The Hebrew of 4Q419, line by line as Qimron prints it. The English translation, printed with this same Hebrew, is on the page Sapiential Text (4Q419).
Source Text: חוכמה (4Q419)
The Hebrew as printed in Qimron, vol. 3, pp. 165–166. Square brackets enclose gaps and Qimron's restorations. ◦ marks an illegible letter. A dot above a letter (ׄ) marks a damaged letter read with confidence, a small circle above (֯) a doubtful reading, and a bar above (̄) a letter that could also be read as a similar one. Half-brackets ⸢ ⸣ mark damaged skin or faded ink, and double brackets ⟦ ⟧ mark a gap where two fragments are joined indirectly. Line numbers follow the edition.
קטע 1 + 4Q185 קטע 4 א
(שוליים עליונים)
1 אשר תעשׄו על פי כול הׄמשפׄ[טים אשר דבר ]
2 אליכם בׄיד משה ואשר יעׄשהׄ[ אדם וחי הודיע]
3 ביד כוהניו כיא המה נאמני בריׄ[תו וביד בחיריו]
4 יודיע את אשר לׄ[ו] ואת ה⸢ק֯⸣[דוש יקריב אליו ]
5 [ ] ויבחר בזרע אהרוׄןׄ להׄק֯[ריבו אליו להורות]
6 [ד]רׄכׄיו ולגיש ניחוח וׄמ֯[נחה ]
7 ויתנם שׄ[ר]י֯םׄ לׄ[כו]ל עמו ו⟦[מושלי]⟧ם֯ לעוׄ[למי עד]
8 ויצו ◦[ ]◦◦⟦ ⟧עׄוטי נׄזׄר י̄ו̄שביׄ
9 כסא אשר רׄם בהודׄ ע֯םׄ ⟦ ⟧קודׄש
10 הוא חׄיׄ עולם וכבוׄדׄו לׄעׄ[ד ויאמר להם זמה לא]
11 תשחרו ותועבת נדה בה֯[ תמאסו ויהיו שקוצים ]
12 אהבתםׄ ויתגוללו בכׄוׄלׄ[ דרכי רשע ]
13 ◦[ ]◦◦◦ם֯ [ ]
קטע 8 א
2 [ ב]צׄרור
3 [החיים ]◦ אין
4 [ ]◦ה הוא והוא
5 [ ] כול
6 [ ]ר֯ לוא
7 [ ]◦קׄ
קטע 8 ב
1 חפצו ◦[ ]
2 ובדברו[ ]
3 בשׄ[ ]וׄיספר כׄוׄל֯ ◦[ ]◦[ כיא]
4 מהמה דרכיהם עם פקוד[ת הוא יאכיל]
5 לחושך ומאוצרו ישב[יע לכול חי כיא באוצרו]
6 תׄבואות לכול ⸢[ש]נׄ⸣י עׄולׄםׄ ◦[ ]◦[ ]
7 אםׄ יקפוץ ידו ונאספה רוח כׄול[ בשר וכולם]
8 א֯לׄ אׄדׄמׄתם ישובון֯[ ]
Source Colophon
Transcribed from the rendered pages of the CC BY 4.0 composite edition (Zenodo, 2020) of Elisha Qimron, The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Hebrew Writings, vol. 3 (Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi Press, 2015), pp. 165–166. Qimron's introduction: he prints two of eleven fragments, in a script of the end of the Hasmonean period, in which yod is distinct from waw. Set into fragment 1 is a fragment that had been assigned to another composition (4Q185, fragment 4a); the placement was made by three partners, Qimron himself, Alexey Yuditsky and אסתר הבר (the name as Qimron prints it). The text of column 2 is not given, because its join is not certain (see photograph 41.798). Tanzer noted the likeness to the composition of the Mystery of Being (raz nihyeh; see fragment 8), but the only possible overlap is in fragment 6, of which a single whole word survives, nprdh. First edition: Sarah Tanzer, DJD XXXVI, pp. 320–332.
Qimron's notes, in brief:
- Fragment 1: a tiny fragment has been joined at the upper right corner, but the join is not exact; see the various photographs. The text sets out the powers of the priests, speaking of them in the third person, and turns to the people in the second person.
- Fragment 1, line 4: "He will make known who is his" follows Numbers 16:5, "In the morning the LORD will make known who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to himself; the one he chooses he will bring near to himself". The restorations at the ends of lines 3–5 also come from there.
- Line 5: for "to bring [him near to himself]" see the same verse, and line 6. Tanzer reads lh[ʿmyd], "to [appoint]".
- Line 6: wlgyš stands for wlhgyš, a hiphil infinitive with its he dropped, which is common in the scrolls (Qimron's Grammar, pp. 178–180). For wm[nḥh] Tanzer reads ʾ[šh].
- Line 7: śrym, "princes", is a new reading. The restoration may be w[mwšly]m, "and rulers", or w[šwpṭy]m, "and judges".
- Line 9: "a throne that is high" means "a high throne" (see Qimron's study of Ecclesiastes 6:10 in Leshonenu 56, p. 117). bhwd ʿm is be-hod ʿim, "in splendour with", as Tanzer suggested in her notes; in the body of her edition she reads bhwd[y]ʿm.
- Line 11: bh[ tmʾsw] is a new restoration.
- Lines 11–12: on "[abominations will become] their love", compare for the structure Jeremiah 17:7, "and the LORD will be his trust".
- Line 12: restored after the Community Rule 4:19 (vol. 1, p. 216).
- Line 13: the tops of the letters can be seen on photograph 41.504.
- Fragment 8b, line 5: lḥwšk may carry the sense of scarcity and need; compare Ecclesiastes 5:16, "in darkness he eats", read by its consonants. "[Every living thing]" is restored after the Mystery of Being, chapter 2, line 32 (vol. 2, p. 154).
- Line 6: tbwʾwt means "food". The word read šny, "years", may also be read qṣy, "periods", as Tanzer reads it; see photograph 42.580. Compare "years of eternity" in a similar setting in the Hodayot, fragments 11+13, line 2 (vol. 1, p. 106).
- Line 7: restored after the Mystery of Being, as above. Compare Psalm 104:28–29: "you open your hand, they are filled with good … you take away their breath, they die, and to their dust they return".
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Other Dead Sea Scroll Wisdom texts in the Good Works Library: Admonitory Parable · Ages of Creation · Beatitudes · Beatitudes — Source Text · Instruction · Instruction — Garden of Eden (4Q423) · Meditation on Heaven and Earth (4Q459) · Meditation on Heaven and Earth (4Q459) — Source Text · Men of Few Deeds · Mysteries · Sapiential Text (4Q419) · Sapiential Work · Sapiential Work B · Sapiential Work — Source Text · Wiles of the Wicked Woman · Wiles of the Wicked Woman — Source Text