[...] the man and his wife [...] daughter of truth and who walks [...] He shall bless the God of Israel [...] their adults and youths [...] seed of blessing, old men and old women [...] young men and young women, boys and girls [...] and they will say: Blessed is the God of Israel [...]
The text is heavily lacunose throughout; continuous translation is possible only in the most legible sections. Surviving vocabulary is presented as attested. Scholarly debate continues about whether 4Q502 records a literal wedding ceremony or a Golden Age festival (Baumgarten 1983; Satlow 1998).
Fragments 1–3: The Marriage Teaching
[...] the man who acknowledges [...] when you add [...]
[...] the law of God [...] to one who lacks [...]
[...] the man and his wife, for [...] ... [...]
[...] to procreate offspring [...] these [...]
[...] which [...] holy ones, praising God [...]
[...] to be holy [...] for him, daughter of truth and who walks [...]
[...] his companion who [...] for her, intelligence and knowledge in the midst of [...]
[...] together, to be [...]
[...] suffering [...] and atoning [...]
[...] for the sons of justice [...] on this day [...]
[...] [...] Aaron [...]
Fragments 7–10: The Blessing of Creation
[...] give thanks [...]
[...] together [...]
He shall bless the God of Israel, and starting to speak, he shall say:
Blessed is the God of Israel who [...] the time of happiness to praise his name —
[...] their adults and youths.
[...] rams and he-goats [...] in our flocks, and the creatures that creep
under our shade, the birds that fly in our sky, our land and all its produce,
and all the fruits of its trees. Our waters, and the waters of its abyss —
we all give thanks to the name of the God of Israel,
who has given us a feast for our happiness.
And also the witness of the praises [...] among just adults —
[...] in peace, giving thanks to God and celebrating.
[...] the adults who bless in our midst.
[...] holy [...] most holy adults.
Today I bless the God of Israel [...]
Adults of knowledge [...]
He has made us happy by the testimony [...]
Fragment 14: Sons and Daughters
[...] ... [...]
[...] the testimonies and also [...]
[...] the God of Israel who has commanded the sons of [...]
[...] your glory ... and the love of your favour [...]
[...] sons and daughters [...]
Fragment 16: A Spirit of Knowledge
This fragment parallels the Community Rule (1QS iv 4–6).
[...] and a spirit of knowledge in all the plans of action,
of enthusiasm for the decrees of justice,
of holy plans with firm purpose,
of generous compassion with all the sons of truth,
of magnificent purity which detests all unclean idols,
of careful behaviour in wisdom concerning everything,
of concealment concerning the truth of the mysteries of knowledge.
These are the foundations of the spirit of the sons of truth in the world.
And the reward of all those who walk in it [...]
Fragment 19: The Assembled Congregation
He will sit with him in the assembly of the holy ones [...]
Seed of blessing — old men and old women —
young men and young women, boys and girls —
together with all of us.
And afterwards the men shall speak, and they shall say:
Blessed is the God of Israel who [...]
their iniquities [...]
Fragment 24: Address to the Woman
All the feasts [...]
The man of praises. Blessed is the God of Israel who has helped [...]
the length of your life in the midst of an everlasting nation [...]
And she will take a place in the assembly of old men and old women [...]
your days in peace [...]
in the midst of old men [...]
Fragment 27: Eternal Ministers
Eternal spirits [...]
who serve you continuously, evening and morning [...]
with all the signs of their months [...]
with the stars of the heaven [...]
your plantation [...]
Colophon
Text: 4Q502 (4QpapRitMar, Hebrew on papyrus), Cave 4. Twenty-seven or more fragments. Published by M. Baillet in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert VII (Oxford: Clarendon, 1982), pp. 81–105, pls. XXIX–XXXIV.
4Q502 is the longest non-biblical liturgical papyrus in the DSS corpus. Its extraordinary content — a ceremony that gathers old men, old women, young men, young women, boys, and girls together in a communal blessing that enumerates all of creation — has generated the central scholarly debate about its genre.
Baillet titled the text "Ritual of Marriage" (Rituel de Mariage), interpreting Fragments 1–3 as wedding legislation (the man and his wife, the "daughter of truth who walks," the procreation of offspring) and Fragment 24's direct address "to the woman" (אישה) as a blessing formula for the bride. On this reading, 4Q502 is the only Qumran text to describe an actual wedding ceremony.
Baumgarten (1983) and Satlow (1998) proposed alternative readings: the assembled congregation of all ages and sexes, the creation enumeration, and the calendrical-cosmological imagery of Fragment 27 (monthly signs, stars of heaven) suggest a New Year festival or Golden Age ritual rather than a wedding. The community's well-known restriction of women from certain assemblies (cf. the Damascus Document's camp regulations) complicates the picture.
