LEVITICUS Paleohebrew Fragments [42.171, 42.172, 42.173, 42.174, 42.175 {678, 679, 680, 681, 682}]

11QpaleoLev

The script of the text is Paleohebrew, an older Hebrew script than most of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The characters look considerably different than the square script, and dots usually occur between words. Unlike the square script, Paleohebrew words can be split between two lines, including the LORD's name (YHWH). (Fragments K, L, J, M, O, P, R, H, S, T, V, Y, Z are unidentified. Unidentified fragments are not reconstructed.)

Additional verses are included before and after most of the fragments in order to supply the context of the passage. These are indicated by the missing font and are enclosed in {brackets}.


Fragment pattern for 42.174 {681}


Leviticus 10:4-7 [42.174 {681} Fragment D + 42.174 {681} Fragment W]

10:1 {Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.

2 And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the LORD spoke, saying, `By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'" So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.}

4 Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp."

5 So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said.

6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you may not die, and that He may not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the LORD has brought about.

7 "You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, lest you die; for the LORD's anointing oil is upon you." So they did according to the word of Moses.

Leviticus 11:27-32 [42.174 {681} Fragment B]

11:27 `Also whatever walks on its paws, among all the creatures that walk on all fours, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening,

28 and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until %the evening; they are unclean to you.

29 `Now these are to you the unclean among the swarming things which swarm on the earth: the mole, and the mouse, and the great lizard in its kinds,

30 and the gecko, and the crocodile, and the lizard, and the sand reptile, and the chameleon.

31 `These are to you the unclean among all the swarming things; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening.

32 `Also anything on which one of them may fall when they are dead, becomes unclean, including any wooden article, or clothing, or a skin, or a sack-- any article of which use is made %of %them-- it shall be put in the water and be unclean until evening, then it becomes clean.

Leviticus 13:3-5 [42.174 {681} Fragment I + 42.174 {681} Fragment X]

{Fragment I photograph cuts off the bottom}

1 {Then the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

2 "When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling or a scab or a bright spot, and it becomes an infection of leprosy on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests.}

3 "And the priest shall look at the mark on the skin of the body, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is an infection of leprosy; when the priest has looked at him, he shall pronounce him unclean.

4 "But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate him who has the infection for seven days.

5 "And the priest shall look at him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the infection has not changed, and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days.

6 {"And the priest shall look at him again on the seventh day; and if the infection has faded, and the mark has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scab. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean.

7 "But if the scab spreads farther on the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again to the priest.}

Leviticus 14:16-21 [42.174 {681} Fragment F + 42.174 {681} Fragment U + 42.174 {681} Fragment N]

14 {"The priest shall then take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

15 "The priest shall also take some of the log of oil, and pour it into his left palm;}

16 the priest shall then dip his right-hand finger into the oil that is in his left palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of the oil seven times before the LORD.

17 "And of the remaining oil which is in his palm, the priest shall put some on the right ear lobe of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering;

18 while the rest of the oil that is in the priest's palm, he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the LORD.

19 "The priest shall next offer the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Then afterward, he shall slaughter the burnt offering.

20 "And the priest shall offer up the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, {slight spelling difference} and he shall be clean.

21 "But if he is poor, and his means are insufficient, then he is to take one male lamb for a guilt offering as a wave offering to make atonement for him, and one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil,

22 {and two turtledoves or two young pigeons which are within his means, the one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.

23 "Then the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, before the LORD.

24 "And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall offer them for a wave offering before the LORD.}

Leviticus 14:53-15:5 [42.173 {680} Top Center, Right Column]

51 {"Then he shall take the cedar wood and the hyssop and the scarlet string, with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, as well as in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.

52 "He shall thus cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the running water, along with the live bird and with the cedar wood and with the hyssop and with the scarlet string.}

53 "However, he shall let the live bird go free outside the city into the open field. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean."

54 This is the law for any mark of leprosy-- even for a scale,

55 and for the leprous garment or house,

56 and for a swelling, and for a scab, and for a bright spot--

57 to teach when they are unclean, and when they are clean. This is the law of leprosy. ...........................................

