Word: apocryphon
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Charlesworth's enthusiastic reaction is understandable, for the text he was examining was not just any scrap of parchment. It was the legendary Genesis Apocryphon, one of the original seven rolls of inscribed sheepskin known as the Dead Sea Scrolls -- and the only one whose contents are still largely unread. Unearthed in 1947 by Bedouin shepherds from rocky caves only 15 miles from Jerusalem, the Dead Sea Scrolls are considered by biblical archaeologists to be the greatest manuscript discovery ever made. Their texts, set down in Hebrew and Aramaic some 2,000 years ago, include long-lost originals of dozens...
...Heaven, to the God most high, to the great holy one, who saved us from ruin." The extended use of the first person represents a noteworthy departure from standard biblical texts, which are usually written in the third person with brief quotations sprinkled throughout. The style of the Genesis Apocryphon, Charlesworth insists, "is not a literary device to make the action more direct. It reflects the theology of the Jews of the period, who were living in what was for them a time of great stress. They believed this was not just a record of what someone thought Noah said...
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