The Dead Sea Scrolls, Judaisms, and the Jesus Movement--Sorting through the Theories 

“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”-Malcolm S. Forbes.

Oh my. ... I need to listen to this! Carefully. Thank you so much, Dr. Tabor. ❤

Robert Eisenman revolutionized my understanding of the world behind the Dead Sea Scrolls and Paul's letters. I read the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions and had an inkling that Simon Magus was based on Paul. Later found Eisenman's James the Brother of Jesus which lays out substantial evidence to support this. I agree with him that Paul is "the liar." Still, you have given me a lot to think about with the dating. Dr. Tabor, you have equally been my teacher from afar. We are blessed to have scholarship like yours available to us. BTW James the Brother of Jesus is available on Audible! It is a heavy read. It's much easier to listen and jot down notes.

Thank you Dr Tabor

Interesting and informative by an expert in the subject matter.

Paul had an experience he really believed in and was able to understand it in a way that reinforced a set of mystical beliefs he already had. And as more and more people converted to Christianity due to his preaching, this added additional positive reinforcement to the truth of his experience and strengthened his beliefs even more.

This is brilliant and THANK YOU for discussing Eisenman's views. I saw the DSS in 1993 in NY and have painstakingly read all of his books and watched his lectures on RU-vid and personally feel the truth where this material came from is between he and Norman Golb. Btw, Absolutely agree "The First Messiah is a must/easy read (compared to Dr Eisenman--lol).

Love your videos, thanks for your work.

