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4Q180

The Ages of the Creation

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Fragments 2-4 ii

1 which … […] … it is that which dwelt … […] … […] 2 I know … […] … beautiful … […] … […] 3 … […] the three men […] 4 […] … from the oaks of Mamre, they are angels⁠ […] 5 […] he will stand … […] their sin … […] 6 … […] … now, and I will … […] 7 … all … […] 8 … […] … […] 9 speaking […] and I will see, for everything […] 10 … […] before he created them he knew [their] thoughts⁠ […]

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 18:21 and 4Q180 2–4 ii 10

Hebrew Bible · Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation

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Summary

In Genesis, God goes down to learn about Sodom’s sin. In 4Q180 from the Dead Sea Scrolls, a fragment possibly explaining this scene says God knew people’s thoughts before creating them, suggesting that he already knew what happened.

Passages

Genesis 18:21

Hebrew Bible
20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant 21 that I must go down and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. If not, I want to know.” 22 The two men turned and headed toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

4Q180 2–4 ii 10

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation · The Ages of the Creation
5 […] he will stand … […] their sin … […] 6 … […] … now, and I will … […] 7 … all … […] 8 … […] … […] 9 speaking […] and I will see, for everything […] 10 … […] before he created them he knew [their] thoughts […]
160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q180

References

“... 4Q180 continues with the quotation of the next problematic verse. The text of MT might seem to say that the Lord does not yet know how serious things are in Sodom, which would be in conflict with the idea of God's all- encompassing knowledge. If 4Q180 frag. 4 belongs at the bottom of the column, than the quotation is followed by an explanation stating that God knew all things before he created them. Since the text is damaged, we can- not know how the author solved the problem. We only know he tackled it somehow. ...”
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), 57.

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 18:21 and 4Q180 2–4 ii 10

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