Isaiah, Chapter 23 (Great Isaiah Scroll, 1QIsa-a)
Introduction
Isaiah 23 from the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa), the complete copy of Isaiah found in Cave 1 at Qumran in 1947 and now in the Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Copied around 125 BCE, it is roughly a thousand years older than the Leningrad Codex, the oldest complete Masoretic manuscript. This chapter stands in col. XVIII (18) of the scroll's 54 columns.
- Scan: each section is shown with the actual column of the scroll that carries it, cropped from the Israel Museum / Google Art Project photograph of the whole scroll published on Wikimedia Commons (public domain). The column for every verse comes from the transcription itself, which records the column and line of each word.
- Hebrew: the scroll's own text, verbatim from the ETCBC dss Text-Fabric dataset (Jacobs, Naaijer and Roorda, from Martin G. Abegg Jr.'s transcription; CC BY-NC 4.0). This is not the Masoretic text: 1QIsaa uses a fuller spelling (for example לוא for לא, כיא for כי) and differs from the Masoretic text in a number of readings. No vowel points exist in the scroll and none are added. Marks: ⟨x⟩ letters the scribe added above the line, [x] modern reconstruction of text lost to damage, {{x}} letters cancelled by an ancient scribe, ⟪x⟫ an ancient correction, a dot under a letter (x̣) an uncertain reading, ···· four dots written in place of the divine name (Tetrapuncta).
- English: the King James Version (1611, public domain), verbatim from bible-api.com. The KJV translates the Masoretic text, so where the scroll reads differently the English will not match the Hebrew shown; the scroll's reading can be checked on the column image.
How was this verified? (Provenance)
1משא צר אילילו אניות תרשיש כי שודד מבית מבוא מארץ כתיים נגלה למו 2דמו י⟨ו⟩שבי אי סחר צידון עברו ים מלאכיך 3ובמים רבים זרע שחר קציר יאור תבואתה ותהי סחר גואים 4בושי צידן כי אמרה ים מעוז הים לאמור לוא חלתי ולוא ילדתי ולוא גדלתי בחורים רוממתי בתולות 5כאשר שמע ⟨ל⟩מצרים יחילו כשמע צר 6עוברי ת{{ל}}⟨ר⟩שישה הילילו יושבי אי
1The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. 2Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. 3And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. 4Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. 5As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. 6Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.
7הזואת לכמה העלוזה מימי קדם קדמותה ובליה רגליה מרחק לגור 8מי יעץ זואת על צר המעטרה אשר ⟨סוחריה⟩ שרים כנעניה נכבדי {{ה}}ארץ 9יהוה צבאות יעצה לחלל כול גאון צבי להקל כול נכבד̣י ארץ 10עבדי ארצך כיאור בת תרשיש אין מזח עוד 11ידו נטה על הים הרגיז ממלכות יהוה צוה אל כנען להשמיד מע̣וזיה 12ויואמר לוא תוסיפי עוד לעלוז מעשקה בתולת בת צידון כתיים קומי עברי גמ שמ לוא ינוח לך
7Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. 8Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? 9The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth. 10Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength. 11He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof. 12And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.
13הנה ארץ כשדיים זה העם לוא היה אשור יסדה לציין הקימוה בחיניה עוררו ארמנותיה שמה למ⟨פ⟩לה 14הילילו̣ אניות תרשיש כי שודד מעוזך 15והיה ביום הוא לצר כשירת הזונה 16קחי כנור סבי עיר זונה נשכחה היטיבי נגן הרבי שיר למען תזכרי 17והיה מקץ ש̣בעין שנה יפקוד יהוה את צר ושבה לאתננה וזנתה את ממלכות הארץ על פני האדםה 18והיה סחר̣ה ואתננה קודש ליהוה לוא יאצר ולוא יחסן כי ליושבים לפני יהוה יהיה סחרה לאכול ⟨ל⟩שבעה ולמכסה עתיק
13Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, til the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin. 14Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste. 15And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. 16Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. 17And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. 18And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
Cite
Source & Cross-References
- Source text: Great Isaiah Scroll 1QIsa-a: Israel Museum / Google Art Project photograph (Wikimedia Commons, PD) + ETCBC dss transcription (Abegg; CC BY-NC 4.0) + KJV (bible-api.com) — view original
- Critical edition: ETCBC Dead Sea Scrolls transcription (Abegg data, CC BY-NC 4.0)
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