The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English

by Geza Vermes

  For the editio princeps, see Eileen Schuller and M. Bernstein, DJD, XXVIII, 155-204.

  4Q372, fr. 1 (40371-2)

  ... and the pagan priests and the worshippers of [idols] ... the Most High and He handed them over to the nations ... [and He dispersed] them in all the lands and among all [the nations] and He disseminated them ... and they did not come ... Israel. And He destroyed them from the land ... and the nations did not leave for them a tent-peg standing in the Valley of Vision ... [and they turned] Jerusalem into ruins and the Mountain of my God into high places of fore[st] ... the precepts of God. Judah was also with him and he stood at the crossroads to ... to be together with his two brothers. And for all this, Joseph was thrown to un[known] lands, to a strange nation and they (the northern Israelites) were dispersed in the whole world. All their mountains were deserted without them ... and fools resided in their land. They made for themselves a high place on an elevated mountain to excite the jealousy of Israel. They spoke wor[ds of ... ] of the sons of Jacob and caused disgust with the words of their mouth, blaspheming against the Tent of Zion. They spoke [words of falsehood and all the] words of lies to enrage Levi, Judah and Benjamin by their words. And for all this, Joseph [was put] into the hands of strangers to consume his strength and break all his bones until the time of his end. And he cried ... and called on the mighty God that He should save him from their hands. He said, ‘My Father and my God, do not abandon me to the hands of the nations. Execute judgement for me so that the humble and the poor may not perish. Thou hast no need of any nation or people to help Thee. [Thy] fing[er] is greater and more powerful than anything in the world. For Thou optest for the truth, and in Thy hand there is no violence whatever. Also Thy mercies are many and Thy loving-kindness is great for all those who seek Thee. [They took] my land from me and from all my brothers who have joined me. A nation of enemies resides on it ... and they opened their mouth with anger against all the sons of Jacob, Thy friend, ... at the time when Thou wilt destroy them from the whole world and they will give ... I will rise to enact judgement and righ[teousness] ... [to do] the will of my Creator and to offer sacrifices ... my God. I will proclaim [Thy] merci[es] ... I will praise Thee, O Lord, my God, and I will bl[e]ss Thee ... the first things and to teach Thy precepts to the sinners, and to all who have forsaken [Thy] Law.... and evil so that Thy testimonies will not rebuke me and to proclaim [Thy] righteousness ... For Thou art a great, holy, mighty, powerful, awe-inspiring and wonderful God ... [the heaven] and the earth and even in the depth of the ocean majesty and ... I know and I have understood and ...’

  Fr. 3

  a heart teaching understanding, a mouth [procla]iming judgement.

  For my words are [sweeter] than honey and surpass wine.

  [My] tongu[e] is truth and all the words of my mouth are righteousness.

  Their testimonies shall not destroy and their portions shall not perish.

  For all of them ...

  The Lord has opened my mouth

  and the words of my tongue are from Him

  and they speak to me to proclaim ...

  ... His mercies.

  He will not give His precepts to another nation,

  nor will He crown every stranger,

  for ... [bet]ween them

  (the covenant) which He made with Jacob,

  that they should be His people for all eternity.

  ... [visiting] destruction [on I]srael

  to exterminate them by the hand of the nations.

  All the plagues in the inheritan[ce of] ...

  and He will seek their blood from their hands.

  See what He did to Midian,

  ... one - he was Zimri the son of Salu (Num. xxv, 14)—

  and the five kings of Midian were killed ...

  4Q373, (2Q22 i 1—4; 4Q373, fr. 19 1—4)

  ... all his servants. Og ...

  His height was ... cubits and a half and two [cubits was his width ...] the spear like a cedar tree ... the shield like a tower ... Sweet footed ... seven stadia distant. He did not stand ... And I did not repeat for the Lord, our God, smashed him and with [the sword] ... and I made slings to wound ... for war to take strongholds and to shock ...

