Dead Sea Scrolls Textual Critical Edition – Song of Songs

4QCantb: you (plene spelling). 4QCanta and Masoretic have the defective spelling אתכם.

The manuscript known as 4QCantb actually completely omits 3:6-8, going straight from 3:5 to 3:9. Both 4QCanta and 4QCantc contain verses 7 - 8. Why 4QCantb omits these three verses is up for debate, although seeing as 6-8 describes a dramatic arrival of King Solomon, they may’ve been omitted, being deemed as unnecessary for this book regarding love.

4QCantb: Jerusalem (plene spelling). 4QCanta and Masoretic have the defective spelling ירושלם.

4QCantb, Mas, LXX: your hair is like a herd of goats. 4QCanta alters the word order a bit - כעדר העזים שערך - to give like a herd of goats is your hair. There is no change of meaning.

4QCantb, Mas, LXX: Your teeth are like a herd of shorn ewes. As above, 4QCanta alters the word order a bit - כעדר הקצובות שניך - to give like a herd of shorn ewes are your teeth. There is no change of meaning.

4QCanta, Mas: bearing twins (plene spelling). 4QCantb has either a defective or alternate spelling מתאמות.

4QCantb, Mas, LXX: your temple. 4QCanta reads מזקנתך meaning from your chin. The full reading of 4QCanta would be, from your beard is like slices of the pomegranate from behind your veil, which doesn’t make much sense. מזקנתך can also mean from your old age, but still doesn’t make sense. The last option is to have מזקנתך as representing a new word מזקנה (feminine), and such is the actual Hebrew word to refer to chin (as מזקנתך would be formed from זקן, which is only ever used to refer to ones beard). If this is the case, then the meaning of 4QCanta would be: your chin is like slices of the pomegranate from behind your veil.

4QCantb: and from behind. 4QCanta, Masoretic and LXX read מבעד ( LXX) meaning from behind. No change of meaning to the text.

4QCantb completely omits 4:4-7; 4QCanta includes them.

4QCanta not only completely omits 6:1-10, but actually omits everything from 4:8 to 6:11, going straight from 4:7 to 6:11. Either the manuscript moved the verses to a different place (unfortunately 4QCanta doesn’t have any verses extant after 7:7), or they were deliberately removed and not written down. Due to the overtly erotic nature of Song of Songs, it appears to have always been a controversial book, with Judaism interpretating it as an allegory of God’s relationship with Israel, and Christianity interpretating it as an allegory of God’s relationship with the Church. For the Qumran Sect, they too may’ve been a bit cautious of the books erotic nature, and so chose to omit the more sexual verses.