Physical Characteristics: This is the most "regular" appearing page thus far in the scroll although there are several variations from the received text. It is the third page in this third sheet of leather that makes up the scroll. Almost every word is legible. There is a split in the leather at the upper left extending from line 1 through 6; In line 1 an ayin in :"al" (upon or over) is obscured by the split; and in line 4 the word "shiyto" (his thorns) is almost blotted out although it can be seen if carefully observed. The same care is necessary to see all the letters in a few lines at the lower right that have suffered fading. There is also a crease line extending the whole length of the page on the right side. Origins of the creases and split lines are discussed in the introductory page in Section V. There are no lacunae although some of the lower portion of the page has chipped away.

Paragraphs and spatiums. There are 7 paragraphs on this page and only one spatium in line 29, bottom right. Paragraph endings are in line 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 19, and 27. Line 3 begins vs 10:16 and line 7 begins vs 20 and line 11 begins vs 24 and line 14 vs 27. Line 18 begins vs 33 and line 20 begins chapter 11 verse 1. Line 28 begins verse 11:10 and the spatium in line 29 marks the beginning of vs 11:11

Nazarene

Line 20: 4th word: Line 20 is the first verse in chapter 11. The fourth word is "ve-natser" translated "and a branch" See my commentary on this important word and follow the links to the article where each occasion of Isaiah's use of this word is treated.

Editorial additions: There are horizontal marks between lines 13 and 14 and again between lines 29 and 30 . There is a mark that looks like a "he" or "heth" above the 3rd word in line 15. It is actually a yod waw. The word is A'yath, the name of a town . The additional letters approximate the pronunciation found in M except that in Q the word ends with "he". (see below under .line 15). An article would seem redundant here. But in line 18 in the 3rd from last word a "he" (article) is added to "qomah" which is also the reading in the Masoretic. Lines 22 and 23: the 2nd from last on 22 and the 1st on 23 is the word for "earth" with an article "ha-a'rets." The Masoretic has no article on either. Line 23: 2nd word is "be-shevet" in which the original scribe left out the medial "beth" which is edited in above the word. Last word in line 23 omits the article found in the Masoretic. (There is also a scribal mistake in line 23 (vs 5.) See next below.) Line 25: 1st word: is the last word of vs 11:6 means "in them" In Q there is an additional "he" making "bam" into the Q "bamah" (Possible Aramaic influence). See sections E. and F. in the introductory page for much more information on the addition of "he" by the Q scribes. Line 26: (vs 8:) 6th word ("tsaphoni" or cockatrice) has a plural ending "iym" not in the received text. In line 29 above the 4th from last word the accusative "e'th" is added which correction agrees with the Masoretic. Line 30 (last line) vs 11:11 3rd word is Pathros (a place name), it has a superfluous last letter that may be a waw and is not correct.

Other Variations in Q from the Masoretic Text:

Line 1: next to last word: Q = "meniyphayv and M = "maniypho" See introductory page section VI. D. for further discussion of adding yod to singular forms before 3ms suf. What looks like a plural construct ending is simply the Q method of attaching 3ms suf as hee to a mas sing part. The Scribe however may have made this part. pl. to match the part following on the next line, 3rd word.

Line 11: 3rd from last word: Q = "mashevet" (from a rod and M = "bashevet" (in or with a rod. Last word: "u-matu" and M = "u-matehu." The form is spelled correctly in Q in line 18: 3rd word.

Line 12: 2nd to last word: Q = "ve-ye'iyr cj + 3rd stem imp 3ms (and he shall stir) M = ve- 'orer" 3rd stem pf 3ms (and he shall stir)

Line 15: 3rd word: There is a yod and waw written above the city-name "Ayath" The yod and waw are written in identical form in the 3rd word in line 23 in the word "piyv." But in Q there is a final "he" instead of tau on " 'Ayath." Addition of the waw and yod follows the usual method used by the scribe to use yod and waw as semi-vowels. The pronunciation would be " 'ay-yath" if the tau is restored. The waw here stands for the sound of au in cause or auto. Waw is used in Q to stand for any vowel sound. See the discussion on waw as a semi-vowel in Section VI. A. in the Introductory page. 9th word: Q = " 'aver" pf 3ms (he has gone over) and M = " 'avru" pf 3mpl (they have gone over.)

Line 23: (vs 5) A Scribal Mistake: The 4th and 5th words on line 23 have dots under and over which is the scribe's sign that the words are a mistake and do not belong in the text. The scribe wrote the words out of order as the words
"yamith rasha' " (he will slay the wicked) are repeated in the proper order as the 8th and 9th words in this line. The sign of putting dots under and over each of the letters in a word or words that have mistakenly been written is consistent in the Q scroll. A further observation as to how the mistake was made is that the last letters before the mistake are "iyv" which are the letters just preceding the words in the proper place on the line. Thus it can be concluded that the habit of dotting words not belonging in the text sometimes (as here) was done by the original scribe and not always by a later editor which may be the case for a great many other corrected errors. For more on dots see section XI. in the introductory page.

Line 24: 12th word Q = omits aleph "u-marey" (fatling) and M = same with aleph "u-marey' "

Line 26 (vs 11:9) Next to last word: A different reading: The received text reads "be-col har qadeshiy" (in all my holy mountain.) Q reads simply "be:har qadeshiy" (in my holy mountain).

Line 26: next to last word: Q omits "kol" (all) in M.

Line 27: Change of tense: 2nd word: The received text has a qal pf 3fs verb while Q has the same verb but it is qal imp. 3fs. "timla'ah" instead of "mal'ah."

Line 28: next to last word: Q = "ve-hayah" cj + pf 3ms and M = "ve-hayethah" cj + pf 3fs.

Line 30: next to last word: spelling: Q = "nisah" pf 3ms (he will raise) and M = "nisa' " same with correct spelling. Substitution of "he" for aleph is frequent in Q.

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