by Geza Vermes
Fr. 4
... As for me, I was frightened by Thy judgements
Who is found clean in Thy judgement?
And what is [man before Thee?
Thou bringest] him to judgement
and he returns to his dust.
... [my G]o[d].
Thou hast opened my heart for Thy understanding
and hast unstopped [my] ear[s] ...
to lean on Thy goodness.
My heart murmurs ...
and my heart melts like wax
because of iniquity and sin....
Blessed art Thou, God of knowledge,
who hast established...
And Thou hast met Thy servant with this for Thy sake.
For I know Thy [loving-kindness
and in] Thy [mercies] I hope in all my existence,
and I bless Thy name always.
Do not forsake me in the times [of distress (?)]
XXIII (formerly XVIII, 1-16+fr. 57 i+fr. 2 i)
they are confirmed in [the ears] of Thy servant for ever
... [to announce] Thy marvellous tidings
Withdraw not Thy hand ...
that he may be confirmed in Thy Covenant
and stand before Thee [for ever].
[For Thou, O my God,] didst open a [fountain]
in the mouth of Thy Servant.
Thou didst engrave by the measuring-cord
[Thy mysteries] upon his tongue,
[that] out of his understanding
[he might] preach to a creature,
and interpret these things
to dust like myself.
Thou didst open [his fountain]
that he might rebuke the creature of clay for his way,
and him who is born of woman
for the guilt of his deeds;
that he might open [the fount of] Thy truth
to a creature whom Thou upholdest by Thy might;
[that he might be], according to Thy truth,
a messenger [in the season] of Thy goodness;
that to the humble he might bring
glad tidings of Thy great mercy,
[proclaiming salvation]
from out of the fountain [of holiness
to the contrite] of spirit,
and everlasting joy to those who mourn.
Fr. 2
... [to prai]se Thee
and to recount all Thy glory.
As for me, what am I?
For I was taken from dust.
But Th[ou, O my God],
Thou hast done all these [for] Thy [g]lory.
According to the greatness of Thy loving-kindness
put the guard of Thy righteousness
[in the hand of Th]y [servant] for ever
until deliverance.
May the interpreters of knowledge be with all my steps
and those who decide truth [in all my ways].
For what is dust among al[1] ...
Ashes are in their hand: nothing at all.
and Thou hast shed [Thy Holy] Spirit over dust
[to bring him into the company] of the ‘gods’
and unite them with the Sons of Heaven.
Thou hast shed Thy [Ho]ly [Spirit] to atone for guilt
for they are established in Thy truth.
[And Thou, my God],
Thou hast acted wondrously for Thy glory
4Q427 7 i-ii (1QH, frs. 7, 46, 55, 56, 4Q428 15,40431 1)
I...
For I am made to stand with the ‘gods’,
and I will not... [glory or majes]ty for me with fine gold;
gold and purified gold, [I will] not... in me;
... will not be reckoned for me.
Chant, O beloved, sing to the King [of glory.
Rejoice, in the cong]regation of God.
Exult in the tents of salvation.
Give thanks in the dwelling
[of holiness],
extol together with the eternal host.
Magnify our God and glorify our King.
Sanctify His name with powerful lips
and a victorious tongue.
Lift up alone your voice in all ages,
Let a joyous meditation be heard.
Burst out in eternal rejoicings
and prostrate incessantly in the common assembly.
Bless the wonderful Maker of exalted things,
Him who proclaims the power of His hand,
sealing mysteries and revealing secrets,
lifting up those who stumble and fall,
[rest]oring the progress of those who hope for knowledge
and humbling the meetings of the everlastingly haughty;
[seal]ing the mysteries of sp[lendour]
and establi[shing the wonlders of glory.
O Judge, whose anger is destructive,
... in righteous loving-kindness and great mercy,
be gracious to ...
... mercy to those who bear fruits of His great goodness,
and the source of...
II ... wickedness ends...
[op]pression [ceases], the tyrant ceases...
treachery [sto]ps and there are no senseless perversities.
Light shines and joy bursts forth;
mourning [vanishes] and sorrow flees.
Peace is revealed, dread ceases.
A spring has opened up for an [eternal] bles[sing]
and for healing in all the everlasting ages.
Iniquity has stopped, plague has ceased with no more illn[ess].
... has been gathered in and... will be no more.
Announce and say: Great is God, Ma[ker of marvels].
For He humbles the proud spirit with no remnant
and from the dust He lifts up the poor to [eternal heights].
And He lifts him up to the clouds
to share a common assembly with the ‘gods’.
And...
anger for everlasting destruction.
He raises freely the totterers on earth,
and [His] mi[ght is with] their steps,
and everlasting joy is in their dwellings,
eternal glory without end [for ever].
