Keep the light of hope burning within you brethren!
What do we see here?
From this cave along the Dead Sea. Let us go inside and read together to see what shall be found :
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] …
Fr. 2
II … [the hea]vens and the earth will listen to His Messiah, and none
therein will stray from the commandments of the holy ones.
Seekers of the Lord, strengthen yourselves in His service!
All you hopeful in (your) heart, will you not find the Lord in this?
For the Lord will consider the pious (hasidim) and call the righteous
by name.
Over the poor His spirit will hover and will renew the faithful with His
power.
And He will glorify the pious on the throne of the eternal Kingdom.
He who liberates the captives, restores sight to the blind, straightens
the b[ent] (Ps. cxlvi, 7-8).
And f[or] ever I will clea[ve to the h]opeful and in His mercy …
And the fr[uit … ] will not be delayed for anyone
And the Lord will accomplish glorious things which have never been
as [He … ]
For He will heal the wounded, and revive the dead and bring good
news to the poor (Isa. lxi, 1).
… He will lead the uprooted and make the hungry rich …
A Sapiential Work (i)
(4Q413)
Two fragments have preserved the first four lines of a column from a
Wisdom composition. The script is Herodian, dating to the turn of the
era. The word ‘God’ is written with palaeo-Hebrew letters in lines 2 and
4.
For the editio princeps, see E. Qimron, DJD, XX, i69-71.
… I will teach you [knowledge(?)] and wisdom,
And understand the ways of man
and the works of the sons of ma[n].
[According to] God’s [loving-kindness] towards man,
He has enlarged his inheritance in the knowledge of His truth,
and according to His rejection of every ev[il man,]
no-one who [walks after] his ears and his eyes shall live.
And now [His] loving-kindness … the ancient,
they will consider the years of all the generations
as God has revealed …
4Q420, fr. 1 (4Q421, fr. 1 ii)
II to practise righteousness in the ways of God (4Q421 ii).
… he shall not reply before he has heard,
nor shall he speak before he has gained understanding.
He shall patiently respond and… shall issue a word.
He shall seek truth (and) judgement
and by searching righteousness he shall find its outcome.
A humble and modest man shall not turn back
until…
A faithful man shall not depart from the ways of righteousness
and he shall set his heart on …
and the bones (of) his hands on …
He shall be redeemed through righteousness;
through understanding… his fields.
His territory…
to [practise ri]ghteousness …
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 lovingkindness
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 …’
Eternal Birthright vs Temporary Porridge 