Rewriting the Pentateuch: Significance of Qumran findings for understanding of the evolution of literary traditions

While some early rewritings of the Books of Moses have been known for a long time, the scrolls discovered at Qumran have uncovered a number of earlier unknown writings that rework the Penta-teuchal traditions.They shed new light on the processes of rewriting during the Second Temple period. Generally, the rewritings of the Pentateuchal traditions promote specific ideas and types of in-terpretation.The available evidence demonstrates that rewriting took place in multiple forms in this period. Moreover, rewriting was not a marginal phenomenon within Judaism; on the contrary, the discovered material suggests that various groups engaged in this activity.