Very gracious to Eisenman - thank you

Q: In the Baal Cycle the villian is named Yam but he gets his name changed to Yaw for his tyrannical actions. The oldest Yahweh (sometimes called Yah) inscription ever found is the Mt Ebal curse tablet and YHWH is just YHW on it. Yaw, who used to be named Yam. In the Baal Cycle Yam had two beastly aspects called Leviathan and seven-headed Tannin. Since Yam was the Canaanite word for Sea we could call this plurality of aspects Sea Beasts. Could you make a case that the Dragon and Sea Beasts in Revelation are again the Unholy Trinity of the Bible? Also the Bronze Age collapse was caused by a mysterious Sea Peoples which sounds like Yam covering his tracks since he lost theologically in the Baal Cycle. The Book of Joshua could be a retelling of the Bronze Age collapse. A: Based on the connections you've outlined between the Canaanite mythology of the Baal Cycle, the figure of Yam/Yaw who later becomes associated with Yahweh, and the symbolism of sea beasts/dragons in the biblical Book of Revelation, I can certainly explore how one could construct an argument that these represent recurring manifestations of an ancient "Unholy Trinity" antagonistic to the supreme divine principles. The Baal Cycle as Prototype In the Ugaritic Baal cycle myths, the deity Yam (meaning "Sea") is portrayed as a primal, chaotic, serpentine force threatening to upend the fertile, ordered cosmos established by Baal and the other high gods. Yam's bestial aspects like the seven-headed serpent Lotan (Leviathan) and Tannin represent the untamed, destructive energies of the primordial waters resisting divine structure. This mythological motif echoes widespread ancient Near Eastern conceptions of great Sea Beasts/Dragons embodying the negative forces of entropy, disorder, and existential dissolution that the high creator gods must perpetually defeating in maintaining reality's integrity. The Babylonian Tiamat is another classic iteration of this archetype. Yam's jealous, tyrannical ambition to usurp rulership from the highergods, employing his monstrous Sea Beast avatars, could symbolize a disruption of cosmic harmony by a lower, chaotic did force challenging the natural, life-affirming order and hierarchy. His name change to Yaw/Yahweh potentially tracks this devolved figure's adoption into early Hebrew traditions. The Sea Peoples and Bronze Age Collapse Significantly, you note the intriguing potential connection between this Sea Beast mythology and the enigmatic Sea Peoples cited as a key factor precipitating the chaotic Bronze Age Collapse that upended many ancient Mediterranean civilizations around 1200 BCE. Their striking association with maritime invasion forces emerging from the chaotic primordial seas to shatter long-standing centers of order and sovereignty does vividly evoke the symbolic potencies of figures like Yam and his serpentine avatars representing primal disruptive forces overturningestablied harmony and hierarchy. The biblical Book of Joshua's accounts of the Israelites' violent subjugation of Canaanite city-states could plausibly mythologize this same historical convulsion. Revelation's Sea Beast So when the biblical Book of Revelation describes a saturated return of the ancient Sea Beast/Dragon archetype, replete with its seven heads, ten horns, and ability to make "war on the saints", we could theorize this as a symbolic reeruption or recapitulation of that same primal Yam/Yahweh current - the malefic, idolatrous, and anarchic spirit forever antagonistic to the highest order and harmony represented by the Lamb/Christ figure. Within Revelation's dramatic astrological/metaphysical chronology, the reemergence of the Sea Beast/Dragon from the chaotic subsistent depths could denote the final, eschatological phase where the ancient countervailing forces congregate in one ultimate push to overwhelm and dissolute God's perfected new creation - the New Jerusalem consciousness. The Unholy Trinity Persists Crucially, the Sea Beast's liaison with the subservient Beast from the Earth and the binding Satanic Dragon of Revelation 13 does present a sort of triune, demonic perversion or aping mockery of the Holy Trinity's unific creator principles. Where the Trinity represents the eternal soul, logos, and Divine spirit, this "Unholy Trinity" signifies the deceptive corporeal idolatries, abyss-born disruptions, and scattering/veiling influences that continually obstruct spiritual illumination. Across pivotal junctures, this triune Anti-Cosmosmic force symbolically persists in its primordial enmity towards the highest vibrational harmonies, wielding distorted socio-political reifications to dissipate souls further into materialistic entropy. Its repeated manifestations, from the Mesopotamian Sea Chaos Monsters to Yam's beastly avatars to the eschatological Book of Revelation, betrays its origination in archetypal human experiential realities transcending cultures and eras. Perennial Adversary of Transcendent Order So in summation, I believe one could quite coherently posit the Sea Beast composite of Revelation as yet another symbolic instantiation of those same primordial, adversarial counter-forces to divine cosmic order that run throughout ancient mythology and scripture under disparate names - whether Mesopotamian Tiamat, Canaanite Yam/Lotan, or Hebraic yahwist Leviathan. Its resurgence could represent the ultimate materialization of those same deluded spiritual impulses springing from fragmented human idolatries and entropic identifications that the highest religious wisdom has forever aimed to redeem and re-integrate into holistic sublimity. The Sea Beast/Unholy Trinity thereby emblematizes the culminating stage of the human existential struggle against the veiled alienation effects of our psychic subjugation to de-evolutionary forgetfulness. Under this archetypal lens, the sweeping eschatological conflict depicted in Revelation's climax emerges as the eternal spiritual battle writ cosmic - the final confrontation between fractured mortal travail and the infinite liberating consciousness heralded by the redeeming God/Christ/Logos figure. Regardless of how one ultimately evaluates this hermeneutic model's plausibility, it undoubtedly presents a rich symbolic tapestry for meditating upon the deepest quandaries of human consciousness, cosmic origins, and our shared metaphysical/existential yearnings across cultures and ages.

Great stuff!

Dr Tabor do you have a video explaining what the Kingdom of Heaven is ?

I find it quite interesting that in the Gospels we see Jesus at odds with the Sadducees and Pharisees BUT never with the Essenes or desert people. This sect of Judaism must have had a name whatever they were called at that time. House divided against itself would not stand… and therefore maybe they were one and the same, at least in principle.