Both readings have textual support. The word אישה ("wife / the woman") in Fragment 24 is direct address to a female figure; but the communal blessing formula of Fragment 19 — "seed of blessing, old men and old women, young men and young women, boys and girls, together with all of us" — sounds less like a wedding than a covenant assembly. The fragment that parallels 1QS iv 4–6 (the "spirit of knowledge" passage describing the inheritance of the sons of truth) may indicate that this ritual was also a covenant renewal ceremony.
Fragment 27's "eternal spirits who serve you continuously, evening and morning" with "the signs of their months" and "the stars of heaven" sets this ritual within cosmic time — the liturgical rhythm of heaven itself. The closing "your plantation" echoes 4Q500's vineyard vocabulary, suggesting a shared symbolic world of the sacred garden.
Translation: Good Works Translation from Hebrew by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Hebrew transcription consulted in García Martínez and Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Brill, 1997–1999), vol. 2, pp. 994–997.
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Source Text
4Q502 — Hebrew Fragments
Hebrew transcription from García Martínez and Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, vol. 2, pp. 994–997 (Brill, 1997–1999). Square brackets indicate lacunae or restorations. Braces { } indicate scribal cancellation.
Fragments 1–3
[… ]… א[דם מכיר] … [כהוסיפ]כם 1
] ]…[ם חוק אל 2
[…] ]… האדם [ואשתו ל]…[תכינוה 3
]… [לעשות 4
[…] זרע] …[.אלה 5
]…[. א]. [אשר חש]… קו[דשים מודה לאל] …[ 5
]…[לו מהיות קוד]ש …[ת לו בת אמת ומתהל]כת 6
]…[ רעייתו 7
[…] ]…[רא אב.]… י[חד להיות ל 8
[… ]אש]ר … [לה שכל ובינה בתוך 8
[… ] ]…[. עונת ש.]…[אל ומכפר 9
]…[ם לבני צד]ק … [ביום הזה 10
[…] ]…[ל]… א[הרון 11
Fragments 7–10
[…] ]…[יש 1
[… ]…[הוד]ו 2
]…[.ת יחד 3
[…]]…[שים 4
]… יברך את [אל ישראל וענה וא]מר 4
]ברון אל 5
ישראל אשר … ק[ץ שמחה להלל שמו 5
]…[ אשישיהם ונערים 6
]…[.ותם ]כ[בשים וע]זים …[.ה במקנינו ומרמש 7
]הרו[מש בצלתנו 8
והעוף] המעופף בשמי[נו ואדמתנו וכול יבולה 8
] ]וכו[ל פרי עצה ומימינו 9
]מודי[ם שם אל ישראל א]שר נתן לנו מ[ועד 10
לשמחתנו וגם 10
]… א[שישי ד]עת …[ודו כב]…[לם 17
]… שמ[חנו בתע]ודת 18
Fragment 16
]ורוח דעת בכול מחשבת [מעשה ]וקנאת משפטי צדק 1
[ומחשבת ]קודש ביצר סמוך ורוב [חסדים ע]ל כול בני אמת וטהרת 2
[כבוד מתעב כול ]גלולי נדה והצנ[ע לכת בערמת ]כול וחבא לאמת רזי 3
[דעת אלה סודי רוח ]לבני אמת תב[ל] ופקו[דת כול] הולכי בה 4
Fragment 19
[וישב עמו בסוד ק]דושים 1
זרע ברכה זקנים וזק]נות 2
[… בחורים ובתולות נערים ונע]רות 3
[…] עם כולנו יחד ואני ת 4
ואח]ר[ ידברו אנשי 5
]וענו [ואמרו ברוך ]א[ל] ישראל אשר 6
]… ע[וונתם י 7
Fragment 24
[… ]… כול מועדי[ה אישה הודות 1
]… [ברון אל 2
ישראל אשר עזר 2
]…הר[בות חייך בתוך עם עולמי]ם 3
[… ]…ו[עמדה בסוד זקני]ם[ זקנו]ת 4
[… ]…[ ימיכה בשלום ו 5
[… ]…ב[תוך זק]נים 6
Fragment 27
משרתי[ם לכה תמיד ]…[רוהי עולמים 1
[… ]. ובוקר ע[רב 2
[… ]… [עם כול דגלי יר]חיהם 3
[… ]… [עם כוכב]י השמים 4
[… ]…[מטעכה ]…[ 5
Source Colophon
Source: Hebrew (papyrus). Cave 4, Qumran. DJD VII (Baillet, 1982). Transcription: García Martínez and Tigchelaar, DSSE (1997–1999), vol. 2, pp. 994–997.
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