© John C. Trever, 1964

Column 10 of the Habakkuk commentary found in cave 1, which contains two quotations from Habakkuk (2:13 and 2:14). Note especially line 7 and line 14 (the last line) in which a single word appears in a different script. The word is the ineffable name of God, Yahweh, known as the tetragrammaton because it contains four letters, yod, heh, vov, heh. The tetragrammaton is written in archaic Hebrew script, while the remainder of the scroll is written in the newer square Hebrew script which has persisted in Hebrew to the present day. The archaic Hebrew script was in general use until about the 6th–5th century B.C. when it was replaced by the square script. However, the Dead Sea Scrolls often retain the archaic Hebrew script for the tetragrammaton, as in the examples here.