Based on the additional context provided, I can further explore how distinguishing between the pre-Babylonian captivity definitions of El (God) and Elohim (sons/beings of El) versus the post-captivity syncretized definitions could resolve contradictions and cast the Yahweh figure of Genesis 2-3 in a very different light from the transcendent Elohim portrayed in Genesis 1. Pre-Captivity Definitions: In this framework, the supreme creator deity is simply referred to as El - the Most High God. The Elohim are understood as a pantheon or "sons of El" - lesser divine beings subordinate to El. This aligns with ancient Canaanite and older Israelite religious conceptions. Under these definitions, the Genesis 1 account would refer to the transcendent El as the prime creator, with the Elohim (plural) potentially being celestial forces/angels enacting aspects of the creation. The Ruach Elohim (Spirit/Breath of the divine beings) hovering over the primordial waters connects to surviving traces of this polytheistic worldview. Crucially, this allows one to separate the Elohim of Genesis 1 from the distinct Yahweh Elohim first appearing in Genesis 2 to form man from the dust. Based on references like Deuteronomy 32:8-9, the pre-captivity perspective viewed Yahweh as one of the sons of El (an Elohim) rather than conflating him with El itself. This de-syncretization casts Yahweh as a separate, lesser, more anthropomorphic deity associated with the ancient Israelites - perhaps retained from their Canaanite heritage. His behavior and commandments in Genesis 2-3 and elsewhere in the Torah would then represent the teachings of this tribal desert deity, not the supreme metaphysical creator El. The Garden Scenario Reframed From this vantage point, the events of Genesis 2-3 can be interpreted not as ordained by the most high El creator, but rather as humanity's initial tragic entrapment by the lesser devolved being Yahweh within his constructed realm of mortality, suffering, and cosmic privation. Yahweh's wrathful conduct, his placing of humans under a yoke of commandments, his expulsion from Eden's paradisiacal environment, and the subsequent violent legacy of his covenants and laws all derive from the subjugating delusions and stunted, anthropocentric conception of this finite Elohim - not the infinite plenitude of the supreme El. Contradictions Resolved Separating El from Yahweh along the pre-captivity definitional lines could resolve contradictions in several important ways: 1) It distinguishes the transcendent, metaphysically profound cosmic creator portrayed in Genesis 1 from the all-too-human tribal deity of the remaining Torah material. 2) It allows for a reframing of the Torah's teachings around blood sacrifice, ethnic conflicts, law codes, etc. as the cultural mythological traditions of ancient Israelite history rather than attributed to the most high El itself. 3) It creates space for the Christ figure of the New Testament to represent a re-emergence of the supreme El's sovereignty and universal spiritual path - overriding the outdated covenants, ethnic segregations, and violent subjugations prescribed by the lesser Yahweh consciousness. 4) Humanity's existential struggling, our proclivity towards violence/evil, and our fundamental state of cosmic imprisonment can be metaphysically associated with the fallout of our ancient reunion from Yahweh's corrupted influence rather than the designs of the supreme El consciousness. 5) Competing depictions of the divine across different books (wrathful/peaceful, loving/cruel, spiritual/legalistic) can be added to different nodes of the El vs. Yahweh consciousness schisms. While still requiring some nuanced interpretation, this delineation allows for a coherent reintegration of Old and New Testament perspectives under a broader metaphysical framework. It preserves the universal spiritual integrity of the highest Creator from the cultural mythological contexts surrounding the more finite tribal deity Yahweh. By embracing the pre-syncretized definitions and recognizing the conflation of El and Yahweh as a later imposition, one can reconnect with deep streams of ancient Hebrew theological diversity. This presents an intellectually robust path for understanding the unified trajectory of the biblical texts as exploring a single universetheological consciousness's reassertion over more contingent, anthropomorphized deviations and exiles.

It’s amazing to me that there are so many professionals in the world making a living expounding on what is not, and will probably never be known….

I think that Eisenman is on to something. I dont see the flaws in this, professor Eisenman has his origins in middle eastern cultures right? I feel like that gives him the edge on the theory. Thank you professor tabor this is a nice treat.

I came across you some months ago...I have spent my life seeking the true original when it comes to Jesus and the Church...finding the Ebionites was a blessing...I ordered an English version of both the Hebrew bible and the Quran to find the meaning behind Jesus...I don't subscribe to Paul and thus far I keep the Sabbath...I feel drawn to creating a ln Ebionite style bible that comprise the Hebrew bible, Matthew minus the birth, and what I find in the Quran related to them...I would love to add the Clementine writings and a few others along with the Dead Sea Scrolls...i would also add Revelation to it and a description of the book because it is obvious to me to definitely be written by John who walked with Jesus and is definitely anti Pauline and pro Law...

1 Corinthians 1: 18-25: Paul identifies two groups of people: we who believe/those who are perishing. Rhetoric is a three-legged stool: ethos/pathos/logos. Paul had been exquisitely trained - at the feet of his teacher, Gamaliel - in the art of RHETORICE! Depending on the audience, he chose the argument most likely to succeed. N.B. It's the first lesson we learn in high school English: identify your audience.

According to Steven Goranson (or was it Goran Stevenson) at Duke University 'the Liar' is Alexander Yennai, who was both king and high priest, and 'the righteous teacher' is Judah the Essene, briefly mentioned by Josephus. I think he has a water-tight case, to the degree you can have one at all..

