Dead Sea Scrolls
Section 2

These scroll fragments were displayed in the exhibit at the Library of Congress, May - August 1993. They were provided courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The exhibit captions and translations (below) provide background on the fragments and their relationships with the other Dead Sea Scrolls, the Qumran Community, and its Collexion.

"Enoch Scroll"

One of the most important apocryphic works of the Second Temple Period is Enoch. According to the biblical narrative (Genesis 5:21-24), Enoch lived only 365 years (far less than the other patriarchs in the period before the Flood). Enoch "walked with God; then he was no more for God took him."

The original language of most of this work was, in all likelihood, Aramaic (an early Semitic language). Although the original version was lost in antiquity, portions of a Greek translation were discovered in Egypt and quotations were known from the Church Fathers. The discovery of the texts from Qumran Cave 4 has finally provided parts of the Aramaic original. In the fragment exhibited here, humankind is called on to observe how unchanging nature follows God's will.

Reference: Milik, J. T. The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4. Oxford, 1976.

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Translation:

E[superscript]a I ii
12. ...But you have changed your works,
13. [and have not done according to his command, and tran]sgressed against him; (and have spoken) haughty and harsh words, with your impure mouths,
14. [against his majesty, for your heart is hard]. You will have no peace.

En[superscript]a I iii
13. [They (the leaders) and all ... of them took for themselves]
14. wives from all that they chose and [they began to cohabit with them and to defile themselves with them];
15. and to teach them sorcery and [spells and the cutting of roots; and to acquaint them with herbs.]
16. And they become pregnant by them and bo[re (great) giants three thousand cubits high ...]

Transcription by J. T. Milik, amended by J. C. Greenfield; translation by J. C. Greenfield

"Hosea Commentary Scroll"

This text is a commentary, or "pesher," on the prophetic biblical verses from the book of Hosea (2:8-14). The verse presented here refers to the relation of God, the husband, to Israel, the unfaithful wife. In the commentary, the unfaithful ones have been led astray by "the man of the lie." The document states that the affliction befalling those led astray is famine. Although this famine could be a metaphor, it may well be a reference to an actual drought cited in historical sources of that time.

The manuscript shown here is the larger of two unrelated fragments of the Hosea Commentary found in Cave 4. The script, which is identical to that of a commentary on Psalms, belongs to the rustic, semiformal type of the Herodian era.

References: Allegro, J. M. Qumran Cave 4: I (4Q158-4Q186). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, V. Oxford, 1968.
Horgan, M. Pesharim: Qumran Interpretations of Biblical Books. Washington, 1979.

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Translation:

Hos. 2:10-14 1. (10)[SHE DID NOT KNOW THAT] I MYSELF HAD GIVEN HER THE GRAIN [AND THE WINE]
2. [AND THE OIL, AND] (THAT) I HAD SUPPLIED [SILVER] AND GOLD ... (WHICH) THEY MADE [INTO BAAL. The interpretation of it is]
3. that [they] ate [and] were satisfied, and they forgot God who [had fed them, and all]
4. his commandments they cast behind them, which he had sent to them [by]
5. his servants the prophets. But to those who led them astray they listened, and they honored them [ ]
6. and as if they were gods, they fear them in their blindness.
7. vacat
8. (11)THEREFORE, I SHALL TAKE BACK MY GRAIN AGAIN IN ITS TIME AND MY WINE [IN ITS SEASON,]
9. AND I SHALL WITHDRAW MY WOOL AND MY FLAX FROM COVERING [HER NAKEDNESS.]
10. (12)I SHALL NOW UNCOVER HER PRIVATE PARTS IN THE SIGHT OF [HER] LO[VERS AND]
11. NO [ONE] WILL WITHDRAW HER FROM MY HAND.
12. The interpretation of it is that he smote them with famine and with nakedness so that they became a disgra[ce]
13. and a reproach in the sight of the nations on whom they had leaned for support, but they
14. will not save them from their afflictions. (13)AND I SHALL PUT AN END TO ALL HER JOY,
15. [HER] PIL[GRIMAGE,] HER [NEW] MOON, AND HER SABBATH, AND ALL HER FEASTS. The interpretation of it is that
16. they make [the fe]asts go according to the appointed times of the nation. And [all]
17. [joy] has been turned for them into mourning. (14)AND I SHALL MAKE DESOLATE [HER VINE]
18. [AND HER FIG TREE,] OF WHICH SHE SAID, "THEY ARE THE HIRE [THAT MY LOVERS HAVE GIVEN] ME."
19. AND I SHALL MAKE THEM A FOREST, AND THE W[ILD BEAST OF THE FIELD] WILL DEVOUR THEM.

Transcription and translation by M. Horgan