GameTavern - Earliest known bible quotes found

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs...718/bible.html

Quote:

The other scroll reads, "May he/she be blessed by Yahweh, the warrior/helper, and the rebuker of Evil."

Zuckerman believes the word "rebuker" is significant, because it echoes language used in earlier Canaanite literature describing the pagan god Baal.

It also appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls' Book of Zachariah and was used much later in exorcism rituals.

Zuckerman, who is compiling images of early Biblical texts for a USC Web site, thinks that together, the scrolls and other early documents support the theory that the Bible represents a collection of sacred materials gathered over hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of years.

"The precedent established by the editors was not to gather the most clear and consistent materials, but those that were believed to be the most sacred," he said. "For example, two ideas are given for the origin of the universe. Both are included because to leave one out would have violated the sacredness of the tradition."