4Q Gen

4Q Genᵍ

Artifact overview

Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q7 4Q Genᵍ Composition) is an artifact (Parchment Scroll) related to the story named ‘Biblical Genesis.’ The artifact’s condition is Poor and it is currently located at Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem, Israel, catalogued as record number 4Q7 4Q Genᵍ. The language of the text contained is Ancient Hebrew (Hebrew writing system). Its estimated date is 165—37 BCE, which is a range based on available data and scholarship. The text associated with this artifact includes the belief system of Judaism concerning the One God Yahweh.

Contents: Genesis 1:1-2, 4-22; 2:6-7

Genesis 1

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day “daytime”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. 6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. 9 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so. 10 God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good. 11 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so. [..]

13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day. 14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so. 16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20 God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 21 God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

Genesis 2

6 but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.