The Hebrew of 4Q485, line by line as Qimron prints it. The English translation, printed with this same Hebrew, is on the page Prophecy of Return.
Source Text: תשובה (4Q485)
The Hebrew as printed in Qimron, vol. 3, p. 226. Square brackets enclose gaps and Qimron's restorations. ◦ marks an illegible letter. A dot above a letter (ׄ) marks a damaged letter read with confidence, a small circle above (֯) a doubtful reading, and a bar above (̄) a letter that could also be read as a similar one. Line numbers follow the edition.
1 [ כ]י תדורשׄ[נו בכל לבבכה ובכול נפשכה]
2 [בצר לכה ומצ]אׄוׄכׄהׄ כ֯[ול הדברים האלה באחרית הימים]
3 [ ושבתה ]אׄליו ושמעתׄ[ה בקולו וכתוב ושבתה אליו]
4 [בכול לבבכה] ושב שבות[כה ]
5 [ ובמקו]ם אחר כתוׄב֯[ ושב ורפא לו ]
6 [ ע]ד֯ אשר יביןׄ[ ]
Source Colophon
Transcribed from the rendered page of the CC BY 4.0 composite edition (Zenodo, 2020) of Elisha Qimron, The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Hebrew Writings, vol. 3 (Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi Press, 2015), p. 226. Qimron's introduction: several papyrus fragments written in a hand from the beginning of the Herodian period; the larger fragment, the one printed, seems to hold abbreviated quotations from Scripture like the quotations at the close of Some of the Works of the Law (MMT). First edition: Maurice Baillet, DJD VII, p. 4.
Qimron's notes, in brief:
- Lines 1–3 are restored after Deuteronomy 4:29–31.
- Line 2: where Qimron reads [ומצ]אוכה, "have found you", Baillet reads ]איכה, each of the four letters marked with a dot above as a damaged letter read with confidence.
- Lines 3–4 are compared with Deuteronomy 30:2–3 and with Menahem Kister's discussion (cited by Qimron as ממ"ת, pp. 348–351).
- Line 5: "[And in another pla]ce" is a new reading, based on the Damascus Document (Qimron's vol. 1, p. 57, ch. 5, line 36); "it is written" is read from photograph 41.988. Kister suggested restoring "He will turn back and be healed" (Isaiah 6:10), the verb "turn back" linking the verses. If so, line 6 belongs to the same verse, which explains the third person there; and perhaps "in his iniquity" should be restored, after the Damascus Document (vol. 1, p. 6, ch. 1, line 35). Compare also 4Q461 fragment 1, lines 5–10 (vol. 3, p. 200).
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Other Apocalyptic and Prophetic scrolls in the Good Works Library: Controversies · Four Kingdoms · Melchizedek · Melchizedek — Source Text · Men of the People · Messianic Apocalypse · Messianic Apocalypse — Source Text · Narrative of the Beloved (4Q458) · Narrative of the Beloved (4Q458) — Source Text · New Jerusalem · New Jerusalem — Source Text · Prophecy of Return · Pseudo-Ezekiel · Pseudo-Ezekiel B · Renewed Earth · Seed of David · Son of God · Son of God — Source Text · The War Scroll · The War Scroll — Source Text · The Woe Prophecy (2Q23) · The Woe Prophecy (2Q23) — Source Text · Time of Righteousness · Words of Return