7Q4
7Q4 is a Dead Sea Scroll papyrus fragment discovered in Qumran cave 7.[1] This scroll has received extensive scholastic attention since it has been identified as a first century copy of Apostle Paul's first epistle to Timothy.[2]
The caves at Qumran were sealed by a Roman legion in 68 CE and thus the contents within the cage must precede this date.[3] The fragment 7Q4 was first identified as a portion of the New Testament Paul's 1st letter to Timothy in 1972 by papyrologist Jose O'Callaghan. Several alternatives to 1 Timothy as 7Q4 were proposed. This is primarily due to skeptical scholars being unconvinced that a copy of Paul's letter could have reached Qumran so quickly. Thus it has been proposed that the fragment is a copy of a text known as 1 Enoch.[4] Such arguments are not based on external objective data but mere subjective conjecture.[5] The identification of 1 Enoch as 7Q4 is ruled out due to the second smaller piece of the fragment not fitting with the text of 1 Enoch. Because 1 Enoch identification doesn't take into account the smaller fragment but 1 Timothy identification does then it is on more solid ground as the proper identification[6] One scholar noted that the majority of the opposition doesn't come from papyrological scientists who analyze the text but from theologians and scholars who have a presuppositional bias.[7] These presuppositions are easily disproven by objective evidence from the science of papyrology which provides sufficient answers to the objections.
In 1984, German scholar Carsten Thiede ran analysis on 7Q4 (both fragments) and similarly concluded that it is a copy of Paul's First Epistle to Timothy.[8] His analysis garnered support from some of the world's leading papyrologists and classicists[9]
References
- ↑ Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (15 September 2008). A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. ISBN 9780802862419. Search this book on
- ↑ "His Word 7 Year Work Biblical Roots by Former Skeptic".
- ↑ Barton, John (2002). The Biblical World. ISBN 9780415275736. Search this book on
- ↑ Tov, Emanuel (23 October 2009). Revised Lists of the Texts from the Judaean Desert. ISBN 9789047443797. Search this book on
- ↑ Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (3 March 2000). The Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Origins. ISBN 9780802846501. Search this book on
- ↑ Comfort, Philip W.; Driesbach, Jason (16 March 2008). The Many Gospels of Jesus: Sorting Out the Story of the Life of Jesus. ISBN 9781414316048. Search this book on
- ↑ Hixson, Elijah; Gurry, Peter J. (5 November 2019). Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism. ISBN 9780830866694. Search this book on
- ↑ Frey, Jörg (28 August 2019). Qumran, Early Judaism, and New Testament Interpretation: Qumran, Early Judaism, and New Testament Interpretation. ISBN 9783161560156. Search this book on
- ↑ Thiede, Carsten Peter (1995). Rekindling the Word: In Search of Gospel Truth. ISBN 9781563381362. Search this book on
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