This fragment is almost entirely lost. What survives — three partial lines from a single Cave 4 piece — is barely a whisper of a hymn. But what a whisper. The imagery is precise and deliberate: a holy gate at the heights, a divine planting, the delight of the Lord. The vineyard song of Isaiah 5 — a lament for Israel's failure — is here transformed into an ascent, a sanctuary hymn. The Vineyard belongs to the Lord; its gate opens onto the holy heights; the planting is not Israel's but God's own; the delight is mutual. Three lines. Enough to hear what key this was written in.
4Q500 — Cave 4, Qumran — Dead Sea Scrolls
4Q500 is a single small Hebrew fragment discovered in Cave 4 at Qumran, published by Maurice Baillet in DJD VII (Oxford: Clarendon, 1982). It preserves one mostly legible surface with remnants of perhaps six or more lines; only three carry enough consecutive Hebrew to translate with confidence. The fragment was designated שיר כרם ה' — Song of the Lord's Vineyard — by the editors.
The surviving text develops the biblical vineyard metaphor with language drawn from multiple scriptural streams: the great vineyard song of Isaiah 5 (the beloved's vineyard stripped of its hedge), the vine of Psalm 80 (the vine brought out of Egypt, planted by the Lord's right hand), and the imagery of divine presence and sanctuary-height found throughout the Psalter. The Qumran community's use of vineyard imagery is attested elsewhere — the Hodayot and the Damascus Document both use the vine/vineyard as a figure for the community itself, the elect planting of the Lord. 4Q500 may be an elaboration of this tradition: the holy heights, the divine planting, and the Lord's delight suggest a sanctuary setting, perhaps a hymn for a festival occasion or a liturgy of ascent.
Lines 1–2 and Line 6 are too fragmentary for coherent translation. The Hebrew of Lines 3–5 is clear.
Fragment (Lines 3–5)
[...] to the gate of the holy heights [...]
[...] your planting, and the channels of your glory [...]
[...] your delights [...]
Colophon
Translated from the Hebrew (4Q500) by the New Tianmu Anglican Church (NTAC). Source: Elisha Qimron, The Dead Sea Scrolls — The Hebrew Writings, vol. 1 (Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi Press, 2010); primary publication: Maurice Baillet, Qumrân grotte 4: III (4Q482–4Q520), Discoveries in the Judaean Desert VII (Oxford: Clarendon, 1982). Hebrew text decoded from Miqdas Type1 font encoding (per-word byte-reversal, Mac Hebrew character map) per NTAC DSS project protocol. Lines 1–2 and 6 too fragmentary for translation. Lacunae marked [...]. Scribal credit: Tulku of the Dead Sea Scrolls lineage, Mar 2026.
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Source Text
4Q500 — שיר כרם ה'
Hebrew transcription after Elisha Qimron, The Dead Sea Scrolls — The Hebrew Writings, vol. 1. Decoded from Miqdas Type1 font (old Mac Hebrew visual encoding). Lines 1–2 and 6 too fragmentary for transcription. All lacunae marked [...].
Line 3: [...] לשער מרום הקודש [...]
Line 4: [...] מטעכה ופלגי כבודכה [...]
Line 5: [...] שעשועיכה [...]
Line 6: [...] מכה [...]
Source Colophon
4Q500 (4QHymn of the Vineyard). Cave 4, Qumran. Hebrew. One fragment. Published: Maurice Baillet, Qumrân grotte 4: III (4Q482–4Q520), DJD VII (Oxford: Clarendon, 1982). Transcription after Elisha Qimron, The Dead Sea Scrolls — The Hebrew Writings (Yad Ben-Zvi Press, 2010). Hebrew decoded from Miqdas Type1 custom font encoding using reverse-engineered Mac Hebrew character map; per-word byte-reversal converts visual to logical order. All lacunae marked [...].
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