Isaiah 42 — Dead Sea Scrolls
25 verses • 9 variants • Columns XXXIV-XXXV of 1QIsaiah-a
Scroll Overview
Summary
Isaiah 42 contains the First Servant Song (vv. 1-4), one of four passages describing the enigmatic Servant of the LORD. The chapter has 25 verses spanning columns XXXIV-XXXV. The scroll is in good condition here. Variants in the Servant Song are of particular interest for their Christological and messianic implications.
Notable Variants
Verse 1: the scroll reads 'my chosen one' identically to the MT. Verse 4: a possible minor variant in the verb form. Verse 6: the scroll reads 'a covenant of the people' (berit am) identically. Verse 19: the scroll appears to read 'my servant' with a plene spelling. Verse 20: a moderate variant in the participle.
Scroll Condition
Well preserved. The First Servant Song section is fully legible.
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
Masoretic (WLC)
עַבְדִּי
my servant
Dead Sea Scroll
עבדי
my servant
The scroll reads 'my servant' (avdi) identically to the MT. This is significant in context — the First Servant Song's identification of the servant is consistent across the oldest and medieval manuscripts. No variant in 'whom I uphold' (etmakh-bo) or 'my chosen one' (bechiri).
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 27
He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIV, line 28
A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 1
He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Masoretic (WLC)
יָרוּץ
he will grow faint
Dead Sea Scroll
ירוץ
he will grow faint
Identical consonantal reading. The verb 'he will not grow dim or be crushed' describing the servant's perseverance reads the same in both texts.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 2
This is what the LORD says — He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 3
I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,
Masoretic (WLC)
בְּרִית עָם
a covenant of the people
Dead Sea Scroll
ברית עם
a covenant of the people
The theologically rich phrase 'I have given you as a covenant of the people, a light of the nations' (berit am, or la-goyim) is identical in both texts. The servant-as-covenant concept is preserved without variation.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 4
to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 5
I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 6
The former things — behold, they have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Masoretic (WLC)
חֲדָשׁוֹת
new things
Dead Sea Scroll
חדשות
new things
Identical consonantal text.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 7
Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 8
Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages where Kedar dwells; let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 9
Let them give glory to the LORD and declare His praise in the coastlands.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 10
The LORD goes forth like a mighty warrior; like a man of war He stirs up His zeal. He cries out, He shouts aloud; He shows Himself mighty against His foes.
Masoretic (WLC)
יָצִיא
bring forth
Dead Sea Scroll
יוציא
bring forth
1QIsaiah-a adds a vav mater lectionis — plene spelling. Same word.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 11
For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 12
I will lay waste mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into islands and dry up the pools.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 13
And I will lead the blind in a way they do not know, in paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.
Masoretic (WLC)
הוֹלַכְתִּי
I will lead
Dead Sea Scroll
הולכתי
I will lead
Identical consonantal text with minor orthographic difference.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 14
They are turned back and utterly put to shame, those who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, 'You are our gods.'
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 15
Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 16
Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD?
Masoretic (WLC)
הַחֵרֵשׁ
the deaf one
Dead Sea Scroll
החרש
the deaf one
The scroll's spelling is slightly different but refers to the same word. In context, the question 'Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send?' is a stinging rebuke that reads the same in both traditions.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 17
He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.
Masoretic (WLC)
רָאִיתָ
you have seen
Dead Sea Scroll
ראיתה
you have seen
1QIsaiah-a adds a he suffix, possibly reflecting a second-person feminine form or an archaic spelling convention. The meaning is unchanged: 'you have seen many things but do not observe.'
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 18
The LORD was pleased, for His righteousness' sake, to magnify His teaching and make it glorious.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 19
But this is a people plundered and looted; they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons. They have become plunder, with no one to rescue them, and spoil, with no one to say, 'Restore!'
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 20
Who among you will give ear to this, will pay attention and listen for the time to come?
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 21
Who gave Jacob over to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose teaching they would not obey?
Masoretic (WLC)
לְמְשֹׁוסָה
to plunder
Dead Sea Scroll
למשוסה
to plunder
Minor orthographic variant.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 22
So He poured out on him the heat of His anger and the fury of war; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXV, line 23