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.

February 21, 2008

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.

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The Great Isaiah Scroll

Introductory Page: Important information
Page 1---- Chapters 1:1 to 1:26
Page 2---- Chapters 1:26 to 2:21
Page 3---- Chapters 2:21 to 3:24
Page 4---- Chapters 3:24: to 5:14
Page 5---- Chapters 5:14 to 6:7
Page 6---- Chapters 6:7 to 7:15
Page 7---- Chapters 7:15 to 8:8
Page 8---- Chapters 8:8 to 9:11
Page 9---- Chapters 9:11 to 10:14
Page 10---Chapters 10:14 to 11:12
Page 11---Chapters 11:12 to 14:1
Page 12---Chapters 14: to 14:29
Page 13---Chapters 14:29 to 16:14
Page 14---Chapters 16:14 to 18:17
Page 15---Chapters 18:7 to 19:23
Page 16---Chapters 19:23 to 21:15
Page 17---Chapters 21:15 to 22:24
Page 18---Chapters 22:24 to 24:4
Page 19---Chapters 24:4 to 25:5
Page 20---Chapters 25:5 to 26:18
Page 21---Chapters 26:19 to 28:2
Page 22---Chapters 28:2 to 28:24
Page 23---Chapters 28:24 to 29:21
Page 24---Chapters 29:21 to 30:20
Page 25--- Chapters 30:20 to 31:4
Page 26--- Chapters 31:5 to 33:1
Page 27--- Chapters 33:1 to 33:24
Page 28--- Chapters 34:1 to 36:2
Page 29--- Chapters 36:3 to 36:20
Page 30--- Chapters 36:20 to 37:24
Page 31--- Chapters 37:24 to 38:8
Page 32--- Chapters 38:8 to 40:2
Page 33--- Chapters 40:2 to 40:28
Page 34--- Chapters 40:28 to 41:23
Page 35--- Chapters 41:23 to 42:17
Page 36--- Chapters 42:18 to 43:20
Page 37--- Chapters 43:20 to 44:23
Page 38--- Chapters 44:23 to 45:21
Page 39--- Chapters 45:21 to 47:11
Page 40--- Chapters 47:11 to 49:4
Page 41--- Chapters 49:4 to 50:1
Page 42--- Chapters 50:1 to 51:13
Page 43--- Chapters 51:13 to 52:12
Page 44--- Chapters 52:13 to 54:4
Page 45--- Chapters 54:4 to 55:8
Page 46--- Chapters 55:8 to 57:2
Page 47--- Chapters 57:2 to 58:6
Page 48--- Chapters 58:6 to 59:17
Page 49--- Chapters 59:17 to 61:4
Page 50--- Chapters 61:4 to 63:4
Page 51--- Chapters 63:4 to 65:4
Page 52--- Chapters 65:4 to 65:18
Page 53--- Chapters 65:19 to 66:14
Page 54--- Chapters 66:14 to 66:24

English translation Of the Isaiah Scroll

All the material here plus many more hyperlinks and sited miniaturizations plus transcription of each page in the scroll into common Hebrew block letters which will aid a student in reading the manuscript Hebrew of the scrolls is available on my CD.

Available on CD Rom: All the files on this site are available on one cd rom. There are three Commentaries and the important text and analysis of the Great Isaiah Scroll and two booklets and the many special studies. The advantage of having this material on a cd rom will be obvious to anyone interested in this material for study. There is almost no waiting for the files to load from a cd rom drive when compared to accessing the material on line. The material will still be available on line to those who want to access it. If however you would be interested in owning the material on a cd rom please click on the cd rom icon above and/or for further information.

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Catalog of Dead Sea Manuscripts

A description of all manuscripts in all 11 caves