Evidence · Case 03 · Reliability of Scripture
Song of Songs
One exhibit from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
About 4 copies of Song of Songs were found. Some are shorter, excerpted texts.
Sources
Explore the archive by manuscript, site, and language
- Peter W. Flint, “The Significance of the Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls,” Southwestern Journal of Theology 53.1 (2010), manuscript table (opens in a new tab)
Southwestern Journal of Theology 53, no. 1 (2010): 15-25
Objections & responses
- Shorter, excerpted texts means the Qumran Song of Songs is missing chunks of the book. That’s a difference, not a match.
The excerpted copies omit sections deliberately, apparently for study or liturgical use, the way a modern devotional booklet might. The portions they contain agree with the later text. Excerpting is a fact about how the book was used, not about how it was transmitted, and the two should not be confused.