École Biblique

French academic establishment in Jerusalem

Saint-Étienne priory, home of the École Biblique

École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in Jerusalem specializing in archaeology and Biblical exegesis. It is housed by the Saint-Étienne priory.

## History

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### Foundation

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The school was founded in 1890 under the name École pratique d’études bibliques by Marie-Joseph Lagrange, a Dominican priest. Its studies were officially sanctioned by Pope Leo XIII in his papal encyclical Providentissimus Deus in 1893.

### Modernist crisis

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The election of Pope Pius X in 1903 saw the beginning of a conservative reaction against perceived "Modernists" inside the Catholic Church. Père Lagrange, like other scholars involved in the 19th-century renaissance of biblical studies, was suspected of being a Modernist.[1] The historical-critical method was considered suspect by the Vatican. Père Lagrange's 1904 book, The Historical Method, drew criticism. In 1905, the Pontifical Biblical Commission issued a caution about two of his methodological principles.

The situation worsened with the enactment of the papal decree Lamentabili sane exitu and the papal encyclical Pascendi Dominici gregis by Pius X in 1907, both of which condemned Modernism as heretical. In 1909, conflict between the Dominicans and the Jesuits, common at the time, resulted in the Pope's creation of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, as a Jesuit rival to the school.[2] In 1912 Lagrange was given an order of silence for the Revue Biblique to cease publication and to return to France. The École itself was closed for a year, but was then re-opened by the new Pope Benedict XV and Lagrange was allowed to return to Jerusalem continue its work.

### Subsequent years

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In 1920 the school took its current name, following its recognition, by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, as a national archaeological school in France. The enactment of the papal encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu by Pope Pius XII in 1943 officially sanctioned the use of historical criticism in the study of the Bible, ending previous tensions between the school and the Vatican.

Following the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the scholars at the school have been heavily involved in the translation and interpretation of the texts. In 1956 the School published La Bible de Jérusalem, a work which strove both for critical translational rigour and for quality as a piece of literature; a second, revised version, was published in 1998.

## Activities

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### Research and exegesis

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The school is part of the Dominican St. Stephen's Priory, French: "Couvent de Saint-Étienne". Most of the teachers of the École Biblique are Dominican friars, and all members of the Dominican priory are involved in the work of the École.[3]

The priory is centred around the modern Basilica of St Stephen (Saint-Étienne) built over the ruins of an ancient predecessor, to which the supposed relics of Saint Stephen were transferred in 439, making the Byzantine-period church the centre of the cult of this particular saint.

Since its creation, the school has been involved in the exegesis of biblical text, and has carried out archaeological research, in a complementary manner and without secrecy, in Palestine and the adjacent territories. Its principal disciplines are epigraphy, the Semitic languages, Assyriology, Egyptology, other aspects of ancient history, geography, and ethnography.

It has the power to confer official doctorates in Holy Scripture.

### Publications

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It publishes the Revue Biblique (RB), which is a diverse collection of scholarship from its fields of excellence.

It also publishes material addressed to larger audiences, including a particular French translation of the Bible, known as the Jerusalem Bible (a work which strove both for critical translational rigour and for quality as a piece of literature).

## Notable members

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Among its most illustrious members, in addition to Marie-Joseph Lagrange, are Marie-Emile Boismard, Roland de Vaux, Raymond-Jacques Tournay, Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, and Pierre Benoit.

