White As Snow

Posted by Loretta Layman on April 14, 2009 at 01:06

The Dead Sea Scrolls, all of which were written between 150 B.C. (B.C.E.) and 70 A.D. (C.E.), include the entire book of Isaiah; and Isaiah 1:18 is translated: "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." The original book of Isaiah is believed to have been written about 800 B.C., but even the earliest extant manuscript (i.e., the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah) predates Michael Drayton's "Idea, the shepheards garland" by about 1500 years.