סֵ֫פֶר

From the study of Isaiah 29:18

Range of meaning

Anything written: a scroll, letter (2 Sam 11:14), deed of sale (Jer 32:10–12), legal record, divorce certificate (Deut 24:1), or a collection of prophecies. Never a bound book with pages, which did not exist in Isaiah's world.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'book' suggests a bound volume, and to many readers 'the Book' (the Bible). BSB/NIV 'scroll' is closer to the object. The Hebrew has no article ('a scroll'), but the phrase deliberately echoes 'the words of the sealed scroll' in v.11.

How it drifted

'Book' was a fine rendering in 1611 for any written work. Today it calls up a printed codex, and in church settings a sacred book.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 29:11–12: the vision is 'like the words of a sealed scroll'; one who can read says 'I cannot, it is sealed,' and one who cannot read says 'I cannot read.' Isa 30:8 tells the prophet to write his message 'in a scroll' as a witness. The Greek translation (LXX) has biblion, 'small scroll, document.'

From the study of Isaiah 34:16

Range of meaning

Sefer is any written document: a scroll, a letter (2 Sam 11:14), a deed (Jer 32:10–12), a legal record, a register of names (Exod 32:32; Ps 69:28), or a collection of prophetic words (Jer 36:2; Isa 30:8). A "sefer of YHWH" is a written text that belongs to God or carries his authority. The exact phrase appears only here in the Hebrew Bible.

Against the English

"Book of the LORD" (KJV, WEB) makes modern readers picture a bound volume, and most of all the Bible as a whole. "Scroll of the LORD" (BSB and several modern versions) is more accurate about the object, but it still leaves open which scroll is meant.

How it drifted

The codex (bound book) replaced the scroll in the early Christian centuries. In English "the Book" came to mean the Bible itself, so "the book of the LORD" is easily heard as "the Scriptures."

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah stresses writing prophecy down so it can be checked later: "write it on a tablet ... inscribe it in a scroll, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever" (Isa 30:8; compare 8:1, 8:16). Divine registers appear in Exod 32:32–33, Ps 139:16, Mal 3:16 and Dan 7:10. In the Dead Sea Scrolls and later Jewish usage, sefer becomes standard for sacred writings, but that is later than this text.

From the study of Isaiah 34:4

Range of meaning

Any written document: a letter, a deed of sale, a legal record, a book of law or chronicle. In practice it was a sheet or roll of papyrus or leather, rolled when not being read.

Against the English

Modern versions say 'scroll', which is right. YLT's 'book' and the Latin liber can make a modern reader picture a bound book with pages. The bound book (codex) came centuries later, so it is the wrong picture for an action of rolling.

How it drifted

'Book' in English came to mean a bound volume once the codex replaced the scroll in late antiquity. Older literal renderings of sēper as 'book' now mislead.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is used for the 'book' of the law (Deuteronomy 31:24–26), for letters (2 Samuel 11:14), and for a bill of divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1). The Greek Old Testament has biblion here, which in Hellenistic usage was also a roll.