Are The Dead Sea Scrolls’ Biblical Texts Exactly Identical To The Hebrew Text Of The Old Testament?

There is a common misconception that the Dead Sea Scrolls’ biblical texts are exactly identical—word for word, letter for letter—to the Hebrew text of the Old Testament that we have today. This article will compare two Hebrew manuscripts of Isaiah from the Dead Sea Scrolls against the text of Isaiah in the Masoretic Text (MT), which is used most widely by Christians as the authoritative Hebrew text of the Old Testament.

1QIsa-a

1QIsa-a, also known as the Great Isaiah Scroll, is a Dead Sea Scrolls biblical manuscript which contains the entire Book of Isaiah from beginning to end. It is the most completely preserved Hebrew biblical manuscript among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and is currently the oldest known manuscript of the Book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 52:13

Here is the text of Isaiah 52:13 from 1QIsa-a compared with the MT:

Most of the differences between the two texts are spelling variations; different ways of spelling a word which makes little to no difference regarding the meaning of the word. Nonetheless, one thing is clear from plain observation: The MT and the Dead Sea Scrolls’ biblical texts are not identical letter for letter; at least not in all cases.

Isaiah 53:1

Textual variations between the two texts become even more interesting when we look at Isaiah 53:1:

Besides one spelling variation, we also observe a difference in words. While the MT uses the preposition על “upon; because of”, 1QIsa-a uses another preposition: אל “to”. Interestingly, most English translations render the preposition as “to” rather than “upon” or “because of”.

Isaiah 45:7

Probably one of the most interesting textual variants between the MT and 1QIsa-a is at Isaiah 45:7:

While the Masoretic text says that God makes שלום “well-being” (ESV), the Great Isaiah Scroll says that God makes טוב “good”.

1QIsa-b

1QIsa-b is another biblical manuscript of the Book of Isaiah found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. In its current state, it is not as completely preserved as 1QIsa-a, as there are many missing portions and holes in the manuscript. 1QIsa-b has much fewer spelling variants with the MT compared to 1QIsa-a.

Isaiah 52:13

There are no spelling variants between 1QIsa-b and the MT at Isaiah 52:13. However, there is a glaring textual variant: a difference in word order. While the MT reads:

Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. (ESV)

1QIsa-b reads:

Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and exalted, and shall be lifted up.

Isaiah 53:1

Again, there are no spelling variants between 1QIsa-b and the MT at Isaiah 53:1. However, both manuscripts disagree regarding which preposition to use. While the Masoretic Text uses על “upon; because of”, 1QIsa-b uses אל “to” (just like 1QIsa-a).

Conclusion

Through a brief comparison of the Masoretic Text against two manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it can be plainly observed that the Masoretic Text is not exactly identical—neither word for word nor letter for letter—to the biblical text of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is not within the scope of this article to explain how these textual variants came about, nor comment on the significance of the textual variants.