Am I the only one who thinks James Tabor looks like Foster Brooks?

7:04 James, if you have an ear you will hear

How about a video on Daniel 8:14 being fulfilled in the 6 day war in 1967 as also generally predicted by Adam Clark

I bet your college students miss you! You have a wonderful way of opening the mind to new ways of thinking! I have learned a lot from your online lectures! :)

For someone who questions the existence of Jesus, how could you think of believing Paul as an apostle when there was NO witness to his encounter with Jesus? It's a contradiction. Also, Jesus warned us to beware of false profits and that the truth lies with James the Just. Didn't the Romans make Paul an honorary Roman citizen?

The problem with Paul originated with his "visions"... not one of which started with, "And the word of the LORD (YHWH) came to me..." Paul trusted his "personal" revelations via "vision" from ... who knows what? That is NOT biblical. Even Yeshua credited ALL his works and words as being from YHWH, the Father. None of Paul's visions can be trusted... Not that he didn't have them (who knows) but that they did not follow any biblical format ever known. Excellent lecture... as usual. Shalom

Sometimes i get the feeling that Sacred Scripture is a hand-book in apologism - mainly for bad parents..

I feel like you might be projecting your experience as a professor onto Paul... just a hypothesis. Personally, I don't see why anyone gives Paul much credibility at all. If you grew up outside the faith and have only read about Paul scholastically, he does not come across well we at all.

Dr Tabor, Paul studied under Gamaliel. Gamaliel was the son of Hillel the elder. He would have followed a lenient view of the Law, not Shammai's more strict views

@5:00, the Orthodox Christian Church certainly does not accept an Augustinian Paul?

Personally, I think there were thousands and thousands of people that were influenced by the essenes. I believe, the book of Hebrews should have been called "the book of the essenes". I think the early church was trying hard to address those who had essene beliefs, and we're trying hard to convert the essenes into Christians.

I wonder if Jesus said those things about the Baptizer, when he was arrested and under threat of losing his head..

Dr Tabor, not sure if you’ll see this comment, but I am curious why scholars seem to not take the work of Dr. Rachel Elior seriously? She presented a fascinating theory about the community at Qumran in a lecture at the University of Chicago. Her research seemed very solid but did not pick up much traction. She is a Hebrew scholar in Israel that has challenged the Essene theory, band I’ve not seen any scholarly material that challenges her theory. I’m just curious why that might be because it’s not radical. Do you think most scholars are just intimidated to challenge the status quo with regard to that topic?

Internal moral compass - Christ-like witness. Guilt is an OUTCOME!

How do I sign up to take the scroll course brother?

The DSS writers aren’t using the academic language to describe multiple teachers. It refers to the Elohim the plurality of angels (gods) which created us out of the source which created them.

Have you studied Nehemiah Gordon, Rood Awakening and Mills Jones ? You should for facts.

The Father gave very clear Instructions to know who to believe and trust in His NAME, just as He gave Instrucions about who to ignore and reject - both centering from His stated Covenant Standards: Decrees, Blessings, Curses. My earthly father failed to understand Elohim, as he trusted Paul. It was not until I refocused my faith upon Jesus and the Standards of Elohim that I was able to understand what has been "our" problem all along: Altered Scriptures and Faked Scriptures, such as Pauline stuff. "Romans Proves Paul Lied" - sorry, but it's there for anyone to realize it is about who will observe the will of God to do it - versus - who will not.

I would definitely say it is a qumran jew whom Jesus considered his doctor father, or whatever you called them

a period where our conversations are chosen to be only yea, yea or nay nay For All Else Comes Of Evil Is Early Before Someone notices no tyrant is remembered...🎉

Joe Atwill's interpretation of the Decius Mundus tale -- which follows the Testimonium Flavianum -- is that Paulina, who was fooled into believing that Decius was the god Anubis (who schtupped her, she being so gullible), was a stand-in for Paul, who became a blind devotee of Jesus-as-God, as did Jesus' followers who received his 'teaching' "gladly" [i.e. with 'hedone', in Greek].

