Critical Editions of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Since 1991, photographs all of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been “officially” available for people to investigate and study for themselves. Realistically, however, they were only available to study at a handful of libraries around the world and at that time there were only eight volumes published in the official Discoveries in the Judaean Desert (DJD) series. In the ensuing decade, with Emanuel Tov serving as the new editor-in-chief and an expanded group of scholars working on the Scrolls, an amazing twenty-nine additional DJD volumes have been published. Currently there are only two volumes outstanding. When they are published the series will be made up of thirty-nine volumes (There are a few scrolls whose editiones principes are outside this series).

In addition to the DJD series, a critical edition of all of the non-biblical scrolls is being produced as part of the Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls project. Furthermore, the The Dead Sea Scrolls Reader edited by Donald W. Parry and Emanuel Tov is probably the best alternative if the DJD volumes are beyond your budget (see the Annotated Guide for a full description).

 

Discoveries in the Judaean Desert | Editiones Principes Outside of DJD | Princeton Dead Sea Scrolls

 

Editiones Principes

Virtually all “official” editions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are found in the DJD series. There remains, however, a few scrolls whose editiones principes are outside this series. They are noted below.

Discoveries in the Judaean Desert

DJDThese DJD volumes are the editiones principes or “official/principal editions” of the Scrolls. While these volumes are expensive, they are the starting point of any serious research into the Scrolls.

