DSS Fragment Summaries

Genesis is broadly attested at Qumran in 14+ manuscripts spanning Caves 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 plus the Murabba'at find. None preserves continuous text — the witnesses are fragmentary, with each scroll surviving in scattered pieces. Together they attest portions of every section of Genesis (creation, flood, patriarchs, Joseph). The consensus across all manuscripts is that the proto-Masoretic Genesis text was already substantially fixed by the late Second Temple period; variants are predominantly orthographic.

Notable Variants No major content variants. The most discussed reading is **Gen 1:9** — 4QGenᵏ may preserve a slightly longer text matching the LXX expansion ('and the waters were gathered into their gatherings'). The 4QpaleoGen-Exodᵏ and 4QGenᵈ provide sparse but consistent witness to the proto-MT consonantal text. Genesis 4 (Cain–Abel) and Genesis 22 (the Aqedah) are not significantly altered by any DSS reading.

Exodus is well attested at Qumran. The headline witness is **4QpaleoExodᵐ** (4Q22), copied in paleo-Hebrew script in the early 2nd century BCE — a deliberate archaizing choice associated with priestly/Sadducean scribal circles. 4QpaleoExodᵐ is significant beyond its script: it preserves a text of Exodus that **frequently agrees with the Samaritan Pentateuch** in its harmonizing expansions (especially the addition of plague-warning material from Exodus chapters 7–11 onto the related plague narratives). This makes 4QpaleoExodᵐ a 'pre-Samaritan' Hebrew text — evidence that the harmonizing tendencies later distinctive of the Samaritan Pentateuch were a Jewish scribal phenomenon predating the Jewish-Samaritan split.

Notable Variants MAJOR FINDING: **4QpaleoExodᵐ** is a pre-Samaritan Hebrew text. Its harmonizations (Moses pre-narrating each plague before delivering it; the addition of Numbers/Deuteronomy material into Exodus parallels) match the Samaritan Pentateuch against the MT and LXX. This was a major scholarly discovery (Skehan, Sanderson 1986) showing that the Samaritan-style harmonizing edition circulated in mainstream Jewish scribal traditions before the sect's emergence.

Leviticus is moderately attested at Qumran. The most striking witness is **11QpaleoLevᵃ** (11Q1), copied in paleo-Hebrew script — like 4QpaleoExodᵐ for Exodus, the choice of archaic script reflects priestly scribal circles. 11QpaleoLevᵃ preserves a text very close to MT, with primarily orthographic variation. Leviticus 11 (clean/unclean food laws, paralleling Deut 14) and Leviticus 16 (Day of Atonement) are partially preserved in multiple manuscripts.

Notable Variants No major content variants. The 11QpaleoLevᵃ readings are notable for their script (paleo-Hebrew) more than their text. The Leviticus DSS witnesses overwhelmingly support the MT consonantal text against the LXX (which has more interpretive expansion in the cultic legislation).

Numbers is moderately attested at Qumran. **4QNumᵇ** (4Q27) is the most extensive witness — its text shows a mixed character, sometimes agreeing with MT, sometimes with the Samaritan Pentateuch (sharing harmonizing expansions, e.g., at Num 27 and 36 on inheritance laws). The 5/6HevNum scroll from Nahal Hever confirms the proto-Masoretic text-form for chapters 30 and 35.

Notable Variants **4QNumᵇ** is partially pre-Samaritan in character — like 4QpaleoExodᵐ in Exodus, it preserves harmonizing expansions later distinctive of the Samaritan Pentateuch. The Numbers DSS evidence reinforces the picture that pre-Samaritan harmonizing editions were widespread in Second Temple Jewish scribal practice.

Joshua at Qumran preserves one of the most discussed structural variants in any DSS biblical book. **4QJoshᵃ** (4Q47) presents Joshua 8:30–35 — Joshua's altar-building and Torah-reading on Mount Ebal — at a different position in the narrative: instead of appearing after the Ai conquest (as in MT), the passage appears earlier, immediately after the crossing of the Jordan in Joshua 4 (or at the start of Joshua 5). This relocation has been variously interpreted: some scholars (Ulrich, Auld) see 4QJoshᵃ as preserving the original sequence with the MT and LXX representing later relocations; others see it as a sectarian rearrangement. The Samaritan tradition also locates the altar-building immediately after the Jordan crossing — connecting this DSS reading to the broader Samaritan-pre-Samaritan textual stream.

