Sunday, March 22, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Ritual and Purity
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Texts
4Q560 ExorcismA Good Works Translation of 4Q560 from Aramaic. A short Cave 4 adjuration against evil spirits — male and female — commanding them not to enter the body by day or night.Blessing of the SeedCave 4 Hebrew fragment preserving a dynastic or priestly blessing formula invoking the divine name and the continuity of the addressee's line.Blessings for the FamilyA liturgical blessing text from Cave 4 involving the entire community — elders, women, young men, virgins, and children — joined in blessing a couple and their household.Communal CeremonyA fragmentary covenant renewal ceremony from Cave 4 (4Q275), featuring blessings, curses, and the gathering of the sectarian assembly in the third month.Four LotsDead Sea Scroll (4Q279) — Qumran sectarian text assigning four lots to the sons of Aaron, the Levites, the sons of Israel, and the proselytes, each according to their spiritIncantation Against Evil SpiritsA Good Works Translation of 4Q444 from Hebrew — a fragmentary Cave 4 apotropaic text in which a person who fears God opens the mouth in truth and knowledge, strengthens themselves in the statutes of God, and fights against the spirits of wickedness.Liturgy of the Three Tongues of FireA Good Works Translation of 1Q29 from Hebrew — a Cave 1 liturgical manuscript describing a ceremony of three tongues of fire, closely parallel to the luminous oracle of the Apocryphon of Moses (4Q376).Purification BlessingsLiturgical blessings for communal purification from bodily impurity — the sectarian ceremony for reentry into the congregation of the pure.Purification LiturgyDead Sea Scroll (4Q284 / Tohorot D) — Qumran purity text governing the harvesting of grain and produce by persons in impure statesRed Heifer PuritySectarian elaboration of the red heifer ritual (4Q276–4Q277 / Tohorot C–D), extending Numbers 19 to cover the handling of blood, ashes, and contamination from bodily discharge.Ritual of MarriageCave 4 Hebrew papyrus scroll of a communal ritual — the most detailed liturgy of blessing in the DSS corpus, addressed to a married couple and the assembled congregation of old and young together.Text Mentioning Mixed KindsCave 4 Hebrew Fragment 1, three lines; mentions elders, judges of mixed kinds (kilayim), and captors of the wicked; a judicial or halakhic text.Tohorot ADead Sea Scroll (4Q274) — Qumran halakhic text governing the purity of those who glean grain and produce, with rules preventing impure gleaners from touching the drink of the Many