Dead Sea Scrolls Bible Translations
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Song of Solomon 3 from scroll 4Q106 Canticlesa (Song of Solomon)

3 The watchmen who go about the city found me;

“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”

4 I had scarcely passed from them,

when I found him whom my soul loves.

I held him, and would not let him go,

until I had brought him into my mother’s house,

into the room of her who conceived me.

 

5 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,

by the roes, or by the hinds of the field,

that you not stir up, nor awaken love,

until it so desires.

[..]

7 Behold, it is Solomon’s carriage!

Sixty mighty men are around it,

of the mighty men of Israel.

8 They all handle the sword, and are expert in war.

Every man has his sword on his thigh,

because of fear in the night.

King Solomon made himself a carriage

of the wood of Lebanon.

10 He made its pillars of silver,

its bottom of gold, its seat of purple,

the middle of it being paved with love,

from the daughters of Jerusalem.

11 Go out, you daughters of Zion Jerusalem, and see king Solomon,

with the crown with which his mother has crowned him,

in the day of his weddings,

and in the day of the gladness of his heart.

 

Song of Solomon 3 from scroll 4Q107 Canticlesb

By night, every night on my bed,

I sought him whom my soul loves.

I sought him, but I didn’t find him.

I will get up now, and go about the city;

in the streets and in the squares I will seek him whom my soul loves.

I sought him, but I didn’t find him.

[..]

5 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,

by the roes, or by the hinds of the field,

that you not stir up, nor awaken love,

until it so desires.[1]

9 King Solomon made himself a carriage

of the wood of Lebanon.

10 He made its pillars of silver,

its bottom of gold, its seat of purple,

the middle of it being paved with love,

from the daughters of Jerusalem.

11 Go out, you daughters of Zion, and see king Solomon,

with the crown with which his mother has crowned him,

in the day of his weddings,

in the day of the gladness of his heart.

 

Song of Solomon 3 from scroll 4Q108 Canticlesc

7 Behold, it is Solomon’s carriage!

Sixty mighty men are around it,

of the mighty men of Israel.

8 They all handle the sword, and are expert in war.

Every man has his sword on his thigh,

because of fear in the night.

 

 



[1] The scroll moves from 3:5 to 3:9, excluding verses 6-8.

How to read these pages:

      The translation to the left is based on the World English Bible. Words in regular black font are words in the scrolls matching the traditional text for that passage.

      Words in italics cannot be seen in the scroll, since the scroll is fragmentary. These words are supplied for readability by the World English Bible translation.

      Words present in the scroll but with some letters unreadable or missing are in blue like this: blue. One Hebrew word often is translated into multiple English words, and when this occurs, all the English words are in blue.

      Words present in the scroll but with spelling differences that do not affect the meaning are in green like this: green. This is common in Hebrew.

      If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the traditional text that are missing from the text of the scroll are marked through in red like this: strike-through.

      If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the scroll that are not in the traditional text are underlined in red like this: new words.