The Variant Textual Readings in the Hebrew University Isaiah Scroll (1QIsab)

This article presents all the textual variants in the smaller Isaiah Scroll from Cave One (1Q8 or 1QIsab), also known as the ‘Hebrew University Isaiah Scroll’, which preserves material ranging from Isa. 7:20 to 66:24. With respect to textual character, 1QIsab has been classified as proto-Masoretic in view of its general affinity with the received Masoretic Text. For the forthcoming edition of 1QIsab (vol. 32 in the series ‘Discoveries in the Judaean Desert’), a variant reading is determined wherever 1QIsab differs from another Hebrew witness (Qumran scrolls, such as 1QIsaa, the MT as in the Leningrad Codex, or other Masoretic manuscripts and editions). In a few cases, the collation is against the Septuagint, but difference from the Greek is not a fixed criterion for determining a variant reading.Copyright © Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies