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How do some biblical Dead Sea Scrolls compare with the Masoretic text?
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Dead Sea Scrolls
Chapter 49 of the Isaiah Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls; in the Shrine of the Book, D. Samuel and Jeane H. Gottesman Centre for Biblical Manuscripts, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
The relationship between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Masoretic text is complex, as the scrolls reveal a variety of textual traditions rather than a single uniform version.1
Comparison of Texts
- High Fidelity: Many of the Dead Sea Scrolls are practically identical to the Masoretic text, demonstrating that this specific textual tradition existed as early as pre-Christian times. Finds from sites like Masada and Wadi Al-Murabba'at show negligible variants from the received Masoretic tradition.1
- Textual Variants: Other scrolls contain significant differences in orthography and content. For example, the first Isaiah scroll (1QIsaᵃ) features numerous variants compared to the Masoretic text, while a second fragmentary manuscript (1QIsaᵇ) of the same book is very close to it.1
- Diverse Traditions: Some scrolls align more closely with the Septuagint or Samaritan traditions rather than the Masoretic. Additionally, some manuscripts, such as a Psalter from Cave 11, present books in a form distinct from the Masoretic version.1
Causes of Variation
Differences between these texts often stem from common scribal errors, such as the confusion of graphically similar letters, dittography (accidental duplication), haplography (accidental omission), or metathesis (inversion of letters).2