The Hebrew of 4Q450–4Q453, line by line as Qimron prints it. The English translation, printed with this same Hebrew, is on the page Apocryphal Lamentations A.

Source Text: קינה ותפילות (4Q450–4Q453)

The Hebrew as printed in Qimron, vol. 3, pp. 190–191. 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. Half-brackets ⸢ ⸣ mark damaged skin or faded ink, and an asterisk marks a word for which Qimron offers another reading in his notes. Line numbers follow the edition.

4Q450 קטע 1

1 [ כמכאו]י֯בינו ואין ד̄אב֯[ון כדאבוננו ]

2 [ ]וׄנערימ תעתׄעו ב֯[נו ]

3 [ ]שפכׄת לארצ כׄ[בדנו ]

4 [ ]ד֯אבון נפש ו[ ]

5 [ ]◦◦◦◦◦◦[ ]

4Q451 קטע 1

01 [ עשה למען]

1 [ש]מׄכׄהׄ ⸢[ה]⸣גדול ואל יחלׄ[ קום על אויביך]

2 ותנם ביד ידידיכה לכל[ה ופדנו באותותיכה]

3 ו֯בׄמופתיכה ועזוז יׄמׄיׄנׄכׄ[ה ]

4 [ ]לׄ◦[ ]

4Q452 קטע 1

(שוליים עליונים)

1 [ אלו]הׄי מה גדלׄתׄ[ה ]

2 [ ]אׄת גבורות א[לוהים ]

3 [ ]לׄ[ ]

4Q453 קטע 1

(שוליים עליונים)

1 *איׄככה התאחרתׄ[ ]

2 [ ]◦[ ]

Source Colophon

Transcribed from the rendered pages 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), pp. 190–191. Qimron's introductions: 4Q450 ("Lament") is two tiny fragments in a Hasmonean hand, of which he prints one; 4Q451 ("Prayer") is a single fragment in a hand from the end of the Hasmonean period; 4Q452 ("Prayer") is a tiny fragment in a hand from the end of the Hasmonean or the start of the Herodian period; 4Q453 (no title) is a single fragment with two words. First edition: Esther Chazon, DJD XXIX, pp. 395–397 (4Q450), 399–400 (4Q451), 401 (4Q452) and 403 (4Q453).

Qimron's notes, in brief:

• 4Q450, line 1: "[like our pai]ns … [like our anguish]" is his own new restoration, after Lamentations 1:12, "if there is pain like my pain"; compare also line 4.
• 4Q450, line 2: compare the Festival Prayers, 4Q509 fragment 16, line 5 (vol. 2, p. 396).
• 4Q450, line 3: "our l[iver]" is restored after Lamentations 2:11, "my liver is poured out on the ground", as Ariel and Yuditsky read; or, reading the first letter as m, "our g[all]" (m[rrtnw]), after Job 16:13, "he pours out my gall on the ground".
• 4Q451, fragment 1: it seems that the right-hand margin survives, as Strugnell thought.
• 4Q451, lines 01–1: "Act for the sake of … let it not be profaned" is his own new restoration, after Isaiah 48:9–11; yḥl is read yeḥal, "be profaned". Other proposals are in Chazon's commentary.
• 4Q451, line 2: compare the Damascus Covenant, chapter 1, lines 32–33 (vol. 1, p. 6), "and he did not give them over to destruction".
• 4Q451, lines 2–3: compare Jeremiah 32:21, "with signs and with wonders and with a strong hand".
• 4Q451, line 3: "and the might of your right hand" means "with the strength of your right hand"; compare the Hodayot 23:8 (vol. 1, p. 96), "with the right hand of your strength".
• 4Q452, lines 1–2: "my God" and "God" are his own new restorations.
• 4Q452, line 1: "how great you are".
• 4Q452, line 2: the line could begin "who can utter", after Psalm 106:2, "who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD".
• 4Q453, line 1: 'ykkh may also be read as two words, 'y kkh; in the language of the scrolls, as in biblical Hebrew, 'ykkh is used alongside 'ykh and 'yk, "how".

🌲