Let them say: Blessed be God, Author of majestic [w]onders,
who reveals might splendidly,
and justifies with knowledge all His creatures,
so that goodness is on their faces.
They know the multitude of [His] loving [kindness]
and the abundance of His mercies
to all the children of His truth.
We know Thee, O God of righteousness,
and we comprehend [Thy ... , O King]
of glory.
For we have seen Thy zeal through Thy mighty power
and have observed [Thy] d[eeds
in the abundance] of Thy mercies and wondrous forgiveness.
What is flesh compared to these?
What do [dust and ashes] amoun[t to]
that they recite these things from age to age,
and hold themselves upright [before Thee
and enter into communion with] the Sons of Heaven.
No interpreter can answer according to Thy mouth
and... to Thee.
For Thou hast established us according to [Thy] ple[asure]
in the territory [of iniquity] ...
... we have spoken to Thee and not to a medi[ator] ...
[And Thou hast lent] an ea[r] to the issue of our lips.
Annou[nce and say: Blessed be God,
Creator] of the heavens by His power,
Desig[ner] of all their devices [by] His strength,
of the earth by [His] migh[t] ...
Hymnic Fragment
(4Q433a)
The verso side of this papyrus, palaeographically dated to the first half of the first century BCE, contains the beginning of the Community Rule (4Q255). The recto carries a poem similar to the Qumran Hymns or Hodayot and elaborates the familiar image of the Community as a plant in God’s
garden.
For the editio princeps, see E. Schuller, DJD, XXIX, 237-45.
Fr. 2
... for the everlasting sea[sons].
For the Master. A sim[il]itude about the glory of ...
A plant of delight, a plant in His garden and in his
vineyard.
Its twigs will bear fruit and its branches will increase...
and its branches (reaching) above the elevated support of
heaven;
and its splendour offers itself for everlasting generations,
producing fru[it] for all who are to taste it.
There will be no wild grapes among its fruits.
It will have foliage, leaves and blossoms.
None of its roots will be pulled up from its bed of
balsam for...
Apocryphal Psalms (I)
(IIQPsa=IIQ5,4Q88)
The incomplete Psalms scroll from Cave 11 (11QPsa), published by J. A. Sanders (DJD, IV, Oxford, 1965), contains seven non-canonical poems interspersed among the canonical Psalms. One of these figures as Ps. 151 in the Greek Psalter, and four further compositions have been preserved in Syriac translation. Three previously unknown poems and an extract from the Hebrew version of Sirach li also feature in the Scroll.
In Ps. 151 A and B or Syriac Ps. i, the story of the election of David, the shepherd boy, as ruler of Israel, and his victory over Goliath, are poetically retold. Ps. 154 or Syr. Ps. ii is a sapiential hymn, the beginning and end of which are extant only in Syriac, but 4Q448, column A (lines 8—10) represents a few words in Hebrew corresponding to Ps. 154, 17-20 (cf. E. and H. Eshel and A. Yardeni, ‘A Qumran Composition Containing Part of Ps. 154 ... ’, IEJ 42 (1992), 201-14). Ps. 155 or Syr. Ps. iii is an amalgam of an individual complaint and thanksgiving. Part of it is an alphabet acrostic, i.e. the lines begin with consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Plea for Deliverance is an individual thanksgiving hymn, the beginning of which is lost. The Zion Psalm, of which lines 1-3 and 8-15 are also in a fragmentary Psalms scroll from Cave 4 (4Q88 VII-VIII), is another alphabetic acrostic hymn praising Jerusalem. Finally, the Psalm of the Creation is a further sapiential hymn.
A midrashic account of the poetic activities of David is inserted in column XXVII of IIQ5, crediting him with 4,050 compositions, subdivided into psalms, songs for the daily holocaust, songs for the Sabbath sacrifice, songs for festivals and songs for exorcism. The mention of fifty-two Sabbaths and the 364 days indicates that the author envisaged the solar year of the Qumran calendar.
The figure of 4,050 should be viewed against the equally prolific literary achievement claimed for Solomon in 1 Kings v, 12 (3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs according to the Hebrew text; 3,000proverbs and 5,000 songs according to the Septuagint). As for Josephus, he attributes to Solomon 1,005 books of poems and 3,000 books of parables (Antiquities VIII, 44).
Only this catalogue, written in prose, is definitely sectarian. The psalms themselves probably belong to the second century BCE at the latest, but they may even date to the third century BCE.
Psalm 151A
XXVIII Hallelujah. Of David, son of Jesse.
1. I was smaller than my brothers, and younger than the sons of my father.
He made me shepherd of his flock, and a ruler over his kids.
2. My hands have made a pipe and my fingers a lyre.
I have rendered glory to the Lord; I have said so in my soul.
3. The mountains do not testify to him, and the hills do not tell (of him).
The trees praise my words and the flocks my deeds.
