Texts in Conversation
In Isaiah, a voice calls for a road through the wilderness for God. The Community Rule from the Dead Sea Scrolls quotes this command but explains that preparing the road means studying the Torah of Moses.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 40:3
Hebrew Bible
3 A voice cries out, “In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord; build a level road through the rift valley for our God. 4 Every valley must be elevated and every mountain and hill leveled. The rough terrain will become a level plain, the rugged landscape a wide valley. 5 The splendor of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it at the same time. For the Lord has decreed it.”
1QS 8:14
Community Rule
Dead Sea Scrolls, Sectarian and Community Texts
13 according to these rules, they shall separate from the midst of the dwelling of the men of iniquity to go to the wilderness, to prepare there the way of him, 14 as it is written: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” 15 This is the study of the Torah, which he commanded by the hand of Moses, to do according to all that has been revealed time by time, 16 and as the prophets revealed by his holy spirit. And every man of the men of the community, the covenant of
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Notes and References
“... As noted above, in 1QS use is made of Isa. 40:3a on two occasions, 8:13-16 and 9:19-20. In the Isaiah scrolls from the DSS collection, the form is identical to what is found in the later MT. In 1QS 8:13-16 and 9:19-20 it is understood that the disembodied voice is calling, ‘‘Prepare in the wilderness the way of YHWH.’’19 In other words, it is not the reading reflected in the LXX, where the voice is of someone in the wilderness. In the Community Rule, the voice is not itself calling in the wilderness, but it exhorts people to prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord. 1QS 8:15-16 explains that the path is the study of the Law, in order that they may do all that has been revealed from age to age. ...”
Taylor, Joan E.
The Immerser: John the Baptist within Second Temple Judaism
(p. 26) Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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