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The scrolls were discovered from the caves of Qumran in 1946-47. These scrolls have some variations as compared to the present Torah. FYI:The Dead Sea Scrolls

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closed as not a real question by Isaac Moses Feb 21 '12 at 14:17


This question needs some more fleshing out. The question in the title is not reflected in the body. I don't get where the question comes from - did someone claim that the scrolls prove the authenticity of the Torah? If so, that should be documented in the question. – Isaac Moses Feb 21 '12 at 14:19
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine this was inspired by the comments about Jewish and Muslims Gd being the same, and the idea of the Torah not being corrupted. – avi Feb 21 '12 at 17:52

I don't see how science, which is severely limited in its application and scope (i.e. it can only work with what a human being can see) can "prove" the existence of a non-physical entity.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are interesting, but they only prove that some parts of the Torah are older than some scientists and secular scholars had guesssed before.

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As will suggested, the Dead Sea Scrolls are of limited Theological significance.

We do not know who the scrolls belong to, by whom they were written, or for what purpose. We can only make guesses.

At the time they were significant, because it pushed back the date of the texts for Minimalists 800 years.

It has always been known that variations would pop up in Torah scrolls. Many of the early medieval and Gaonic commentators, complain that some other group, does not have the correct, text and that they need many corrections and fixes. Because of this fact, when texts are found we do not know if they were thrown out incorrect copies with Gd's name on them which must still be respected, or if they were the versions of the scrolls used by the Jewish people at that time.

However, most of the scrolls do conform to the texts we have today. This would indicate to many people, that the other scrolls which do not conform were either from other religious sects, or were mistakes that were buried before being corrected. Alternatively, the scrolls were written as commentaries to the other scrolls of the time, and were used for Study but not religious purposes or rituals.

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