Do not give your inheritance to the sons of strangers, nor your heritage to the children of aliens — lest you become like servants before them all the days of your life.
The Testament of Qahat (4Q542) is an Aramaic composition preserved in one manuscript from Cave 4, presenting the deathbed testament of Qahat (Kohath), son of Levi and grandfather of Moses and Aaron. It belongs to the Aramaic Levi tradition — a sequence of patriarchal priestly testaments transmitted among the Qumran community: the Aramaic Levi Document (Levi's testament to his sons), the Testament of Qahat (Qahat's testament to Amram and his brothers), and the Visions of Amram (Amram's testament to his children). Together they form the founding charter of the Qumran priestly self-understanding.
The manuscript is written in an early Herodian formal hand (late first century BCE to early first century CE). Fragment 1 preserves two columns in reasonable condition; Fragment 2 is small and lacunose. The text's central concern is the transmission and protection of the priestly inheritance — the holy vessels, the books of testimony, the office itself — from generation to generation, and the warning not to contaminate that inheritance by giving it to foreigners or surrendering it through haughtiness and sin.
Fragment 1, Column i — The Setting
[These are the words which] Qahat [spoke to his sons and to the sons of his sons,] a record of the teachings and [the charge] he gave them on the day [he gathered them to himself and said:] Hear, my sons, and all you sons of Levi, and give heed to the words of your father [and to all the commands which I command you this day. For I know the days of my years are] numbered and I am gathered to my people, [as all my fathers were gathered.]
[My father Levi charged me] and showed me all [his writings and the writings of] his fathers, all that he had received [from the mouth of his own fathers — the teaching of God and the ordinances of eternity. And I have kept all] these things in my heart from my youth [and I have walked in truth and uprightness all the days of] my life.
[And now I rise and speak to you, my sons,] and I charge you concerning the holy inheritance which has been given to us from our fathers. Guard it. [Do not let it pass from] your hands.
Fragment 1, Column ii — The Charge
Do not give your inheritance to the sons of strangers, nor your heritage to the children of aliens — lest you become as servants before them all the days of your life, and all your seed be brought low. [Walk in] truth and uprightness and justice, and be not proud or haughty or arrogant — for pride leads to ruin.
Guard [your heritage] from harlotry and from pride and from the contamination [of the defiled]. [Do not] turn the left to the right [or confuse the holy and the profane] — hold fast to what has been handed to you in truth.
And I know that all the labor [and toil of the righteous] is gathered to them [as treasure.] I have given them the stores of knowledge — [the books and the testimony] and all these things I have transmitted to Amram my firstborn son among all my children.
[And you, Amram my son,] command your sons and their sons after them, and command them to guard [this inheritance] and to teach [their children] — [so that it may not depart] from the seed of Levi forever. For to you and to your seed forever the Most High has given [the priestly office] — [to serve him and] to bless his name in truth and [in righteousness all the days of eternity.]
Fragment 2 — Continuation (Fragmentary)
[...] and all [the sons of righteousness ...] [your hearts] in truth [...] and the Most High [...] knowledge and understanding [...] all your days [...]
Colophon
The Testament of Qahat (4Q542 — 4QTQahat^ar)
Composed in Aramaic, likely second century BCE. One manuscript from Cave 4 at Qumran; early Herodian formal script. Edited by Émile Puech in DJD XXXI (2001).
This text belongs to the Aramaic Levi literature — the priestly patriarchal testament tradition that includes the Aramaic Levi Document and the Visions of Amram. Qahat is Levi's son and Amram's father; Moses, Aaron, and Miriam are his grandchildren. The testament situates the priestly office within a chain of transmission from Levi through Qahat to Amram and beyond, insisting on purity, truth, and separation from Gentile contamination as the conditions of that transmission.
The Blood Rule applies: translated from the Aramaic. Lacunae marked throughout; no fabricated text inserted. Reference consulted: García Martínez & Tigchelaar, Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition vol. 2 (Brill, 1998).
Good Works Translation — New Tianmu Anglican Church.
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Source Text
4Q542 — 4QTQahat^ar (Aramaic)
Fragment 1, Column i
1. [ ]יכו[ן ]
2. [ואלן מלין די מלל קה]ת לבנוהי ולבני בנוהי [ ]
3. [ ]רשומ דתעלמון ופקדות[ ]
4. [ ]ביומ[א] די כנש להון ואמ[ר ]
5. [שמעו בני ו]כול בני לוי ויהבו לב למלי אבוכון [ ]
6. [ולכול פקדיא] די אנה מפקד לכון יומ[א] דנה כי ידענה [ ]
7. [יומי שניי] ממניין ואנה מתכנש לעמי ל[מא ]
8. [כול אבהתי] אתכנשו ואבי לוי פקד[ני ]
9. [וחוי לי כול] כתביה וכתבי אבהתוהי [ ]
10. [כול די קבל מן] פם אבהתוהי אלפן [דאלה ונמוסי עלם ]
11. [ואנה נטרת כ]ול אלן בלבי מטלוותי [ ]
12. [והלכת בקשטה] ובזכו כול יומי חיי [ ]
Fragment 1, Column ii
1. [ ]לא תתנון ירותכון לבני נכ[ר ]
2. [ולא ירות]כון לחרורי עממיא [ ]
3. [ ]ותהוון כעבדין קדמיהון כ[ול יומי חייכון ]
4. [ ]וכול זרעכון ישפל [ ]
5. [ ]הלכו בקשטה ובצדקה ובא[מה ]
6. [ולא] תהוון גאין ורמין ועזי [רוח ]
7. [אר]י גאותה לחרבה תובל [ ]
8. [ ]שמרו [ירות]כון מן זנות ומן גאון [ ]
9. [ומן טומ]את מסאבין [ ]
10. [ולא] תתנון שמאלה לימינה [ ]
11. [ ]אחידו בדי אתמסרת לכון בקש[ט ]
12. [ואנה] ידענה דכול עמלא [דזדיקיא ]
13. [ ]מתכנש להון [לאוצרין ]
14. [ ]ואתנה להון גנזין דח[כמה ]
15. [ ]ספריא ולסהדות[א ]
16. [ ]וכול אלן מסרת [לעמרם ]
17. [ ]ברי בוכרי בין כול בניי [ ]
18. [ואנת עמרם] ברי פקד לבנך ולבני [בנך ]
19. [ולפקדהון] לנטרה [ירותא] דא [ ]
20. [ולאלפה ל]בניהון [ ]
21. [ד]לא יעדה מן זרע לוי [לעלמין ]
22. [ארי לכון ו]לזרעכון לעלם שמש [עליון ]
23. [ל]פלחה ולברכה שמה [בקשט ]
24. [ובצדקה כ]ול יומי עלם [ ]
Fragment 2
1. [ ]וכול[ ]
2. [ ]בני זכות[א ]
3. [ ]לבב[כון ]
4. [ ]בקשטה[ ]
5. [ ]ועליון[ ]
6. [ ]דעה ושכל[ ]
7. [ ]כול יומיכ[ון ]
Source Colophon
4Q542 (4QTQahat^ar). Cave 4, Qumran. Aramaic. Edited: Émile Puech, Qumrân Grotte 4 XXII: Textes Araméens, Première Partie (DJD XXXI; Oxford: Clarendon, 2001), 257–282. Transcription consulted: García Martínez & Tigchelaar, DSSE vol. 2, 1082–1085.
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