  • Dominique Barthélemy and Józef T. Milik. Qumran Cave 1. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Pierre Benoit, Józef T. Milik, and Roland de Vaux. Les grottes de Murabba’ât. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 2. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961. [Texts only] Buy from Amazon.com
  • Pierre Benoit, Józef T. Milik, and Roland de Vaux. Les grottes de Murabba’ât. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 2a. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961. [Plates only] Buy from Amazon.com
  • Maurice Baillet, Józef T. Milik, and Roland de Vaux. Les ‘petites grottes’ de Qumrân. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan 3. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962. [Texts only] Buy from Amazon.com
  • Maurice Baillet, Józef T. Milik, and Roland de Vaux. Les ‘petites grottes’ de Qumrân. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan 3a. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962. [Plates only] Buy from Amazon.com
  • John A. Sanders. The Psalms Scroll of Qumrân Cave 11 (11QPsa). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan 4. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Buy from Amazon.com
  • John M. Allegro with Arnold A. Anderson. Qumrân Cave 4.I (4Q158-4Q186). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan 5. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968. Buy from Amazon.com (N.B. This edition should be used in conjunction with John Strugnell, “Notes en marge du volume V des ‘Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan’,” Revue de Qumran 7 (1970): 163-276. A revised edition is in preparation: Moshe Bernstein, George Brooke, with the assistance of J. Høgenhavn. Qumran Cave 4.I: 4Q158-186. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 5a. Revised edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, in preparation)
  • Roland de Vaux and Józef T. Milik. Qumrân grotte 4.II: I. Archéologie; II. Tefillin, Mezuzot et Targums (4Q128-4Q157). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 6. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Maurice Baillet. Qumrân grotte 4.III (4Q482-4Q520). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 7. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Emanuel Tov, with the collaboration of R.A. Kraft. The Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever (8HevXIIgr) (The Seiyâl Collection I). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 8. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Patrick W. Skehan, Eugene Ulrich, and Judith E. Sanderson. Qumran Cave 4.IV: Palaeo-Hebrew and Greek Biblical Manuscripts Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 9. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Elisha Qimron and John Strugnell. Qumran Cave 4.V: Miqsat Ma’ase ha-Torah. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 10. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Esther Eshel, Hanan Eshel, Carol Newsom, Bilhah Nitzan, Eileen Schuller, and Ada Yardeni, in consultation with J. C. VanderKam and M. Brady. Qumran Cave 4.VI: Poetical and Liturgical Texts, Part 1. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 11. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Eugene Ulrich and Frank Moore Cross, James R. Davila, Nathan Jastram, Judith E. Sanderson, Emanuel Tov, John Strugnell. Qumran Cave 4.VII: Genesis to Numbers. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 12. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994 [reprint 1999]. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Harold Attridge, Torleif Elgvin, Jozef Milik, Saul Olyan, John Strugnell, Emanuel Tov, James VanderKam and Sidnie White, in consultation with James VanderKam. Qumran Cave 4.VIII: Parabiblical Texts, Part 1. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 13. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994 [reprint 2003]. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Eugene Ulrich, Frank Moore Cross, Sidnie White Crawford, Julie Ann Duncan, Patrick W. Skehan, Emanuel Tov, Julio Trebolle Barrera. Qumran Cave 4.IX: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Kings. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 14. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995 [reprint 1999]. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Eugene Ulrich, Frank Moore Cross, Russell E. Fuller, Judith E. Sanderson, Patrick W. Skehan and Emanuel Tov. Qumran Cave 4.X: The Prophets. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 15. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Eugene Ulrich , Frank Moore Cross, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Peter W. Flint, Sarianna Metso, Catherine M. Murphy, Curt Niccum, Patrick W. Skehan, Emanuel Tov, and Julio Trebolle Barrera. Qumran Cave 4.XI: Psalms to Chronicles. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 16. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Frank Moore Cross, Donald W. Parry, Richard J. Saley, and Eugene C. Ulrich. Qumran Cave 4.XII: 1-2 Samuel. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 17. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2005. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Joseph M. Baumgarten. Qumran Cave 4.XIII: The Damascus Document (4Q266-273). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 18. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Magen Broshi, Esther Eshel, Joseph Fitzmyer, Erik Larson, Carol Newsom, Lawrence Schiffman, Mark Smith, Michael Stone, John Strugnell, Ada Yardeni, in consultation with James C. VanderKam. Qumran Cave 4.XIV: Parabiblical Texts, Part 2. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 19. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Torleif Elgvin and others, in consultation with J. A. Fitzmyer. Qumran Cave 4.XV: Sapiential Texts, Part 1. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 20. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Shemaryahu Talmon, Jonathan Ben-Dov, and Uwe Glessmer. Qumran Cave 4.XVI: Calendrical Texts. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 21. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001. Buy from Amazon.com
  • George J. Brooke, John J. Collins, Peter Flint, Jonas Greenfield, E. Larson, Carol Newsom, Émile Puech, Lawrence H. Schiffman, Michael Stone, and Julio Trebolle Barrera, in consultation with J. VanderKam, partially based on earlier transcriptions by Józef T. Milik and John Strugnell. Qumran Cave 4.XVII: Parabiblical Texts, Part 3. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 22. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Florentino García Martínez, Eibert J.C. Tigchelaar, and Adam S. van der Woude. Incorporating earlier editions by J.P.M. van der Ploeg, O.P., with a contribution by Edward Herbert . Qumran Cave 11.II: 11Q2-18, 11Q20-31. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 23. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Mary Joan Winn Leith. Wadi Daliyeh Seal Impressions. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 24. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Émile Puech. Qumrân Grotte 4.XVIII: Textes hébreux (4Q521-4Q528, 4Q576-4Q579). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 25. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Philip S. Alexander and Geza Vermes. Qumran Cave 4.XIX: Serekh ha-Yahad and Two Related Texts. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 26. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Hannah M. Cotton and Ada Yardeni. Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek Documentary Texts from Nahal Hever and Other Sites, with an Appendix Containing Alleged Qumran Texts (The Seiyâl Collection II). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 27. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Douglas M. Gropp, Moshe J. Bernstein, Monica Brady, James Charlesworth, Peter Flint, Haggai Misgav, Stephen Pfann, Eileen Schuller, Eibert J.C. Tigchelaar, James VanderKam. Wadi Daliyeh II: The Samaria Papyri From Wadi Daliyeh; and Qumran Cave 4.XXVIII: Miscellanea, Part 2. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 28. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Esther Chazon, Torleif Elgvin, Esther Eshel, Daniel Falk, Bilhah Nitzan, Elisha Qimron, Eileen Schuller, D. Seely, Eibert Tigchelaar, Moshe Weinfeld, in consultation with J. VanderKam and M. Brady. Qumran Cave 4.XX: Poetical and Liturgical Texts, Part 2. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 29. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Divorah Dimant, Partially Based on Earlier Transcriptions by John Strugnell. Qumran Cave 4.XXVI. Parabiblical Texts, Part 4: Pseudo-Prophetic Texts. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 30. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Émile Puech. Qumran Grotte 4.XXII: Textes Arameens, premiere partie: 4Q529-549. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 31. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Peter W. Flint and Eugene Ulrich. Qumran Cave 1.II: The Isaiah Scrolls. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 32. Oxford: Clarendon Press, in preparation.
  • Dana M. Pike, Andrew C. Skinner, with a Contribution by Terrence L. Szink, in Consultation with James C. VanderKam and Monica Brady. Qumran Cave 4.XXIII: Unidentified Fragments. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 33. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001. Buy from Amazon.com
  • John Strugnell, Daniel J. Harrington, Torleif Elgvin, in consultation with John A. Fitzmyer. Qumran Cave 4.XXIV: Sapiential Texts, Part 2; 4QInstruction (Musar le Mevin): 4Q415ff. with a re-edition of 1Q26. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 34. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Joseph M. Baumgarten et al. Qumran Cave 4.XXV: Halakhic Texts. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 35. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Stephen J. Pfann et al. Qumran Cave 4.XXVI: Cryptic Texts, and Miscellanea, Part 1 . Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 36. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Émile Puech. Qumran Grotte 4.XXVII: Textes Arameens, deuxième Partie: 4Q550-575, 580-582. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 37. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2009. Buy from Amazon.com. NEW!
  • James Charlesworth et al. Miscellaneous Texts from the Judaean Desert. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 38. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Emanuel Tov, with Contributions by Martin G. Abegg, Jr, Armin Lange, Ulrike Mittmann-Richert, Stephen J. Pfann, Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar, Eugene Ulrich, and Brian Webster. The Texts from the Judaean Desert: Indices and an Introduction to the Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Series. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 39. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2002. Buy from Amazon.com
  • Hartmut Stegemann with Eileen Schuller, and Carol Newsom, Qumran Cave 1.III: 1QHodayot a: With Incorporation of 4QHodayot a-f and 1QHodayot b. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 40. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2002. Buy from Amazon.com NEW!

