1QS (eng)

And then God, by his truth, will purify all the deeds of a man; he will refine for himself the structure of man,^{1The translation of מבני in the sense of “building” or “structure/form of a human being” provides a better parallel to “the deeds/works of a man” (כול מעשי גבר). However, within the Qumran texts the combination מבני with איש occurs only here and is therefore lexically only weakly attested. Another possibility is to understand מבני איש as “some of the sons/children of humanity” (מ partitive + בני m.pl.cs; cf. Collins/Natte 2024, 61: “some of humanity”). This reading corresponds to the idea that the purification concerns only some, namely the elect (cf. 1QS 4:22); problematic, however, remains the agreement with the singular suffixes in בשרו and טהרו (cf. Muraoka 2022, 93). Cf. DSSSE, 79 (“the structure of man”); Hempel 2020, 111 (“the human structure”); Muraoka 2022, 87 (“an edifice of man”).} in order to remove every spirit of perversity from the inner parts2

of his flesh, and to cleanse him by a holy spirit from all deeds of wickedness. And he will sprinkle upon him the spirit of truth like waters of purification^{2Cf. Num 31:23.} from all abominations of falsehood and from defilement^{3התגלל may here be understood as a substantivized infinitive construct (Muraoka 2022, 95; idem, Syntax of Qumran Hebrew §18a), possibly functioning attributively in relation to the preceding תועבות (see Muraoka 2022, 95; idem, Syntax of Qumran Hebrew §18i). Lexically, the verb belongs to the semantic field גלל (“to roll,” “to wallow”); however, in the Qumran texts it appears repeatedly in connection with sin and cultic impurity (especially in this stem: 1QHa 4:19; CD 3:17). The meaning “to defile oneself” or “to become polluted” may therefore be assumed here. In the context of 1QS 4:21, the translation “defilement by an unclean spirit” thus fits the purification semantics of the passage.}

by an unclean spirit, so as to give the upright insight into the knowledge of the Most High and to instruct those perfect in way in the wisdom of the sons of heaven. For those God has chosen for an everlasting covenant,

and to them^{4Muraoka 2022, 96 understands both בם and להם as “fronted for emphasis’s sake,” that is, as elements placed at the beginning for emphasis (cf. idem, Syntax of Qumran Hebrew §34c).} (belongs) all the glory of Adam. There shall be no injustice, and to shame shall be brought every work^{5With reference to Licht as well as Qimron (The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls, §A 3.5.1, 74–77 ), Muraoka understands מעשי here not as a true plural but as a phonetic spelling of the singular מעשה; this is likewise supported by the agreement with the singular verb יהיה.} of deceit.