  The Testament of Qahat

  (4Q542)

  The Testament of Qahat is an Aramaic work of which two columns, one complete and one damaged, have survived. It is a typical example of moralizing death-bed literature, similar to the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, but characterized, like the Testaments of Levi and Amram, by its priestly perspective. The script has been palaeographically dated to the end of the second century BCE, but the carbon 14 test, performed in 1990, places it considerably earlier, possibly to 388—353 BCE, or more probably to 303—235 BCE. It is not a sectarian composition. Only the undamaged part of the text is translated here.

  Two further small fragments have survived without providing anything continuous and meaningful. Fr. 2 alludes to darkness and light, and fr. 3 mentions precious stones extant in large numbers apparently on account of zenuta (fornication, whoredom).

  For the editio princeps, see E. Puech, DJD, XXXI, 257—82.

  ... I and the God of gods for all eternity. And He will shine light on you and will let you know His great Name. And you will know Him, that He is the God of eternity, and the Lord of all the deeds, and the Ruler of all, dealing with them according to His good pleasure. And He will make for you rejoicing and for your sons joy for the generations of truth, for ever. Now, my sons, be careful with the heritage that is handed over to you, which your fathers have given you. Do not give your heritage to strangers, and your inheritance to knaves so that you become humiliated and foolish in their eyes and they despise you, for, although sojourners among you, they will be your chiefs. So hold to the word of Jacob, your father, and seize the laws of Abraham and the righteousness of Levi and mine. And be holy and pure of all fornication in the community. And hold the truth and walk straight, and not with a double heart, but with a pure heart and a true and good spirit. And you will give me a good name among you, and a rejoicing to Levi, and joy to Jacob, delight to Isaac, and glory to Abraham, because you will keep and walk (in) the herit[age] which your fathers will have left you: truth and righteousness and uprightness and perfection and pur[ity and ho]liness and the priesthood according to all that you have been commanded (?), and according to all that II I will have taught you in truth from now until all [the age] ... every word of truth will come upon yo[u ...] eternal blessing will reside on you and will be [come for you] ... stay for all the eternal generations and will no more ... from your correction and you will establish yourselves to pronounce judgement ov[er ... ] and to see the faults of all the sinners of the ages ... [to be cast] into the fire and the oceans and into all the cavities for ... in the generations of truth. And all the sons of wickedne[ss ... ] And now Amram, my son, [I] instruct you ... and your sons to their sons. I instruct [you ... ] and they have given to Levi my father, and Levi my father g[ave (it/them)] to me ... all my books in testimony that through them you should beware ... [and that there should be] for you through them much merit when you walk in conformity with them. vacat

  The Testament of Amram

  (4Q543-9)

  An Aramaic document surviving in five or six (?) fragmentary copies from Cave 4 contains an admonition by Amram, the father of Moses, to his children. The context is that of the Book of Exodus, but the visions and teachings are the author’s free compositions. Amram’s age at his death (137 years) is borrowed from Exod. vi, 20, but its dating to the 152nd year of the captivity reflects the tradition according to which the Israelites remained in Egypt, not for 430 years (Exod. xii, 40), nor 400 years (Gen. xv, 13), but 210 years. Cf. J. Heinemann,

  ‘210 Years of Egyptian Exile’, JJS 22 (1971), 19—30. The dating of the script varies between the second half of the second century BCE (4Q543, 544, 547), the first half of the first century BCE (4Q545, 546) and the second half of the first century BCE (4Q548, 549).

  In the gr
avely damaged text of a vision, Amram sees the chief Angel of Darkness, Melkiresha‘, already mentioned (pp. 394—5). He also addresses the leader of the Army of Light, whose name has disappeared in one of the many lacunae. But is is highly probable that one of his ’three names’ is Melchizedek (see pp. 532—4).

  For the editio princeps, see E. Puech, DJD, XXXI, 283—405.

  4Q543, fr. 1 (4Q545, 546)

  I Copy of the book of the words of the vision of Amram, son of Kehat, son of Levi, al[1 that] he explained to his sons and enjoined on them on the day of [his] death, in his one-hundred-and-thirty-seventh year, which was the year of his death, [in] the one-hundred-and-fifty-second year of Israel’s exile in Egypt ... to call Uzziel, his youngest brother, and he ma[rried] to him Miriam, [his] daughter, and said (to her), ‘You are thirty years old.’ And he gave a banquet lasting seven days. And he ate and drank and made merry during the banquet. Then, when the days of the banquet were completed, he sent to call Aaron, his son, and he was about twenty years old and said to him, ‘Call, my son, the messengers, your brothers from the house of ...’

