NETHERLANDS - AI Finds Dead Sea Scrolls Decades Older
An international team led by the University of Groningen has combined radiocarbon dating, paleographic analysis, and artificial intelligence to assign more precise dates to individual Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts, showing many are significantly older than previously believed.
Using a deep learning model called Enoch, researchers input digitized images of 135 scroll fragments and trained the system to recognize microscopic ink trace patterns—such as curvature and character shape—alongside new radiocarbon results for 24 samples. By correlating these handwriting features with empirically established dates, the team narrowed dating uncertainty to roughly ±30 years, outperforming conventional radiocarbon ranges for the period of 300–50 BCE.
Indeed, two biblical fragments—4QDanielc (4Q114) and 4QQoheleta (4Q109)—were shown by Enoch and new radiocarbon dates to originate roughly in the early 160s BCE and third century BCE respectively, matching the eras their anonymous authors likely composed the books of Daniel and Ecclesiastes.
“This is the first tangible proof that portions of Daniel and Kohelet were penned contemporaneously with their presumed scribes,” noted Prof. Mladen Popović. “It opens a window into the production of biblical literature at its very source.”
-www.jpost.com, 5 June 2025
Commentary
The words, “significantly older than previously believed,” remind one of the many revisions scientific scholars make to their theories about the age of the universe.
It is telling that this discovery “matches the eras [the] authors likely composed the books of Daniel and Ecclesiastes,” proving that science is only capable of catching up to the truth of the historicity of Scripture, which Christians already know.
The Bible does not need to be verified by scientists; rather, man will be judged by his choice to either believe or disbelieve God’s Word: “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” (Galatians 3:22). -By K. Farmer
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
