Isaiah, Chapter 56 (Great Isaiah Scroll, 1QIsa-a)
Introduction
Isaiah 56 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. XLVI (46) 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)
1כיא כוה אמר יהוה שמורו משפט ו̣ע̣שו צדקה כיא קרובה ישועת̣י לבוא וצדקתי להגלות 2אשרי אנוש יעשה זואת ובן אדם יחזיק בה שומר שבת מחללה ושומר ידיו מעשות כול רע 3אל יואמר בן הנכר הנלוא אל יהוה לאמור הבדל יבדילני יהוה מעל עמו ואל יואמר הסריס הנה אנוכי עץ יבש 4כיא כוה אמר יהוה לסריסים אשר ישמורו את שבתות̣י ויבחורו באשר חפצתי ומחזיקים בבריתי 5ונתתי להמה בביתי ובחומותי יד ושמ טוב מבנים ומן בנות שם עולם אתן להמה אשר לוא יכרת 6ובני הנכר הנלויים אל יהוה להיות לו לעבדים ולברך את שמ יהוה ושומרים את השבת מחללה ומחזיקים בבריתי
1Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 2Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 3Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; 5Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 6Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
7והביאותים אל הר קודשי ושמחתים בבית תפלתי עולותיהםה וזבחיהמה יעלו לרצון על מזבחי כיא ביתי בית תפלה יקרה לכול העמים 8נואמ אדוני יהוה מקבץ נדחי ישראל עוד אקבץ עליו לנקבציו 9כול חיות שדה אתיו לאכול וכול חיות ביער 10צופיו עורים כולם לוא ידעו כולם כלבים אלמים לוא יוכלו לנבוח המה חוזים שוכבים אוהבים לנואם 11והכלבים עזי נפש לוא ידעו שבע̣ה והמה הרועים לוא ידעו הבין כולם לדרכם פנו איש לבצעו מקצהו 12אתיו ונקח יין ונסבה שכר ויהי כזה היום ומחר ⟨גדול⟩ יתר מו̣אד
7Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. 8The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him. 9All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. 10His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. 12Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.
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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