Translation:
4:1 For the heavens and the earth will listen to his messiah,
4:2 and all that is in them will not depart from the commandments of the holy ones.
4:3 Strengthen yourselves you seeking the Lord in his service
4:4 Will you not find the Lord in this, all those waiting in their hearts?
4:5 Because the Lord will attend to the covenant faithful and the righteous he will call by name.
4:6 And on the humble his spirit will rest and the faithful he will renew in his strength.
4:7 Because he will glorify the covenant faithful upon a throne of kingship forever,
4:8 freeing the imprisoned, opening [the eyes] of the blind, raising the bowed.
4:9 And forever I will cling with those [who] wait and in his covenant faithfulness.
4:10 and the fruit of good deeds to no man will be delayed.
4:11 And the glorious things which do not exist the Lord will do just as he said.
4:12 Because he will heal the slain, and the dead will be alive, and to the humble he will bring glad tidings
4:13 and the oppressed he will cause to be satisfied, and the exiled he will guide, and the hungry he will enrich.
Exegesis:
4Q521 fii 4.1-13 interest me for four reasons: (1) it mentions the messiah; (2) it depicts the spirit of YHWH as coming upon his people; (3) it may allude to a resurrection; (4) it presents the reader with an eschatological hope for the people of God.
In line 1 the “heavens and earth”( השמים והארץ) represents all of the created order, ala Genesis 1. The author writes that creation will “listen to his messiah.” The word for “listen” is שמע which goes beyond hearing something to hearing something attentively. This seems to present creation as listening to obey the messiah. The messiah (למשיחו) is “his”, the third person masculine singular suffix connects messiah to YHWH.
Line 2 continues this sentence establishing that all that is in creation “depart” (יסוג) from “the commandments of the holy ones” (ממצות קדושים), a statement that seems to implied a shared rule with messiah for those who are the people of God.
Line 3 begins with an imperative in the hithpael instructing the reader—likely the “holy ones”—to engage in the act of self-strengthening (התאמצו). These holy ones are “seeking the Lord in his service”
Line 4 rhetorically asks if the reader will find the Lord in this and describes the holy ones as “hoping in their hearts” or “waiting in their hearts” (המיחלים בלבם).
Line 5 is future oriented. The Lord will attend (יבקר, imperfect) to his “pious”[2] (חסידים) or as I translated it “covenant faithful” because חסד seems to have the implication of faithfulness is a covenant setting. The holy ones are faithful and the “righteous” (וצדיקים). The Lord will “call them by name” (בשם יקרא, imperfect).
Line 6 is intriguing because it mentions the spirit resting on the humble. The “humble” (ענוים) is another way of speaking of the aforementioned holy ones, covenant faithful, and righteous. The spirit (רוחו) is “his” (another third person, singular, masculine suffix as with “messiah” above) meaning the Lord’s. The word used to the spirit’s resting upon the humble is the same word used of the spirit in Genesis 1.2 (תרחף in line 6 and מרחפת in Gen 1.2). I assume the author intends to evoke an echo of the creation narrative with the spirit doing a similar work of reorganizing the chaos.
The other action of the Lord in this line is renewing of the strength of the faithful (ואמונים). This is different from my “covenant faithful” gloss above. The covenant doesn’t seem to be in view as much here as when the author wrote חסידים though the action of fidelity is similar.
In my next post I will share my notes on the rest of the fragment. Your feedback is most welcome!
the archives near Emmaus 
Hi Brian, I deal briefly with this document in my The Historiographical Jesus (Baylor Press, 2009), pp142-46. The chief problem with interpreting the content here is that there is a sense break in line 3 and the text becomes difficult to read in lines 9-10. Because of this difficulty, some have argued that the therapeutic activity described cannot be linked strongly to the messiah described. My take is that this is argument is overly cautious. I think that (even if God is doing the healing in the days of the messiah) there is reason to link therapeutic activity to Qumranic messianism.
my two cents – thanks for the post.
-anthony
whoops…sorry for the split infinitive.
That is a good observation. I agree that it appears to align the work of God with the era in which messiah appears. This doesn’t mean everything has to be directly attributed to messiah for there to be a connection. I need to get a copy of your book.
I’ve said this before: I’m convinced the old covenant is entirely messianic, (but unbelieving translators have specifically made translation choices which have largely excised it of this sense, at least in our language).
I’m not (currently) necessarily convinced this is true of the Dead Sea Scrolls non-biblical fragments. I try to keep an open mind. Yet, the more I study, them the more I sense in them an awareness of the messianic nature of the old covevant, especially in OT peshers. The more I sense this in them, as reflections of the text they study (which I see as messianic), the harder it becomes to remain uncommitted on this point. (I’m not quite sure what it will take for me to become fully committed to a similar view on the Dead Sea scrolls, but I certainly seem to be moving in that direction).
That said, assuming your translation as correct, it would take an unreasonable amount of skeptism to see this fragment as anything but how you portray it to be.
Anthony, I don’t think I’ve ever heard an American apologize for a split infinitive before, certainly not for one that isn’t there—or have you corrected it?
In Deuteronomy 32:1, it appears Moses is addressing the people, Israel, as ” the heavens and earth”. 4:2 above makes me think this author was using that use of the term for human believers.
Patrick
excellent connection with Duet 32:1 but dont understanding your conclusion .The person who wrote had Moses in mind as the messiah who addressed those in heaven and those in earth . but i think the messiah in 4:1 should be plural incuding all that held that office of the Word. all holy minded kings.prophets and priest like Moses
4:1 For the heavens and the earth will listen to his messiah(those that are anointed),
4:2 and all that is in them(heavens and the earth) will not depart from the commandments of the holy ones.(those holy that are anointed).
THe biggest mistake people make is translating messiah and christ as some kind of name when it is used as a noun when it just means anointed or anointer
4:1 For the heavens and the earth will listen to his messiah,
4:2 and all that is in them will not depart from the commandments of the holy ones.
Just another thought but heres a Good ref. Col. 1:16 -should not the people, the Heaven and earth (listen or) obey the voice of its co-creator (the Messiah)?? Ref.Luke 8:22-25?? The artifact appears to support the idea of the Messianic figure?…really don’t agree with the opinion or other wise thoughts here. Nice cigar, guys but no smoking gun….Plus 4.4 goes on to state “Will you not find the Lord in this, all those waiting in their hearts” all those waiting for what…for who?? if its regarding just any anointed person or speaking of moses ( who never was thought of as a Messiah) or some king etc. what is or what are they expected to do? The Messianic person comes in the roll of anointed =(messiah) prophet proclaims G-ds covenant and will exercise kingship in the days to come (thats scripture). If Messianism is not to be understood here according to the mentioned ideas here, then to whom is the text really regarding? just anyone at random?NO, i do beg to differ here. I do however agree with the commentators here. The text is referring to a messianic person and what he will exercise in the future…..Thank u for your thoughts here!