To reveal the secret — and to return to the Torah of Moses.
— 5Q13, Fragment 1
5Q13, known in earlier scholarship as a "rule-like text," is a Hebrew liturgical composition recovered from Cave 5 at Qumran. Maurice Baillet published the fragments in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert III (1962), pp. 180–183, identifying the text as a community document of the sect. In 2001, Eibert Tigchelaar revisited the fragments and proposed the designation Avodah — the Hebrew term for "service" or "worship," and specifically the name of a liturgical genre that recites God's saving acts in history as the basis for covenant renewal ("5Q13 and the ʿAvodah: A Historical Survey and its Significance," Dead Sea Discoveries 8 [2001], 136–148).
The structure is a covenantal anamnesis — a liturgical recitation of what God has done, addressed directly to God in the second person, as the basis for the community's standing before him. The text opens with the standard Qumran blessing formula ("Blessed are you, O God of all") attested also in the Berakhot scrolls (4Q286–290) and moves into a historical survey that mirrors the shape of the Community Rule's covenant ceremony (1QS I–II): from creation/foundation, through the patriarchs (Noah and the flood, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob at Bethel), to the election of Levi for priestly service, to the gift of the Torah through Moses.
The phrase "to reveal the secret" alludes to Psalm 25:14: "The secret of the LORD is for those who fear him, and his covenant to make them know." 5Q13 cites or echoes this verse, giving the covenant-knowledge theme its Scriptural anchor. The sect understood itself as the community that possesses this secret — the correct interpretation of Torah and calendar that the Temple establishment has abandoned.
The closing sequence — "every man of Israel... atonement... to return to the Torah of Moses" — places this text in the tradition of the Damascus Document's foundational call (CD I–III) and the Community Rule's admission procedures. The text likely functioned as a liturgical recitation in the communal covenant-renewal ceremony.
Fragment 1 is the longest and most readable. Fragments 2–3 partially repeat or continue the material of Fragment 1. Fragments 5–12 are too lacunose for continuous translation. Lacunae are marked [...].
Fragment 1, Column 1
Blessed are you, O God of all —
[...] and he founded [...]
[...] his treasury [...]
[...] as [...] you were [...]
[...] and to walk before you forever [...]
[...] to serve in your temple [...]
[...] and you were pleased — you delivered him from the flood, Abraham [...]
[...] you desired — and Isaac [...]
[...] his going out was whole [...]
[...] Jacob [...] at Bethel [...]
[...] your covenant to Israel [...]
[...] and you gave to him [...] for the service [...]
[...] the service of [...]
[...] and in Aaron [...] Levi to go out [...]
Fragment 1, Column 2
[...] to come before [God] [...]
[...] to reveal the secret [...]
[...] Israel [...]
[...] to renew before you [...]
[...] forever [...]
[...] and he commanded him [...] unto [...] and one [...]
Fragments 2–3
Fragments 2–3 partially overlap with Fragment 1 material, repeating key phrases:
[...] your covenant [...]
[...] and you gave to him [...]
[...] to inherit [...]
[...] the service of [...]
[...] to go out [...]
Closing Sequence
The following appears near the end of the readable text, likely concluding the covenantal recitation:
Amen —
[...] and atonement [...] every man of Israel [...]
[...] upon [...] heart [...]
[...] to return to the Torah of Moses [...]
Colophon
5Q13. Cave 5, Qumran. Hebrew. Multiple fragments, Herodian-period script. Principal publication: Maurice Baillet, Qumrân Grotte 4: II, III, V, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI (4Q128–4Q157, 5Q1–5Q25, 6Q1–6Q31, etc.) (DJD III; Oxford: Clarendon, 1962), pp. 180–183. Scholarly study: Eibert Tigchelaar, "5Q13 and the ʿAvodah: A Historical Survey and its Significance," Dead Sea Discoveries 8 (2001), 136–148.
Translated from Hebrew via the Qimron Composite Edition (2020, CC BY 4.0), decoded from Mac Roman Miqdas font encoding using the full-string reversal algorithm confirmed across the collection. Fragment 1 yields the bulk of translatable content; Fragments 2–3 partially overlap; Fragments 5–12 are too lacunose for continuous translation. All lacunae marked [...]. Uncertain readings include the verb in the "flood" sequence (line 44), where the decoding yields a form consistent with either ותפלטהו ("delivered him") or a related verb, both yielding the same sense in context.
Good Works Translation — New Tianmu Anglican Church, March 2026.
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Source Text
5Q13 — Cave 5 Hebrew
Multiple fragments. The following presents the most securely attested Hebrew phrases from Fragment 1, decoded from the Qimron Composite Edition. All lacunae marked [...]. Lines without surviving vocabulary are omitted. The full critical text is in Baillet, DJD III (1962), pp. 180–183.
Fragment 1, Column 1
01 [ ]
02 ברוך אתה [אלהי הכול]
03 [ ] ויסד [ ]
04 [ ] אוצרו [ ]
05 [ ] כאשר [ ] יתה [ ]
06 [ ] ולכה להתהלך לפיכה [לעד]
07 [ ] לשרת בהיכלכה [ ]
08 [ ] ובוח רציתה ותפלטהו מן המבול אברהם [ ]
09 [ ] חפצתה ואת יצחק [ ]
10 [ ] צאתו תם [ ]
11 [ ] יעקוב [ ] בבית אל [ ]
12 [ ] בריתכה לישראל [ ]
13 [ ] ותתן לו [ ] לעבודת [ ]
14 [ ] עבודת [ ]
15 [ ] ובאהרון [ ] לוי לצאת [ ]
Fragment 1, Column 2
01 [ ] ולבוא לפי ה[ ]
02 [ ] לגלות סתר [ ]
03 [ ] ישראל [ ]
04 [ ] לחדש לפיכה [ ]
05 [ ] לעולמים [ ]
06 [ ] וצוהו להטd [ ] ואחד [ ]
Closing Sequence
01 [ ] אמן [ ]
02 [ ] וכופר [ ] כל איש ישראל [ ]
03 [ ] על [ ] לב [ ]
04 [ ] לשוב אל תורת משה [ ]את
Source Colophon
5Q13. Cave 5, Qumran. Hebrew. Published: Baillet, DJD III (Oxford: Clarendon, 1962). The decoded phrases above are drawn from the Qimron Composite Edition (2020); character map: full-string reversal of Mac Roman Miqdas font encoding. The phrase ולכה להתהלך לפיכה (Fragment 1 col. 1 line 6) is clearly legible; the flood-rescue verb in line 8 is consistent with ותפלטהו across multiple readings. All lacunae marked [...].
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