WAR SCROLL, 4Q491

This scroll preserves two fragments from a text describing the final apocalyptic battle between good and evil—”the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness”—leading to a new world order. A nearly complete version, known as the “War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness,” was found in Cave 1. The War Scroll details everything from recruitment requirements and priestly roles to battle strategy and weapons descriptions. Both good and evil angels join the fight. It includes blessings for different battle stages and, referencing the biblical book of Numbers, describes trumpet signals like a choreographed performance: “On cue, the trumpets sound, the weapons are used, the enemy falls.” Ironically, when the Judeans actually fought the occupying Romans in 66 CE, they suffered crushing defeat. The Romans destroyed Qumran in 68 CE, leveled Jerusalem’s Temple in 70 CE, and conquered Masada in 73 CE—a stark contrast to the apocalyptic victory envisioned in this scroll.

Frag. 11 col. II

Detail Translation

Fragment 11, Column II

Detail Translation

19 After these words the priests shall blow for them to form a second battle against the Kit[tim. And when each man is stationed]

20 in his position the priests shall blow a second call the signal to attack. When they reach [the Kittim] l[ine at] thr[ow]ing

21 [distance] each man will take his weapons of war in his hand and the priest shall bl[ow] the trum[pet]s of the [slain a shrill staccato sound]

22 [to direct the fight. The Levites and all] the throng with ram’s horns shall bl[o]w a [loud bla[st … and when the second sound of the blast goes out]

23 [they shall set off to cast] down the guilty slain. The sound of […] … […]

[ . . . ] = a gap in the text owing to damage or illegibility

[xxx] = restoration of missing text based on other versions of the same text or scholarly research

LORD = the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter name of God in the Hebrew Bible