Isaiah Scroll
The Isaiah Scroll, designated 1QIsaa and also known as the Great Isaiah Scroll, is one of the seven
The scroll is written on 17 sheets of parchment. It is particularly large, being about 734 cm (24 feet) long and ranges from 25.3 to 27 cm high (10 to 10.6 inches) with 54 columns of text.[4]
History to discovery
The exact authors of 1QIsaa are unknown, as is the exact date of writing. Pieces of the scroll have been dated using both
The scroll was discovered in Qumran Cave 1, by a group of three Ta'amireh shepherds, near the Ein Feshkha spring off the northwest shore of the Dead Sea between late 1946 and early 1947; initially discovered when one of the shepherds heard the sound of shattering pottery after throwing a rock while searching for a lost member of his flock.[1] Once the shepherds agreed to return in a few days, the youngest one, Muhammed edh-Dhib returned alone before them, finding a cave filled with broken and whole jars and fragments of scrolls.[13] Of the intact jars, edh-Dhib found all but two empty; one was filled with reddish earth, and the other with a parchment scroll (later found to be the Great Isaiah Scroll) and two oblong items covered in a black wax or pitch (later found to be the Habakkuk Commentary (1QpHab) and the Community Rule (1QS)).[1] Edh-Dhib returned with the three scrolls to the displeasure of the other shepherds for his solo journey, and the scrolls were transferred to a Ta'amireh site southeast of Bethlehem where they were kept in a bag suspended on a tent pole for several weeks. During this time, the front cover of 1QIsaa broke off.[13] The three scrolls were brought to an antiques dealer in Bethlehem for appraisal.[14]
Publication
The scroll first came into the possession of Khalil Iskander Shahin, better known as Kando, an antiques dealer who was a member of the Syrian Church.
In January 1948, Professor
On 18 February 1948, Father Butrus Sowmy of
Early in 1949,
Scribal profile and textual variants
The text of the Great Isaiah Scroll is generally consistent with the
The scroll contains scribal errors, corrections, and more than 2600 textual variants when compared with the Masoretic codex.[2] This level of variation in 1QIsaa is much greater than other Isaiah scrolls found at Qumran, with most, such as 1QIsab, being closer to the Masoretic Text.[3] Some variants are significant and include differences in one or more verses or in several words. Most variants are more minor and include differences of a single word, alternative spellings, plural versus single usage, and changes in the order of words.[11]
Some of the major variants are notable as they show the development of the book of Isaiah over time or represent scribal errors unique to 1QIsaa. Abegg, Flint and Ulrich argue that the absence of the second half of verse 9 and all of verse 10 in chapter 2 of 1QIsaa indicates that these are slightly later additions.[11] These verses are found in other Qumran Isaiah scrolls, the Masoretic Text, and the Septuagint.[11] In chapter 40, a shorter version of verse 7 is found, matching the Septuagint. In the same verse there is also an insertion by a later scribe showing a longer version that is consistent with the Masoretic Text.[3] There are also several examples of likely scribal error in the scroll, such as Isaiah 16:8–9. Most of 16:8 is missing and the first part of verse 9 is missing when compared to the Masoretic Text and Septuagint, suggesting that the scribe's eye may have skipped over part of the text.[11] Abegg, Flint, and Ulrich note that there are a number of errors of this nature that may represent a degree of carelessness on the part of the scribe.[11]
In some cases, the variants from 1QIsaa have been incorporated in modern bible translations. An example is Isaiah 53:11 where 1QIsaa and Septuagint versions match and clarify the meaning, while the Masoretic Text is somewhat obscure.[3] Dr. Peter Flint notes that better readings from the Qumran scrolls such as Isaiah 53:11 have been adopted by the New International Version translation and Revised Standard Version translation.[citation needed]
Footnotes
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-956667-9.
- ^ a b c d The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls: The Great Isaiah Scroll dss.collections.imj.org
- ^ ISBN 978-0-687-49449-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-956667-9.
- ^ dead-sea-scrolls-2 Allaboutarchaeology.org
- . Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ Pliny the Elder. Historia Naturalis. V, 17 or 29; in other editions V, (15).73. "Ab occidente litora Esseni fugiunt usque qua nocent, gens sola et in toto orbe praeter ceteras mira, sine ulla femina, omni venere abdicata, sine pecunia, socia palmarum. in diem ex aequo convenarum turba renascitur, large frequentantibus quos vita fessos ad mores eorum fortuna fluctibus agit. ita per saeculorum milia — incredibile dictu — gens aeterna est, in qua nemo nascitur. tam fecunda illis aliorum vitae paenitentia est! infra hos Engada oppidum fuit, secundum ab Hierosolymis fertilitate palmetorumque nemoribus, nunc alterum bustum. inde Masada castellum in rupe, et ipsum haut procul Asphaltite. et hactenus Iudaea est." cf. English Translation"
- ^ Josephus. (c.75 CE). The Wars of the Jews 2.119
- ^ Philo. Quad Omnis Probus Liber. XII.
- ^ Flint, Peter W. (2013). The Dead Sea Scrolls. Nashville: Abingdon Press. pp. 137–151.
- ^ )
- ^ "Writing the Dead Sea Scrolls". July 2010. National Geographic Channel. TV Movie, approx. 39:00–.
- ^ a b Flint, Peter W. "The Dead Sea Scrolls". Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2013, p. 2
- ^ "The Dead Sea Scrolls – Discovery and Publication". www.deadseascrolls.org.il. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
- ^ ISBN 0-8006-2807-1.
- ^ a b c d e f Bruce, F. F. (1964). Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 13–19.
- ^ a b c LaSor, William Sanford (1956). Amazing Dead Sea Scrolls. Chicago: Moody Press. pp. 13–19.
- ^ "Digital Dead Sea Scrolls at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem – The Project". dss.collections.imj.org.il. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
- ^ Ouellette, Jennifer (21 April 2021). "More than one scribe wrote the text of a Dead Sea Scroll, handwriting shows". Ars Technica. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- PMID 33882053.
References
- Kutscher, Edward Yechezkel (1974). The Language and Linguistic Background of the Isaiah Scroll (I Q Isaa). Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah. Vol. 6. Leiden: Brill. OCLC 3090361.