The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (73 page)

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 ...

... 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] ...

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 ...'

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

... 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] ...

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 ...'

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.

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 ...

And he made a plantation for u[s] his elect in the land that is the most desirable of all the lands ... And he made him as a god over the mighty and as a cause of dread for Pharaoh ... they melted and their heart trembled and their entrails dissolved. And he had mercy ... And when he made his face shine on them for healing, they strengthened [their] heart once more and knowledge ... None having known you, they melted and trembled ...

In a style imitating the Pentateuch, and recalling the Sayings of Moses from Cave 1 (1Q22),
4Q375
, fr. 1, col. I lays down instructions regarding the treatment of a person who claims to be a prophet. Should he exhort people to commit apostasy, he is to be executed. However, his tribe may come to his rescue and lodge an appeal with the anointed priest in the city of the sanctuary. The very damaged col. 11 contains a sacrificial ritual employing the terminology of the Day of Atonement from Lev. xvi. The script is early Herodian, i.e. late first century BCE.

For the
editio princeps,
see John Strugnell,
DJD,
XIX, 111—19.

I
... [You will do all that] your God has commanded you from the mouth of the prophet. You will keep [all] these [pre]cepts and you will return to the Lord your God with all [your heart and al]1 your soul. And your God will desist from the wrath of his great anger [to save you] from your misery. And the prophet who will arise and speak defection in your midst, turning you away from your God, shall be put to death. But if the tribe from which he originates stands up (for him) and says, ‘Let him not be put to death, for he is righteous; he is a [trus]tworthy prophet', you, your elders and your judges will come with that tribe [t]o the place which your God will choose within one of your tribes (to appear) before [the] anointed priest on whose head the oil of anointing has been poured.

This mid-first-century BCE text, which partly overlaps with
1Q29
, is a reworking of Exod. xxviii, 9—12, dealing with the two engraved stones set in the shoulder pieces of the high priest's liturgical garment (the ephod). Another fragment introduces the secular head of the community, the ‘Prince of the whole congregation' (cf. 1QM v,1; CD VII, 20, etc.) in his military role, confronting the enemies of Israel or attacking one of their towns.

For the
editio princeps,
see John Strugnell,
DJD,
XIX, 121—36.

II
they shall shed light on you. And he shall go out with it with tongues of fire. The left-hand stone on his left side will show itself to the eyes of all the assembly until the priest has completed his speech. And afterwards the ... has gone up ... And you shall keep and d[o al]1 [that] he shall speak to you. And the prophe[t] ...

... preaches rebellion ...

 

III
according to all this judgement. And if the Prince of the whole congregation shall be in the camp and ... his enemy and Israel is with him, or if they go against a city to besiege it or any matter which ... to the Prince ... the distant field ...

One medium-sized and sixteen small fragments represent a collection of liturgical prayers of which only one can be partly translated. The document is akin to 4Q
375
and
376
as well as to 1Q
29
. Palaeographically the document is placed in the late second century BCE.

For the
editio princeps,
see Annette Steudel,
DJD,
XXXVI, 298-319.

... [Bl]essed art Thou, O Lord, who art righteous in all Thy ways. Be mighty in strength ... [in Thy judge]ments. Thou who art faithful ... Thou art understanding [with all in]telligence ... might. Thou who art

... to bring out ... who hast created the morning as a sign to reveal the dominion of the light as the boundary of the daytime ... for their work. To bless Thy holy name Thou hast created them. For the light is good

... [Thou art ...] who hast created the evening as a sign to reveal the dominion [of darkness] ... from labour. Thou hast [c]reated them to bless Thy holy name when they see that the light is good and when ... Thou hast created the evening as a sign (to mark) the appearance of the dominion of [darkness] ...

This is part of an apocryphal account of the story of the Israelites at Sinai and in the wilderness. Fragment 2 ii introduces an elder called Elibah, who curses the Jews who fail to observe the Law mediated by Moses during the latter's stay with God on the mountain.

 

For the
editio princeps,
see J. VanderKam and M. Brady,
DJD,
XXVIII, 205—17.

II
... they will understand the precepts of Moses. And Elibah answered and said: Hearken, congregation of the Lord, and listen, all the assembly! ... Cursed be the man who does not stand by, keep and prac[tise] all the comman[dments of the L]ord (issued) by the mouth of Moses, His anointed, and follow the Lord, the God of our fathers, He who commanded us from the mountain of Sinai. And He spoke to the people of Israel face to face as a man speaks to his friend ... He made us look at a consuming fire from under the heaven. And on the earth, He stood on the mountain to make it known that there is no god beside Him and no rock like Him. [And all] the assembly ... and trembling seized them because of the glory of God and the marvellous voices ... and they stood at a distance. And Moses the man of God (was) with God in the cloud and the cloud covered him. For ... when he was hallowed and out of His mouth he spoke like an angel. For who is a messenger like him? ... a man of grace who were not created from everlasting to everlasting ...