The Hebrew of 4Q468b, line by line as Qimron prints it. The English translation, printed with this same Hebrew, is on the page Hymn of Light (4Q468b).
Source Text: הכוהן הגדול (4Q468b)
The Hebrew as printed in Qimron, vol. 3, p. 208. 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. Line numbers follow the edition.
קטע 1
(שוליים עליונים)
1 [ לב]שתי אני לנוגהי [ ]
2 [ באור ]משבצתי יתהלכו כול בנ֯[י צדק ]
3 [זוהר ה]מׄלך עלי ו̄אור נגהו על ◦[ ]
4 [ כשמ]שׄ בצאתה מזבול ק֯[ודשו ]
5 [ בני ]עׄוׄל וׄבני צד֯[ק ]
6 [ קו]ד֯ש קודש֯[ים ]
7 [מי יער]וׄך לי [ ]
Source Colophon
Transcribed from the rendered page 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), p. 208. Qimron's introduction: an interesting text in the first person. In the first editor's view it speaks of the light the High Priest gives off when he comes out of the Holy of Holies. Yod is clearly distinguished from waw in this hand, and Qimron's transcription follows the hand. The first editor compared Ben Sira 50:5–7. First edition: Magen Broshi, DJD XXXVI, pp. 403–404.
Qimron's notes, in brief:
- Line 1: if the restoration [lav]ashti, "I have put on", is right, compare Psalm 104:1–2, "you have put on splendour and majesty, wrapping yourself in light like a cloak", and Ben Sira 50:11, "when he wrapped himself in garments of glory and clothed himself in garments of beauty".
- Line 2: mishbetsotai, "my settings", means the precious stones set in the High Priest's garments. Bn[e tsedeq], "so[ns of righteousness]", is restored after line 5.
- Line 3: [ha]-melekh, "the King", means God. Nogho, "his brightness", is spelled without the waw, unlike lnwghy in line 1.
- Line 7: completed after Psalm 89:7. Broshi reads [ ]yk lw.
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