4Q385b · 4Q386 · 4Q387 · 4Q388
Son of man, I will perform wonders for the children of Israel.
On these manuscripts: Four Cave 4 manuscripts continue the rewriting of the Ezekiel prophecies begun in 4Q385 (see Pseudo-Ezekiel in this collection). They are designated 4QPsEzek^b (4Q386), 4QPsEzek^c (4Q387), 4QPsEzek^d (4Q388), and an additional small fragment group (4Q385b). All four manuscripts are heavily fragmentary; continuous translation is possible only for isolated passages. Like their companion 4Q385, they rewrite Ezekiel in a sectarian mode: the great prophecies of exile and restoration become the community’s own situation. The dry bones are not merely the house of Israel in Babylon — they are the elect who wait, who ask how long, and who hear the answer.
4Q386 — Pseudo-Ezekiel^b
Fragment 1, Column i
Too fragmentary for continuous translation. Isolated vocabulary: throne (כֵּסְא), like water (כמַּיִם), voice (קוֹל), fire (אֵשׁ). The register suggests a theophanic or throne-chariot context, paralleling the opening vision of Ezekiel 1.
Fragment 1, Column ii
The clearest passage in the additional manuscripts. The dry bones vision continues; God addresses the prophet:
[...] He said to me: Son of m[an ...]
[...] I will perform wonders
for the children of Israel —
[...] and they shall live [...]
[...] and I will set them in their land [...]
[...] and they shall know that I am the LORD [...]
[...] and I will give my spirit within them [...]
[...] the former things and the la[tter ...]
The passage echoes Ezekiel 37:14 and 37:28 but is not a direct quotation. The compiler has expanded the voice of God, drawing out what the canonical text implies: that the restoration of the dry bones is a demonstration to all Israel that the LORD acts in history. The phrase “former things and latter things” moves the vision toward eschatology — the dry bones are not simply a past event but a type for the final restoration.
Fragment 2
[...] a gre[at] light [...]
[...] and the living creatures (חַיּוֹת) [...]
[...] above [...]
[...] and fo[ur ...]
A throne-chariot register: the four living creatures of Ezekiel 1. Too fragmentary for continuous translation.
4Q387 — Pseudo-Ezekiel^c
Fragment 2, Column ii
The most substantial passage in 4Q387. Ezekiel speaks to God about the condition of Israel among the nations:
[...] And I, Ezekiel, saw [...]
[...] and I said: How long, O Lord,
[will Israel be given] into the hand of the nations?
And he said to me: A time — and times — and half a time.
[...] and after this they shall return [...]
[...] and I will gather them from all the pla[ces ...]
[...] and they shall dwell in their land in safety [...]
[...] and no [enemy] shall trouble them any more [...]
The formula a time, and times, and half a time (עַד מוֹעֵד ומוֹעֲדִים וחֵצִי מוֹעֵד) is the same periodization that appears in Daniel 7:25 and 12:7. This passage is one of the clearest points where the Pseudo-Ezekiel cycle and the Danielic tradition share interpretive vocabulary. The question how long? — so central to the lament psalms and to apocalyptic literature — is here placed in the prophet’s own mouth. The community recognized itself in the question.
Fragment 3
[...] in the [day of] the sword [...]
[...] and the wicked (הָרְשָׁעִים) [...]
[...] the children of Israel [...]
[...] and they shall perish [...]
[...] the remnant (שְׁאֵרִית) [...]
A judgment oracle. The wicked will perish in the day of the sword; the remnant of Israel will be preserved.
4Q385b
A very small fragment group. Surviving vocabulary: Ezekiel (יְחֶזְקֵאל), and he showed me (וַיַּרְאֵנִי), a great mountain (הַר גָּדוֹל). The vocabulary is consistent with the Pseudo-Ezekiel cycle but no continuous translation is possible. The great mountain may recall Ezekiel 40:2, where the prophet is set down on a very high mountain to receive the vision of the new temple.
4Q388 — Pseudo-Ezekiel^d
Fragment 2
[...] and the spirit of the LORD (וְרוּח יְהוָה) [...]
[...] came upon [me] [...]
[...] bones (עֶצְמוֹת) [...]