Notable Variants MARQUEE STRUCTURAL VARIANT. **4QJoshᵃ** relocates the Mount Ebal altar narrative (Josh 8:30–35) from its MT position (after the conquest of Ai) to immediately after the Jordan crossing (Josh 4–5). Three text-forms now stand side by side: MT (8:30–35 after Ai), LXX (similar to MT but with some sequence differences), and 4QJoshᵃ (the relocated altar text). The Samaritan tradition agrees with 4QJoshᵃ. The DSS finding does not settle the original sequence but demonstrates that multiple Hebrew text-forms of Joshua circulated in the late Second Temple period.

Judges has limited Qumran attestation but preserves one significant text-critical finding. **4QJudgᵃ** (4Q49) preserves Judges 6:2–13 in a form **shorter than the MT** — specifically, the manuscript lacks the prophetic-rebuke speech of the unnamed prophet at Judges 6:7–10. Some scholars (Trebolle Barrera) regard the shorter form as original and the MT speech as a later editorial expansion; others see the DSS as exemplifying a abridging tendency. The shorter form has been adopted in some critical translations (NABRE notes the variant) but most retain MT.

Notable Variants MAJOR LITERARY VARIANT. **4QJudgᵃ** lacks Judges 6:7–10 (the unnamed prophet's rebuke speech to Israel), preserving a shorter form of the Gideon prologue. This is one of the clearest cases where the DSS preserves a literarily distinct edition of an OT book.

Ruth is preserved in four Qumran manuscripts spanning Caves 2 and 4. Coverage is fragmentary but covers parts of all four chapters. The DSS witnesses agree with the proto-Masoretic Ruth text; no significant variants. Notable that this short book — only 85 verses — has comparatively many manuscript witnesses, suggesting Ruth's high liturgical/devotional value at Qumran.

Notable Variants No significant content variants. Orthographic variation only. The Ruth DSS witnesses confirm the antiquity of the proto-Masoretic Ruth text.

1 Kings has limited Qumran attestation. The three small manuscripts (4QKgs, 5QKgs, 6QpapKgs) together preserve scattered fragments. 6QpapKgs is on papyrus (unusual at Qumran). Where readings can be reconstructed, the DSS witnesses generally agree with MT and only sometimes with the LXX (which preserves a more divergent Kings text-form). The major text-critical question — the LXX's significantly different chronology and ordering of materials in Kings — is not directly resolved by the DSS evidence.

Notable Variants No major content variants in the preserved fragments. The substantial LXX-vs-MT differences in Kings (especially in the Solomon and Jeroboam narratives) are not directly illuminated by the limited DSS evidence.

2 Kings shares manuscript attestation with 1 Kings — the same Cave 4, 5, and 6 papyrus fragments preserve scattered material. Coverage is light. Where readings can be reconstructed, the DSS broadly agrees with MT.

Notable Variants No significant content variants. The DSS does not directly bear on the Hezekiah-Sennacherib parallel between 2 Kings 18-20 and Isaiah 36-39 (which 1QIsaᵃ does illuminate from the Isaiah side).

Chronicles is the least attested book at Qumran among those that are attested at all. **4QChr** (4Q118) is a single very fragmentary manuscript preserving small portions of 1 Chronicles 28 and 2 Chronicles 28. The remarkable scarcity of Chronicles at Qumran (compared to the rich attestation of Psalms, Pentateuch, and Prophets) has been interpreted as reflecting either accidents of preservation or a lower liturgical/devotional valuation of Chronicles in the Qumran community.

Notable Variants No significant content variants in the few preserved fragments. The DSS does not illuminate the Chronicler's distinctive theological reworkings of Samuel-Kings (e.g., Manasseh's repentance at 2 Chr 33, the post-exilic temple-genealogy material).

2 Chronicles shares its single Qumran witness — **4QChr** (4Q118) — with 1 Chronicles. The manuscript preserves portions of 2 Chronicles 28 only. As with 1 Chronicles, attestation is unusually thin.

