Isaiah 24 — Dead Sea Scrolls
23 verses • 8 variants • Columns XIX–XX of 1QIsaiah-a
Scroll Overview
Summary
Chapter 24 opens the 'Isaiah Apocalypse' (chs. 24–27), shifting from specific national oracles to cosmic judgment. The 23 verses contain a mix of orthographic and moderate variants. The universal scope — 'The LORD will lay waste the earth' — marks a dramatic escalation.
Notable Variants
Verse 16 has a notable variant in the enigmatic phrase 'my leanness, my leanness.' Verse 23 has the eschatological enthronement passage describing the LORD reigning on Mount Zion, preserved identically in both traditions.
Scroll Condition
Well preserved; fully legible. This section of the scroll is in good condition.
Look — the LORD is about to empty the earth and lay it waste. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 7
It will be the same for the people as for the priest, for the servant as for his master, for the maid as for her mistress, for the buyer as for the seller, for the lender as for the borrower, for the creditor as for the debtor.
Masoretic (WLC)
כָּעָם
as the people
Dead Sea Scroll
כעם
as the people
Identical consonantal text. The leveling of all social distinctions — priest as people, master as servant, lender as borrower — is preserved identically. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 8
The earth will be utterly emptied, utterly plundered — for the LORD has spoken this word.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 9
The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers. The exalted of the earth's people languish.
Masoretic (WLC)
קִרְיַת
city of
Dead Sea Scroll
קרית
city of
1QIsaiah-a writes קרית with a slight spelling difference. The 'city of confusion/chaos' (qiryat-tohu) — using the same word tohu from Genesis 1:2 — is preserved in both traditions. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 10
The earth is polluted beneath its inhabitants, for they have transgressed instructions, violated the decree, broken the everlasting covenant.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 11
Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants bear their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few people remain.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 12
The new wine mourns, the vine languishes; all who were glad at heart now sigh.
Masoretic (WLC)
בְּתוֹךְ
in the midst of
Dead Sea Scroll
בתוך
in the midst of
Identical consonantal text. The olive-gleaning metaphor for the remnant is preserved identically. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 13
The joyful tambourines have ceased, the noise of the revelers has stopped, the joyful lyre has ceased.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 14
No longer do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 15
The city of chaos is broken; every house is shut, none may enter.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 16
There is an outcry in the streets over the wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished.
Masoretic (WLC)
פַּחַד
dread
Dead Sea Scroll
פחד
dread
Identical consonantal text. The triple threat — pachad (dread), pachat (pit), pach (snare) — a famous alliterative series — is preserved identically. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 17
Desolation remains in the city; the gate is battered to ruins.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 18
For so it will be in the midst of the earth, among the peoples: like the beating of an olive tree, like the gleaning when the grape harvest is over.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 19
They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they cry out for the majesty of the LORD.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 20
Therefore in the east glorify the LORD; in the coastlands of the sea, glorify the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
Masoretic (WLC)
מָרוֹם
on high
Dead Sea Scroll
מרום
on high
Identical consonantal text. The LORD punishing the host of heaven 'on high' and kings of the earth 'on the ground' — cosmic and political judgment together. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 21
From the ends of the earth we hear songs: "Glory to the Righteous One!" But I say, "I waste away! I waste away! Woe to me! The treacherous betray! The treacherous utterly betray!"
Masoretic (WLC)
רָזִי־לִי רָזִי־לִי
my leanness, my leanness
Dead Sea Scroll
רזי לי רזי לי
my leanness, my leanness
Both texts preserve the enigmatic cry רזי לי רזי לי (razi li, razi li — 'my leanness, my leanness' or 'my secret, my secret' or 'woe to me, woe to me'). The meaning is debated: is the speaker wasting away in grief, or guarding a prophetic secret? 1QIsaiah-a confirms the doubled form and the same consonantal text, ruling out scribal corruption as the source of the difficulty. The ambiguity appears to be original.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 22
Terror, pit, and trap await you, O inhabitant of the earth!
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XIX, line 23
Whoever flees from the sound of terror will fall into the pit; whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
Masoretic (WLC)
עוֹלָם
everlasting
Dead Sea Scroll
עולם
everlasting
Identical consonantal text. The 'everlasting covenant' (berit olam) that the earth's inhabitants have transgressed is a key theological concept. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XX, line 1
The earth is utterly shattered; the earth is split apart; the earth is violently shaken.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XX, line 2
The earth staggers like a drunkard, sways like a hut in the wind. Its transgression weighs heavy upon it; it falls and will not rise again.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XX, line 3
On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven in the heights and the kings of the earth on the earth.
Masoretic (WLC)
תִּירוֹשׁ
new wine
Dead Sea Scroll
תירוש
new wine
Identical consonantal text. The mourning of the new wine and the languishing vine is described identically. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XX, line 4
They will be gathered together like prisoners in a dungeon, shut up in a prison; and after many days they will be visited.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XX, line 5
The moon will be humiliated and the sun ashamed, for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders — glory.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XX, line 6