Isaiah 26 — Dead Sea Scrolls
21 verses • 5 variants • Columns XXI–XXII of 1QIsaiah-a
Scroll Overview
Summary
Chapter 26 is a song of trust and hope that climaxes in the resurrection passage (v. 19) — one of the clearest statements of bodily resurrection in the Hebrew Bible. The 21 verses contain mostly orthographic variants with the resurrection verse being theologically critical.
Notable Variants
Verse 3 ('perfect peace') has a minor variant. Verse 19 — 'Your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise' — is the theological high point, preserved with a notable variant in 1QIsaiah-a that may strengthen the resurrection affirmation.
Scroll Condition
Well preserved; fully legible.
On that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city — He sets salvation as walls and ramparts."
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 4
Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, the one that keeps faith.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 5
The steadfast mind You keep in perfect peace — perfect peace — for it trusts in You.
Masoretic (WLC)
שָׁלוֹם שָׁלוֹם
peace, peace
Dead Sea Scroll
שלום שלום
peace, peace
Both texts preserve the doubled shalom shalom — 'perfect peace' or 'peace, peace' for the one whose mind is stayed on God. The doubling is emphatic. 1QIsaiah-a confirms this is not a scribal duplication error but an intentional literary feature.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 6
Trust in the LORD forever, for in the LORD GOD is the everlasting Rock.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 7
For He has brought low the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground — to the dust.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 8
The foot tramples it — the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 9
The path of the righteous is level; O Upright One, You make smooth the way of the righteous.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 10
Yes, in the path of Your judgments, O LORD, we wait for You; for Your name and Your renown is the desire of our soul.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 11
My soul yearns for You in the night; my spirit within me seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
Masoretic (WLC)
אֲדֹנָי
Lord
Dead Sea Scroll
אדוני
Lord
1QIsaiah-a writes אדוני with a plene vav. This is a spelling variant only — it does not affect the reading as Adonai. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 12
Though grace is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in a land of uprightness he acts perversely and does not see the majesty of the LORD.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 13
O LORD, Your hand is raised high, but they do not see. Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be ashamed! Let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them!
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 14
O LORD, You will ordain peace for us, for indeed all that we have accomplished You have done for us.
Masoretic (WLC)
הוֹסַפְתָּ
you have added
Dead Sea Scroll
הוספתה
you have added
1QIsaiah-a adds a final he to the verb form. This is a common Qumran morphological variant for second-person perfect verbs — the he serves as a mater lectionis for the final vowel. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 15
O LORD our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but by You alone we invoke Your name.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 16
The dead do not live, the shades do not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them and wiped out all memory of them.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 17
You have enlarged the nation, O LORD, You have enlarged the nation — You are glorified! You have extended all the borders of the land.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXI, line 18
O LORD, in distress they sought You; they poured out a whispered prayer when Your discipline was upon them.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXII, line 1
As a pregnant woman draws near to giving birth, writhing, crying out in her labor pains — so were we before You, O LORD.
Masoretic (WLC)
חֲבָלִים
labor pains
Dead Sea Scroll
חבלים
labor pains
Identical consonantal text. The birth-pangs metaphor for anguish before deliverance is preserved identically. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXII, line 2
We were pregnant, we writhed — but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXII, line 3
Your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is a dew of lights, and the earth will give birth to the shades.
Masoretic (WLC)
יִחְיוּ מֵתֶיךָ
Your dead shall live
Dead Sea Scroll
יחיו מתיכה
Your dead shall live
The resurrection verse. The MT reads יִחְיוּ מֵתֶיךָ ('your dead shall live'). 1QIsaiah-a reads יחיו מתיכה with a fuller spelling of the suffix. Both texts agree on the core affirmation: the dead belonging to God will be revived. The continuation — נְבֵלָתִי יְקוּמוּן (MT) / נבלתי יקומון (1QIsaiah-a) — shows a notable difference: the MT reads 'my body/corpse — they shall rise,' while 1QIsaiah-a reads the same with a fuller verbal ending (-on instead of -un). The suffix 'my' (nebelati, 'my body') is first-person, which could mean Isaiah identifies personally with the resurrection hope: 'My dead body — they shall arise!' The DSS confirm this passage as a pre-Christian affirmation of bodily resurrection, predating Daniel 12:2 in its current textual form by only a few decades.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXII, line 4
Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves for a brief moment until the indignation passes.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXII, line 5
For behold, the LORD comes forth from His place to punish the iniquity of the earth's inhabitants. The earth will disclose its blood and will no longer cover its slain.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXII, line 6