The most valuable single book is undoubtedly the great isaiah scroll. The book of mormon and the dead sea scrolls summary. Rumor has it that the dead sea scrolls contained a copy of isaiah exactly matching the isaiah found in our modern bibles. The great isaiah scroll and the book of mormon byu. Mistranslations of the king james version of isaiah have been corrected using the isaiah version found with the dead sea scrolls. It is 95% the same as the isaiah written around 916 a. The discovery of the dead sea scrolls have had dramatic implications for the study of jewish history, providing scholars with a large and diverse mostly religious literary corpus from. The dead sea scrolls support the book of mormon validity. The dead sea scrolls provide valuable information but also embrace notions contrary. The dead sea scrolls reader 2005 the text of almost all of the nonbiblical texts from the.
Book of mormon book of mormon authenticity book of mormonisaiah chapters dead sea scrolls geza vermes isaiah qumran. The isaiah scroll found at qumran cave 1 should have caused a great deal of joy among mormon scholars, for here is a manuscript of isaiah which is hundreds of years older than any manuscript previously known. Book of mormonrelationship to the dead sea scrolls fairmormon. The muchcelebrated dead sea scrolls are a treasure trove of ancient jewish religious texts discovered between 1947 and 1956 in 11 different desert caves near the northwest shore of the dead sea. A textual comparison of the isaiah passages in the book of. A detailed description of the book of isaiah, the longest of the dead sea scrolls. The book of mormon quotes large portions of the king james version of the bible. Joseph smiths book of moses is likewise without documentary support. Mistranslations of the king james version of isaiah have been corrected using the isaiah version. It was in eleven caves this area that many scrolls were located, including the great isaiah scroll shown above with donald w. The 54 columns contain all 66 chapters of the hebrew version of the biblical book of isaiah. Great isaiah scroll supports several of these differences. Many scholars regard the scrolls as the greatest archaeological find of the twentieth century, having been composed or copied between approximately 250 b.
The book of mormon contains twentyone chapters of the book of isaiah. The dead sea scrolls, for instance, should provide a great deal of evidence for the book of mormon if it is really an ancient record. The dead sea isaiah scroll, which dates probably from the second century b. The discovery of the dead sea scrolls is touted as the greatest archeological. It is important to note that the book of isaiah is one of the most frequently attested biblical books in dead sea scrolls collection. In their book, madsen and hopkin help mormons in their understanding isaiah by comparing the king james version kjv alongside the joseph smith translation jst, the book of mormon when it quotes isaiah, the dead sea scrolls dss, the the new revised standard version nrsv and the new international version niv. Why is it that the quotes from isaiah contained in the book of mormon have the same translation errors contained in the king james version instead of matching the original ancient text. The scroll is written in hebrew and contains the entire book of isaiah from beginning to end, apart from a few small damaged portions. The dead sea scrolls contain a copy of isaiah dated back to 100 b. It is the oldest complete copy of the book of isaiah, being approximately years older than the oldest hebrew manuscripts known before the scrolls discovery. The great isaiah scroll 1qisa a is one of the original seven dead sea scrolls discovered in qumran in 1947.
Why do the book of mormon selections from isaiah sometimes parallel the king james version and not the dead sea scrolls text. Decoding nicea is a captivating look at the true story of the council of nicea. It is the largest 734 cm and best preserved of all the biblical scrolls, and the only one that is almost complete. The dead sea scrolls70 questions and answers search isaiah. Why do the book of mormon selections from isaiah sometimes. Does the text of the great isaiah scroll support the isaiah passages in the book of mormon that differ from those in the king james bible. These three were later identified as a copy of the biblical book of isaiah. Qumran is a streambed wadi in the judaean desert of the west bank near the northwest shore of the dead sea. Book of mormonrelationship to the dead sea scrolls. The dead sea scrolls version of isaiah and jeremiah. The isaiah scroll, designated 1qlsaa and also known as the great isaiah scroll, is one of the seven dead sea scrolls that were first discovered by bedouin shepherds in 1946 from qumran cave 1.