The Hebrew of 4Q457, line by line as Qimron prints it. The English translation, printed with this same Hebrew, is on the page Hymn of Zion.

Source Text: מלחמה (4Q457)

The Hebrew as printed in Qimron, vol. 3, pp. 193–194. 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, as printed. Line numbers follow the edition.

קטע 1

1 [ ]◦[ ]

2 הׄגוׄיׄםׄ[ ]

3 ומי יעמׄ[וד ]

4 יולד בה ו֯[ ]

5 עדת אל גׄ[בור ]

6 ⸢וׄיׄך בה֯ם֯⸣[ ]

7 חרים בצעם [ ]

8 ו֯[יוח]ר֯םׄ כל⸢◦◦⸣[ ]

קטע 2

(שוליים עליונים)

1 נלחם אל בהם ואׄת֯[ ]

2 שמח ד֯ויד להשיב [מלחמה כול אשר חפץ]

3 יעשה עליון בשמים [ובארץ רוזני ארץ וכול]

4 מלכיה לעשות בׄל֯י֯ דׄי [ ]

5 אלוהינו כול קדושים [עמו ועליהמה יזרח עליון]

6 וכבודו עליהמה ירא[ה ]

7 ויאומרו לעליוׄ[ן אבינו אתה ]

8 אשׄ[ר] הׄכול מעׄשׄי֯וׄ ◦[ ]

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. 193–194. Qimron's introduction: two fragments in a Hasmonean hand, written over another composition that has not been deciphered. Only a little of the upper text survives in the two fragments, but from its use of verses of scripture one can learn that it concerns the salvation with which the LORD will save Israel in Jerusalem at the end of days and the subjugation of the nations to Israel. God is spoken of in the third person, and in one place he is called "our God" (fragment 2, line 5). First edition: Esther Chazon, DJD XXIX, pp. 409–419.

Qimron's notes, in brief:

• Fragment 1, line 4: compare Psalm 87:5, "And of Zion it will be said, 'Each and every one was born in her.'"
• Fragment 1, line 6: wyk bhm, "and he struck them", is a new reading.
• Fragment 1, line 7: ḥrym is perhaps heḥerim, "he devoted". Chazon compares Micah 4:13, "and I will devote their gain to the LORD"; "their gain" relates to Zion. The form is pronounced êrim because the gutturals have weakened; compare the Samaritan pronunciation, such as wârimti, and the Samaritan text's wḥrmty in Numbers 21:2.
• Fragment 1, line 8: w[ywḥ]rm, "and [it was devo]ted", is a new reading, after the verse in line 7. The reading kl◦◦[ ] is difficult: after the lamed something like a waw seems to appear between the lines; see Chazon's detailed discussion.
• Fragment 2, lines 1–2: these lines open with forms that look like past-tense verbs, and it seems that a historical precedent for God's salvation at the end of days is described here. Even so, nlḥm could be read as a participle, "fights", and śmḥ as a phonetic variant of ṣemaḥ, "Branch", as Chazon proposed; compare J. Greenfield, HUCA 30 (1959), pp. 141–151.
• Fragment 2, lines 2–3: compare Psalm 135:6.
• Fragment 2, line 4: bly dy is a new reading; compare Malachi 3:10, "until there is no more need". The writing is faded and perhaps erased; Chazon reads bydy, "in my hands".
• Fragment 2, line 5: compare Zechariah 14:5, "and the LORD my God will come, all the holy ones with you", and Isaiah 60:2, "and upon you the LORD will shine, and his glory will be seen upon you".
• Fragment 2, line 6: compare the thanksgiving for God's kindnesses in 4Q369, fragment 1, column ii, line 3.
• Fragment 2, lines 7–8: restored after Isaiah 64:7.
• Fragment 2, line 8: hkwl mʿśyw, "all things are his works", is a new reading; the remains of the he are faint and may belong to the erased text beneath. Chazon reads kwl mʿśyh◦◦[ ].

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