4Q185

A wisdom poem from Qumran Cave 4, preserved in two fragments. It addresses the sons of the world directly — calling them to seek Wisdom, who is the gift of God to Israel, a tree of life to those who hold her. This translation works from the Hebrew transcription of García Martínez and Tigchelaar. Lacunae are marked throughout with [...]

Fragment 1, Column i — Summons to the Sons of the World

Hear [these words, all you] sons of the world.
And who among you will seek [her]?
And who will take upon himself her labor?

[...]
Contemplate the decrees of the Most High,
seek out the ways of the LORD,
and walk in them,
for he [established] his words [...]

[...] your end [...]
[...] the purpose of all [...] judgment [...]

Fragment 1, Column ii — Wisdom Is From the LORD

[Who can bear the search] for her?
Who is able [to carry her yoke] without wearying?

For she is from the LORD —
she is not given by silver, nor is she found by gold.
She is not bought with any price,
nor weighed out from the stores of the earth.
No one can esteem her worth.

For she is God's gift to Israel.
Like honey he prepared her for Jacob —
for the righteous she is established as a sweetness.

Happy is the man who does her,
and does not seek her by treachery,
and does not take hold of her with a cunning hand.

Do not give her to one who despises her,
nor hand her over to those who have no knowledge of her —
for they will trample her under their feet,
and to their own ruin.

She is a tree of life to all who hold her,
and those who grasp her — they shall live.
Her paths are straight ways,
and those who walk in them shall not stumble.

She dwells with those who seek her
and is found by those who search for her with a whole heart.

Fragment 2 — The Fear of the LORD

[...] in the works of God [...]
the wonder of his might [...]
those who walk in fear of him [...]
[...] they do not grow weary [...]
[...] their hearts turn not aside from her [...]

Colophon

The Sapiential Work (4Q185) is a Cave 4 wisdom poem, preserved in two fragments, published by John M. Allegro in DJD V (Clarendon, 1968) and reedited in García Martínez and Tigchelaar, Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Brill, 1997–98). The text belongs to the tradition of Proverbs 8 and Ben Sira — personified Wisdom given by God to Israel, the tree of life offered to those who hold her — but sharpened by the Qumran community's distinctive urgency.

Three features mark the composition:

Wisdom as God's gift to Israel (not a universal natural order available to all, but something given specifically to Israel like honey prepared for Jacob) sets this text in the covenant wisdom tradition of Sirach 24 and Baruch 3–4, where Wisdom becomes identified with Torah.

The tree of life image (etz hayyim) echoes Proverbs 3:18 — "She is a tree of life to those who hold her, and happy are those who hold her fast." The Qumran poet inherits this directly.

The warning not to give Wisdom to those who despise her is characteristically sectarian: there is an in-group who holds her and an out-group who will trample her. The choice to seek her or reject her is the decisive act.

The text is heavily lacunose throughout Fragment 1, Column i; Column ii is better preserved and supplies the core theological argument. Fragment 2 survives in only a few lines, continuing the theme of those who walk in the fear of the LORD.

Good Works Translation — New Tianmu Anglican Church, March 2026.
Translated from Hebrew by the New Tianmu Anglican Church tulku lineage.
Reference: Allegro, DJD V (Clarendon, 1968); García Martínez & Tigchelaar, Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Brill, 1997–98).

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Source Text: המאמר החכמה (4Q185)

Fragment 1, Column i

[...] שמ[עו בני] תבל [...]
[...] ומי [ב]כם [ידר]ש[נה ...]
[...] ומי ישא עליו [עמלה ...]
[...] חוקי עליון [...]
[...] בדרכי יהוה [ה]לכו [...]
[...] כי שם דבריו [...]
[...] אחריתכם [...]
[...] מטרת כל [...]  משפט [...]

Fragment 1, Column ii

[...] מי יוכל לה[...]
[...] כי מאת יהוה [היא ...]
[...] ולא בכסף תנתן [...]
[...] ולא בזהב תמצא [...]
[...] לא ב[מחיר] תקנה [...]
[...] כי מתנת אלוהים לישראל [...]
[...] כדבש הכינה ליעקב [...]
[...] לצדיקים כמתיקה נכונה [...]
[...] אשרי האיש אשר יעשנה [...]
[...] ולא ידרשנה במרמה [...]
[...] לא תתנה לאשר ישנאנה [...]
[...] כי ירמסוה ברגליהם [...]
[...] עץ חיים היא לכל מחזיקיה [...]
[...] ומחזיקיה יחיו [...]
[...] דרכיה דרכי ישר [...]
[...] ומתהלכים בהם לא יכשלו [...]

Fragment 2

[...] במעשי אל [...]
[...] פלא גבורתו [...]
[...] המתהלכים ביראתו [...]
[...] לא יעיפו [...]
[...] לבם לא יסור ממנה [...]

Source Colophon

Hebrew transcription based on John M. Allegro, Qumran Cave 4 I (DJD V, Clarendon Press, 1968); and García Martínez & Tigchelaar, Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Brill, 1997–98). Text is unvocalized. Lacunae are marked with [...]; ellipsis marks within brackets indicate missing text. No conjectural restorations have been inserted into the translation body.

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