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4Q180

The Ages of the Creation

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Fragment 1

1 Interpretation concerning the ages that God made: an age to complete […] 2 and will be. Before he created them he set in place [their] workings […] 3 age by age. And it is engraved on […] 4 … the ages of their dominions. This is the order of … […] 5 … fathered Isaac; the ten […] 6 […] 7 Interpretation concerning Azazel and the angels⁠ who⁠ […] 8 and they bore them mighty ones. And concerning Azazel […] 9 […] iniquity, and to make wickedness an inheritance, all … […] 10 […] … judgments and the judgment of the council of … […]

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 6:4 and 4Q180 1 7

Hebrew Bible · Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation

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Summary

In Genesis, the sons of God have children with human women, producing mighty heroes. In 4Q180 from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the story concerns Azazel and the angels, connecting these births with the spread of wickedness.

Passages

Genesis 6:4

Hebrew Bible
1 When humankind began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose. 3 So the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also after this) when the sons of God would sleep with the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty heroes of old, the famous men.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

4Q180 1 7

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation · The Ages of the Creation
7 Interpretation concerning Azazel and the angels who […] 8 and they bore them mighty ones. And concerning Azazel […] 9 […] iniquity, and to make wickedness an inheritance, all … […] 10 […] … judgments and the judgment of the council of … […]
160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q180

References

“... After this introduction, a new section starts with "Interpretation concerning Azazel and the angels", a reference to Gen 6:1-4, as well as to the Enochic Book of Watchers, especially 1 Enoch 6-16. How do the quotations of Genesis (in frags. 2-4 and 5-6) fit within a composition that presents an interpretation concerning the ages? ...”
Eibert Tigchelaar, “Sodom and Gomorrah in the Dead Sea Scrolls,” in Sodom’s Sin: Genesis 18-19 and Its Interpretations, ed. Ed Noort and Eibert Tigchelaar (Leiden: Brill, 2004), 55.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 6:4 and 4Q180 1 7

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