In the summer of [1947] a Bedouin shepherd boy, pursuing a runaway goat along the cliffs that rim the Dead Sea, accidentally came upon an unknown cave. He threw a stone into the cave and heard the sound of breaking clay. It was thus that Israel was supplied with its most important archeological relic to date--the Dead Sea Scrolls.
For Israelis, the scrolls have since assumed a hallowed air. In the eyes of some, the scrolls are almost titles of real estate, like deeds of possession to a contested country (Elon, Amos, The Israelis: Founders and Sons, 1972 Bantam Books, NY, p 372)
We're going to, now, come to what we've termed Jeremiah's Wheelbarrow. Again, there is no wheelbarrow. We use it only as a metaphor for the process of looking for something hidden within the very thing for which one should be searching. First, let's read a brief description of locations listed in the Copper Scroll found outside of Qumran, by Theodor H. Gaster in his book The Dead Sea Scriptures (1976, Anchor Books, NY, pp. 533-34):
In 1952 there was discovered in Cave III at Qumran three tightly rolled sheets of copper, engraved with writing. Unfortunately, the copper had become so seriously corroded that unrolling proved impossible. Eventually, however, by a remarkable feat of resourcefulness and skill, Professor H. Wright Baker, of the College of Technology at Manchester, England, succeeded in cutting the sheets into strips, so that the inscription could be read. It then became apparent that the three sheets belonged to a single document, prepared in the manner of a leather scroll, with rivets doing duty for sutures.
The document has turned out to be a register of buried treasure, purportedly hidden in various spots in and near Jerusalem and in an area extending from Hebron to Mount Gerizim and including the Valley of Qumran. No less than sixty-four deposits are listed, and in each case minute details are given of location and depth. The objects in question include: a silver chest, ingots of gold and silver, jars of all shapes and sizes, bowls, perfumes and- if the decipherment be correct- even vestments. In each case, the amount and value of the objects are explicitly recorded, and sometimes the entry is followed by a curious and enigmatic notation in Greek characters. It has been calculated that, by Old Testament standards, the total value of the treasure would have amounted to some 138 tons of precious metal!
The purpose of the Scroll remains a puzzle. There are three main theories. The first is that it is a record of the Qumran community's possessions which were cached in various places just before the Romans advance upon their `monastery' in 68 a.d. Against this, however, it has been objected that the amount of the treasure listed is prodigiously disproportionate to the probable resources of an ascetic brotherhood!
The second theory is that the treasure is that of the Second Temple, committed for safekeeping to the desert community when the sacred edifice fell, or was about to fall, to the Roman forces. But this too is not without its difficulties. According to Josephus, (War, vi.5, 2) the main treasure of the Temple was still in the building when it fell, and this happened in 70 a.d., whereas, according to the archaeological evidence, the Qumran monastery had already been abandoned two years earlier. Moreover, if the censorious references to the Jerusalemite priesthood which we find in the Scrolls really represent a contemporary attitude, it is not very likely that those officials would have turned to the Qumran brotherhood for the safekeeping of their sacred vessels!
A third hypothesis is that the Scroll registers the treasure not of the Second but of the First (Solomonic) Temple, removed from Jerusalem when it fell to Nebuchadnezzar in 586 b.c. Opinion is divided, however, as to whether the list is factual or fictitious, seeing that accounts of somewhat similar character indeed appear in later Jewish legend.
Perhaps there is room for a fourth theory. May not the Scroll represent an unconscionable fraud (or even a cruel practical joke) perpetrated by some cynical outsider upon the naive and innocent minds of the ascetics of Qumran? The fraud (or joke) would have been founded upon time-honored legends about the buried treasure of the First Temple and have been calculated especially to appeal to the hearts and minds of men who were looking to an imminent restoration of the past glories of Israel...
Notice how once again the most obvious answer is overlooked. This time, in favor of a theory of fraud perpetrated `upon the naive and innocent minds of the ascetics of Qumran.' I'm sorry, but this description doesn't fly- the ascetics of Qumran are sufficiently aware to be "censorious" of the Jerusalemite priesthood. This sounds like a way of expressing, however fondly, that these men were so religious as to be fools.
But look what happens. If we discount theories one and two, as Gaster does, and the fourth as being extreme (the ancient Hebrews were not known for their senses of humor, particularly regarding religious matters; and the copper scroll listings, as well as the 99% purity of the copper, seem a little too elaborate for a hoax), then we're just simply left with the third theory, that the gold is the gold of the first temple, as being THE TRUE ONE. I can go home now.
But, seriously, I'm trying to draw your attention to the locations listed in the Copper Scroll. Allegro concurs- the sites he lists are around the Dead Sea, the Jericho area and the Jerusalem area. All hidden under ground, in basins, in trenches.
Who else concurs? Let's finally get to the meat of my argument. The entire 32nd chapter of Jeremiah (best to just click this one) is at the core of my theory, and it is important to read it in its entirety, but here are the main points regarding the buying of the field:
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison...
And Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me, saying, `Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, "Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it."' Then Hanameel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said to me, `Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. So I bought the field from Hanameel, the son of my uncle who was in Anathoth, and weighed out to him the money- seventeen shekels of silver. And I signed the deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances. So I took the purchase deed, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open; and I gave the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanameel my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the purchase deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison. Then I charged Baruch before them, saying, `Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days." For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land."'
What, then, is this wheelbarrow we're talking about? It's right there. It isn't the gold buried in the dirt- it IS the dirt. Reread Gaster's description of the locations in the copper scroll:
The document has turned out to be a register of buried treasure, purportedly hidden in various spots in and near Jerusalem and in an area extending from Hebron to Mount Gerizim and including the Valley of Qumran.
And the gold of the scroll? Which is more important, the gold or the land?
"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, `Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold (Matthew 23:16-17)?"
Now, if you go back and read the entire 32nd chapter of Jeremiah, you see that it is AFTER the establishment of an everlasting covenant that the Lord brings His people back the final time, and they discover that the lands will be possessed again. Here are the relevant passages:
Now therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, `It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence': `Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.' For thus says the LORD: `Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. And fields will be bought in this land of which you say "It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans." Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,' says the LORDRead what it says, not what you think it says. "Concerning this city of which you say, 'It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon..." does not mean that the next statement refers to that time, it's just "concerning this city," being Jerusalem. The "everlasting covenant" was established at the site and time of the crucifixion of Christ, and soon after the Jews were dispersed again from their land. The time of the final restoration was not to be for 25 centuries after Jeremiah, after He had gathered them "out of all countries." Nowhere in the Bible is there a record of the recovery of Jeremiah's field or any of the other fields. And at the time of the first return from Babylon, the Jews came back from Babylon. Not "all countries," but from Babylon, which makes it impossible to say that a redactor went back and edited the text, because he would certainly notice the phrase "all countries" and say, "That can't be right."
This leads us to another interesting question. Why wasn't the first return, from Babylon, the final return? Or, what was the problem with the second temple that there was so much iniquity in it? That Jesus lambasted them and the Qumran ascetics referred to them "censoriously?" In the next chapter we'll examine this question.