Isaiah, Chapter 54 (Great Isaiah Scroll, 1QIsa-a)
Introduction
Isaiah 54 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. XLIV (44), col. XLV (45) 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)
1רוני עקרה ולוא ילדה פצחי רונה וצהלי ולוא חלה כיא רבים בני שוממה מבני בעולה אמר יהוה 2ארחיבי מקום אהלכי ויריעות משכנותיך יטי ואל תחשוכי הא{{י}}ריכי מיתריך ויתדותיך חזקי 3כיא ימין ושמואל תפרו̣צי וזרעך גואים יירשו וערים נשמות יושיבו 4אל תיראי כיא לוא תבושי ⟨ו⟩אל תכלמי כיא לוא תחפו̣רי כיא בושת עלומיך תשכחי וחרפת אלמנותיך לוא תזכורי עוד 5כיא בעלכי עוש⟨י⟩ך יהוה צבאות שמו וגואלכי קדוש ישראל אלוהי כול הארץ יקרה 6כיא כאשה עזובה ועצובת רוח קראך יהוה ואשת נעורים כיא תמאס אמר יהוה אלוהיך 7ברוגע קטן עזבתיך וברחמים גדולים אקבצך 8בשצף קצף הסתרתי פני רוגע ממך ובחסדי עולם רחמתיך אמר ג⟨ו⟩אלכי יהוה 9כי̣מ נ̣וח זואת לי אשר נשבעתי מעבור מי נוח עוד על הארץ כן נשבעתי מקצוף עליך עוד ומגעור בך
1Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. 2Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; 3For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. 5For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. 6For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. 7For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. 9For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10כיא ההרים ימושו ו⟨ה⟩גבעות תתמוטינה וחסדי מאתך לוא ימוש וברית שלומי לוא ת̣מוט אמר מרחמכי יהוה 11ענייה סחורה לוא נחמה הנה אנוכי מרביץ בפוך אבניך ויסודו⟨תיך⟩ בספירים 12ושמתי כדכוד שמשותיך ושעריך לאבני א⟨ו⟩קדח וכול גבוליך לאבני חפץ 13וכול בניך למודי יהוה ורב שלום ב⟨ו⟩ניכי 14בצדקה תתכונני רחקי מעושק כיא לוא תיראי וממחתה כיא לוא תקרב אליך 15הנה גור יגור אכס מאתי מי יגר אתך עליך יפולו 16הנה אנוכי בר⟨א⟩תי חרש נופח באש פחם ⟨ו⟩מוציא כלי למעשו̣הי אנוכי בראתי משחית לחבל 17כול כלי יוצר עליך לוא יצלח זואת נחלת עבדי יהוה וצדקתם מאתי נואמ יהוה
10For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee. 11O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. 12And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. 13And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children. 14In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. 15Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. 16Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 17No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
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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