Great Isaiah Scroll
D I R E C T O R Y
All written files by Fred P Miller copyright 1999. All
rights reserved.
Qumran Great Isaiah Scroll:
The Qumran Isaiah scrolls are two. Q or Qa is the Qumran
Great Isaiah Scroll and Qb is the Qumran Scroll of Isaiah
that is about 75% complete. Qa, the Qumran Great Isaiah
Scroll is complete from the first word on page 1 to the last
word on page 54.
May 11, 2001
For practice in reading differences in Q: Find the word
"Immanuel" written as one word (contrary to the received
text) as the final word in lines 1 and 3. Notice also a
horizontal stroke at the right on line 1 and 3 setting off
the enclosed lines as an important passage. There is also an
indentation which is a paragraph mark when the preceding
line has been filled with text. But more frequently, the gap
at the end of the third line which is left unfilled is a
sign of end of paragraph. Notice also that an editor has
written a "he" above the 4th word in the second line making
the word "ve-'aziynu" to be "ve-ha'azinu." Then see the next
to last word in line 3 to see aleph added to the conjunction
"kiy" (because or that). Aleph is added by the Q scribes
with great frequency to prepositional forms and conjunctions
ending in yod. But see "kiy" written without the aleph in
the 1st word in line 4. Then see the space (spatium) in the
middle of the last line which is a verse mark. In most cases
the spatiums mark current versification but not here. The
Masoretic text begins verse 13 3 words sooner with "eth."
There is an omission of 2 words at the end of line 2 and at
least two other differences with addition of and omission of
an article which I will leave you to find for yourself. I
hope this whets your appetite.
Jesus said:
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal
life:
and they are they which testify of me. John 5:39
The scroll pages are photo copies. Some are scanned in
black and white and some in grays. The original scroll when
it was first photographed was a slightly orange color with
some more and less darkened areas. Thus you will be able to
read the scroll here but it is a facsimile of a photo copy
and not a reproduction of the actual colors of the scroll.
This is a directory of pages of the Great Isaiah Scroll
of the Qumran community. This scroll (which has been named
by scholars as "Q") is dated at 100 BC. Evidence for the
date is internal and we will point out those evidences as
they appear. (
For instance see page 12 the last note). In the pages
that follow we will cite the Great Isaiah Scroll as "Q" and
the received text as Masoretic or "M." My comments on each
page about the scroll are meant to help you to get to know
about the scroll and the technical differences between it
and the received text. It is not meant to be a commentary on
the book of Isaiah. If you can read Hebrew it will enhance
your study of the scroll greatly, but it is not necessary to
read Hebrew to gain some insight into what the Scroll is
like and to understand its importance. Although there are
many differences between the Scroll and the Masoretic text,
these are often spelling differences like the addition of a
vowel or an article or conjunction or a change in person and
number. Sometimes words or an entire verse may be left out.
All these places are noted. A few occasions of extra words
in the Q text are noted. In addition all editorial marks are
noted as are also paragraph and versification gaps called
spatiums. The critical comments are meant for beginning and
intermediate students. Advanced students will also find
things of interest on these pages., but this is not to be
considered a "scholar's" work.
Have we exhausted all the things that may be said about this
text and noted all the variations between this text and the
Masoretic? Surely not, even though we have attempted to cite
them all in one way or another. If you have an interest in
knowing what the Isaiah scroll is like and want to know more
about it and the technical make up of the scroll and the
major variations between this and the received text, then
this is the place to begin.
Two frequent variations will NOT be cited in this review.
The addition of waw and yod to words as pronunciation helps
to indicate vowels is very frequent and corresponds to the
pointing to indicate these vowels, which was added by later
Masoretic scholars. The addition of aleph in the same way is
less frequent and will be cited. The second variation is the
scribe's interchange of waw and yod. This is frequent. Where
one expects to find a yod a waw is written and where one
expects to find a waw a yod is written. We will not cite
these but these occurrences, because of their frequency, can
be seen by a general reading of the text.
After all variations are noted and taken into account and
the reasons for them (lapses, spelling errors, simple human
error in copying, dialectical difference, Aramaic
environment etc.) are understood then it is easy to say with
confidence that the Q text is substantially the same as the
received text of the Book of Isaiah that we now read in our
English Bible.
If you are familiar with Hebrew you will find that the
Important Information in the Introductory Page will save you
a great deal of time in discovering the reasons for the
different grammar and spelling in the Q manuscript when
compared to the Masoretic text.
If you discover any variations that I have not noted I
would like to hear from you so adjustments can be made. I
have added an introductory page that treats technical
observations and spelling and grammatical structures
peculiar to the Q scribe. The text of my comments in these
files is copy righted (c) but may be freely used by students
but not published without permission.
All 54 pages are now on line. My edited comments
will be subject to revision and your suggestions are invited.
Please let me know what you think of the site.
email me your response
The
Great Isaiah Scroll
Available on CD Rom:
