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Temple Scroll (11QTa)

The longest Dead Sea Scroll, a rewritten Torah describing an ideal Temple and its laws

Return, Persia & the Maccabees · manuscript · Accepted by scholars · found 1956

Parchment column of Hebrew text from the Temple Scroll
Photo: Israel Museum · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons — A column of the Temple Scroll from Qumran Cave 11.

Found 1956 — Ta'amireh Bedouin (Cave 11, 1956); held by the dealer Kando until seized by Yigael Yadin during the Six-Day War in June 1967

Where Qumran Cave 11 (West Bank (Palestinian Territories))

Dates from Copy c. 30 BCE – 20 CE; composed 2nd century BCE · Late Hasmonean to early Herodian · Hasmonean period; debates over Temple purity

Now at Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem

How Temple Scroll (11QTa) was found

Kando hid the scroll in a shoebox under his floor in Bethlehem for eleven years; Yadin obtained it in 1967 and published it in 1977.

What it is

A parchment scroll 8.15 m long in 66 columns, the longest of all the scrolls. Written as God's own first-person speech, it lays out plans for a huge square Temple with three courts, festival laws, purity rules and a 'law of the king'.

Why it matters for the Bible

The scroll reworks Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy into a single 'Torah' for a Temple never built, showing how intensely Second Temple Jews longed for a sanctuary run in full purity. Its added festivals (new wine, new oil, wood offering) and its 364-day calendar reveal the calendar disputes behind the community's break with Jerusalem. Its 'law of the king' forbids the king to have many wives, echoing Deuteronomy 17 against the Hasmonean rulers.

The Hebrew word: mik-DAHSH

מִקְדָּשׁ

מִקְדָּשׁ is pronounced mik-DAHSH and means sanctuary, holy place (Strong's H4720).

Places

Events

Second Temple purity debates · Hasmonean kingship and priesthood

Temple Scroll (11QTa) in Scripture

Deuteronomy 17:17 The king must not multiply wives; the Temple Scroll expands this into a full law of the king aimed at the Hasmoneans.

1 Kings 6:3 First mention of Temple in Scripture.

Ezekiel 40:2-4 Ezekiel's vision of a measured ideal Temple is the closest biblical parallel to the scroll's plan.

Questions people ask

What is Temple Scroll (11QTa)?
A parchment scroll 8.15 m long in 66 columns, the longest of all the scrolls. Written as God's own first-person speech, it lays out plans for a huge square Temple with three courts, festival laws, purity rules and a 'law of the king'.

When was Temple Scroll (11QTa) discovered?
It was found in 1956 by Ta'amireh Bedouin (Cave 11, 1956); held by the dealer Kando until seized by Yigael Yadin during the Six-Day War in June 1967, at Qumran Cave 11.

Where is Temple Scroll (11QTa) today?
Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Which Bible verses does Temple Scroll (11QTa) relate to?
Deuteronomy 17:17, 1 Kings 6:3, Ezekiel 40:2-4.

Related discoveries

Sources

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