Habakkuk commentary
Copy on leather of 1QpHab, the Hebrew Habakkuk commentary of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
In 1947, Bedouins find ancient Hebrew scrolls in a cave by the Dead Sea. Three of the finds from the first Qumran cave are on display as valuable copies (facsimiles) in the Bibelhaus Erlebnis Museum. The originals are presented in the “Shrine of the Book” in West Jerusalem (Israel).
God’s name in ancient Hebrew letters
The scroll with a kind of commentary on the biblical Book of Habakkuk from the first century before Christ, the so-called “Pesher Habakuk” (1QpHab), caused a particular stir. It is striking that in this scroll the four letters of God’s name are written with special ancient Hebrew letters - out of shyness to write God’s name in “normal” letters? In the Habakkuk commentary, a “teacher of righteousness” relates the prophet’s visions to the war campaigns of the Romans of his present time - he interprets current political developments as “end times”. His hope is - in the words of the prophet: “The righteous will live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).
