Isaiah 41 — Dead Sea Scrolls
29 verses • 9 variants • Columns XXXIII-XXXIV of 1QIsaiah-a
Scroll Overview
Summary
Isaiah 41 contains God's challenge to the nations and the assurance to Israel as His servant. The chapter has 29 verses preserved in columns XXXIII-XXXIV of 1QIsaiah-a. Variants are mostly orthographic with a few moderate readings.
Notable Variants
Verse 7: the scroll has a slightly different word order in describing the craftsman. Verse 14: the scroll reads 'men of Israel' (metei yisrael) where the MT has the unusual 'men of Israel' (metei — sometimes read as 'dead ones of' by some). Verse 27: a minor plus in the scroll.
Scroll Condition
Well preserved throughout. No significant damage or lacunae.
Keep silence before Me, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them come near, then let them speak; let us come together for judgment.
Masoretic (WLC)
הַחֲרִישׁוּ
keep silence
Dead Sea Scroll
החרישו
keep silence
Identical consonantal text.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIII, line 27
Who stirred up one from the east whom righteousness meets at every step? He gives up nations before him and makes him tread down kings; He makes them like dust before his sword, like driven stubble before his bow.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIII, line 28
He pursues them and passes on safely, by a path his feet have not traveled before.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIII, line 29
Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last — I am He.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 1
The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble. They draw near and come.
Masoretic (WLC)
יֶחֱזָקוּ
be strong
Dead Sea Scroll
יחזקו
be strong
Plene spelling in the scroll. Same word.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 2
Each one helps his neighbor and says to his brother, 'Be strong!'
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 3
The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, 'It is good.' And they fasten it with nails so that it will not totter.
Masoretic (WLC)
וַיְחַזְּקֵהוּ
and he fastened it
Dead Sea Scroll
ויחזקהו
and he strengthened it
The consonantal text is identical but 1QIsaiah-a's orthography suggests a slightly different vocalization. The description of the idol-maker fastening the image with nails is substantively the same in both texts.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 4
But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, offspring of Abraham my friend —
Masoretic (WLC)
יִשְׂרָאֵל
Israel
Dead Sea Scroll
ישראל
Israel
Identical.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 5
you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, 'You are my servant; I have chosen you and not cast you off' —
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 6
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 7
Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 8
You shall seek them, but you will not find them — those who contend with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 9
For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who helps you.'
Masoretic (WLC)
אֱלֹהֶיךָ
your God
Dead Sea Scroll
אלוהיכה
your God
1QIsaiah-a uses plene spelling with vav in 'elohekha' and a different suffix form. Same meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 10
Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you, declares the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Masoretic (WLC)
מְתֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
men of Israel
Dead Sea Scroll
מתי ישראל
men of Israel
The MT's metei is an unusual form that could theoretically be parsed as 'dead ones of Israel,' though all ancient translations understood it as 'men of.' 1QIsaiah-a's spelling confirms the reading 'men of Israel,' removing any ambiguity.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 11
Behold, I will make you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and double-edged; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 12
You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the storm shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 13
When the poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 14
I will open rivers on the bare heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 15
I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane tree, and the pine together,
Masoretic (WLC)
בָּעֲרָבָה
in the desert
Dead Sea Scroll
בערבה
in the desert
Identical consonantal text.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 16
that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 17
Set forth your case, says the LORD; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 18
Let them bring them forward and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them and know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 19
Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Do good or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified together.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 20
Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 21
I stirred up one from the north, and he has come, from the rising of the sun one who calls on my name. He shall trample rulers like mortar, as the potter treads clay.
Masoretic (WLC)
מִצָּפוֹן
from the north
Dead Sea Scroll
מצפון
from the north
Identical consonantal text.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 22
Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know, and beforehand, that we might say, 'He is right'? There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed it, none who heard your words.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 23
I was the first to say to Zion, 'Behold, here they are!' and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.
Masoretic (WLC)
רִאשׁוֹן לְצִיּוֹן
First to Zion: Behold, here they are!
Dead Sea Scroll
ראשון לציון הנה הנם
First to Zion — behold, behold them!
1QIsaiah-a appears to have a slightly expanded reading with a doubled hinneh ('behold, behold') where the MT has a single hinneh hinnam. The duplication may reflect emphasis in the scroll tradition or a scribal expansion for rhetorical effect.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 24
But when I look, there is no one; among these there is no counselor who, when I ask, gives an answer.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 25
Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 26