Have you discounted or ignored the evidence that the Therapeutae were the Buddhist Theravadae? The Essenes the Buddhist Isa-na, or "Lords"? Qumron, Kumara and Amir all signifying "prince", the early church fathers, Soctates Scholasticus, Epiphanius, Eusebius, Cyril of Jerusalem, said a man named jointly as Terebinthus and Buddas conversed with the apostles in Jerusalem (pre 70) with four Indian books and claimed to have been born from a virgin. They say one of his books was titled Euangelion (Gospel) which would make it the earliest attested book with the title "Euangelion". Churchvfathets saud his teacher Scythianus was a Saracen which must be the Buddhist Surasena eho also held that particular Krishna legend where yhe Slaughter of the Innocent occurs. They were cave building white-clad Buddhists expelled by Adhoka : the Licchavis mostly populated the Mahasamghikas and in the Manusamhita they are called Niccibis, the Nisisbis of Syria, the Nusseibeh of Jerusalem who claim to have been there since Ptolemy Philadelphus, the same Ptolemy who was said to have commissioned the Septuagint and whose name is inscribed on Ashoka's rock edict as being the willing recipient of Buddhist missionaries. The Magarians are said to have been cabe dwellers who parallel the Masboothians, or "Truthers", Arabic mazboot

Kolbrin Bible BRT:3:1 Jesus was the son of Miriam called Mary, by Joseph. His brothers were Jacob, Joseph, Simon and James. He was born at Bethlehem. In the days of His youth, the land rang with the exploits of Judas the Galilean, who preached that there was no ruler but God; he was called the Teacher of Righteousness in his day

Love your work! but I think there is some justification of separating the Qumran community from the essenian movement in Judea. While you make a good argument why Josephus may have presented to the Romans a favorable light to the Romans, Pliny the Elder and Eusebius had no such need and did not contradict what Flavius said. And on the other hand, I can not agree that the Qumran community were war like to the Romans, they were trying to recover the rule of the Temple that had been taken over by a different Jewish priesthood. Yes, the ruling Sadducees had made a compact with the Romans to control the people, and they were the target of the Qumran community's hostility. The Romans were there trying to keep the peace and dealt with whoever they could find that would control the situation. See ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-W800koYbX2E.html

Beautiful Aramaic writing. Not sure why all the Yiddish people want to steal so bad… 🤦🏻‍♂️

Gentle or Jew, servant or free, woman and man no more.

Jesus is coming soon. Jesus I seek you everyday. Even when I feel like giving up I will keep faith. As a single mother. I’m struggling to make ends meet. My husband passed years ago. I have no one to turn to but you Lord JESUS. Both of my sons are special needs and require so much from me. Lord I’m afraid. Every month I struggle trying to provide for my children struggling to pay rent and to buy groceries. Lord help me and hear my prayers. Amen.

I've admired your incisiveness and your scholarship. You have given much, but clearly you have drunk the Kool-Aid when it comes to Paul. Once you allow his mystical BS to take root, instead of recognising him as a power driven usurper your good sense has been ripped open and that way is the path to Christianity and nonsense. No, I don't agree that old men have the right to destroy their work with senile babbling in public like this. Please have respect for your legacy and please don't do this. You are wallowing!

I agree paul is a liar.

I think “brother of Christ” means a priesthood, not a literal brother. And I think James, although a brother in Christ, was actually the son of Jesus/Judas the Galilean.

Iesus. Jesus worship breaks the first commandment he is not god.

Look 3 weeks stocks up for 3 weeks after dragonfires georges dragons soup dragon button moon clangers see knitted glove pupets stuffed animals and stop motion animations. They must create news music. But musisions do not own riffs are jam runs. Shelly winters finger bobs mouse villers. X yes down tools 3 weeks see the pluto takes all sunlights sees godsays hailo. So ladys n gentle men meet pluto dark mater our sun saturn gives birth to a news golden mised polo holes and a crystal diamond when we arrive out of totality. It makes me cry seeing black sun pluto9 takes away all sunlights stars kids shadows moon. Yes astechs golden mackenners herison lines is she not just devines leylands shadows leylines. Thunders lightning i love you pluto black jet stones carbon diamond. X thanks meg. X❤And in stop watch timeing 0to9. By4 36 60 by 5 by 12 is 3 is one see plus 3 is 6 and added is 9 and 10:09 see red october ping one sees. X

Eisenman’s massive James the Brother of Jesus is available in a 70 hour audiobook for those who will find that format more accessible.