Sunday, March 22, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Wisdom
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Texts
Admonitory ParableDead Sea Scroll (4Q302) — Cave 4 parable text about a good tree that grows to the heavens and yields rich fruit, then is ravaged; applies Psalm 80 and Jeremiah 11 to address the seed of AbrahamAges of CreationA Good Works Translation of the Ages of Creation (4Q180-181) from Hebrew. A periodization of history from Noah to the end of days.BeatitudesA Good Works Translation of the Beatitudes (4Q525) from Hebrew. Wisdom blessings from Qumran — blessed are those who seek wisdom with pure hands.InstructionA Good Works Translation of the Instruction / Musar leMevin (4Q415–418) from Hebrew. A Dead Sea Scrolls wisdom text addressed to the understanding one, covering creation, poverty, marriage, parents, and eschatological judgment.Instruction — Garden of Eden (4Q423)A Good Works Translation of 4Q423 from Hebrew — a Cave 4 companion to the Instruction manuscripts, distinctive for its Fragment 1 which recasts Genesis 2–3 as agricultural halakha for the Qumran community.Meditation on Heaven and Earth (4Q459)A Good Works Translation of 4Q459, a Cave 4 Hebrew wisdom fragment — a meditation on Lebanon's pride and the proper order of creation, anchored in Psalm 115:16's division of heaven and earthMeditation on Heaven and Earth (4Q459) — Source TextSource text: 4Q459 Hebrew — apparatus-confirmed readings of the Meditation on Heaven and Earth, Cave 4 fragmentMen of Few DeedsDead Sea Scroll (4Q306) — Qumran sapiential-prophetic text condemning those who transgressed on their festival days and withheld the firstfruits, left walking blind as dogs ate the offeringsMysteriesA Qumran wisdom scroll — the mystery of existence (raz nihyeh) divides those who understand the hidden order of creation from those who walk in darkness; iniquity will be sealed and truth will fill the earth.Sapiential Text (4Q419)A Good Works Translation of 4Q419, a Cave 4 Hebrew sapiential text — anchored in Numbers 16:5 on divine selection and holiness, closing with warnings against the ways of wickednessSapiential WorkA Good Works Translation of 4Q185 (Sapiential Work) from Hebrew. A Qumran wisdom poem calling the sons of the world to seek Wisdom, who was given by God to Israel as a tree of life — and warning that no price can purchase her except by fearing the LORD.Sapiential Work BCave 4 papyrus Hebrew wisdom fragments characterizing the stubborn sinner and calling the righteous to purify their heart.Wiles of the Wicked WomanA Good Works Translation of the Wiles of the Wicked Woman (4Q184) from Hebrew. An allegorical poem on the seductions of evil, personified as a woman.