Licenses
What is ours, and what stays with its owners.
Open Dead Sea publishes its own English-draft dataset under a non-commercial Creative Commons license. Every line also keeps the wording and lexical sources it came from, with their own licenses. This page puts ours first, then the components.
Our license — first
Open Dead Sea is a project of Jesus People SF and Apocalypse Press.
-
Open Dead Sea dataset
Manuscript and English-draft dataset as published at apocalypse-press/opendeadsea-mss and on this site. You may download, share, and adapt it for research, education, and private study with attribution, for non-commercial purposes only.
CC BY-NC 4.0
Full deed: Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International. Please credit Open Dead Sea, Jesus People SF, and Apocalypse Press, keep the repository link, and retain the required attribution to the upstream sources listed below. Commercial reuse requires permission from the upstream rights holders.
How to cite our project
Use when citing Open Dead Sea's English translation dataset. Keep it separate from the component citations below. Include the manuscript or line URL as well when your work depends on a particular reading.
Open Dead Sea. (2026). Open Dead Sea: English translation dataset of the Dead Sea Scrolls [Data set]. Jesus People SF and Apocalypse Press. https://opendeadsea.org/
Open Dead Sea. Open Dead Sea: English Translation Dataset of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Data set. Jesus People SF and Apocalypse Press, 2026. https://opendeadsea.org/.
Open Dead Sea. Open Dead Sea: English Translation Dataset of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Jesus People SF and Apocalypse Press, 2026, https://opendeadsea.org/.
@dataset{opendeadsea_2026,
author = {{Open Dead Sea}},
title = {Open Dead Sea: English Translation Dataset of the Dead Sea Scrolls},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Jesus People SF and Apocalypse Press},
url = {https://opendeadsea.org/},
note = {Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International}
}
Components and their licenses
These are not sublicensed by us. Each keeps its own license. That is the point of the attribution line on every manuscript page.
-
ETCBC/dss — diplomatic transcription
Wording on each manuscript page: Hebrew, Aramaic, and rare Greek as transcribed by Martin G. Abegg, Jr. and converted to Text-Fabric by CACCHT / Eep Talstra Centre. Repo: ETCBC/dss (Text-Fabric
CC BY-NC 4.0dssv2.0, commit2403d166). -
ETCBC/BHSA 2021 — lexical grounding
Biblical Hebrew lexeme and gloss features (
CC BY-NC 4.0voc_lex_utf8,gloss) from the Eep Talstra Centre. Used as a reference aid; a BHSA gloss is not the English of a Qumran line. Repo: ETCBC/bhsa. -
Macula Hebrew — syntax reference
Reference-text syntax diagrams (morphology, syntax trees, semantic roles) for the Masoretic Text from Clear Bible. Shown as a Hebrew reference diagram on biblical lines; not the Qumran transcription.
CC BY 4.0 -
Macula Greek — Greek reference
Greek lemmas, morphology, syntax, and MARBLE word-sense data based on Louw–Nida domains, from Clear Bible. Currently New Testament only (SBLGNT / Nestle 1904); not a Septuagint annotation of the Greek Scrolls. License: MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, CC BY 4.0.
CC BY 4.0 -
Noto Sans Phoenician — paleo display
Eleven fully paleo-Hebrew manuscripts and the Tetragrammaton in mixed-script lines are rendered by mapping square Hebrew to the Phoenician block in Noto Sans Phoenician.
OFL 1.1 -
Leon Levy Digital Library & Israel Museum
Photographs are outbound viewers only. This site does not host plates. All rights remain with the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library (IAA) and the Israel Museum. Follow the Official photographs links on manuscript pages.
All rights reserved -
BDB 1906 & Jastrow 1903 — planned glosses
Public-domain Hebrew and Aramaic glosses planned for this site. Not yet the source of the reference glosses shown today.
