence H. Schiffman is the Judge Abraham Lieberman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University and Director of the Global Network for Advanced Research in Jewish Studies. He served as the Chair of the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University and Ethel and Irvin A. Edelman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies. Between 2011 and 2014, he served as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Professor of Judaic Studies at Yeshiva University. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University. He is a specialist in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Judaism in Late Antiquity, the history of Jewish law, and Talmudic literature.