4QExodusᵇ (4Q13): Exodus 1–5
Fragments of 4Q13 preserve Exodus 1–5, including a reading of seventy-five persons in Exodus 1:5 also known from the Greek tradition.
- Artifact date
- Hasmonean period, approximately second century BC
- Findspot
- Qumran Cave 4, near the Dead Sea
- Current location
- Israel Antiquities Authority collections
What archaeologists can actually examine
The surviving Hebrew fragments contain portions of Exodus 1:1–5, 2:2–6, 3:13–15, and 5:3–14. At Exodus 1:5 the manuscript supports a total of seventy-five, a reading also represented in the Septuagint tradition and quoted in Acts 7:14. The evidentiary claim concerns 4QExodusᵇ (4Q13): Exodus 1–5 as a physical witness dated Hasmonean period, approximately second century BC, not a general claim about every manuscript in the same collection. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
Exodus 1–5 survives
Several small pieces preserve the opening oppression, Moses narrative, divine-name passage, and labor dispute.
Seventy-five persons
The Exodus 1:5 reading supplies important Hebrew evidence for a number otherwise prominent in the Greek tradition.
Catalog-controlled identity
The 4Q13 siglum separates this object from 4Q11, 4Q12, and other Cave 4 Exodus manuscripts.
A bounded evidentiary claim
The dossier distinguishes the cataloged object and visible text from restored gaps, broader historical claims, and theological interpretation.
Follow the evidence from discovery to debate
Move through the find in a deliberate order: establish its provenance, examine the surviving object, place it in time, and then weigh the scholarly interpretation.
How the find came to light
4QExodusᵇ (4Q13): Exodus 1–5 is cataloged as a discrete manuscript witness rather than as a generic literary tradition. Its present identity is controlled by the shelf mark or excavation siglum in the cited institutional catalog, while the publication history in the accompanying scholarly source provides the basis for the description used here. The discovery and modern catalog history matter because provenance and stable identifiers prevent detached fragments, neighboring shelf marks, or similarly named witnesses from being silently combined. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
What you are looking at
The surviving Hebrew fragments contain portions of Exodus 1:1–5, 2:2–6, 3:13–15, and 5:3–14. At Exodus 1:5 the manuscript supports a total of seventy-five, a reading also represented in the Septuagint tradition and quoted in Acts 7:14. The surviving material is presented as evidence for the text actually preserved, not as a reconstruction of missing pages or an autograph. Readers should notice the relation between the preserved material, the lines or fragments actually visible, and the biblical range assigned by the critical catalog. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
Where it belongs in history
The date Hasmonean period, approximately second century BC is the cataloged scholarly assessment, normally based on script, material features, and comparison with dated hands or archaeological context. The range should therefore be read as an expert estimate rather than a date supplied by the ancient copyist. Paleographic and material dating situates the copy within a transmission history while leaving an honest chronological range rather than a falsely exact year. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
Consensus, questions, and debate
Scholarly value lies in the manuscript's independent physical witness and its controlled catalog identity. Readings and reconstructions are evaluated against other witnesses; differences may illuminate transmission, but one fragment does not by itself determine the earliest recoverable form of every passage. Critical editions compare this witness with other Hebrew or Greek manuscripts, ancient translations, corrections, and scribal habits instead of treating one reading in isolation. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
The biblical record beside the artifact
4Q13 directly witnesses early Hebrew transmission of Exodus 1–5 and is especially relevant to the seventy-versus-seventy-five textual variation connecting Exodus 1:5 with Acts 7:14. The connection is textual: the object preserves wording from the cited passages and documents that those passages were copied, arranged, and read in this historical setting. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
Exodus 1:1–5
1Now these [are] the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
5And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt [already].
A responsible historical conclusion
This record gives readers a specific, inspectable point of contact between the biblical passage and an ancient manuscript. It is most useful for understanding preservation, copying, and reception while keeping historical and theological conclusions proportionate to the evidence. Its value is cumulative and comparative: a controlled manuscript identity adds one more datable checkpoint to the history of the biblical text and helps readers see how conclusions are tested. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
4Q Exodus B
Israel Antiquities AuthorityOfficial object-level record and fragment imagery for 4Q13.
Qumran Cave 4.VII: Genesis to Numbers
Oxford University PressCritical edition and scholarly presentation of the Cave 4 Exodus manuscripts.
Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library
Israel Antiquities AuthorityInstitutional context for the discovery, conservation, imaging, cataloging, and publication of the Qumran manuscripts.