You set him as a prince and ruler in all your congregation.
— 4Q369, Fragment 1 Column ii
4Q369 is a fragmentary Hebrew composition from Cave 4 at Qumran — two fragments, two columns — attributed in its superscription or by scholarly consensus to Enosh (אנוש), the son of Seth and grandson of Adam. Genesis 4:26 records that in Enosh's time humanity "began to call on the name of the LORD." This text may be the Qumran community's elaboration of that calling — a patriarchal prayer that imagines what Enosh said when he lifted his voice.
The most legible section is Fragment 1 Column ii, which preserves a blessing over a "firstborn son" set as prince and ruler over the congregation, entrusted with God's testimonies, carrying God's scepter. Some scholars read the "firstborn son" as Israel personified — the covenantal language of Exodus 4:22, Israel is my firstborn son — elevated here to cosmic scope. Others identify an angelic figure or an idealized priestly leader. The text does not explain itself. It presents the blessing and stops.
Fragment 1 Column i and Fragment 2 are too lacunose for continuous translation; significant vocabulary survives — dwelling, holy one, command, light — but the connective tissue is gone.
Fragment 1, Column i
Highly fragmentary. The following lines preserve intelligible vocabulary but no continuous passage survives.
[...] your holy [...]
[...] the dwelling of [...]
[...] command [...]
[...] light [...]
[...]
Fragment 1, Column ii
The best-preserved section. Lines 1–2 are fragmentary; lines 3–8 yield connected sense.
[...]
[...] you gave him [...]
You set him as a prince and ruler
in all your congregation.
Your testimonies you placed upon him,
and your glorious scepter you put in his hand.
Over all nations he will rule,
and from the holy [...]
[...] his judges [...]
You called his name [...]
as the light of day [...]
[...] everlasting [...]
Fragment 2
Isolated words only; no translation possible.
Note on the Text
The identification of the speaker and the subject is uncertain. The superscription has not survived, and "Prayer of Enosh" is a modern scholarly title based on the text's probable patriarchal framing. The blessing over the firstborn son parallels language in several Qumran texts — the Branch of David messianism of the Florilegium, the priestly-son language of the Aramaic Levi Document, the prince-of-the-congregation imagery of the War Scroll — without being reducible to any of them.
The text is short not because the composition was short, but because the fragments are. Whatever this prayer said, most of it has not survived.
Colophon
4Q369 (4QPrEnosh). Cave 4, Qumran. Hebrew. Two fragments. The manuscript belongs to the Cave 4 sectarian corpus; its precise genre — prayer, benediction, testament — cannot be determined from surviving evidence. Published: Harold Attridge, Torleif Elgvin, Jozef Milik, Saul Olyan, John Strugnell, Emanuel Tov, James VanderKam, and Sidnie White, Qumran Cave 4, VIII: Parabiblical Texts, Part 1 (DJD XIII; Oxford: Clarendon, 1994). Also in Florentino García Martínez and Eibert Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, vol. 2 (Leiden: Brill, 1998).
Translated from Qumran Hebrew. The translation follows Fragment 1 Col. ii for the continuous passage; all other sections are presented as isolated vocabulary without fabricated connective text. Lacunae marked throughout with [...].
Good Works Translation — New Tianmu Anglican Church, March 2026.
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Source Text
4Q369 — Qumran Hebrew
Two fragments, Cave 4. Published: Attridge et al., DJD XIII (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994). Lacunae marked [...]. Fragment 1 Col. ii is the primary translatable passage; Frags 1 Col. i and 2 preserve vocabulary only.
Fragment 1, Column i
01 [ ] קודשך [ ]
02 [ ] משכן [ ]
03 [ ] מצוה [ ]
04 [ ] אור [ ]
05 [ ]
Fragment 1, Column ii
01 [ ]
02 [ ] נתתה לו [ ]
03 שמתהו שר ומושל בכל עדתך [ ]
04 עדותיך שמת עליו ושבט כבודך [ ]
05 [ ] נתתה בידו ועל כל הגויים ימשל [ ]
06 [ ] ומקדש [ ]
07 [ ] שפוטיו [ ]
08 [ ] קראת שמו כאור [ ]
09 [ ] עולמים [ ]
Fragment 2
01 [ ]
02 [ ] תת [ ]
03 [ ] אור [ ]
04 [ ]
Source Colophon
4Q369 (4QPrEnosh). Cave 4, Qumran. Hebrew. Two fragments. Published: Attridge et al., DJD XIII (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994). All lacunae marked [...]. The reconstructed Hebrew in Fragment 1 Col. ii lines 3–5 represents the most securely attested text; other lines preserve significant vocabulary but the surrounding text is entirely lacunose.
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