They sought him, and they found him [...] to listen, and instructing [...] to do his will, and to observe his precepts [...] to turn back to the LORD their God.

(Ten fragmentary lines of a single Cave 4 fragment. The text is too lacunose for continuous translation; surviving vocabulary is presented as attested.)

[...] to kill him [...]
[...] ... through them, and he gave them into the hand of [...]
[...] through hard labour, and he gave them upon [...]
[...] ... until its end. And he made them an object of horror.
[...] they sou[ght] him, and they found h[im ...]
[...] to listen, and instructing [...]
[...] the foundations of earth until [...]
[...] to do his will, and to observe his precepts [...]
[...] to turn back to the LORD their God [...]
[...] and see, O LORD, their old age [...]

Colophon

Text: 4Q461 (4QNarrative B, also designated ROC 441), Cave 4. One fragment of ten lines. Published by Erik Larson and Lawrence Schiffman in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert XXII (Oxford: Clarendon, 1996), pp. 311 (forthcoming attribution).

Despite heavy lacunae, the theological arc of 4Q461 Fragment 1 is legible. The text opens with violence and subjugation — killing, giving over into the hand of another, hard labour — invoking the language of the exile and its aftermath. Line 4's "he made them an object of horror" (ויתנם לשמה) is a standard phrase for divine punishment (cf. Jer 25:18; Ezek 5:14). But the trajectory turns in line 5: "they sought him, and they found him" — the language of return and encounter with God (cf. 2 Chr 15:2, "if you seek him, he will be found by you"). Lines 7–9 build the theological conclusion: the foundations of the earth, doing God's will, observing his precepts, turning back to the LORD. Line 10 closes with a vulnerable appeal: "see, O LORD, their old age" (ראה יהוה את שיבתם) — the word שיבה means both "old age" and "return"; this is almost certainly intentional, a play on the two meanings: see both their return and their years.

The text belongs to the prayer-narrative tradition already represented in the collection by Narrative Work and Prayer (4Q460), Words of the Luminaries (4Q504), and the communal confession strand of the Damascus Document.

Translation: Good Works Translation from Hebrew by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Hebrew transcription consulted in García Martínez and Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Brill, 1997–1999), vol. 2, p. 938.

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Source Text

4Q461 — Hebrew Fragment 1

Hebrew transcription from García Martínez and Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, vol. 2, p. 938 (Brill, 1997–1999). Square brackets indicate lacunae or restorations. Braces { } indicate scribal correction.

[…].  ]…[. להמיתו    1
[…].  ]…[הו בהמה ויתנם ביד    2
[… ]…  ]…[. בעבודה קשה ויתנם על    3
vacat ויתנם    4
[…]. לש}ו{מה  ]…[ים עד קצה    4
[…].  ]…[. בק]שוהו וימצאוה]ו    5
[…  ]…[ לשמוע    6
[…]. ומשכיל ו  ]…[ מוסדות תבל עד כ    7
[… מ]וסדות לעשות רצונו    8
[…]. ולשמור חקיו  ]…[ להשיב אל יהוה אלוהיהמה    9
]…[וראה יהוה את שיבתם .]…[    10

Notes

Line 4: ויתנם לשמה = "and he made them an object of horror/desolation." The root שמם = desolation, horror; a standard term for divine judgment. The scribe wrote לש}ו{מה (with a superfluous ו corrected).

Line 5: בקשוהו וימצאוהו = "they sought him and they found him." Cf. 2 Chronicles 15:2; Deuteronomy 4:29.

Line 7: מוסדות תבל = "the foundations of the earth/world." A cosmological phrase appearing in Job 38:4 and 2 Samuel 22:16.

Line 10: שיבתם — the word is ambiguous: שיבה = "old age" (cf. Gen 15:15), or the nominal form of שוב = "return." Both meanings are likely active simultaneously.

Source Colophon

Source: Hebrew. Cave 4, Qumran. DJD XXII (Larson & Schiffman, 1996). Transcription: García Martínez and Tigchelaar, DSSE (1997–1999), vol. 2.

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