Ritual and Purity

Pages

  • 4Q560 ExorcismA Good Works Translation of 4Q560 from Aramaic. A short Cave 4 adjuration against evil spirits — male and female — commanding them not to enter the body by day or night.
  • Blessing of the SeedCave 4 Hebrew fragment preserving a dynastic or priestly blessing formula invoking the divine name and the continuity of the addressee's line.
  • Blessings for the FamilyA liturgical blessing text from Cave 4 involving the entire community — elders, women, young men, virgins, and children — joined in blessing a couple and their household.
  • Communal CeremonyA fragmentary covenant renewal ceremony from Cave 4 (4Q275), featuring blessings, curses, and the gathering of the sectarian assembly in the third month.
  • Four LotsDead Sea Scroll (4Q279) — Qumran sectarian text assigning four lots to the sons of Aaron, the Levites, the sons of Israel, and the proselytes, each according to their spirit
  • Incantation Against Evil SpiritsA Good Works Translation of 4Q444 from Hebrew — a fragmentary Cave 4 apotropaic text in which a person who fears God opens the mouth in truth and knowledge, strengthens themselves in the statutes of God, and fights against the spirits of wickedness.
  • Liturgy of the Three Tongues of FireA Good Works Translation of 1Q29 from Hebrew — a Cave 1 liturgical manuscript describing a ceremony of three tongues of fire, closely parallel to the luminous oracle of the Apocryphon of Moses (4Q376).
  • Purification BlessingsLiturgical blessings for communal purification from bodily impurity — the sectarian ceremony for reentry into the congregation of the pure.
  • Purification LiturgyDead Sea Scroll (4Q284 / Tohorot D) — Qumran purity text governing the harvesting of grain and produce by persons in impure states
  • Red Heifer PuritySectarian elaboration of the red heifer ritual (4Q276–4Q277 / Tohorot C–D), extending Numbers 19 to cover the handling of blood, ashes, and contamination from bodily discharge.
  • Ritual of MarriageCave 4 Hebrew papyrus scroll of a communal ritual — the most detailed liturgy of blessing in the DSS corpus, addressed to a married couple and the assembled congregation of old and young together.
  • Text Mentioning Mixed KindsCave 4 Hebrew Fragment 1, three lines; mentions elders, judges of mixed kinds (kilayim), and captors of the wicked; a judicial or halakhic text.
  • Tohorot ADead Sea Scroll (4Q274) — Qumran halakhic text governing the purity of those who glean grain and produce, with rules preventing impure gleaners from touching the drink of the Many