Dr Paul Allen

Photo credit: Randall Price A New Cave, an Old Controversy: Dramatic New Discovery in Israel will Re-Ignite Debates By Craig A. Evans . The last Dead Sea Scrolls cave, linked to the ruins on the marl shelf at the mouth of Wadi Qumran , was discovered in 1956, bringing the total number of caves to eleven — eleven caves containing the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, ceramic jars, and a number of other artifacts. For sixty years archaeologists and looters have been searching for a twelfth cave. Would another one ever be found? Most didn’t think so. This is what makes the announcement from Hebrew University so astounding: A twelfth cave has been discovered! Playing in the dirt One of the Operation Scroll volunteers was archaeologist Randall Price, who today serves on the faculty of Liberty University . One of the briefly examined caves in 1993 — cave 53 — caught his attention.  Last year Price received permission to excavate that cave. Last month (January 2017) he, Oren G...

English: Dead Sea Scroll - part of Isaiah Scroll (Isa 57:17 - 59:9), 1QIsa b (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Wellhausen . The relative dates for these four sources are disputed. The order could be PEJD or EJDP. In his 1878 “Documentary Hypothesis” (Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel), Wellhausen proposed that the J Source was composed in the mid- 10th century BC ; the E Source in mid- ninth century BC ; the D Source in the late-seventh century BC; and the P Source at the end of the sixth century BC.  He argued that editors (redactors) first combined JE, then JED, and finally JEDP by the mid-fifth century. He also examined Exodus, concluding that J and E are presented separately in parts of Exod 1–19 and merged with each other and/or P in parts of Exod 1–19. He argued that P is dominant in the legal portions and tabernacle accounts of Exod 20–40. Criticisms of Wellhausen. Wellhausen’s hypothesis was widely—but not universally—accepted. Sayce, Keil, Delitzsch, Cassuto...