Isaiah 34 — Dead Sea Scrolls
17 verses • 6 variants • Columns XXVII–XXVIII of 1QIsaiah-a
Scroll Overview
Summary
Chapter 34 is a fierce judgment oracle against the nations, focusing on Edom. It pairs with chapter 35 (restoration). The 17 verses contain mostly orthographic variants in the vivid sacrificial and desolation imagery.
Notable Variants
Verse 4 has the cosmic dissolution passage — heavens rolled up like a scroll. Verse 14 has the famous reference to Lilith. Verse 16 has the 'book of the LORD' reference.
Scroll Condition
Well preserved; fully legible.
Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it, the world and all that comes from it.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVII, line 20
For the wrath of the LORD is against all the nations, and his fury against all their armies. He has devoted them to destruction; he has given them over to slaughter.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVII, line 21
Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall melt with their blood.
Masoretic (WLC)
חַלְלֵיהֶם
their slain
Dead Sea Scroll
חלליהם
their slain
Identical consonantal text. The mountains flowing with blood from the slain — apocalyptic battle imagery. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVII, line 22
All the host of heaven shall dissolve, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall wither and fall like a leaf falling from the vine, like a withered fig from the fig tree.
Masoretic (WLC)
וְנָגֹלּוּ כַסֵּפֶר הַשָּׁמַיִם
and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll
Dead Sea Scroll
ונגולו כספר השמים
and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll
1QIsaiah-a reads ונגולו with plene spelling but the same meaning. The image of heavens dissolving and rolling up like a scroll is one of the most dramatic in prophetic literature. It is echoed in Revelation 6:14: 'The sky receded like a scroll rolling up.' The DSS confirm this cosmic dissolution imagery was present in the pre-Christian text.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVII, line 23
For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction, for judgment.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVII, line 24
The sword of the LORD is gorged with blood, dripping with fat — the blood of lambs and goats, the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVII, line 25
Wild oxen shall fall with them, and young bulls with the mighty; their land shall be soaked with blood, and their soil made rich with fat.
Masoretic (WLC)
רְאֵמִים
wild oxen
Dead Sea Scroll
ראמים
wild oxen
Identical consonantal text. The sacrificial imagery — wild oxen going down with the bulls — describes Edom's nobles as victims of divine sacrifice. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVIII, line 1
For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVIII, line 2
Her streams shall be turned to pitch, her soil to sulfur, and her land shall become burning pitch.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVIII, line 3
Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall rise forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; no one shall pass through it forever and ever.
Masoretic (WLC)
קַו־תֹהוּ
line of chaos
Dead Sea Scroll
קו תוהו
line of chaos
1QIsaiah-a writes תוהו with plene spelling. The 'line of chaos and stones of emptiness' (qav tohu ve-avnei vohu) deliberately echoes Genesis 1:2's tohu va-vohu — Edom is being un-created, returned to primordial chaos. No impact on meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVIII, line 4
But the hawk and the hedgehog shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. He shall stretch over it the measuring line of chaos and the plumb stones of emptiness.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVIII, line 5
Its nobles — there is no kingdom for them to proclaim, and all its princes shall come to nothing.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVIII, line 6
Thorns shall overrun her palaces, nettles and thistles her fortresses. She shall become a haunt of jackals, a dwelling for ostriches.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVIII, line 7
Desert creatures shall meet with hyenas, and the wild goat shall call to its companion. There indeed the night creature shall settle and find for herself a resting place.
Masoretic (WLC)
לִּילִית
Lilith/night creature
Dead Sea Scroll
לילית
Lilith/night creature
Both texts read לילית (Lilith). This is the only occurrence of this word in the Hebrew Bible. In Mesopotamian mythology, Lilitu was a night-demon. In later Jewish tradition, Lilith became Adam's first wife. The DSS confirm the word as לילית — not a corruption or alternative. Whether the original referent was a mythological figure, a screech owl, or a night-demon remains debated, but both traditions preserve the same word in the same desolation context.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVIII, line 8
There the arrow snake shall nest and lay eggs, hatch them and gather her young in her shadow. There indeed the vultures shall be gathered, each one with her mate.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVIII, line 9
Search the book of the LORD and read: not one of these shall be missing, none shall lack her companion. For his mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them.
Masoretic (WLC)
מִסֵּפֶר יְהוָה
from the book of the LORD
Dead Sea Scroll
מספר יהוה
from the book of the LORD
1QIsaiah-a reads מספר יהוה identically. The command to 'search from the book of the LORD and read' is a remarkable self-referential moment — the prophet appeals to a written divine record. This may be the earliest reference to a 'book of the LORD' as a textual authority. Both traditions preserve this literary self-consciousness.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVIII, line 10
He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them by the measuring line. They shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXVIII, line 11