  4Q544, fr. 1 (4Q543, 545—7)

  Qahat (went) there to stay and dwell and build ... many of the sons of my uncle together ... a man as our work was very great until the dead would be buried. vacat In the year of my beginning, when the news of a war became worrying, with my consent our company returned to the land of Egypt and I went to bury them and they did not build the tombs of our fathers. And my father Qahat and my wife Jochebed left me to stand and build and provide them with all their needs from the land of Canaan. And we stayed in Hebron while we were building. vacat A war broke out between the Philistines and the Egyptians and the Philistines and Canaanites defeated the Egyptians and they closed the fr[ontiers] of Egypt. And it was impossible [for Jochebed, my wife, to go from Egypt to Canaan] for forty-one years. And we could not return to Egypt. Therefore [we could] not ... [the war] between Egypt and Canaan and the Philistines. And during all this, [Jochebed] my wi[fe, was away from me in the land of Egypt ... my post ... for] she was [not] with me. And I did [not] take ano[ther] wife. vacat Women... all, that I would return to Egypt in peace and would see the face of my wife. [I saw Watchers] in my vision, a dream vision vacat And behold two (of them) argued about me and said ... and they were engaged in a great quarrel concerning me. I asked them: ‘You, what are you ... thus ... [about me?’] They answered and [said to me: ‘We have been made m]asters and rule over all the sons of men.’ And they said to me: ‘Which of us do you [choose ...’]

  I raised my eyes and saw one of them. His looks were frightening [like those of a vi]per, and his [ga]rm[en]ts were multi-coloured and he was extremely dark ...

  And afterwards I looked and behold ... by his appearance and his face was like that of an adder, and he was covered with ... together, and over his eyes ...

  Fr. 2

  ... this [Watcher]: ‘Who is he?’ He said to me: ‘This Wa[tcher] ... [and his three names are Belial, Prince of Darkness] and Melkiresha’.‘ vacat And I said: ‘My Lord, what ru[le] ...’ [And he said to me] ... [and all his paths are dark]ness, and all his work is darkness, and he is ... in darkness ... you see. And he rules over all darkness ... and I rule over all light and al[1] ...

  4Q545 (4Q543a, 546d)

  Fr. ia i

  I Cop[y of the writing of the words of visio]n of Amram, son of Qahat, son of Levi, al[1] that [he has explained to his] sons ... on the day of [his] death in the year one hundred and thirty-six - this is the year of his death - in the year one hundred and fifty-two of the exile of [I]srael in Egypt. Also it came to him ... and call Uzziel, his younger brother, [and gav]e him Mir[i]am, his thirty-year-old daughter for wife. He made her wedding feast last seven [day]s and he ate and drank at her wedding feast and rejoiced. Then, when the [d]ays of the wedding feast came to an end, he sent out to call Aaron, his about t[wenty]-year-old son, [and said] to him, ‘My son, call to me the messengers, your brothers, from the house of ...’

  Fr. 4

  VI ... and I will explain to you your name[s] ... [that] he wrote for Moses. And also about A[aron] ... I will explain to you the mystery of his worshipping. He is a holy priest [to the Most High God. Also] all his seed will be holy in all the generations of e[ternity] ... The seventh of the men of (God’s) good will [he will be] called and he will be said ... and will be chosen as a priest for ever ... vacat

  4Q548

  ... I an[nou]nce to you [the] firm [pat]h. I will indeed inform y[ou ... For all the Sons of Light] will shine, [and all the Sons] of Darkness will be dark. [For all the Sons of Light] ... and by all their knowledge they will ... and the Sons of Darkness will be ... And the Sons of Darkness will be removed ... For every fool and wick[ed will be dar]k and every [sag]e and upright will shine. [For all the Sons of Light will g]o to the light, to ... and all the Sons of Dar[kness go towards death] and perdition ... The people shall have brightness ... and they will explain to th[em] ...

