A — The Rules

Remonstrances (before Conversion?) (4Q471a)

1This small fragment, written in Herodian script, contains reproofs addressed in the second person plural to a group of wicked Jews. The context is that of a war. It is unlikely to belong to the War Scroll or the Book of War as neither of these includes speeches to outsiders. According to a conjecture proposed by the editors, the opponents of the sect thus criticized are the ruling class of Judaea (Hasmonaeans and perhaps also Sadducees), but nothing in the surviving text positively supports their cautiously presented surmise. However, the second half of the fragment can be interpreted in a positive sense, in which case the scene may be a last-minute mass conversion of unfaithful Jews before the final battle. For the editio princeps, see Esther Eshel and Menahem Kister, DJD, XXXVI, 446-9.

2... time(?) you have commanded not to ... You have been unfaithful to His covenant ... [You] said: Let us fight His wars for He has redeemed us ... Your [mighty men] shall be humbled. And they did not know that He has despised ... you shall show yourselves mighty in war. And you have been reckoned ... by His measuring line(?). You shall seek righteous judgement and the work ... you shall exalt yourselves. And He has chosen t[hem] ... for a cry ... And you will return ... sweet

3B. Hymns and Poems 'Thanksgiving Scroll', The Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem