Isaiah 47 — Dead Sea Scrolls
15 verses • 5 variants • Columns XXXVIII-XXXIX of 1QIsaiah-a
Scroll Overview
Summary
Isaiah 47 is a taunt song against Babylon — 'Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon.' The chapter has 15 verses spanning columns XXXVIII-XXXIX. The scroll shows mostly orthographic variants with one moderate reading.
Notable Variants
Verse 5: the scroll has a minor variant in 'mistress of kingdoms.' Verse 10: a moderate variant in the pronoun suffix. The dramatic poetry of Babylon's fall is otherwise identical in both traditions.
Scroll Condition
Well preserved throughout.
Come down and sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground without a throne, Daughter of the Chaldeans! For you will no longer be called tender and delicate.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 7
Take the millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, strip off your skirt, bare your legs, wade through rivers.
Masoretic (WLC)
עֲדִינָה
delicate one
Dead Sea Scroll
עדינה
delicate one
Identical consonantal text.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 8
Your nakedness will be exposed, your shame will be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 9
Our Redeemer — the LORD of Hosts is His name — the Holy One of Israel.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 10
Sit in silence and go into darkness, Daughter of the Chaldeans, for you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.
Masoretic (WLC)
גְּבֶרֶת מַמְלָכוֹת
mistress of kingdoms
Dead Sea Scroll
גברת ממלכות
mistress of kingdoms
Identical consonantal reading. 1QIsaiah-a preserves the title 'mistress of kingdoms' for Babylon without variant. The dramatic irony — Babylon was called mistress but will be brought to nothing — is the same in both texts.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 11
I was angry with my people; I profaned my inheritance and gave them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; on the elderly you made your yoke very heavy.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 12
You said, 'I will be mistress forever' — you did not take these things to heart or consider how it would end.
Masoretic (WLC)
עַד
forever
Dead Sea Scroll
עד
forever
Identical.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 13
Now hear this, you lover of pleasure, who sits securely, who says in her heart, 'I am, and there is no one besides me. I will never sit as a widow or know the loss of children.'
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 14
Both of these will come upon you in a moment, in a single day: bereavement and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, despite your many sorceries and the great power of your spells.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 15
You trusted in your wickedness; you said, 'No one sees me.' Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one besides me.'
Masoretic (WLC)
חָכְמָתֵךְ
your wisdom
Dead Sea Scroll
חוכמתכי
your wisdom
1QIsaiah-a uses plene spelling with vav and a different suffix form (-ki instead of -ekh). This is a characteristic Qumran morphological feature for the second-person feminine singular. No change in meaning: 'Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray.'
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 16
But disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to charm it away. Calamity will fall on you, and you will not be able to atone for it. Devastation will come upon you suddenly, before you know it.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 17
Stand now with your spells and your many sorceries, at which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps you can succeed; perhaps you can inspire terror.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 18
You are wearied by your many counselors. Let them stand up now and save you — those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at each new moon predict what will come upon you.
Masoretic (WLC)
חֹבְרֵי
charmers of
Dead Sea Scroll
חוברי
charmers of
Plene spelling. Same word — reference to Babylon's astrologers and sorcerers.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 19
Look — they are like stubble; fire burns them up. They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame. This is no coal for warming, no fire to sit before.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 20
Such are those you have labored with — your traders from your youth. Each wanders off in his own direction; there is no one to save you.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. XXXIX, line 21