The War Scroll

Sons of Light vs Sons of Darkness

The War Scroll is the most extraordinary military manual in the ancient world. It describes in precise tactical detail a forty-year apocalyptic war between the Sons of Light (the Qumran community and their angelic allies) and the Sons of Darkness (the Romans, the Kittim, and the fallen angels led by Belial). The document specifies troop formations, banner inscriptions, trumpet signals, priestly pr

Codex Digital EditionComing soonEdition currently in preparation

Edition060

FormatDigital PDF

Editorial statusIn review

TraditionJewish Mysticism

Before you read

Context without the mythology.

Codex ISO separates the surviving evidence from later interpretation, so you can encounter the text without being told what to believe about it first.

01 / Historical context

1st century BC. The military manual of the apocalyptic war between the Children of Light and the Children of Darkness. Hidden at Qumran 68 AD, recovered 1947.

02 / Why it matters

The military plan for the end of the world. Here, in full.

From / associated with the text

““This shall be a time of salvation for the people of God, an age of dominion for all the members of His company, and of everlasting destruction for the company of Belial.””

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Source before story.

We identify the edition, translation and surviving evidence; distinguish documentation from tradition; and state uncertainty rather than turning it into a sales claim.

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Continue the archive

The War Scroll

Context without the mythology.

Source before story.

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