BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

A Dead Sea Scrolls Mystery

Who is the Teacher of Righteousness?

Although the Dead Sea Scrolls have been continuously studied since their discovery in 1947, many mysteries persist. Indeed, one of these mysteries first appeared more than a quarter century before the scrolls were discovered at Qumran. Who is the Teacher of Righteousness? This enigmatic figure appears in at least two of the major works from Qumran and has, at times, been thought to be the author of many others. Yet, as discussed by Angela Kim Harkins in her article “Are We Still Searching for the Teacher of Righteousness?” published in the Spring 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, we might never know the teacher’s true identity. That is, if there ever was one.

Founding the Dead Sea Scrolls Community

First identified in a text of the famous Cairo Genizah, translated and published in 1910, the Teacher of Righteousness is a central figure of the so-called Damascus Document. Among numerous details in the Damascus Document is a description of a religious leader known as the Teacher of Righteousness, who was opposed by a Wicked Priest. After several copies of the Damascus Document were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls, it became clear that the document likely originated within the Qumran community, with some scholars arguing the Teacher of Righteousness was possibly the community’s founder. Meanwhile, a second text from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Commentary on Habakkuk, describes the teacher’s dramatic rivalry with other figures who contend with him for authority.

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Despite these texts, the Teacher of Righteousness remains a mystery in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and many scholars have put forward various theories about the identity of both the teacher and his adversaries. Early on, most assumed the Teacher of Righteousness was an actual historical figure. Among the proposed identifications was the Hasmonean leader John Hyrcanus and Judah the Essene. More extreme and far-fetched theories even connected the Teacher of Righteousness with early Christianity, suggesting he could have been James, the brother of Jesus, or even John the Baptist.

More recently, scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls have become less confident about identifying the mysterious Teacher of Righteousness with a real historical figure. As Harkins discusses in her article, scroll scholars “no longer read the texts about the teacher at face value, instead highlighting the possibility that the teacher was a conceptual or even mythical figure emerging from the exegesis of biblical prophetic texts.” Yet other scholars, writing in the pages of Biblical Archaeology Review, have suggested the Teacher of Righteousness was never intended by the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls to be a historical figure. That is, if there ever was such a figure.

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To read more about the identification of the mysterious Teacher of Righteousness in the Dead Sea Scrolls, read Angela Kim Harkins’s article “Are We Still Searching for the Teacher of Righteousness?” published in the Spring 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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Related reading in Bible History Daily

What Are the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Dead Sea Scrolls History: Looking Back on the Last 75 Years

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament

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Jesus and the Teacher of Righteousness—Similarities and Differences

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