Public domain -
Discoveries in the Judaean Desert — printed editions
Greek Scrolls wording cites the printed DJD edition named on each manuscript page. Page images, typography, commentary, and apparatus are excluded. Which witnesses lean on which volumes:
- DJD III — Baillet, Milik & de Vaux, Les « petites grottes » de Qumrân (Oxford, 1962), pp. 142–146, pl. XXX — for 7Q1–7Q19.
- DJD VIII — Tov, Kraft & Parsons, The Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXIIgr) (Oxford, 1990) — for 8ḤevXIIgr (Rahlfs 943); transcription from p. 27, 20 plates.
- DJD IX — Skehan, Ulrich & Sanderson, Qumran Cave 4. IV: Palaeo-Hebrew and Greek Biblical Manuscripts (Oxford, 1992) — for 4Q119 (pp. 161–165, pl. XXXVIII), 4Q120 (pp. 167–186, pls. XXXIX–XLI), 4Q121 (pp. 187–194, pls. XLII–XLIII), 4Q122 (pp. 195–197, pl. XLIII), 4Q126 (pp. 219–221, pl. XLVI), 4Q127 (pp. 223–242, pl. XLVII).
Cite ETCBC/dss
For the diplomatic transcription on a manuscript page.
Abegg, M. G., Jr. (2024). ETCBC Dead Sea Scrolls diplomatic transcriptions (Version 2.0, Text-Fabric dataset dss) [Data set]. Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer. https://github.com/ETCBC/dss (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Abegg, Martin G., Jr. ETCBC Dead Sea Scrolls Diplomatic Transcriptions. Version 2.0, Text-Fabric dataset dss. Data set. Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer, 2024. https://github.com/ETCBC/dss. CC BY-NC 4.0.
Abegg, Martin G., Jr. ETCBC Dead Sea Scrolls Diplomatic Transcriptions. Version 2.0, Text-Fabric dataset dss, Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer, 2024, https://github.com/ETCBC/dss.
@dataset{etcbc_dss_2024,
author = {Abegg, Martin G., Jr.},
title = {ETCBC Dead Sea Scrolls Diplomatic Transcriptions},
year = {2024},
version = {2.0},
publisher = {Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer},
url = {https://github.com/ETCBC/dss},
note = {Text-Fabric dataset dss, CC BY-NC 4.0}
}
Cite BHSA
For lexical grounding (lexeme and gloss features) — not the English of a Qumran line.
Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer. (2021). ETCBC Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia Amstelodamensis (BHSA) — lexeme and gloss features [Data set]. https://github.com/ETCBC/bhsa (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer. ETCBC Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia Amstelodamensis (BHSA) — Lexeme and Gloss Features. Data set. 2021. https://github.com/ETCBC/bhsa. CC BY-NC 4.0.
Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer. ETCBC Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia Amstelodamensis (BHSA) — Lexeme and Gloss Features. 2021, https://github.com/ETCBC/bhsa.
@dataset{bhsa_2021,
author = {{Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer}},
title = {ETCBC Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia Amstelodamensis (BHSA) -- Lexeme and Gloss Features},
year = {2021},
publisher = {Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer},
url = {https://github.com/ETCBC/bhsa},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0}
}
Cite Macula
For syntax trees, morphology, and MARBLE/Louw–Nida domains from Clear Bible.
Clear Bible. (2024). Macula Hebrew and Macula Greek: Linguistic datasets with syntax, morphology, and MARBLE/Louw–Nida domains [Data set]. https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew; https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek (CC BY 4.0)
Clear Bible. Macula Hebrew and Macula Greek: Linguistic Datasets with Syntax, Morphology, and MARBLE/Louw–Nida Domains. Data set. 2024. https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew; https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek. CC BY 4.0.
Clear Bible. Macula Hebrew and Macula Greek: Linguistic Datasets with Syntax, Morphology, and MARBLE/Louw–Nida Domains. 2024, https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew; https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek.
