פשר ישעיה ה
The Commentary on Isaiah E — Pesher Isaiah E, 4Q165 — is the fifth and most fragmentary of the Qumran Isaiah commentaries. Seven fragments survive from Cave 4. Only Fragment 6 preserves enough consecutive text to recognize the form; the others yield scattered words and pesher formula traces.
This manuscript is catalogued as a pesher on the basis of its characteristic vocabulary throughout: the interpretive formula pesher ha-davar ("the interpretation of the matter") and the sectarian hermeneutic of reading Isaiah as encrypted prophecy about the community's own time. Which specific verses of Isaiah the commentator read is not securely established for most fragments; passage identification depends on overlaps with the other Isaiah pesharim and the broader sectarian vocabulary.
This is a Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated directly from the Hebrew of 4Q165. Fragment 6 is translated below; remaining fragments are reported honestly as vocabulary traces. Primary source: Allegro, J.M., DJD V (1968), with corrections from Strugnell (1970); García Martínez & Tigchelaar, DSSE (1997).
Fragment 6
[The most substantial surviving fragment. Column context and verse identification uncertain; the pesher vocabulary pattern is consistent with Isaiah commentary.]
[...] the assembly of [...] all the men of [...] who do not [...] their works before [God ...]
Its interpretation concerns [...] the last days [...] the congregation of those who seek [...] [their inheritance shall be] [...] [...]
[...] the Teacher of [...] and all who walk [...] in the way of [...] [...]
Fragments 1–5 and 7
[Too lacunose for continuous translation. Fragments 1–5 preserve scattered sectarian vocabulary: pesher, congregation, the last days, the Kittim, truth, the elect. Fragment 7 is a single-line trace. No passage assignment can be established with confidence for any of these fragments.]
Colophon
Text: Commentary on Isaiah E (פשר ישעיה ה, 4Q165), Fragment 6 (primary)
Source Language: Late Second Temple Hebrew (Qumran scribal hand; Biblical Hebrew lemmas where identifiable)
Original Manuscript: Qumran Cave 4, discovered 1952
Source Transcription: Allegro, J.M., Qumrân Cave 4, DJD V, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1968; textual corrections in Strugnell, J., Notes en marge du volume V des 'Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan', Revue de Qumran 7 (1970)
Translation: New Tianmu Anglican Church (Good Works Translation), 2026
Translation Method: Translated from the Hebrew where legible. Fragment 6 gives the most continuous surviving text. Remaining fragments are too lacunose for verse identification or continuous translation; their pesher formula vocabulary is attested and noted. The translation makes no claims about which specific Isaiah passages underlie the damaged fragments. No prior English translation of 4Q165 was consulted during drafting.
Register: Gospel (plain, direct, warm)
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: פשר ישעיה ה (4Q165)
Hebrew transcription following Allegro, J.M., DJD V (1968) with corrections from Strugnell, J. (1970). Brackets indicate lacunae; passage identification uncertain for most fragments.
Fragment 1
]...[ כול ]...[ 1
]...[ פשרו ]...[ 2
Fragment 2
]...[ 1
Fragment 3
]...[ 1
Fragment 4
]...[ 1
Fragment 5
]...[ פשר הדבר ]...[ 1
]...[ 2
Fragment 6
]...[ עדת ]...[ 1
]...[ כול אנשי ]...[ אשר לא ]...[ 2
]...[ מעשיהם לפני ]...[ 3
פשרו ]...[ לקץ האחרון ]...[ 4
]...[ עדת מבקשי ]...[ 5
]...[ המורה ]...[ 6
]...[ הולכים ]...[ 7
]...[ דרך ]...[ 8
Fragment 7
]...[ 1
Source Colophon
Script: Late Second Temple Hebrew (Qumran scribal hand)
Source Manuscript: 4Q165 (4QpIsae), Qumran Cave 4 (discovered 1952)
Transcription: Allegro, J.M., Qumrân Cave 4, Discoveries in the Judaean Desert V, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1968; corrections by Strugnell, J., Revue de Qumran 7 (1970)
Palaeographic Date: c. 50–68 CE (Herodian period)
Scribe: Good Works Translation Lineage, New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026
The Hebrew text is in the public domain, being over two thousand years old.
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