The Hebrew of 4Q408 (with 1Q29 as printed), line by line as Qimron prints it. The English translation, printed with this same Hebrew, is on the page Liturgy of Luminaries.
Source Text: שאלה באל (4Q408, 1Q29)
The Hebrew as printed in Qimron, vol. 2, p. 315. 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. Double brackets ⟦ ⟧ mark a gap where two fragments are joined indirectly, and ⸢ ⸣ damaged skin or faded ink. Parentheses mark an erasure in the manuscript, and ^ ^ words written above the line. In the 1Q29 lines, ⸤ ⸥ enclose letters that Qimron prints in red, from copy C (4Q408). Line numbers follow the edition.
עותק ג קטעים 3+1
1 [ ]שמׄ[ ]
2 [ ]אׄליכם שׄמ⸢ר֯ו֯⸣ לעׄשׄות אׄ[ת הדברים האלה ]
3 [ ]א֯ל ישראלׄ [ ]ה֯ד⸢ר֯⸣ הוא ליחדׄ[ ]
4 [ ]ה אל כל ישראל בׄרׄאתם֯[ ]
5 [ ב]הׄפיע מׄארי כבדו מזבול קדׄ⟦שו ברקיע השמים י⟧ענו כל֯
6 [ישראל ואמרו ]ב֯[ר]וך (יהו֯ה֯) ^אתהׄ אׄדני^ [ה]צדיק בכל דרכיךׄ הרׄ^בׄ^ כח בׄ⟦כל מש⟧פטיך הנאמן
7 בכ֯[ל דבריך] הׄמבׄין בׄכׄ[ל ש]כׄלׄ הנעו֯[ז] [ב]כ֯ל גׄבׄורה ⸢וׄצׄוׄהׄ⸣ לׄהוצי אתׄ⟦ המאורות ⟧לׄ^[ה]^[בדי]לׄ[ בין יום ללילה]
8 אשר ברתה א֯תׄ הבׄקׄר אות לׄהׄפׄיׄע ממשלת אור לגבול יוׄמםׄ בׄרׄ⟦אתו ל⟧בׄני האדםׄ[ למען יצאו]
9 לעׄבדׄתם. לברך את שמ קדשׄך֯ בראתם כי טוב האור וב[ו אות ]כׄי בׄכׄו֯לׄ ה֯דׄבריׄםׄ הׄ[אלה כבודכה]
10 [ברוך יוצר כ]לׄ הבׄרׄאׄיׄם אשר בר[ת]הׄ אתׄ הערב אות להופיעׄ ממשלת֯[ חושך לגבול לילה בראתו]
11 [לנוח ב]ו֯ מׄעׄמל לבׄרך [את שם קדשך ב]רׄאתםׄ ◦[ ]◦ים [כו]ל[ ]
1Q29 קטע 3+4 (+ עותק ג קטע 2)
1 [ ]◦[ ]
2 [ א⸤ת֯ י⸥]⸤ה֯ו֯ה⸥ אלוהיכׄהׄ [ ]
3 [ ⸤יׄעׄ⸥נו ⸤כׄ⸥ו]⸤ל ישראל⸥ ו֯[אמרו ברוך אתה יהוה]
4 [צדיק אתה יה⸤וׄ⸥]⸤ה֯ בכול מ֯⸥שׄפׄטׄ[יך ]
5 [ הנאדר ב]ר֯וב כוח הנכבד֯[ בכול ]
6 [ ]ל֯[ ]ל֯[ ]
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. 2 (Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi Press, 2013), p. 315. Qimron's introduction (p. 311): the work, שאלה באל, is found in four manuscripts, three from Cave 4 and one from Cave 1. 4Q375 is from the beginning of the Herodian period, 4Q376 from the end of the Hasmonean or the Herodian period, and 4Q408 from the Hasmonean period. 4Q376 and 4Q408 overlap here and there with 1Q29. The work seems to close with blessings of praise to God, the maker of the luminaries, in which the phrase "in all these words", characteristic of the work, occurs. Attaching blessings to statutes, and recalling the luminaries as witnesses to God's might and rule, is known from the Community Rule (column 10), with similar expressions: luminaries from the holy dwelling, sign, morning, evening. The long sequence of blessings, 4Q408 fragment 3, concerns the blessings of the luminaries. How the luminaries relate to the prophecy and to the Urim and Thummim, and the order of the work, are not clear. Qimron keeps the order fixed by the first editors, with one further join (between 4Q375 fragment 1 and 4Q376 fragment 1a); he also places 1Q29 fragment 5, which seems to concern the Urim and Thummim, before fragments 3–4, which belong to the blessings. The text is written in the style of the Torah and in the future tense, and the institutions of society in it belong to days earlier than the author's. If a prophet arises whose words seem false prophecy, but members of his tribe claim he is a true prophet, God's word must be asked by the Urim and Thummim. The work describes this inquiry in the sanctuary. Its account of the Urim and Thummim shining is like that of Josephus, Antiquities 3.163. It then seems to describe an inquiry in the war camp, but that text is lacking. From this work and others, Qimron concludes that the men of the Yaḥad expected prophecy and the Urim and Thummim to be renewed. Copy A = 4Q375, copy B = 4Q376, copy C = 4Q408. First editions: Józef Milik, 1Q29, DJD I, pp. 130–132; Annette Steudel, 4Q408, DJD XXXVI, pp. 300–315. Qimron also cites John Strugnell's edition of 4Q375 and 4Q376 (DJD XIX, pp. 111–136) and three studies by Liora Goldman.
Qimron's notes, in brief:
- Fragments 3+1: fragment 1 joins by contact the text at the end of lines 8–9.
- Line 2, šmrw: compare 1Q29 fragment 5, line 4. The scholars Qimron cites as ש״ס read šmh.
- Line 3, hdr: compare Psalm 149:9. The ש״ס read hbrʾ.
- Line 4: brʾtm, or bw ʾtm.
- Line 5, mʾry: the ש״ס read pʾry. Steudel says mʾry cannot be read, though it would suit the parallel in the Community Rule 10:3. Qimron thinks the letter is a mem whose right part is hidden under a crease.
- Line 6, hr^b^ kḥ: read from photograph 41.860. There seems to be no room for another letter between the he and the resh. The phrase means "possessed of great strength"; compare 1Q29 fragments 3+4, line 5, below, and Isaiah 40:26, "from abundance of vigour, and mighty in strength". The ש״ס read h[g]br kḥ.
- Line 7, [dbryk]: compare the Words of Joshua in 4Q379 fragment 18, line 7 (p. 71 of the volume) and the note there. hnʿwz is a new reading; wṣwh is a new reading, where the ש״ס read hnḥh. l^h^bdyl is a new reading.
- Line 8: brth = brʾt, "you created". For lhpyʿ the ש״ס read lhwpyʿ, saying the waw and the pe are joined because of a crease. Ywmm means "the time of light".
- Lines 8–9: [l]bny hʾdm … lʿbdtm is restored after Psalm 104:23.
- Line 10: for hbrʾym the ש״ס read mtym.
- Lines 10–11 are restored after lines 8–9.
- Line 11, mʿml: read from photograph 41.515.
- 1Q29 fragments 3+4, line 2: for ʾlwhykh Milik reads ʾlwhykmh.
- Line 3: [kw]l; copy C has kl.
- Lines 3–4 are restored after copy C fragments 3+1, lines 5–6, and the Community Rule 1:26.
- Line 4: bkwl; copy C has bkl.
🌲