3.3 — Were the Prophecies Really Written Before Jesus?
One of the most common objections to biblical prophecy is that the relevant passages were written—or significantly edited—after the events they supposedly predict.
If that were true, the prophecies would be describing history rather than foretelling it. Determining when the Hebrew Scriptures were written and preserved is therefore essential to evaluating the claim.
Long before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish communities had carefully preserved the books Christians now call the Old Testament. These writings were already recognized as sacred centuries before the birth of Jesus.
Direct evidence of their antiquity came in 1947 with one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century.
Hidden in caves near the Dead Sea were hundreds of ancient manuscripts dating from approximately the third century BC to the first century AD. Together, they contained portions of nearly every book of the Hebrew Bible.
Perhaps the most remarkable of these is the Great Isaiah Scroll—a nearly complete copy of the Book of Isaiah dating to roughly the second century BC, more than a century before the birth of Jesus.
| Date | Event |
| c. 150–100 BC | The Great Isaiah Scroll is copied |
| c. 4–6 BC | Jesus is born |
| AD 30–33 | Jesus is crucified, and the earliest resurrection claims begin to spread |
| AD 1947 | The Dead Sea Scrolls are discovered |
The Historical Significance
Isaiah contains some of the Hebrew Scriptures’ best-known Messianic passages, including the description of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 52:13–53:12, which Christians have long understood as pointing to Jesus’ suffering, death, and exaltation.
Because the Great Isaiah Scroll predates Jesus by more than a century, these passages cannot reasonably be dismissed as later Christian additions.
With the question of dating established, the discussion can now turn to interpretation: How were these Messianic passages and expectations understood within Judaism before Jesus began His public ministry?
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A Light to Follow 