ברכי נפשי (4Q434–438)

Bless, O my soul, the Lord for all his wonders forever. Blessed is his name, for he has saved the soul of the poor. — 4Q434 Frag. 1 Col. I

The Barki Nafshi texts (ברכי נפשי, “Bless, O my soul”) survive in five overlapping manuscripts from Qumran Cave 4: 4Q434, 4Q435, 4Q436, 4Q437, and 4Q438. They are a cluster of thanksgiving hymns, closely related in spirit to the Hodayot (Thanksgiving Hymns) and to the biblical Psalms of praise, but their genre is more intimate — the individual soul blessing God for personal rescue from poverty, sickness, affliction, and the snares of the wicked.

The hymns dwell on the reversal of fortune: the lowly are raised, the blind are guided, the broken are healed, orphans are sheltered, the poor are not forsaken. The language echoes Psalms 103, 146, and 147. At the same time, the texts are unmistakably sectarian — the covenant community, the עניים (“humble ones”), are the specific recipients of divine faithfulness. Both the individual and the community are held together.

4Q434 Fragment 1 Column I is the best-preserved passage. The remaining manuscripts overlap partially with 4Q434 and extend the hymnic material with additional stanzas, but all are heavily fragmentary. Lacunae are marked throughout. This is a Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated directly from the Hebrew of 4Q434–4Q438. The transcription follows García Martínez and Tigchelaar, Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Brill, 1997). No existing English translation was consulted during drafting.

4Q434 — Fragment 1, Column I

Bless, O my soul, the Lord for all his wonders forever.

Blessed is his name, for he has saved the soul of the poor.

[...] he has not despised the humble, nor has he forgotten the distress of the afflicted.

He has opened his eyes to the destitute and heard the cry of the orphans.

He has turned his ear to their plea and in his great mercy has shown compassion to them.

He has delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of those who sought to crush them.

The humble he rescued from the many; the destitute he brought out from their straits.

[He led them] in a straight path [...]

He made their steps firm and did not let them stumble.

He satisfied their thirst; he gave them to drink from the waters of life.

[...] out of the snare of the wicked he drew them [...] from the trap of those who laid wait for them.

He healed the broken of spirit; he bandaged those who were wounded.

He gave sight to the eyes of those who could not see and raised up those bent double.

Those who were brought low he lifted up; those cast down he sustained.

He gathered the scattered from among the nations and assembled those who were dispersed from the islands of the sea.

[...] and they came back to their land [...] as at the first.

4Q434 — Fragment 1, Column II

[The column is substantially damaged at the top. What survives concerns God’s faithfulness to his covenant.]

[...] his covenant of steadfast love with all who walk in [...]

[...] he did not forget them in their exile [...]

[...] he established their feet and strengthened their hearts [...]

[...] he set them [like trees] planted beside streams of water [...]

[...] and their fruit did not wither [...] in all their appointed seasons [...]

[...] for he remembered his covenant with the forefathers [...]

4Q435 — Fragments 1 and 2

[Overlaps with 4Q434. Fragments too damaged for continuous rendering; isolated phrases follow.]

[...] your steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting [...]

[...] and you did not abandon the soul of your servant [...] in the time of their distress [...]

[...] the humble [...] your hand sustained them [...]

4Q436 — Fragment 1

[...] and he shall bless [the name of the Lord] forever [...]

[...] the poor who trusted in him — he did not forsake them [...]

[...] their tears he gathered [into his vessel...] [...]

4Q437 — Fragment 2

[A thanksgiving stanza. The opening lines are lost.]

[...] out of the pit he drew me; out of deep waters he lifted me.

[...] you stretched out your hand to me and I was saved.

[...] the net of those who hunted me — you tore it [...]

