We have found the Scriptorium of the Qumran monastery with a line of these desks and benches, eloquent testimony to the emphasis on written (& rewritten!) scripture, the tradition which found its final flowering in the Gospels.   The Scrolls contain an early version of the Sermon on the Mount.

Recent Scrolls scholarship shows the authors of Daniel were very closely connected to the Essenes. This strongly supports the identification of Onias as the Teacher of Righteousness, connecting the Essenes to the Temple around Onias’ time and associating them with the reference to Onias as the Messiah in Dn.9. 26 .

This identification of Onias with the Anointed One of Daniel was made by Theodotian who translated the Greek version of Daniel as late as 180 AD.   Where did he get his information, 350 years after the original ? Theodotian was an Ebionite, an early Christian sect commonly identified with the Essenes. Theodotian’s version of Daniel was preferred to the existing Greek translation, despite branding of the Ebionites as heretics.


More extensive Notes on the Dead Sea Scrolls