Isaiah 61 — Dead Sea Scrolls
11 verses • 9 variants • 1QIsaᵃ column XLVIII
Scroll Overview
Summary
Isaiah 61 contains 11 verses in column XLVIII of 1QIsaiah-a. This is among the most theologically significant chapters in Isaiah — Jesus reads from vv. 1-2 in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:18-19) and declares 'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.' The chapter announces the anointed herald's mission to the afflicted, captives, and mourners, then transitions to promises of restoration. The scroll's text is remarkably stable here, with only minor orthographic variants in most verses.
Notable Variants
Verses 1-2 — the passage Jesus quotes — show only minor orthographic differences from MT. The scroll confirms the MT reading in every substantive detail, including the critical phrase 'the Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me.' Verse 1 contains a notable spelling variant in 'anointed me' (meshachani). Verse 10 has a moderate variant in the garments of salvation imagery.
Scroll Condition
Column XLVIII is well preserved. The text is fully legible with no significant lacunae affecting this chapter.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the eyes to those who are bound,
Masoretic (WLC)
רוּחַ אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה עָלָי יַעַן מָשַׁח יְהוָה אֹתִי
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me
Dead Sea Scroll
רוח אדוני יהוה עלי יען משח יהוה אותי
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me
The scroll preserves this theologically crucial text identically in all substantive respects. The consonantal text matches MT. The scroll spells 'anointed' (mashach) and 'me' (oti) with characteristic Qumran orthography but the words are the same.
This is the passage Jesus reads in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4:18-19). The scroll — written approximately 125 years before Jesus — confirms that the Hebrew text He would have read contained the same words: 'The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted.' The LXX renders 'afflicted' (anavim) as 'poor' (ptochois), which is the form Luke quotes.
The scroll's confirmation of this reading is significant because it establishes that the pre-Christian Hebrew text was stable here — there is no evidence of later Christian interpolation or Masoretic alteration.
1QIsaᵃ col. XLVIII, line 1
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,
Masoretic (WLC)
לִקְרֹא שְׁנַת־רָצוֹן לַיהוָה וְיוֹם נָקָם לֵאלֹהֵינוּ
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God
Dead Sea Scroll
לקרוא שנת רצון ליהוה ויום נקם לאלוהינו
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God
The scroll spells liqro ('to proclaim') with plene waw as liqro'. The substantive reading is identical. This verse is critically important because Jesus stops reading mid-verse in Luke 4:19 — He reads 'the year of the LORD's favor' and stops before 'the day of vengeance of our God,' rolling up the scroll. The implication is that His first coming fulfills the favor but not yet the vengeance.
The scroll confirms that both halves of the verse were present in the pre-Christian text. Jesus' deliberate stopping point was a choice, not a textual variant.
1QIsaᵃ col. XLVIII, line 2
to grant to those who mourn in Zion — to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness. They shall be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Masoretic (WLC)
פְּאֵר תַּחַת אֵפֶר
a garland instead of ashes
Dead Sea Scroll
פאר תחת אפר
a garland instead of ashes
The scroll preserves the beautiful wordplay between pe'er ('garland/beauty') and efer ('ashes') — a near-homophone reversal that works only in Hebrew. No substantive variant. The mourners of Zion receive beauty for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, a mantle of praise for a faint spirit.
1QIsaᵃ col. XLVIII, line 3
They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former desolations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
Masoretic (WLC)
חָרְבוֹת עוֹלָם
the ancient ruins
Dead Sea Scroll
חורבות עולם
the ancient ruins
The scroll uses plene spelling for chorvot ('ruins') with waw. The promise that they shall rebuild the ancient ruins, raise up the former desolations, and repair the ruined cities is identical in meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XLVIII, line 5
Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
No significant variant. The promise that foreigners shall tend Israel's flocks and aliens shall be their plowmen and vinedressers is identical in both texts.
1QIsaᵃ col. XLVIII, line 6
But you shall be called priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as ministers of our God. You shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast.
Masoretic (WLC)
כֹּהֲנֵי יְהוָה
priests of the LORD
Dead Sea Scroll
כוהני יהוה
priests of the LORD
The scroll uses plene spelling for kohanei ('priests of') with waw. The promise that Israel shall be called 'priests of the LORD' and 'ministers of our God' is identical. This priestly identity for the entire nation echoes Exodus 19:6 and is picked up in 1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 1:6.
1QIsaᵃ col. XLVIII, line 7
Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot. Therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs.
Masoretic (WLC)
תַּחַת בָּשְׁתְּכֶם מִשְׁנֶה
instead of your shame, a double portion
Dead Sea Scroll
תחת בשתכם משנה
instead of your shame, a double portion
The scroll preserves the same reading. This verse has a complex textual history — the shift between second and third person is present in both MT and the scroll, suggesting it is original rather than a scribal error. The promise of double recompense for shame is identical.
1QIsaᵃ col. XLVIII, line 8
For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Masoretic (WLC)
כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה אֹהֵב מִשְׁפָּט
for I the LORD love justice
Dead Sea Scroll
כיא אני יהוה אוהב משפט
for I the LORD love justice
The scroll spells ki as kia and uses plene spelling for ohev ('loving'). The divine self-declaration 'I the LORD love justice, I hate robbery and wrong' is identical in meaning.
1QIsaᵃ col. XLVIII, line 9
Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants among the peoples. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are offspring the LORD has blessed.
No significant variant. The promise that Israel's offspring shall be known among the nations is identical in both texts.
1QIsaᵃ col. XLVIII, line 10
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with garments of salvation; He has wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns himself like a priest with a turban, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Masoretic (WLC)
בִּגְדֵי יֶשַׁע
garments of salvation
Dead Sea Scroll
בגדי ישע
garments of salvation
The scroll preserves the same reading. The exuberant declaration 'I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with garments of salvation' is identical. This verse's bridal imagery — 'as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels' — is echoed in Revelation 19:7-8 and 21:2.
The scroll's orthography shows plene spelling for yesha ('salvation') but no substantive difference.
1QIsaᵃ col. XLVIII, line 11
For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
Masoretic (WLC)
כְּגַנָּה זֵרוּעֶיהָ תַצְמִיחַ
as a garden causes its seeds to spring up
Dead Sea Scroll
כגנה זרועיה תצמיח
as a garden causes its seeds to spring up
No meaningful variant. The closing agricultural metaphor — as the earth brings forth its shoots and a garden causes seeds to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all nations — is identical in both texts.
1QIsaᵃ col. XLVIII, line 13