Notable Variants No significant content variants in the preserved fragments.

**4QEzra** (4Q117) is the only Qumran witness to Ezra, preserving small fragments of chapters 4-6 — significantly, including portions of the Aramaic section (Ezra 4:8–6:18). The fragment confirms the antiquity of the bilingual Hebrew/Aramaic structure that distinguishes Ezra (along with Daniel and a few verses of Jeremiah).

Notable Variants No significant content variants. The fragmentary readings confirm the bilingual Hebrew/Aramaic structure of Ezra.

Nehemiah is not securely attested at Qumran. A small disputed fragment (sometimes cataloged as 4QNeh) may belong instead to other Aramaic or Hebrew compositions; no major Cave 4 manuscript of Nehemiah is established. Together with Esther (also unattested), this absence has prompted scholarly speculation: did the Qumran community reject these books, or is the absence simply an accident of preservation? Most scholars favor the second explanation, given the small overall sample size of post-exilic narrative books.

Notable Variants No DSS variants documented for Nehemiah; the book is essentially unattested at Qumran.

Esther is the only book of the Hebrew Bible **not attested at Qumran**. This absence has long been noted as remarkable and variously interpreted: (1) the Qumran community may have rejected Esther for theological/calendrical reasons (Purim is non-Mosaic; God is famously absent from the Hebrew text); (2) the small overall manuscript sample size makes accidental loss plausible; (3) some scholars (Talmon) propose Esther was simply not yet canonical at the time of the Qumran community. The absence stands in contrast to Esther's robust LXX tradition (with the major Greek Additions A-F) — see `/lxx-esther/` for the LXX-Esther evidence.

Notable Variants **ESTHER IS NOT ATTESTED AT QUMRAN** — the only book of the Hebrew Bible without DSS attestation. The absence is theologically and historically significant; see Talmon's classic article on the question. No DSS variants exist to document.

Job has notable Qumran attestation. **4QpaleoJobᶜ** (4Q101) is one of the few biblical books copied in paleo-Hebrew at Qumran (alongside 4QpaleoExodᵐ, 11QpaleoLevᵃ). The most theologically significant witness is **11QtgJob** (11Q10) — an extensive Aramaic Targum of Job, copied c. 50 CE, preserving roughly Job 17:14–42:11 in a continuous Aramaic translation. 11QtgJob is the oldest surviving Aramaic Targum of any biblical book and predates rabbinic targumic literature by centuries. Its translation tendencies are conservative — much more literal than the later rabbinic Targum of Job.

Notable Variants MAJOR DISCOVERY: **11QtgJob** (11Q10) is the oldest extant Aramaic Targum of any biblical book, copied c. 50 CE, preserving roughly Job 17–42 in continuous translation. The translation is much more conservative than rabbinic Targum tradition (lacking the heavy interpretive expansion characteristic of later Targumim). 11QtgJob predates and significantly informs the study of rabbinic targumic literature. The 4QpaleoJobᶜ paleo-Hebrew witness is also notable for its archaic script.

Proverbs is sparsely attested at Qumran in just two small Cave 4 manuscripts. Coverage is fragmentary; both witnesses agree with MT in the preserved passages. The major text-critical question — the substantial LXX-vs-MT differences in Proverbs (additions, reordering, theological rewriting) — is not directly resolved by the DSS evidence.

Notable Variants No significant content variants in the preserved fragments. The DSS does not illuminate the LXX's free Proverbs translation tradition.

Ecclesiastes (Qohelet) is preserved in two Cave 4 manuscripts. **4QQohᵃ** is dated paleographically to **c. 175–150 BCE** — making it one of the oldest copies of any biblical book at Qumran and a key data point in dating the composition of Qohelet itself. The DSS finding has decisively settled (against earlier Hellenistic-dating proposals) that Qohelet was composed by the early Hellenistic period at the latest, since the language of 4QQohᵃ is already classical/Late-Biblical Hebrew, not the Aramaic-influenced Hebrew of much later compositions.

