Chapter 13

Sinaiticus 13:2 says, “Blessed is the living God forever, from the great ruin, and there is nothing that will escape his hand.” 4Q200 fragment 6, earlier, reads “the kingdom is his for all ages,” “he shows mercy,” “he brings down to Sheol below,” and “he brings up from the deep,” beside “what will escape his hand.” Those readable Hebrew clauses are printed with the Greek. An editor’s restoration, “who strikes,” is not on the leather as a clear word and is not in this Greek verse, so it is not printed.

4Q200 fragment 6 reads “give thanks to him, sons of Israel, before the nations among whom you are scattered.” The Greek agrees. The Hebrew is the earlier wording and is the line.

“He is our Lord and he is our God” is readable, with damaged letters, on 4Q200 fragment 6. “Our father” and “for all the ages” are the Greek, which continues the sentence. The Hebrew does not show the four consonants of the divine name here. “Lord” is not changed to Yahweh.

Sinaiticus goes from this verse to verse 11. Verses 8, 9, and 10 are not on the leaf. The Hebrew fragments of the song do not preserve a continuous text that can be numbered as those three verses. Nothing is printed for them.

The Greek of this verse is crowded, and one verb is damaged. The picture that is clear is printed: light, nations coming with gifts to the holy name and the king of heaven, and generations shouting in the city. A damaged verb is not replaced with a guess.

4Q200 fragment 7, column i, has broken words for rejoicing, the sons of the just, blessing the God of the age, and those who rejoice in your peace. They agree with this verse where they can be read. They are too short to replace it.

Souphir is the stone name as Sinaiticus spells it. It is not converted into a modern gem.

4Q200 fragment 7, column ii, has a broken line of Jerusalem singing, and “blessed is God,” and blessing his holy name forever. It agrees with this ending. The Greek is the continuous text.