Then he devised a plan against me — and why was it in their hearts to act against me?
Together they entered. They bowed down. Then he knew there was nothing left.
He set himself upon my neck and embraced me.
(Two fragmentary Cave 4 Aramaic manuscripts — 4Q538 and 4Q539 — both too brief for independent treatment, presented here as companion pieces. Together they witness a body of Second Temple literature expanding the Joseph cycle beyond what Genesis preserves.)
4Q538 — Testament of Judah
Fragment 1
[...] Then he devised a plan against [...].
Against me — and why was it in their hearts [to act] against me [...].
Together they entered [...].
They bowed down.
Then he knew that there was no [...],
and he could no longer [...].
He set himself upon my neck and embraced me [...].
Joseph again — and all [...].
Fragment 2
After I had been brought and introduced [...],
their heads bowed, and before Joseph —
an evil spirit, and he could no longer [...] against his brothers.
He was afraid [...].
And not [...].
4Q539 — Apocryphon of Joseph B
Fragment 2
[...] Jacob [...].
Hear, my sons —
listen to me, my beloved ones [...].
My father Jacob observed mourning [...]
the sons of my uncle Ishmael [...].
Eighty [...].
To announce good news [...].
My brother, to announce [...].
The men [...].
Colophon
Text: 4Q538 (4QTestament of Judah ar, Aramaic), Cave 4. PAM 43.573; ROC 450. 4Q539 (4QApocryphon of Joseph B ar, Aramaic), Cave 4. PAM 42.443, 43.593; ROC 433. Both published in É. Puech, DJD XXXI (Clarendon, 2001). Transcriptions consulted in García Martínez and Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Brill, 1997–1999), vol. 2, pp. 1076–1077.
4Q538 belongs to the Aramaic testament genre of the Second Temple period — patriarchal narratives elaborating events only sketched in Genesis. Fragment 1 places Judah in the confrontation of Genesis 44–45: the brothers bow before Joseph (cf. Gen 44:14), and the patriarch addresses him directly. Fragment 2's ruaḥ beisha (evil spirit) is an apocryphal addition with no MT parallel — the spirit seizes the scene as Judah stands before Joseph, connecting to the broader Qumran theology of duelling spirits (cf. 1QS iii–iv; Visions of Amram 4Q544).
The manuscript is related to the Testament of Naphtali (4Q215) and the Aramaic Levi Document (4Q213–214); all belong to the corpus of pre-Qumran Aramaic Patriarchal literature that the sect preserved and elaborated.
4Q539 ("Apocryphon of Joseph B") is distinct from the Hebrew Apocryphon of Joseph (4Q372) already in this collection. Fragment 2 preserves the address-to-sons framework shared with the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (shemu beni, "hear, my sons"). The reference to Jacob mourning with "the sons of my uncle Ishmael" is unparalleled — possibly an elaboration of Genesis 35:29, where Isaac's burial brings Esau and Jacob together, or of the tradition connecting Jacob and the Ishmaelite traders of the Joseph sale (Gen 37:25–28). The figure "eighty" may refer to persons, years, or shekels in a now-lost narrative.
Translated from Aramaic by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text
4Q538 (4QTJud ar) — Cave 4, PAM 43.573, ROC 450.
Fragment 1:
1. [... א]דין חשל ע[ל ...]
2. [...] ע[לי ואן איתי בל]ב[בה]ו[ן ...] ע[לי
3. [...] יהון ב[...] כח]ד[א עלו [...]
4. [...] סגדו אדין ידע די לא [...]
5. [...] ולא עוד יכל לא [...]
6. [...] אית]י ע[ל צורי ועפק]נ[י [...]
7. [...] ע[וד יוסף וכול [...]
8. [...] ת]עמ[...]
Fragment 2:
1. [...] ... [...]
2. [...] כדי או]בל[ת ואעלת
3. [...] רא]שי[הון וקדם יוסף
4. [...] ר[וח באישה ולא יכל עוד
5. [...] אחוהי
6. [...] דחל
7. [...] ולא
4Q539 (4QapocrJoseph B ar) — Cave 4, PAM 42.443, 43.593, ROC 433.
Fragment 2:
1. [...] יעקוב ב [...]
2. [...] ש[מעו בני [...] ואצי[תו לי חביבי
3. [...] בני דדי ]יש[מע]אל [...] ספד אבי י]עקוב
4. [...] תמנית
5. [...] למבשר ש [...]
6. [...]
7. [...] אחי למבשר
Aramaic transcriptions from The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, vol. 2 (García Martínez & Tigchelaar, Brill, 1998). Lacunae marked [...]. Text preserved in the Israel Antiquities Authority Dead Sea Scrolls Collections.
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