Isaiah 6 — Dead Sea Scrolls
13 verses • 9 variants • Columns V–VI of 1QIsaiah-a contain Isaiah chapter 6.
Scroll Overview
Summary
Isaiah 6, the throne-room vision and prophetic commissioning, is one of the most theologically important chapters in the book. 1QIsaiah-a preserves this chapter in good condition with mostly minor variants. The trisagion ('Holy, holy, holy') in verse 3 reads identically in both traditions.
Notable Variants
The trisagion (v. 3) is identical. Verse 3 shows 1QIsaiah-a writing the divine name YHWH in paleo-Hebrew script (the archaic Hebrew alphabet), which is a characteristic feature of 1QIsaiah-a throughout — the scribe switches to the old script for the Tetragrammaton. Verse 13 has a notable variant where 1QIsaiah-a appears to have a slightly different reading of the 'holy seed' passage.
Scroll Condition
Good condition. Fully legible. The divine name appears in paleo-Hebrew characters.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the hem of his robe filled the temple.
Masoretic (WLC)
עֻזִּיָּהוּ
Uzziah
Dead Sea Scroll
עוזיהו
Uzziah
Plene spelling with waw. The throne vision opens identically: 'In the year that King Uzziah died.'
1QIsaᵃ col. V, line 20
Seraphim stood above him, each with six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.
Masoretic (WLC)
שְׂרָפִים
seraphim
Dead Sea Scroll
שרפים
seraphim
Identical consonantal text. The six-winged seraphim standing above the throne are described identically.
1QIsaᵃ col. V, line 21
And they called to one another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory!"
Masoretic (WLC)
קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts
Dead Sea Scroll
קדוש קדוש קדוש יהוה צבאות
Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts
The trisagion — the threefold 'Holy' — reads identically in 1QIsaiah-a and the MT. This is significant because it confirms the antiquity and stability of this liturgical formula, which became central to both Jewish and Christian worship.
1QIsaiah-a writes the divine name YHWH in paleo-Hebrew (archaic) script here, as it does throughout the scroll. This practice reflects the special reverence accorded to the divine name in the Second Temple period — the scribe switches from the standard Aramaic square script to the old Hebrew script specifically for the Tetragrammaton.
The phrase 'the whole earth is full of his glory' (melo kol ha'arets kevodo) is identical in both traditions.
1QIsaᵃ col. V, line 22
The foundations of the thresholds shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple filled with smoke.
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. VI, line 1
Then I said, "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips -- and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts!"
Masoretic (WLC)
נִדְמֵיתִי
I am undone
Dead Sea Scroll
נדמיתי
I am undone
Identical consonantal text. Isaiah's response of terror — 'Woe to me, I am undone/silenced!' — reads the same. The verb nidmeti can mean 'destroyed,' 'silenced,' or 'cut off.'
1QIsaᵃ col. VI, line 2
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding a burning coal in his hand that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
Masoretic (WLC)
רִצְפָּה
a burning coal
Dead Sea Scroll
רצפה
a burning coal
Identical consonantal text. The seraph takes a ritspah ('burning coal, glowing stone') from the altar with tongs. Both traditions agree on this purification instrument.
1QIsaᵃ col. VI, line 3
He touched it to my mouth and said, "Look -- this has touched your lips. Your guilt is removed, and your sin is atoned for."
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. VI, line 4
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here I am. Send me."
Masoretic (WLC)
אֶת־מִי אֶשְׁלַח וּמִי יֵלֶךְ־לָנוּ
Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?
Dead Sea Scroll
את מי אשלח ומי ילך לנו
Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?
The consonantal text is identical. The divine plural 'for us' (lanu) — one of the most discussed phrases in Isaiah — reads the same in both traditions. Whether this reflects a divine council, a trinitarian hint, or a plural of majesty, 1QIsaiah-a provides no variant to resolve the question.
1QIsaᵃ col. VI, line 5
He said, "Go and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand. Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'
Masoretic (WLC)
שִׁמְעוּ שָׁמוֹעַ וְאַל־תָּבִינוּ
Hear indeed, but do not understand
Dead Sea Scroll
שמעו שמוע ואל תבינו
Hear indeed, but do not understand
The hardening commission reads identically. This passage, quoted by Jesus in all four Gospels (Matthew 13:14-15, Mark 4:12, Luke 8:10, John 12:40) and by Paul in Acts 28:26-27, is textually stable across traditions.
1QIsaᵃ col. VI, line 6
Make the heart of this people dull, make their ears heavy, and seal shut their eyes -- lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."
Masoretic (WLC)
הַשְׁמֵן לֵב־הָעָם הַזֶּה
Make the heart of this people dull
Dead Sea Scroll
השמן לב העם הזה
Make the heart of this people dull
Identical reading. The command to 'fatten' (hashmen) the people's heart — to render them spiritually insensible — reads the same. The three-part structure (heart/ears/eyes) is preserved.
1QIsaᵃ col. VI, line 7
Then I said, "How long, Lord?" And he answered: "Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, and houses stand empty of people, and the land is utterly desolate,
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. VI, line 8
and the LORD has sent the people far away, and the forsaken places are many throughout the land."
No significant variant. The scroll reads identically to the MT here.
1QIsaᵃ col. VI, line 9
And though a tenth remains in it, it too will be burned again. But as a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled -- the holy seed is its stump.
Masoretic (WLC)
מַצֶּבֶת בָּם זֶרַע קֹדֶשׁ מַצַּבְתָּהּ
the holy seed is its stump
Dead Sea Scroll
מצבת בם זרע קודש מצבתה
the holy seed is its stump
The closing verse of the chapter contains the crucial 'holy seed' (zera qodesh) promise — the stump that remains after devastation will contain the seed of future renewal. 1QIsaiah-a uses plene spelling for qodesh (with waw) but otherwise agrees with the MT.
This verse is textually complex in both traditions. The MT's final clause (zera qodesh matsavtah, 'the holy seed is its stump/pillar') is identical in meaning in 1QIsaiah-a, preserving the note of hope at the end of the devastating commission.
1QIsaᵃ col. VI, line 10