Martin G. Abegg Jr. (born 1950) is a
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...
scholar, researcher, and professor. Abegg is responsible for reconstructing the full text of the Dead Sea Scrolls from the Dead Sea Scrolls concordance, a project that broke the lengthy publication monopoly held on the scrolls.
He went on to co-direct the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at
Trinity Western University
, mottoeng = A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
, established = Trinity Junior College (1962–1972), Trinity Western College (1972–1985), Trinity Western University (1986–present)
, type = Privat ...
from 1995 to 2015.
Here, Abegg held the Ben Zion Wacholder Professorship. Because Abegg is an influential Dead Sea Scrolls scholar, he has been honoured with a collection of essays written by his peers and students.
Apart from his career, Abegg's interests include hiking, playing the guitar, and good books and music. He met his wife Susan while hiking in Washington's Olympic Mountains in 1974, they married in 1975, and a decade of farm life and summers mountaineering before deciding to start a family; they had two daughters Steph and Jenny. Abegg currently resides in Chilliwack, British Columbia with his wife, Susan, and two cats Gram and Emmylou.
Early life
Martin Abegg is the son of Barbara and Martin (Jerry) Abegg.
He was born in
Peoria, Illinois.
His mother was a housewife and part-time PE instructor while his father was a college professor, professional engineer and President of
Bradley University
Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. Th ...
.
In the late 1960s, Abegg performed with his brother Bob in a popular rock band in Peoria, which was signed by Audio Fidelity Records before breaking up. In the early 1970s, the two Abegg brothers continued to perform, finding a niche in the Christian rock music scene.
Education
Abegg graduated from
Bradley University
Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. Th ...
in 1972 with a bachelor of science in Geology.
After teaching Sunday school inspired him to take language classes, he received a
M.Div.
For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...
degree from Northwest Baptist Seminary in 1983.
Later, in 1984, Abegg went on to perform graduate work at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Career
Abegg spent two years teaching Hebrew at the Northwest Baptist Seminary.
He also spent one year as a pastor.
Abegg taught for three years at
Grace Theological Seminary
Grace Theological Seminary (GTS) is a conservative evangelical Christian seminary located in Winona Lake, Indiana. GTS is now part of Grace College & Seminary and is associated with Charis Fellowship, before 2018 known as the Fellowship of Grace ...
in
Winona Lake, Indiana
Winona Lake is a town in Wayne Township, Kosciusko County, in the U.S. state of Indiana, and the major suburb of Warsaw. The population was 4,908 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Winona Lake is located at (41.220818, -85.817118). It is now contig ...
.
After this, he moved to
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, where he became a professor of Dead Sea Scrolls Studies at
Trinity Western University
, mottoeng = A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
, established = Trinity Junior College (1962–1972), Trinity Western College (1972–1985), Trinity Western University (1986–present)
, type = Privat ...
in Langley.
Here, he became co-director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute alongside
Peter Flint.
Dead Sea Scrolls
Abegg first became acquainted with the Dead Sea Scrolls during his graduate work at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
In 1987 he returned to the states, and completed his dissertation at the
Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati on the
War Scroll
''The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness'', also known as War Rule, Rule of War and the War Scroll, is a manual for military organization and strategy that was discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The manuscript was among the ...
from
Qumran
Qumran ( he, קומראן; ar, خربة قمران ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli ...
Cave 1.
During his time at the
Hebrew Union College, Abegg began to collaborate with Professor Ben Zion Wacholder.
John Strugnell, chief editor of the scrolls, had sent Wacholder a copy of the secret concordance of the Dead Sea Scrolls the editors were using at the time.
Using this concordance, Abegg created a computerized database for the Dead Sea Scrolls texts.
Abegg decided to publish this material while he was completing his dissertation.
Though this made Dead Sea Scrolls studies more convenient, Abegg was met with fury. Many influential scholars had been kept away from the materials while the editorial team worked on their first edition of scroll translation.
Those who had the privilege of working with the scrolls were angry that their work had been undermined.
However, Abegg's publication broke a forty-year monopoly on the scrolls, allowing scholars of all kinds access to examine the artifacts.
Furthermore, Abegg's work on the concordance gave him the opportunity to create computer research tools in association with Accordance Bible Software for Dead Sea Scrolls research.
Essentially, Abegg's work accelerated Dead Sea Scrolls research.
Publications
* Co-author of ''The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation'' (Harper San Francisco, 1996)
* Co-author of ''The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible'' (Harper San Francisco, 1999)
* Co-author of ''Dead Sea Scrolls Concordance I: The Non-Biblical Texts from Qumran'' (Leiden Brill, 2003)
* Co-author of ''The Isaiah Scrolls'' (Clarendon Press Oxford, 2010)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abegg, Martin
Dead Sea Scrolls
Academic staff of Trinity Western University
1950 births
Living people