  The Words of Moses

  (1Q22)

  Fragments of four very mutilated columns of a manuscript from Cave I have been skilfully reconstructed by J. T. Milik. They form a farewell discourse of Moses which takes its inspiration from various passages of Deuteronomy and is chiefly remarkable for the emphasis laid on the appointment of special teachers, or interpreters, of the Law (Levites and Priests). The last two columns are so mutilated as to be untranslatable. Another document, consisting of two insignificant fragments, tentatively entitled ‘A Moses Apocryphon’ (2Q21) and including a prayer attributed to Moses, has been published by J. T. Milik (DJD, III, 79-81).

  For the editio princeps, see J. T. Milik, DYD, I, 91—7.

  I [God spoke] to Moses in the [fortieth] year after [the children of] Israel had come [out of the land of] Egypt, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, saying:

  ‘[Gather together] all the congregation and go up to [Mount Nebo] and stand [there], you and Eleazar son of Aaron. Inter[pret to the heads] of family of the Levites and to all the [Priests], and proclaim to the children of Israel the words of the law which I proclaimed [to you] on Mount Sinai. Proclaim care[fully] into their ears all that I [require] of them. And [call] heaven and [earth to witness against] them; for they will not love what I have commanded [them to do], neither [they] nor their children, [during all] the days they shall [live upon the earth].

  [For] I say that they will abandon [Me, and will choose the abominations of the nations,] their horrors [and their idols. They will serve] false gods which shall be for them a snare and a pitfall. [They will sin against the] holy [days], and against the Sabbath and the Covenant, [and against the commandments] which I command you to keep this day.

  [Therefore I will smite] them with a mighty [blow] in the midst of the land [which they] cross the Jordan [to possess]. And when all the curses come upon them and catch up with them to destroy them and [blot] them out, then shall they know that the truth has been [fulfilled] with regard to them.’

  Then Moses called Eleazar son of [Aaron] and Joshua [son of Nun and said to them,] ‘Speak [all these words to the people] ... :

  [Be still,] II O Israel, and hear! This [day shall you become the people] of God, your [God. You shall keep My laws] and My testimonies [and My commandments which I] command you to [keep this] day. [And when you] cross the [Jordan so that I may give] you great [and good cities], and houses filled with all [pleasant things, and vines and olives] which [you have not planted, and] wells which you have not dug, [beware,] when you have eaten and are full, that your hearts be not lifted up, and that [you do not forget what I have commanded you to do this day. For] it is this that will bring you life and length of [days].’

  And Moses [spoke to the children] of Israel [and said to them]:

  ‘[Behold,] forty [years have passed since] the day we came out of the land [of Egypt, and today has God], our God, [uttered these words] from out of His mouth: [all] His [precepts and] all [His] precepts.

  ‘[But how shall I carry] your loads
[and burdens and disputes alone]? When I have [established] the Covenant and commanded [the way] in which you shall walk, [appoint wise men whose] work it shall be to expound [to you and your children] all these words of the Law. [Watch carefully] for your own sakes [that you keep them, lest] the wrath [of your God] kindle and burn against you, and He stop the heavens above from shedding rain [upon you], and [the water beneath the earth from] giving you [harvest].’

  And Moses [spoke further] to the children of Israel. ‘Behold the commandments [which God has] commanded you to keep ...’

  Sermon on the Exodus and the Conquest of Canaan

  (4Q374)

  Only one of the sixteen surviving fragments of a writing, palaeographically dated to the last third of the first century BCE, which deals with the exodus from Egypt and the occupation of Canaan, is large enough to provide an intelligible account. The speaker remains anonymous but may conceivably be Joshua.

  For the editio princeps, see Carol Newsom, DJD, XIX, 99—110.

  Fr. 2

  II ... And the nations rose up in anger ... in their actions and in the uncleanness of the deeds of ... and there was no remnant for [them] and none who escaped and for their posterity ...