Those who glean the grain — are they who are not in the covenant to eat of it?

Introduction

The Purification Liturgy (4Q284, also designated Tohorot D or Qumran Purity Rules C) is a Cave 4 Hebrew manuscript published in DJD XXXV (Baumgarten, 1999). It is a close companion to Tohorot A (4Q274), sharing subject matter — the purity of those who harvest grain and produce — and appearing in the Qimron composite edition on the same page as Tohorot A, suggesting the scribal tradition regarded them as related texts.

The Purification Liturgy extends the halakhic question: what is the status of grain harvested by a person who has not entered the covenant? May such produce be eaten? The mention of the covenant (brit) and the phrase "one who has not entered the covenant" (asher lo' ba' ba-brit) indicates that this is not merely agricultural law in the biblical sense, but sectarian boundary legislation — determining who may or may not participate in the community's food supply. The parallel concern with tuma (impurity) and tahara (purity) throughout is characteristic of the Qumran legal corpus.

4Q284a is a small overlapping manuscript. The fragments are very few and largely lacunose; the translation covers only what is securely readable.

Fragment 1

[Line 1: too fragmentary.]

[Line 2:] [...] they shall glean the grain [...] an impure man or [...] they shall glean [...]

[Line 3:] [...] for he is not to touch the drink of the Many [...] the ones who are not [pure...]

[Line 4:] [...] they shall glean [...] and the grain [...] and he shall not eat [...]

[Line 5:] [...] so shall go out from them [...] and they shall glean, and all [...] an impure man [...]

[Line 6:] [...] a man who was not [admitted] [...] if he goes out to them in a vessel [...]

[Line 7:] [...] in the field [...] they shall not redeem them [...] until the [harvest] is stripped [...]

[Line 8:] [...] and they shall press [...] when it is complete [...] let them return [...] to their house [...]

Fragment 2

[Line 1: too fragmentary.]

[Line 2:] [...] they shall glean [...] in purity [...]

[Line 3:] [...] it will descend upon them [...] rain [...]

[Line 4:] [...] let them not eat [...] from the one who has not entered the covenant [...]

[Lines 5–8: too fragmentary for translation.]

Colophon

Translated from the Hebrew of 4Q284 / 4Q284a (Cave 4, Qumran), published in DJD XXXV (Baumgarten, 1999). The Qimron composite edition (CC BY 4.0) was the primary working text. The text is extremely fragmentary; only what is securely readable has been translated. The phrase לא בא בברית (one who has not entered the covenant) is rendered literally as a Qumran technical term. Lacunae marked with square brackets throughout.

Good Works Translation — New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Translated by Tulku Shira.

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Source Text

4Q284 — Fragment 1

קטע א

[...]
ילקטו [ה]תבואה [...] טמא איש [א]ו [...] ילקטו [...]
כי לא יגע במשקה [הרבים ...] אשר לא [ט]הורים [...]
ילקטו [...] ה]תבואה [...] לא יאכל [...]
[...] ויצ[א מ]הם [...] ויל[קטו] וכל [...] טמא איש [...]
[...] איש אשר לא [נ]כנ[ס] [...] ואם יצא לו [ב]כלי [...]
[...] בשד[ה] [...] לא יגאלו [...] עד אשר יע[ר]ה [...]
[...] ויסח[טו] [...] עד [ה]גמרה [...] ויש[וב]ו [...] לביתם [...]

4Q284 — Fragment 2

קטע ב

[...]
ילקטו [...] ב]טהרה [...]
ירד עליהם [...] גשם [...]
לא יאכלו [...] אשר לא בא בברית [...]
[...] [...]

Source Colophon

Hebrew transcription of 4Q284 / 4Q284a (Purification Liturgy / Tohorot D), Cave 4, Qumran. Published in DJD XXXV (Baumgarten, 1999), and included in the Qimron composite edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls (CC BY 4.0, Zenodo 2020). Lacunae marked with brackets.

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