Do not be afraid of any confusion [...] before you I am in dread, for like the dread of God they have plotted [...] Let not the warriors boast of their might.
(Three fragments of a single Cave 4 manuscript. Fragment 1 is a divine comfort address; Fragment 5 col. i is a first-person prayer; Fragment 8 is a poetic oracle against self-glorification. The text is too lacunose for continuous translation; surviving vocabulary is presented as attested.)
Fragment 1 — The Comfort Oracle
[...] ... [...]
[...] the earth will be [...]
[...] their strength, and he did not [...]
[...] he chose [...]
[...] Judah, to be a prie[st] for him [...]
[...] do not be afraid of any confusion [...]
[...] from all afflictions and straits [...]
[...] for they will surround y[ou ...]
[...] do not be afraid, and do not be ter[rified ...]
[...] will come to you, and you shall hold on [...]
[...] for the time of distr[ess ...]
[...] remember [...]
Fragment 5, Col. i — The Prayer
[...] you, and before you I am in dread,
for like the dread of God they have plotted against you.
[...] for confusion in Israel,
and for something terrible in Ephraim [...]
[...] to the height of the Most High,
for from generation [to generation ...]
for you have not forsaken your servant [...]
Fragment 8 — Against Boasting
[...] in the land: let not the warriors boast of their might [...]
[...] nor kings of the power of their armies,
nor princes [...]
[...] of their weapons of war
and the strength of their cities. [...]
[...] there is none like him,
and there is no might [...]
[...] to help us [...]
[...] ... and our leaders ... [...]
Colophon
Text: 4Q460 (4QNarrative Work and Prayer, also designated ROC 254), Cave 4. Three fragments. Published by Erik Larson and Lawrence Schiffman in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert XXII (Oxford: Clarendon, 1996), pp. 283–299.
Fragment 1 is formally a divine comfort address (אל תירא / do not be afraid) — a genre familiar from Deutero-Isaiah (cf. Isa 41:10–13). The particular phrase "do not be afraid of any confusion" (אל תדאג מכול מהומות) and "do not be afraid and do not be terrified" (אל תירא ואל תחת) are characteristic of Deuteronomic and prophetic reassurance. The choice of Judah "to be a priest for him" (יהודה להיות לו כוהן) in Fragment 1 line 5 is noteworthy — not a Levitical designation but a broader covenantal appointment, possibly reflecting the community's expanded understanding of priestly election.
Fragment 5 col. i transitions to first-person prayer. The phrase "like the dread of God they plan evil" (כפחד אלהים זממו) is a striking theological inversion: the enemies direct against the speaker the same kind of awe that should orient toward God alone. Line 2 names "confusion in Israel" (למהומה בישראל) and "something terrible in Ephraim" (לשערוריה באפרים) — language associated with prophetic oracles of judgment against the northern kingdom and its ongoing cultic deviations.
Fragment 8 is formally a prohibition against self-glorification. The direct parallel is Jeremiah 9:22–23: "Let not the wise boast in wisdom, nor the mighty in strength, nor the rich in riches" — but the Qumran text's formulation focuses specifically on warriors (גבורים), kings, and princes, and their weapons of war and fortified cities. The final affirmation that there is "none like him" likely refers to God as the true source of strength.
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, pp. 934–939. All lacunae marked [...]; restored text in brackets follows scholarly consensus.
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Source Text
4Q460 — Hebrew Fragments 1, 5, 8
Hebrew transcription from García Martínez and Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, vol. 2, pp. 934–939 (Brill, 1997–1999). Square brackets indicate lacunae or restorations. "vacat" marks an intentional blank.
Frag. 1
[…] ]…[בות 1
[… ]… [תהיה הא]רץ 2
[… ]… [עוזם ולוא 3
[…]בחר ב 4
[… י[הודה להיות לו כוה]ן 5
[… ]אל תדאג מכול מהומות 6
[… ]ומ[ל כ]ל מצוקות וצרות 7
[… י]סובוכ]ה 8
[… ואל] תחת[ 9
[… ואחזתה 10
[… כ]יא עת צר]ה 11
[…]זכור 12
Frag. 5 col. i
]…[כה ולפניכה אפחד כיא כפחד אלוהים זממו 1
]…[ל]… [למהומה בישראל ולשערוריה באפרים 2
[… מא]רץ אשמות למרום עליון כיא לדור 3
[ו]לדור ]… כ[יא לוא אתה עזבתה לעבדכה 4
Frag. 8
[…]…[…] 1
[… ]…[ בארץ אל יתהללו הגבורים ]בגבורתם 2
[…]בכוחם ומלכים בחיל עוזם ושרים 3
[…]בכלי מלחמתם vacat ובערי עוזם 4
[…].ר כמוהו ואין אדיר 5
[…].ר לעוזרנו וש 6
[…]עם ואיליני א 7
Notes
Frag. 1, line 5: יהודה להיות לו כוהן = "Judah, to be a priest for him." An unusual designation — Judah is not a priestly tribe. May reflect sectarian covenantal theology in which election to priesthood extends beyond Levi.
Frag. 1, line 6: אל תדאג מכול מהומות = "do not be afraid of any confusion/panic." Cf. Deuteronomy 7:21; the formula is standard divine reassurance.
Frag. 5, line 1: כפחד אלהים זממו = "like the dread of God they have plotted." The enemies misappropriate divine awe for hostile purposes.
Frag. 5, line 2: שערוריה = "something horrible / an abomination / terrible deed." Used in Hosea 6:10 for Israel's cultic corruption.
Frag. 8, lines 2–4: Echoes Jeremiah 9:22–23. The specific mention of weapons of war (כלי מלחמה) and fortified cities (ערי עוז) extends Jeremiah's individual boasting prohibition into a communal military context.
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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