Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(from Pergamum). Skin of sheep or goats prepared for writing on (2 Tim. 4:13).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
A thin skin prepared for receiving writing. It is much more durable than papyrus. The great majority of the early copies of the scriptures that are extant are on parchment and have thus been preserved to us (2 Tim. 4:13).
The Great Isaiah Scroll (1Qlsa)—(Late 1St century BC—early 1St century AD)
Strong’s Dictionary of Greek Words:
Transliteration:
membrana
Meaning:
of Latin origin ("membrane"); a (written) sheep-skin
From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Isaiah 34:4. All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.
Parchment books were rolled around a stick or cylinder, and, if very long, around two cylinders, from the two extremities. There is in the public library at Cambridge, England, an ancient manuscript roll of the Pentateuch. It is made of goats’ skins dyed red, and measures forty-eight feet in length by about twenty-two inches in breadth. As the book of Leviticus and a part of Deuteronomy are wanting, it is calculated that the original length could not have been far from ninety feet. It consists of thirty-seven different skins, and contains one hundred and seventeen different columns of writing. These columns correspond to the pages of our books, are each about four inches wide, and contain from forty to fifty lines apiece. This manuscript is undoubtedly very ancient, though its date cannot now be ascertained. It was obtained by the Dr.. Buchanan from the black Jews in Malabar.
The celebrated Samaritan Pentateuch is the oldest manuscript of which we have any knowledge. It consists of twenty-one skins of unequal size, most of which contain six, but some only five, columns. The columns are thirteen inches deep and seven and a half wide. Each contains from seventy to seventy-two lines, and the entire roll has one hundred and ten columns.
Ancient rolls were sometimes encased in a cover, which was more or less ornamented, and on which the title was sometimes written. This case corresponded to the envelopes in which their letters were put. See note on Nehemiah 6:5 (#381). Some commentators think that this outside cover, with ifs title, is what is referred to in Psalm 40:7: “In the volume of the book it is written of me.” Others suppose that reference is made in that text to a small strip of parchment which was attached to each roll, and contained the title, so that the nature of the contents could be ascertained without the trouble of unrolling.
When the manuscript was used the reader unrolled it until he found the place, and when he had finished reading he rolled it up again. This is what is meant by opening and closing the book in Luke 4:17,20.
This style of book is often referred to in the Bible. See Ezra 6:1-2; Jeremiah 36:2,23,29; Ezekiel 2:9; 3:1-2; Zechariah 5:1-2; 2 Tim. 4:13 and probably Revelation 5:1, though some commentators think that a book of leaves is there meant.
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