Fragment 1

1 Qahat there, to stay and to dwell and to build [the tombs of our fathers … and many men from among the sons of my uncle went up with us together … every] 2 man, and of our work there was a very great deal, until [the dead should be buried. In the first year of my authority, when there was a frightening rumor of war, our company turned back to the land of Egypt, and I went up to bury them] 3 quickly, but they had not built the tombs of their fathers. [And my father Qahat and my wife Jochebed left me to stay and to build and to take for them all that they needed from the land of Canaan. And we dwelt in Hebron] 4 while we were building. And there was war between [Philistia and Egypt,⁠ and Philistia and Canaan were prevailing over Egypt …] 5 And they closed the [borders of] Egypt, and it was not possible [for my wife Jochebed to come from Egypt to Canaan …] 6 for forty-one years. And we were not able to [return to Egypt … therefore not … the war] 7 between Egypt and Canaan and Philistia. And [during] all this, [Jochebed] my wife [was far from me in the land of Egypt … my charge … who with me] 8 was not. And I did [not] take another wife [for myself]. And women […] 9 all, that I would return to Egypt in peace and see the face of my wife [… and I was looking at the angels whom I saw] 10 in my vision, the vision of the dream. And behold, two were arguing over me⁠ and saying [… of his] 11 and they were holding a great dispute over me.⁠ And I asked them, “Who are you, that you thus [have power over me?” … And they said to me, “We] 12 [thus] are rulers, and rule over all the sons of Adam.” And they said to me, “Which of us do you⁠ [seek to be ruled by?” And behold, I lifted my eyes and saw,] 13 [and one] of them, his appearance was dreadful like a serpent, [and all] his clothing was many-colored,⁠ and he was dark with darkness. [His face …] 14 [And the other, I looked,] and behold … […] in his appearance, and his face was smiling, and [he was covered with clothing …] 15 [exceedingly, and above his eyes …]

Texts in conversation

Compare Jubilees 46:10 and 4Q544 1 4

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions · Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings

Summary

Jubilees notes in passing that Egypt’s gates closed and Amram stayed behind at Hebron. The Dead Sea Scroll known as the Visions of Amram tells this from Amram’s perspective, adding that the closed border kept him from his wife for forty-one years.

Passages

Jubilees 46:10

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions

9 And the king of Egypt went out to war with the king of Canaan in the forty-seventh jubilee, in the second week in the second year [2263], and the children of Israel brought out all the bones of the children of Jacob except the bones of Joseph, and they buried them in the field in the double cave in the mountain. 10 And most (of them) returned to Egypt, but a few of them remained in the mountains of Hebron, and Amram your father remained with them. 11 And the king of Canaan was victorious over the king of Egypt, and he closed the gates of Egypt.

170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

4Q544 1 4

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings · Visions of Amram

3 quickly, but they had not built the tombs of their fathers. [And my father Qahat and my wife Jochebed left me to stay and to build and to take for them all that they needed from the land of Canaan. And we dwelt in Hebron] 4 while we were building. And there was war between [Philistia and Egypt, and Philistia and Canaan were prevailing over Egypt …] 5 And they closed the [borders of] Egypt, and it was not possible [for my wife Jochebed to come from Egypt to Canaan …] 6 for forty-one years. And we were not able to [return to Egypt … therefore not … the war] 7 between Egypt and Canaan and Philistia. And [during] all this, [Jochebed] my wife [was far from me in the land of Egypt … my charge … who with me]

160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q544

References

... In this fragmentarily preserved text, we can read that Amram went together with his father Qahat from Egypt to Canaan "to stay and to dwell and to build" the tombs for the burial of their fathers. The reconstructed part of line 1 adds that Amram also went together with the sons of his uncle (compare 4Q545 1a-b 14). This work was interrupted by a rumor of war (thus the reconstructed part of line 2; compare 4Q545 1a-b ii 16: "rumor of war"). It is possible that Amram went back to Egypt together with the others after these rumors (4Q544 1 3: "quickly, and they did not build the tombs of their fathers"), but this is not completely certain. It is also possible that he did not go back to Egypt with the others. After a while, Amram received permission from his father to remain or to go back to Canaan (the reconstructed text of line 3 "And my father Qahat let me go" is taken from 4Q546 2 3) to finish the work ("until we build"). When he was there, war broke out between Philistea, Canaan, and Egypt, and because of this war the borders were closed (line 5) for forty-one years (line 6), during which ...

Jacques T.A.G.M. van Ruiten, “Between Jacob's Death and Moses' Birth: The Intertextual Relationship between Genesis 50:15–Exodus 1:14 and Jubilees 46:1–16,” in Flores Florentino: Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Early Jewish Studies in Honour of Florentino García Martínez, ed. Anthony Hilhorst, Emile Puech, and Eibert J.C. Tigchelaar, JSJSup 122 (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 483.

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

Fragment 1

4Q5443 chapters

Compare Jubilees 46:10 and 4Q544 1 4

Summary

Passages

Jubilees 46:10

4Q544 1 4

References

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