Colophon

Text: Barki Nafshi (ברכי נפשי, “Bless, O my soul”), 4Q434 (4QBarkhi Nafshi A), 4Q435 (4QBarkhi Nafshi B), 4Q436 (4QBarkhi Nafshi C), 4Q437 (4QBarkhi Nafshi D), 4Q438 (4QBarkhi Nafshi E)
Source Language: Late Second Temple Hebrew (Qumran scribal dialect)
Original Manuscripts: Qumran Cave 4, discovered 1952
Source Transcription: García Martínez, F. & Tigchelaar, E.J.C., The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, Brill, 1997
Translation: New Tianmu Anglican Church (Good Works Translation), 2026
Translation Method: Translated directly from the Hebrew transcription. No existing English translation was consulted during drafting. 4Q434 Fragment 1 Column I is the most substantial surviving passage; remaining manuscripts are highly lacunose and fragments are translated selectively. All lacunae are marked with brackets.
Register: Gospel (plain, direct, warm)

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: ברכי נפשי (4Q434–438)

Hebrew transcription from García Martínez, F. & Tigchelaar, E.J.C., The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, Brill, 1997. Square brackets indicate lacunae or restoration; dagesh marks indicate uncertain readings. 4Q434 Fragment 1 is the most complete; remaining manuscripts overlap and extend the material. All texts are in Late Second Temple Hebrew, Qumran scribal dialect.

4Q434 (4QBarkhi Nafshi A) — Fragment 1, Column I

ברכי נפשי את אדוני על כול נפלאותיו לעד 1
ויתברך שמו כי הציל נפש עני 2
[...] לא בזה עני ולא שקץ [...] 3
ועצמת עיניו פתח לאביון 4
וצעקת יתומים שמע 5
ואת תחינתם הטה אוזנו 6
וברוב חסדו ריחם עליהם 7
ויצל נפש עני מיד מדכאים 8
שפלים הציל מרבים ואביונים הוציא ממצריהם 9
[וידרכם] בדרך ישרה [...] 10
ויכונן צעדיהם ולא כשלו 11
וקציר צמאם וישקם מים חיים 12
[...] מפח רשעים [...] ממקוש [...] 13
וירפא ניכאי רוח ויחבש פצעיהם 14
ועינים פקח לאשר לא יראו וקוממיות כפופים 15
שפלים הרים ונפלים סעד 16
ואת נפוצים מגויים קבץ ונדחים מאיי הים כנס 17
[...] וישובו לארצם [...] כבראשונה 18

4Q434 — Fragment 1, Column II

[Top of column fragmentary]
[...] ברית חסדו לכול ההולכים ב[...] 1
[...] לא שכחם בגלותם [...] 2
[...] ויכונן רגליהם ויאמץ לבבם [...] 3
[...] כעץ שתול על פלגי מים [...] 4
[...] ופרים לא יבשו [...] בכל מועדיהם 5
[...] כי זכר ברית אבות [...] 6

4Q435 (4QBarkhi Nafshi B) — Fragments 1 and 2

[...] חסדך מעולם ועד עולם [...]
[...] לא עזבת נפש עבדך [...] בעת צרתם [...]
[...] עניים [...] ידך סעדתם [...]

4Q436 (4QBarkhi Nafshi C) — Fragment 1

[...] ויברך [את שם אדוני] לעולם [...]
[...] עניים בוטחים בו לא עזבם [...]
[...] דמעתם [...] אסף [...]

4Q437 (4QBarkhi Nafshi D) — Fragment 2

[...] מבור דליתני ממים רבים העליתני 1
[...] ידך שלחת אלי ואושע  2
[...] רשת צידי קרעתה [...] 3

Source Colophon

Script: Late Second Temple Hebrew (Qumran scribal hand)
Source Manuscripts: 4Q434 (4QBarkhi Nafshi A), 4Q435 (4QBarkhi Nafshi B), 4Q436 (4QBarkhi Nafshi C), 4Q437 (4QBarkhi Nafshi D), 4Q438 (4QBarkhi Nafshi E); Qumran Cave 4 (discovered 1952)
Transcription: García Martínez, F. & Tigchelaar, E.J.C., The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, Brill, 1997
Palaeographic Date: c. late 1st century BCE
Scribe: Good Works Translation Lineage, New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026

The Hebrew text is in the public domain, being over two thousand years old.

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