4. For who can tell and speak of and recount the works of the Lord?
God has seen all, he has heard all, and he listens to all.
5. He sent his prophet to anoint me, Samuel to magnify me.
My brothers went out to meet him, beautiful of figure, beautiful of appearance.
6. They were tall of stature with beautiful hair, yet the Lord did not choose them.
7. He sent and took me from behind the flock, and anointed me with holy oil, as a prince of his people, and a ruler among the sons of his Covenant.
Psalm 151B
The first display of David’s power after God’s prophet had anointed him.
1. Then I saw the Philistine taunting [from the enemy lines] ...
Syriac Psalm ii = Psalm 154
1 XVIII [Glorify God with a great voice. Proclaim his majesty in the congregation of the many.
2 Glorify his name amid the multitude of the upright and recount his greatness with the faithful.
3 Join] your souls to the good and to the perfect to glorify the Most High.
4 Assemble together to make known his salvation.
And be not slow in making known his strength, and his majesty to all the simple.
5 For wisdom is given to make known the glory of the Lord and to recount the greatness of his deeds. She is made known to man,
7 to declare his strength to the simple, and to give insight into his greatness to those without understanding,
8 they who are far from her gates, who have strayed from her entrances.
9 For the Most High is the Lord of Jacob, and his majesty is over all his works.
10 And a man who glorifies the Most High is accepted by him as one bringing an offering,
11 as one offering he-goats and calves, as one causing the altar to grow fat on a multitude of burnt-offerings, as an agreeable incense by the hand of the righteous.
12 From the doors of the righteous her voice is heard, and from the congregation of the devout her song.
13 When they eat their fill, she is mentioned, and when they drink in community together.
14 Their meditation is on the Law of the Most High, and their words are for making known his strength.
15 How far from the wicked is her word, and her knowledge from the insolent.
16 Behold the eyes of the Lord have compassion on the good,
17 and his mercy is great over those who glorify him; from an evil time he saves [their] souls.
18 [Bless] the Lord who redeems the humble from the hand of str[angers] [and deliv]ers [the perfect from the hand of the wicked;]
19 [who lifts up a horn out of Ja]cob, and a judge [out of Israel].
20 [He desires his tabernacle in Zion, and chooses Jerusalem for ever.]
SyriacPsalm iii =Psalm 155
1. XXIV O Lord, I have called to Thee, hear me.
2. I have spread out my hands towards Thy holy dwelling-place.
3. Turn Thine ear and grant me my request,
4. and do not withhold my plea from me.
5. Construct my soul and do not cast it away,
6. and do not leave it alone before the wicked.
7. May the true judge turn away from me the rewards of evil.
8. Lord, do not judge me according to my sins, for no living man is righteous before Thee.
9. Lord, cause me to understand Thy Law and teach me Thy judgements.
10. And the multitude shall hear of Thy deeds, and peoples shall honour Thy glory.
11. Remember me and forget me not, and bring me not to unbearable hardships.
12. Put away from me the sin of my youth, and may my sins not be remembered against me.
13. Lord, cleanse me from the evil plague, and let it not return to me.
14. Dry up its roots within me, and permit not its leaves to flourish in me.
15. Lord, Thou art glory; therefore my plea is fulfilled before Thee.
16. 6 To whom shall I cry so that he will grant it to me? What more can the po[wer] of the sons of men do?
17. From before Thee, O Lord, comes my trust. I cried to the Lord and he answered me; he healed the brokenness of my heart.
18. 8 I was sleepy [and I] slept; I dreamt and also [I awoke].
19. [Lord, Thou didst support me when my heart was stricken, and I called upon the Lor]d [my saviour].
20. Now I will see their shame; I have relied on Thee, and I will not be ashamed. (Rend
er glory for ever and ever.)
21. Redeem Israel, Thy pious one, O Lord, and the house of Jacob, Thine elect.
Prayer for Deliverance
XIX For no worm thanks Thee, nor a maggot recounts Thy loving-kindness.
Only the living thank Thee, all they whose feet totter, thank Thee, when Thou makest known to them Thy loving-kindness, and causest them to understand Thy righteousness.
For the soul of all the living is in Thy hand; Thou hast given breath to all flesh.
O Lord, do towards us according to Thy goodness, according to the greatness of Thy mercies, and according to the greatness of Thy righteous deeds.
The Lord listens to the voice of all who love his name and does not permit his loving-kindness to depart from them.
Blessed be the Lord, doer of righteous deeds, who crowns his pious ones with loving-kindness and mercies.
My soul shouts to praise Thy name, to praise with jubilation Thy mercies, to announce Thy faithfulness; there is no limit to Thy praises.
I belonged to death because of my sins, and my iniquities had sold me to Sheol.
But Thou didst save me, O Lord, according to the greatness of Thy mercies, according to the greatness of Thy righteous deeds.