An ironic Hebrew phrase and other evidences have led a Yeshiva University professor of history to believe that the Dead Sea Scrolls may have been written at a later date than has been commonly accepted.
Dr. Sidney B. Hoenig, Professor of Jewish History at the university, contends that certain phrases in the scrolls indicate a medieval origin. The Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered in 1947 are widely believed to have been written between the first century B.C.E. and the first century A. C.E. Dr. Hoenig points to the phrase “Dorshe Halakot” which he construes as an ironic reference to the rabbis meaning “seekers after smooth things” or “glib talkers.”
The scholar believes that this phrase is a play on the expression “Dorshe Halachot” or “expounders of the law.” He argues that the exposition of the law as a duty of rabbis was a development that came to Judaism after the Biblical era and therefore the use of this phrase suggests that the scrolls are from a later time than the Biblical era.
Dr. Hoenig has also found affinities of the phrase “Dorshe Halakot” in Karaitic literature and contends that the Karaites, who separated themselves from the talmudists in the seventh century, would have used such a term as a derogatory description of the rabbis whom they held in scorn. Dr. Hoenig’s views are published in the current issue of “The Journal of Biblical Literature.”
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