15:1 The LORD also spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

2 "Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, `When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.

3 `This, moreover, shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: it is his uncleanness all the days of his discharge, whether his body allows its discharge to flow, or whether his body obstructs its discharge.

4 `Every bed on which the person with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean.

5 `Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening;

6 {and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.

7 `Also whoever touches the person with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.}

Leviticus 16:1-6 [42.175 {682} Top Center Fragment + 42.173 {680} Top Center, Left Column] {note: Fitzmyer listing incorrect here}

1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the LORD and died.

2 And the LORD said to Moses, "Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.

3 "Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

4 "He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash, and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on.

5 "And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

6 "Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household.

7 {"And he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

8 "And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat.

9 "Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering.

10 "But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.}

Leviticus 16:34-17:5 [42.173 {680} Top Left Fragment and Bottom Right Fragment]

32 {"So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father's place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments,

33 and make atonement for the holy sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.}

34 "Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year." And just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so he did.

1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, and %you say to them, `This is what the LORD has commanded, saying,

3 "Any man from the house of Israel and who slaughters an ox, or a lamb, or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp,

4 and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD, bloodguiltiness is to be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people.

5 "The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring {spelled differently} them in to the LORD, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD.

6 {"And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the LORD.

7 "And they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations."}

Leviticus 18:26b?-19:4 [42.173 {680} bottom left + 42.173 {680} bottom center

24 {`Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.

25 `For the land has become defiled, therefore I have visited its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.}

26 `But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not do any of these abominations they lift up, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you, and you shall possess their land,

27 (for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled);

Verses 26-27 comparison, highlighting differences:

MT: `But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you,

27 (for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled);

DSS: `But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not do any of these abominations they lift up, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you, and you shall possess their land,

27 (the men of the land who have been before you, and the land has become defiled);

28 so that the land may not spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you.

29 `For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people.

30 `Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; for I am the LORD your God.'"

19:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them,' You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.

3 `Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the LORD your God.

4 `Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 20:1-6 [42.174 {681} Fragment A + 42.174 {681} Fragment C]

1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "You shall also say to the sons of Israel, `Any man from the sons {Probably a spelling error.} of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel, who gives any of his offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

3 `I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his offspring to Molech, so as to defile My sanctuary and to profane My holy name.

4 `If the people of the land, however, should ever disregard {lit. hide their eyes from} that man when he gives any of his offspring to Molech, so as not to put him to death,

5 then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the harlot after him, by playing the harlot after Molech.

6 {`As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.

7 `You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.

8 `And you shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.}

Leviticus 21:6-11 [42.173 {680} Top Right + 42.174 {681} Fragment G]

1 {Then the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, `No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people,

2 except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother,

3 also for his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.

4 `He shall not defile himself as a relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself.

5 `They shall not make any baldness on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh.}

6 `They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire to the LORD, the bread of their God; so they shall be holy.

7 `They shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.

8 `You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the bread of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you them, am holy.

9 `Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

10 `And the priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor tear his clothes;

11 nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother;

12 {nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the LORD.}

Leviticus 22:21-27 [42.174 {681} Fragment E, Right Column]

20 {`Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you}.

21 `And when a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a special vow, or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.

22 `Those that are blind or fractured or maimed or having a running sore or eczema or scabs having a running sore, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the LORD.

23 `In respect to an ox or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member, you may present it for a freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted.

24 `Also anything with its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the LORD, or sacrifice in your land {lit. in your land you shall not sacrifice},

25 nor shall you accept any such from the hand of a foreigner for offering as the food of your God; for their corruption is in them {DSS for corrupted are they}, they have a defect, they shall not be accepted for you.'"

26 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

27 "When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be accepted as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to the LORD.

28 {"But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not kill both it and its young in one day.}

Leviticus 23:22-29 [42.171 {678} Right Column + 42.174 {681} Fragment E, Left Column]

22 `When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the LORD your God.'"

23 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

24 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, `In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

25 `You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.' "

26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

27 "On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the LORD.

