The first lot went out to the sons of Aaron, each man according to his spirit.
Introduction
The Four Lots (4Q279) is a brief but theologically precise sectarian text from Cave 4, published in DJD XXXVII (Pfann, Alexander et al., 2000). It belongs to the Community Rule family of texts — legislation governing the structure of the Qumran covenant community — and assigns four distinct lots to four groups: the sons of Aaron (priests), the Levites, the sons of Israel, and the proselytes (גרים), each allocated according to the spirit of the individual.
The assignment of community membership by lot (גורל) is one of the most characteristic features of Qumran theology. A lot is not random; it expresses divine determination. This text formalizes what the Community Rule (1QS) describes in broader terms: the community's fourfold social hierarchy maps onto a spiritual hierarchy, and each individual's standing is a direct expression of the spirit allotted to them. The phrase each man according to his spirit (איש לפי רוחו) appears after each of the four lot assignments — a refrain insisting that rank, place, and spiritual portion are one and the same thing.
The four-group division — priests, Levites, Israel, proselytes — corresponds to the enrollment order prescribed in 1QS 2:19–22, where the community files before God in just this order at the annual covenant renewal ceremony. The Four Lots text may be the formal lot-casting document underlying that ceremony: the procedural record of how membership is formally allocated.
Fragment 2 is the primary readable fragment. Fragment 1 is too lacunose for continuous translation.
Fragment 2
[Fragment 1 is too damaged for continuous translation.]
[Col. ii, line 1–2: too fragmentary.]
[Line 3:] [...] after him [...] and they are to come according to their statutes. His covenant of [lovingkindness...]
[Line 4:] The first lot went out to the sons of Aaron, each man according to his spirit, the first to [all of them...]
[Line 5:] And the second lot to the Levites, [each man according to his spirit.] The third [lot] to the sons of Israel,
[Line 6:] [each man according to his spirit.] The fourth lot to the proselytes, each man according to his spirit, and [...]
[Lines 7–8: too fragmentary.]
Colophon
Translated from the Hebrew of 4Q279 (Cave 4, Qumran), published in DJD XXXVII (Pfann, Alexander et al., 2000). The Qimron composite edition (CC BY 4.0) was the primary working text. Fragment 2 preserves the four lot assignments; Fragment 1 is too lacunose for translation. The phrase איש לפי רוחו (each man according to his spirit) is rendered literally. Lacunae marked with square brackets throughout.
Good Works Translation — New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Translated by Tulku Shira.
🌲
Source Text
4Q279 — Fragment 2
קטע ב, עמ׳ ב
[ל.] [...] אחריו [...ו]לבוא כדתי[הם חסד ד]
הגורל הראשון ויצא לבני אהרן איש לפי רוחו הראשון לכ[ל...]
והגורל השני לוויים [איש לפי רוחו] השלישי [ה]גו[רל ל]בני ישראל
[איש לפי רוחו] הגורל הרביעי לגרים איש לפי רוחו ו[...]
[...] [...] [...]
Transcription based on DJD XXXVII and the Qimron composite edition. Lacunae marked with brackets; uncertain letters unmarked. The text is written in the Herodian square script characteristic of the Community Rule manuscripts.
Source Colophon
Hebrew transcription of 4Q279 (Four Lots), Cave 4, Qumran. Published in DJD XXXVII (Pfann, Alexander et al., 2000), and included in the Qimron composite edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls (CC BY 4.0, Zenodo 2020). Fragment 2 preserves the most legible content.
🌲