* Félix-Marie Abel (1878–1953)
* pl:Charles Coüasnon, led the 1961–1977 excavations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
* Jean-Baptiste Humbert (born 1940)
* Louis-Hugues Vincent (1872–1960)

## References

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1. ^ "Our Founder",, École biblique et archéologique française de Jerusalem
2. ^ Bernard Montagnes, Les séquelles de la crise moderniste. L'Ecole biblique au lendemain de la Grande Guerre, in Revue thomiste, XCVIIIth year vol. XC, n°2, pp. 245–270, 1990
3. ^ Aviva Bar-Am, St. Stephen's Monastary [sic] – The brothers' work, Jerusalem Post, 14 September 2009 [1]

## External links

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* Official website

31°47′06″N 35°13′49″E﻿ / ﻿31.78500°N 35.23028°E﻿ / 31.78500; 35.23028

* v
* t
* e

Dead Sea Scrolls

Texts|

* 4Q106
* 4Q107
* 4Q108
* 4Q119
* 4Q120
* 4Q121
* 4Q122
* 4Q126
* 4Q127
* 4Q166
* 4Q175
* 4Q240
* 4Q246
* 4Q252
* 4Q448
* 4Q521
* 4Q542
* 4QDeuteronomyn (4Q41)
* 4QInstruction (4Q415–418, 4Q418a, 4Q423, 1Q26)
* 4QMMT (4Q394–399)
* 6Q6
* 7Q1
* 7Q5
* 11Q5 The Great Psalms Scroll
* 11QpaleoLev
* 11Q13 Melchizedek
* 11Q18 New Jerusalem
* Barkhi Nafshi (4Q434–438)
* The Book of Giants
* The Book of Mysteries (1Q27 and 4Q299–301)
* Community Rule (1QS, 4QS, 5Q11, 5Q13)
* Copper Scroll (3Q15)
* Damascus Document (CD)
* Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen ar)
* Genesis Commentary
* Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever
* Habakkuk Commentary (1QpHab)
* Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa,1QIsab)
* Nahum Commentary (4QpNah/4Q169)
* New Jerusalem Scroll
* Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus scroll (11QpaleoLev)
* Physiognomies/Horoscopes (4Q186)
* Pseudo-Ezekiel
* Rule of the Blessing (1QSb)
* Rule of the Congregation (1QSa)
* Samuel Scroll
* The Seekers After Smooth Things
* Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q400–407)
* Songs of the Sage (4Q510–511)
* Temple Scroll (11Q19)
* Thanksgiving Hymns (1QH)
* The War of the Messiah/The Pierced Messiah Text (4Q285/11Q14)
* War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness (1QM)

Places|

* Qumran
* Qumran Caves
* cave 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9
* 10
* 11
* Qumran cemetery
* Ein Feshkha
* Kohlit
* Secacah
* Wadi Murabba'at

Issues|

* Essenes
* Sadducees
* Carbon dating
* Yahad Ostracon
* Pesher
* Dual messiahs
* Teacher of Righteousness
* Wicked Priest
* Calendrical texts

Scholars|

* Martin G. Abegg
* John Marco Allegro
* Joseph M. Baumgarten
* John J. Collins
* Sidnie White Crawford
* Frank Moore Cross
* André Dupont-Sommer
* Robert Eisenman
* Hanan Eshel
* Joseph Fitzmyer
* Peter W. Flint
* David Noel Freedman
* Jean-Baptiste Humbert
* Florentino García Martínez
* Norman Golb
* Gerald Lankester Harding
* Yizhar Hirschfeld
* Ernest-Marie Laperrousaz
* Jodi Magness
* Józef Milik
* Elisha Qimron
* James A. Sanders
* Lawrence Schiffman
* Hershel Shanks
* Patrick W. Skehan
* Solomon H. Steckoll
* Hartmut Stegemann
* John Strugnell
* Eleazar Sukenik
* Carsten Peter Thiede
* Emanuel Tov
* John C. Trever
* Eugene Ulrich
* Roland de Vaux
* Géza Vermes
* Yigael Yadin
* José O'Callaghan Martínez

Other|

* AIAR/ASOR
* Aramaic Enoch Scroll
* Shrine of the Book
* Orion Center
* École Biblique
* Discoveries in the Judaean Desert
* Mar Samuel
* Muhammed edh-Dhib
* Najib Albina

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* 2
* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Czech Republic
* 2
* Portugal
* Israel
* Catalonia

Other|

* IdRef

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