Editiones Principes Outside of DJD

The few scrolls that have editiones principes outside of the DJD series are:

  • Nahman Avigad and Yigael Yadin. A Genesis Apocryphon: A Scroll from the Wilderness of Judaea. Jerusalem: Magnes Press and Heikhal ha-Sefer, 1956. [The official edition of 1QapGen]
  • Millar Burrows, with the assistance of John C. Trevor and William H. Brownlee, eds. The Dead Sea Scrolls of St. Mark’s Monastery. Volume I: The Isaiah manuscript and the Habakkuk Commentary. New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1950. [The official edition of 1QIsaa and 1QpHab] Buy from Amazon.com
  • Millar Burrows, with the assistance of John C. Trevor and William H. Brownlee, eds. The Dead Sea Scrolls of St. Mark’s Monastery. Volume II: Plates and Transcription of the Manual of Discipline. New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1951. [The official edition of 1QS]
  • David Noel Freedman and Kenneth A. Mathews, with contributions by Richard S. Hanson. The Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus Scroll (11QpaleoLev). Winona Lake, Ind.: American Schools of Oriental Research; Distributed by Eisenbrauns, 1985. [The official edition of 11QpaleoLev] Buy from Amazon.com
  • Józef T. Milik. The Books of Enoch. Aramaic Fragments of Qumrân Cave 4. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976. [The official edition of 4QEna to 4QEng] Buy from Amazon.com
  • Eleazar L. Sukenik. The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew University. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1955 (Hebrew original, 1954). [The official edition of 1QIsab, 1QM, and 1QHa]
  • Yigael Yadin. Megilat ham-miqdash – The Temple Scroll. 3 volumes + Supplement. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, The Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Shrine of the Book, 1997 [Hebrew]. Revised English edition, 1983. [The official edition of 11QTa]

Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls

Princeton DSSCritical editions of the non-biblical Scrolls with English translation are also available in the Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1994-). Edited by James Charlesworth, this will provide a critical edition of all the non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls in 10 projected volumes along with 2 concordances. Each manuscript is presented with Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek text on the left page with facing English translation on the right. Where a document is witnessed by more than one manuscript, each manuscript is presented separately, often with a critical apparatus. Critical notes help the reader to understand the text, variants, philological subtleties, and the translation. An introduction with selected bibliography precedes each document.

The published and projected volumes are as follows:

  • James H. Charlesworth, Scott R. A. Starbuck, Martin Hengel, eds. Graphic Concordance to the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations. Westminster/John Knox, 1991. Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com  [N.B. This graphic concordance is now pretty much obsolete with the appearance of Martin G. Abegg, Jr. with James E. Bowley and Edward M. Cook in consultation with Emanuel Tov, The Dead Sea Scrolls Concordance, Volume 1: The Non-Biblical Texts from Qumran (Brill, 2003). See the Annotated Guide for a full description.]
  • James H. Charlesworth, ed. Rule of the Community and Related Documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 1. Westminster/John Knox, 1994. Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com
  • James H. Charlesworth, ed. Damascus Document, War Scroll, and Related Documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 2. Westminster/John Knox, 1995. Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com
  • James H. Charlesworth, ed., with Henry W.M. Rietz, along with J.M. Baumgarten Damascus Document Fragments, Some Works of the Torah, and Related Documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 3. Westminster/John Knox, 2005. Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com
  • James H. Charlesworth and Henry W.L. Rietz, eds. Pseudepigraphic and Non-Masoretic Psalms and Prayers. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 4A. Westminster/John Knox, 1997. Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com
  • James H. Charlesworth, ed. Angelic Liturgy: Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 4B. Westminster/John Knox, 1999. Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com
  • James H. Charlesworth, ed. Thanksgiving Hymns and Related Documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 5. Westminster/John Knox, forthcoming.
  • James H. Charlesworth, ed. The Targum on Job, Parabiblical and Related Documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 6A. Westminster/John Knox, forthcoming.
  • James H. Charlesworth, ed. Pesharim, Other Commentaries, and Related Documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 6B. Westminster/John Knox, 2002. Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com
  • James H. Charlesworth, ed. Temple Scroll and Related Documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 7. Westminster/John Knox, forthcoming.
  • James H. Charlesworth, ed. Genesis Apocryphon, New Jerusalem, and Related Documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 8. Westminster/John Knox, forthcoming.
  • James H. Charlesworth, ed. Copper Scroll, Greek Fragments, and Miscellanea. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 9. Westminster/John Knox, forthcoming.
  • James H. Charlesworth, ed. Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts With English Translations 10. Westminster/John Knox, forthcoming.