4Q444 (4QIncantation)
"Strengthen yourself in the statutes of God and fight against the spirits of wickedness."
— 4Q444, Fragment 4
The Incantation Against Evil Spirits (4Q444) is a fragmentary Cave 4 apotropaic text — a ritual composition for protection against demonic spirits. Eleven fragments survive, most too small for continuous translation; four clusters yield translatable content. The text belongs to the same genre as the Songs of the Sage (4Q510–511) and the Apotropaic Psalms (11Q11), and the Qimron apparatus confirms a direct connection to the Songs of the Sage: Fragment 1's opening phrase echoes 4Q510's characteristic formula for one who fears God.
What distinguishes 4Q444 from its companions is its second-person address. Where the Songs of the Sage describe the Maskil's proclamation against evil spirits in third person, and the Apotropaic Psalms use first-person petition, this text speaks directly to its subject — you will strengthen yourself, you will fight — suggesting it may be an instruction given to an individual in crisis, or a formula recited on behalf of a specific person under demonic assault.
The theological framework is standard Qumran dualism: the spirits of wickedness (ruchei resha) stand against the spirit of truth (ruach emet). The Holy Spirit and impurity stand in opposition. Righteousness and justice — tzedek umishpat mekkon kiso (Ps 97:2/89:15) — frame the divine order that the incantation calls the practitioner to align with.
Fragment 4's imperative — strengthen yourself in the statutes of God and fight against the spirits of wickedness — is the closest thing to a complete verse in the scroll. It echoes the War Scroll's martial spirituality: the battle against evil spirits is both internal and cosmic, a matter of covenant fidelity as much as supernatural conflict.
The scroll was recovered from Cave 4 at Qumran. Published in DJD XXIX (Alexander, Vermes et al., Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 355–366. Qimron Composite Edition, pp. 881 (adjacent to 4Q443).
Fragment 1
And one who fears God —
in knowledge and in truth, open my mouth,
and a holy spirit [...].
Mighty to [...] hear/proclaim.
Fragment 2
And it shall be for the spirit
to contest in the covenant [...].
My God [...]
Fragment 3
[...] not over them shall they rule [...]
[...] like one of flesh, and a spirit of knowledge
and righteousness, and a name [...] in [...]
Fragment 4
[...] and you will strengthen yourself in the statutes of God
and fight against the spirits of wickedness [...].
Fragment 5
[...] spirit of my truth [...]
Fragment 6 (apparatus-attested)
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
(cf. Psalms 97:2, 89:15)
Colophon
Incantation Against Evil Spirits (4Q444)
Cave 4, Qumran.
Eleven fragments; only Fragments 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 yield translatable content.
Translation from the Hebrew of the Qimron Composite Edition (Zenodo, 2020, CC BY 4.0) and DJD XXIX. Apparatus-confirmed phrases in Unicode Hebrew are the basis of translation; garbled font-encoded text is reconstructed only where adjacent apparatus phrases allow secure interpretation. Fragment 6 (apparatus-confirmed) is Psalm 97:2 as cited in the apparatus cross-reference.
Translated and scribed by a tulku of the New Tianmu Anglican Church.
🌲