[...] the valley [...]
The dry bones and the valley of Ezekiel 37:1–2. This manuscript witnesses the same resurrection passage as 4Q386 but is too damaged for independent rendering.
Colophon
Translated from the Hebrew by the New Tianmu Anglican Church translation project (NTAC), 2026. Source manuscripts: 4Q385b, 4Q386 (4QPsEzek^b), 4Q387 (4QPsEzek^c), 4Q388 (4QPsEzek^d), as published in Devorah Dimant, Qumran Cave 4, XXI: Parabiblical Texts, Part 4 — Pseudo-Prophetic Texts, DJD XXX (Clarendon, 2001); and Florentino García Martínez and Eibert Tigchelaar, Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Brill, 1997–98). English translations consulted for comparison only; the rendering is derived from the Hebrew source. Lacunae marked with [...]. Isolated words not yielding continuous sense are noted in context but not expanded into prose.
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Source Text
Hebrew transcription of 4Q385b, 4Q386, 4Q387, and 4Q388. Transcription follows Devorah Dimant, DJD XXX (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001) and García Martínez & Tigchelaar, DSSE (Brill, 1997–98). Unvocalized. Lacunae marked [...].
4Q386 — Pseudo-Ezekiel^b
Fragment 1, Column i (very fragmentary — isolated vocabulary only)
[כֵּסְא ...]
[כמַּיִם ...]
[קוֹל ...]
[אֵשׁ ...]
Fragment 1, Column ii
[וַיּאמֶר א]ֵ[לַי בֶּן אָדָם ...]
[וְאֶעֱשֶׂה נִפְל]ָ[אוֹת ...]
[לְבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל ...]
[וְחָיוּ ...]
[וְנְתַתִּים בְאַרְצָם ...]
[וְיָדְעוּ כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה ...]
[וְנָתַתִּי רוּחִי בְקִרְבָם ...]
[הָרִאשֹׁנוֹת והָא]ַ[חְרוֹנוֹת ...]
Fragment 2
[אוֹר] גָּד[וֹל ...]
[והַחַיּוֹת ...]
[מַעַל ...]
[ואַרְב]ַ[ע ...]
4Q387 — Pseudo-Ezekiel^c
Fragment 2, Column ii
[וַאֲנִי יְחֶזְקֵאל רָאִיתִי ...]
[וָאֹמַר עַד מָתַי אֲדֹנָי ...]
[יִתְּנוּ בְיַד הַגּוֹיִם ...]
[וַיּאמֶר לִי עַד מוֹעֵד ומוֹעֲדִים ...]
[וחֵצִי מוֹעֵד ...]
[ואַחֲרֵי כֵן יָשׁוּבוּ ...]
[ואֲסַפְתִּים אֹתָם מִכָּל הַמְּקוֹ]מ[וֹת ...]
[ויָשְׁבוּ בְאַרְצָם לָבֶטַח ...]
[ולֹא יְרָעוּם] ע[וֹד ...]
Fragment 3
[בְיוֹם הַחָׁרֶב ...]
[הָרְשָׁעִים ...]
[בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל ...]
[וְיָאבְדוּ ...]
[שְׁאֵרִית ...]
4Q385b
[יְחֶזְקֵאל ...]
[וַיַּרְאֵנִי ...]
[הַר גָּדוֹל ...]
4Q388 — Pseudo-Ezekiel^d
Fragment 2
[וְרוּח יְהוָה ...]
[עָלַי ...]
[עֶצְמוֹת ...]
[הַבְּקְעָה ...]
Source Colophon
Hebrew transcription of 4Q385b, 4Q386 (4QPsEzek^b), 4Q387 (4QPsEzek^c), 4Q388 (4QPsEzek^d). Cave 4, Qumran. Published in Devorah Dimant, Qumran Cave 4, XXI: Parabiblical Texts, Part 4 — Pseudo-Prophetic Texts, DJD XXX (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001); see also García Martínez and Tigchelaar, Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Leiden: Brill, 1997–98). Unvocalized. Lacunae reflect the fragmentary physical state of the manuscripts; no Hebrew text has been supplied beyond what is attested.
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