4Q411, from the Hebrew
This is a single fragment from Qumran Cave 4, written in a script of the late Hasmonean or early Herodian period. Qimron's heading names it only "Wisdom" (חוכמה). Only the right-hand edge of seventeen lines survives, so each line keeps just its first few words. They call the reader to rejoice in wisdom and to fear the LORD, "lest he tear you away", and speak of "one day" as good. A speaker says "I have begun" and "I have known", and asks "Who is wise?" The last part turns to creation: God's understanding, the heavens spread out like a tent, and a line-opening repeated three times, "The LORD created". Qimron notes that he restored several sentences from parallels, or by conjecture, to show how the surviving words hang together. The fragment was first published by Annette Steudel.
1 [And] you will rejoice in wis[dom. Do not cease to fear]
2 the LORD, lest he tear [you away from the land of the living. Is it not]
3 good, one day [ … ]
4 Look, I have begun ◦[ … ]
5 to humankind, and he cr[eated … ]
6 I have known [ … ]
7 Who is wise and [knows … ]
8 and he redeemed; he opened [ … ]
9 And his understanding, who [knows it? By it he stretched out the heavens and spread them out]
10 like a tent to dw[ell in. The LORD created all]
11 flesh. The LO[RD created … ]
12 The LORD created ḥ[ … ]
13 The LORD created š[ … ]
14 They shone forth lʾ[ … ]
15 to appear [ … ]
16 for de[light … ]
17 [Y]HWH [ … ]
Colophon
A Good Works Translation from the Hebrew of 4Q411. It was made directly from Elisha Qimron's composite text, The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Hebrew Writings, vol. 3 (Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi Press, 2015), p. 162, read from the page as reprinted in Qimron's The Qumran Texts: Composite Edition (Zenodo, 2020, doi:10.5281/zenodo.3737950, CC BY 4.0). Words in square brackets are restorations printed by Qimron. ◦ marks a letter too damaged to read, and … marks a gap. The divine name YHWH is rendered "the LORD"; in line 17, where its first letter is a restoration and its last a doubtful reading, it is given as [Y]HWH. In line 8 the first word may be read "and he redeemed" or "and one who redeems"; Qimron marks its first letter as one that could also be read as a yod. Line 4's hna is taken as "look" (hinneh). Where only a few letters survive, they are given in transliteration. No English translation was used. This translation replaces an earlier one that was made before the edition's Hebrew could be read.
Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church, with AI-assisted translation.
© 2026 Tianmu Anglican Church. This English translation is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: you may share and adapt it for non-commercial use with credit to the Good Works Library, tianmu.org. The source text keeps its own terms. For other uses, see Rights and Reuse.
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Source Text: חוכמה (4Q411)
The Hebrew as printed in Qimron, vol. 3, p. 162. 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. Line numbers follow the edition.
1 [ו]תשׄמח בחכׄ[מה אל תחדל ליראה את]
2 יׄהׄוה פן יסׄח[כה מארץ חיים הלוא]
3 טוב יום אחדׄ[ ]
4 הנא החׄלתי ◦[ ]
5 לאדם והוא בׄ[רא ]
6 ידעתי את [ ]
7 מי חכם וׄ[ידע ]
8 ו̄גאל פׄצה א֯[ת ]
9 ותבונתו מי [ידע בה נטה שמים וימתחם]
10 כאהל לש[בת יהוה ברא כול]
11 בשרׄ יהו[ה ברא ]
12 יהוהׄ ברא חׄ[ ]
13 יהוה ברא שׄ[ ]
14 הופיעו לא֯[ ]
15 להרׄאות֯[ ]
16 לשעשׄ[ועים ]
17 ⸢[י]⸣הוה֯[ ]
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. 162. Qimron's introduction: a single fragment in a script of the end of the Hasmonean or the beginning of the Herodian period. From the little that survives one may guess that it belongs to a wisdom composition. It mentions God the Creator, whose word is the beginning of wisdom, and it speaks partly in the first person. Qimron has restored several sentences from parallels or by conjecture, to show the sense and syntax that join the surviving words. First edition: Annette Steudel, DJD XX, pp. 159–162.
Qimron's notes, in brief:
- Line 2: the restoration "lest he tear [you away from the land of the living]" follows Ariel and Yuditsky, after Deuteronomy 28:63 and Psalm 52:7. Steudel reads pn ysḥ[r].
- Line 3: compare the Wisdom of God's Mighty Acts (4Q185), column 2, lines 4–5 (vol. 2, p. 111). Binyamin Elitzur points to Psalm 84:11, "for a day in your courts is better", and to the Septuagint and the Vulgate, which read "one day" where the Hebrew has "a day".
- Line 8: Steudel reads bṣh for pṣh; García Martínez and Tigchelaar read bṣhl[h].
- Line 9: compare Isaiah 40:22, "who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in", and Jeremiah 10:12, "and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens".
- Line 10: Steudel reads bʾhl for kʾhl.
- Line 11: either yhw[h] or whw[ʾ], "and he".
- Lines 11–13: for the repeated "The LORD created", compare the repeated "God made" in the Wisdom of God's Mighty Acts (4Q185), column 3, lines 9–13 (vol. 2, p. 112).
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