28 "Neither shall you do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the LORD your God.

29 "If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people.

30 {"As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.

31 "You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

32 "It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath."}

Leviticus 24:9-14 [42.171 {678} Left Column]

7 {"And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, even an offering by fire to the LORD.}

8 "Every sabbath day he shall set it in order before the LORD continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel.

9 "And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the LORD's offerings by fire, his portion forever."

10 Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the sons of Israel; and the Israelite woman's son and a the man of Israel struggled with each other in the camp.

11 And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed ???? the Name and cursed. So they brought ........ him to Moses. (Now his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)

12 And they put him him {phrased differently} in custody so that the command of the LORD might be made clear to them.

13 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

14 "Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then let all the congregation stone him.

15 {"And you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, `If anyone curses his God, then he shall bear his sin.

16 `Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.}

Leviticus 26:18-26 [42.172 {679} Right Column]

{Note: the right half is cut off in the photograph and is indicated by [brackets] in addition to the `hole' indicator}

14 {`But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments,

15 if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant,

16 I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that shall waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you shall sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies shall eat it up.}

17 `And I will set My face against you so that you shall be struck down before your enemies; and those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee [when no one is pursuing you.]

18 [`If also after these things,] you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more [for your sins.]

19 [`And I will also break down] your [pride of po]wer; I will also make your sky like iron and yo[ur] earth [like bronze.]

20 [`And your strength shall be spent uselessly, for] your land [shall not] yield its produce and the trees of the land shall not [yield their fruit.]

21 [`If then, you act with hostil]ity [against Me] and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the pl[ague] on you [seven times according to your sins.]

22 [`And I will let loose among y]ou the beasts of the field, which shall bereave you of your children and destro[y your cattle and reduce yo]ur [number] so that your roads lie deserted.

23 `And if by these things you are not turn[ed to Me, but act with hostility against Me,]

24 [then] I , even$ I$, [will a]ct against you with wrath of hostility; and [I, even I,] will strike you [seven times for your sins.]

25 `I will [also b]ring upon you a sword which will execute vengeance for the covenant; and when [you] ga[ther together into your cities, I will send pestilence a]mong you, so that you shall be delivered into enemy hands.

26 `When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread in rationed amounts, so that you will eat and not be satisfied.

Leviticus 27:11-19 [42.172 {679} Left Column]

9 {`Now if it is an animal of the kind which men can present as an offering to the LORD, any such that one gives to the LORD shall be holy.

10 `He shall not replace it or exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; or if he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and its substitute shall become holy.}

11 `If, however, it is any unclean animal of the kind which men do not present as an offering to the LORD, then he shall place the animal before the priest.

12 `And the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be.

13 `But if he should ever wish to redeem it it {different suffix}, then he shall add one-fifth of it to your valuation.

14 `Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, then the priest shall value it as either good or bad; just% as the priest values it, so it shall stand.

15 `Yet if the one who consecrates it should wish to redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may be his.

16 `Again, if a man consecrates to the LORD part of the fields of his own property, then your valuation shall be proportionate to the seed needed for it: a homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver.

17 `If he consecrates his field as of the year of jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.

18 `If he consecrates his field after the jubilee, however, then the priest shall calculate the price for him proportionate to the years that are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your valuation.

19 `And if the one who consecrates it should ever wish to redeem the field, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may pass to him.


Key to the English Text Reconstructions

SIMILARITIES: Regular = MT yes, DSS yes; Italics = MT yes, DSS probable; Small Type = MT yes, DSS hole

DIFFERENCES: Italics/Bold (Blue) = MT yes, DSS no; Underline/Bold (Red) = DSS yes, MT no; Underline (Purple) = DSS probable, MT no

OTHER: .... = blank space, apparently with no writing; $ = present in NASB, but missing in MT; % = correction of NASB to make it reflect MT; Phrase in {brackets} = explanation.

ABBREVIATIONS: MT = Masoretic Text (1,000 years old); DSS = Dead Sea Scrolls (2,000 years old); NASB = New American Standard Bible, a literal English Bible translation