Column XV

The Great Isaiah Scroll 18:7 to 19:23

For the line by line translation of this page click here
Physical Characteristics: This is the fourth and last page in the fourth strip of leather that makes up the seventeen sections of the scroll. The seam is in fairly good condition, although there is some sign of repair to the seam, especially at the final centimeter at the bottom. The most obvious flaw in the page is a hole due to shrinkage of the surrounding leather at the lower right. There are only 2 letters lost (on line 24) and even though there are a few letters obscured in lines 21, 22 and 23 none of the letters are lost. They are blurred but recoverable. In line 24 at the right of the hole the letters waw and aleph are missing from the 2ms pronoun "ha -hu' ". The verse numbering inserted between the lines begins on this page. The numbers have been inserted by me. I hope that they are not distracting. They have been very helpful to me as I return to the page and find the verse number expedites finding the text I am looking for. I apologize to purists.

 Paragraph mark: There is only one paragraph mark on this page in line 3. It marks the end of the 7th and last verse of chapter 18. Chapter 19 begins on line 4.

Variations in Q text from M:
Line 1: 6th word: preposition mayim (from) is in Q not in M. and in the last word in Q the preposition is written as an attached mayim in Q and is "min" a separate word in M.
Line 5: The addition of qof to the 5th word "be-qeravo" (last word in verse 1) makes Q read the same as M. The next word (1st word in verse 2) with editor's addition of kaph also makes Q read as M.
Line 11: 2nd word editor inserted a waw to correct Q spelling of "ye'or." 3rd and 4th words from last in Q is "ve-'ayn bo" (and is not in him) and is M is "ve-'aynennu" (and he is not). Last word in this line in Q is "ha-dagiym" and in M is "ha-dayyagiym."
Line 13: 2nd word has what at first appears to be a waw edited over it But looking again seeing the crossed out letter in the "iym" pl. ending gives a better solution. The double yod is always a sign of nation. Like Kasdiyym for Chaldeans. Thus the Q scribe was about to write Phileshtiyym for Philistines instead of pishtiym for flax. He noted his mistake and corrected it but left the remnant of a lamed and the double yod although he tried to cross out the final yod as a mistake. Human error.
Line 14: Final "he" added in Q to (wisdoms of or wisemen of) "chokmey" not in M.
Line 15: 6th word from last Q leaves out the kaph in the word (wisemen) "chokmiym" (Q reads "chamiym") not corrected by an editor but is the M reading.
Line 16: A word is written over the next to last word which is the last word of verse 12. It belongs in the text and is omitted by Q. "Tsaba'oth" meaning "of hosts" is left out of the preceding phrase "YHWH tsba'oth" (YHWH of hosts.) Last word in line has spelling difference in Q: waw after aleph and in M waw before aleph.
Line 18: 7th word Mitsriym (Egypt) has an attempted editing above the word and then the editor crossed it out. Human error.
Line 20: 2nd word: Q has pronoun without article and M with article ("ha-h'u"). Last two words Q has 3ms suf added to each word not in M.
Line 19: 2nd word has prep. beth (in) added by editor making Q agree with M.
Line 21: 4th from last word editor adds a "he" (article) which is not in M, to "meniyph" making "me-ha-niyph" or more likely ha-meniph; Next to last word: Q = " 'alayha" 3fs suf and M = " 'alayv" 3ms suf.
Line 22 4th word: M = lechag'a "for a terror" Q adds waw as 2nd letter and changes aleph to he, lechogah. The interchange of aleph and he in Q is frequent and is probably a phonetic spelling mistake
Line 28: 3rd from last word: Q = "ve-yarad" (and he shall come down" and M = "ve-rab" (and a great one). Q reading is "he shall send a saviour and he shall come down and deliver them." M reads "he will send a saviour and a great one who will deliver them."
Line 30: Last word: M = cj + qal 3ms verb urpha'a "and he shall heal (it)." Q omits aleph and has ve-nirpo niphal verb 3mpl "and they will be healed."

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