Notable Variants MAJOR DATING DATUM: **4QQohᵃ** is paleographically dated to **c. 175–150 BCE**, one of the oldest biblical Qumran manuscripts. This sets a firm terminus ante quem for Qohelet's composition and excludes very-late Hellenistic dating proposals. No significant content variants in the preserved fragments.

Song of Songs is attested in four Qumran manuscripts. **4QCantᵃ** and **4QCantᵇ** preserve interesting partial texts — 4QCantᵃ may attest a slightly shorter form than the MT, and 4QCantᵇ shows similar tendencies. Some scholars (Tov) have argued these manuscripts preserve abbreviated devotional/liturgical extracts rather than the full book; others see them as evidence of a shorter literary edition. The presence of Song of Songs at Qumran also speaks to its acceptance in the community despite later rabbinic anxiety about its erotic content.

Notable Variants **4QCantᵃ and 4QCantᵇ may preserve a shorter form of Song of Songs.** Whether this represents an abbreviated devotional extract or a distinct shorter literary edition is debated.

Lamentations is preserved in four Qumran manuscripts spanning Caves 3, 4, and 5. **4QLam** (4Q111) is the most extensive, preserving substantial parts of Lamentations 1. Variants are generally minor (orthographic, a few small wording differences), but **5QLamᵃ** preserves a notable variant in Lam 4:7 with vocabulary differences. Lamentations was clearly used liturgically at Qumran — the community's commemoration of Jerusalem's destruction (relevant to their sectarian self-understanding) likely drove its preservation.

Notable Variants Minor variants only; the 5QLamᵃ readings show vocabulary alternations but no major theological departures.

Ezekiel is moderately attested at Qumran. **4QEzekᵃ** preserves portions of chapters 10–24; **11QEzek** preserves portions of chapters 1–5; **MasEzek** (a Masada find, post-Qumran) supplies further early evidence. Together the witnesses confirm the proto-Masoretic Ezekiel text-form was substantially fixed by the late Second Temple period. The major text-critical question — Ezekiel's relationship to a slightly shorter LXX edition — is not directly resolved by the DSS, which broadly agree with MT.

Notable Variants No major content variants. The DSS witnesses support MT against the slightly shorter LXX edition of Ezekiel. Daniel-style apocalyptic and merkavah-mystical traditions associated with Ezekiel chapters 1, 10, and 38–39 are well attested but textually stable.

Daniel is among the best-attested biblical books at Qumran with eight or more manuscripts spanning Caves 1, 4, and 6. The witnesses preserve material from across the book. Critically, the DSS **confirm the bilingual Hebrew/Aramaic structure** of Daniel: the language switches at the same points in the DSS as in MT (Hebrew through 2:4a, Aramaic 2:4b-7:28, Hebrew 8-12). This settles older debates about whether the bilingual structure was original or a later development. The DSS also confirm the text of Daniel 7's 'one like a son of man' and Daniel 9's 'seventy weeks' prophecies as essentially identical to MT.

Notable Variants The DSS witnesses **confirm the bilingual Hebrew/Aramaic structure** as original to Daniel — the language switches at the same points across all manuscripts. Otherwise, no major content variants. The 'son of man' and 'seventy weeks' passages track MT.

The Twelve Minor Prophets are well attested across Caves 4 and 5 plus the post-Qumran finds at Murabba'at (MurXII) and Nahal Hever (8HevXII gr). The headline witness is **8HevXII gr** — a Greek scroll of the Twelve from c. 50 BCE-50 CE preserving a **kaige recension** of the Old Greek (LXX) text. The kaige recension represents an early Hebrew-conforming revision of the LXX, predating Aquila and Theodotion, and is critical for understanding how the LXX text-form developed. **MurXII** preserves a strikingly proto-Masoretic Hebrew text, copied c. 100 CE — one of the earliest witnesses to a fully proto-MT consonantal text. The 4QXII manuscripts are fragmentary but cover most of the Twelve.

Notable Variants MAJOR FINDING: **8HevXII gr** preserves a kaige recension of the Old Greek Twelve — a critical witness to the early development of LXX revision toward the proto-MT Hebrew. The kaige recension predates Aquila and Theodotion and is foundational for understanding the textual history of the Greek Bible. **MurXII** confirms the proto-Masoretic Twelve text was substantially fixed by c. 100 CE.