@dataset{macula_2024,
author = {{Clear Bible}},
title = {Macula Hebrew and Macula Greek: Linguistic Datasets with Syntax, Morphology, and MARBLE/Louw-Nida Domains},
year = {2024},
publisher = {Clear Bible},
url = {https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew},
note = {CC BY 4.0}
}
Cite the DJD printed editions
For the Greek witnesses that lean on Discoveries in the Judaean Desert volumes. Cite the volume, pages, and plate for the reading you use.
Baillet, M., Milik, J. T., & de Vaux, R. (1962). Les « petites grottes » de Qumrân (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 3, Vols. 1–2, pp. 142–146, pl. XXX). Clarendon Press. — for 7Q1–7Q19
Tov, E., Kraft, R. A., & Parsons, P. J. (1990). The Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXIIgr) (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 8). Clarendon Press. — for 8ḤevXIIgr, transcription from p. 27
Skehan, P. W., Ulrich, E., & Sanderson, J. E. (1992). Qumran Cave 4. IV: Palaeo-Hebrew and Greek Biblical Manuscripts (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 9, pp. 161–242, pls. XXXVIII–XLVII). Clarendon Press. — for 4Q119–122, 4Q126–127
Baillet, Maurice, Józef T. Milik, and Roland de Vaux. Les « petites grottes » de Qumrân. 2 vols. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 3. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962. 1:142–46, pl. XXX. — 7Q1–7Q19.
Tov, Emanuel, with Robert A. Kraft and Peter J. Parsons. The Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXIIgr). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 8. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990. — 8ḤevXIIgr.
Skehan, Patrick W., Eugene Ulrich, and Judith E. Sanderson. Qumran Cave 4. IV: Palaeo-Hebrew and Greek Biblical Manuscripts. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 9. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992. 161–242, pls. XXXVIII–XLVII. — 4Q119–122, 4Q126–127.
Baillet, Maurice, et al. Les « petites grottes » de Qumrân. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 3, Clarendon Press, 1962, vol. 1, pp. 142–46. — 7Q1–7Q19.
Tov, Emanuel, et al. The Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXIIgr). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 8, Clarendon Press, 1990. — 8ḤevXIIgr.
Skehan, Patrick W., et al. Qumran Cave 4. IV: Palaeo-Hebrew and Greek Biblical Manuscripts. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 9, Clarendon Press, 1992, pp. 161–242. — 4Q119–122, 4Q126–127.
@book{baillet1962djd3,
author = {Baillet, Maurice and Milik, J{\'o}zef T. and de Vaux, Roland},
title = {Les ``petites grottes'' de Qumr\^an},
series = {Discoveries in the Judaean Desert},
volume = {3},
publisher = {Clarendon Press},
address = {Oxford},
year = {1962},
pages = {142--146},
note = {pls. XXX, for 7Q1--7Q19}
}
@book{tov1990djd8,
author = {Tov, Emanuel and Kraft, Robert A. and Parsons, Peter J.},
title = {The Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Na\d{h}al \d{H}ever (8\d{H}evXIIgr)},
series = {Discoveries in the Judaean Desert},
volume = {8},
publisher = {Clarendon Press},
address = {Oxford},
year = {1990},
note = {transcription from p. 27, for 8\d{H}evXIIgr}
}
@book{skehan1992djd9,
author = {Skehan, Patrick W. and Ulrich, Eugene and Sanderson, Judith E.},
title = {Qumran Cave 4. IV: Palaeo-Hebrew and Greek Biblical Manuscripts},
series = {Discoveries in the Judaean Desert},
volume = {9},
publisher = {Clarendon Press},
address = {Oxford},
year = {1992},
pages = {161--242},
note = {pls. XXXVIII--XLVII, for 4Q119--122, 4Q126--127}
}
For Leon Levy / Israel Museum photographs, cite the photograph page URL you viewed and note “All rights reserved — outbound viewer only.” For Noto Sans Phoenician, cite Google Noto Fonts, SIL Open Font License 1.1.