4QJeremiahᶜ (4Q72): Jeremiah 4–33
A distinct Cave 4 Jeremiah scroll preserves extensive fragments from chapters 4–33 and supplies another ancient witness to the book’s longer textual form.
- Artifact date
- Early Herodian period, late first century BC
- Findspot
- Qumran Cave 4, near the Dead Sea
- Current location
- Israel Antiquities Authority collections
What archaeologists can actually examine
4Q72 preserves portions distributed across Jeremiah 4–33. Its contents and catalog identity distinguish it from 4QJeremiahᵇ, the shorter-edition witness already represented elsewhere in the library. The evidentiary claim concerns 4QJeremiahᶜ (4Q72): Jeremiah 4–33 as a physical witness dated Early Herodian period, late first 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.
Not 4QJeremiah B
Its independent siglum and scribal identity prevent duplication with the shorter-edition manuscript.
Broad chapter range
Fragments extend from Jeremiah 4 through chapter 33.
Edition history illuminated
Comparison with other Qumran Jeremiah scrolls documents ancient textual plurality.
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
4QJeremiahᶜ (4Q72): Jeremiah 4–33 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
4Q72 preserves portions distributed across Jeremiah 4–33. Its contents and catalog identity distinguish it from 4QJeremiahᵇ, the shorter-edition witness already represented elsewhere in the library. 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 Early Herodian period, late first 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
The scroll directly attests the transmission of Jeremiah’s warnings, symbolic actions, laments, and restoration promises, including material surrounding the new-covenant chapters. 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.
Jeremiah 4:1–31
1If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
2And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
3¶ For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench [it], because of the evil of your doings.
5Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
6Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; [and] thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
8For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
9And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, [that] the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
10Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
11At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
12[Even] a full wind from those [places] shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.
13Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots [shall be] as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
15For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
16Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, [that] watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
17As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
18Thy way and thy doings have procured these [things] unto thee; this [is] thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
19¶ My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, [and] my curtains in a moment.
21How long shall I see the standard, [and] hear the sound of the trumpet?
22For my people [is] foolish, they have not known me; they [are] sottish children, and they have none understanding: they [are] wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
23I beheld the earth, and, lo, [it was] without form, and void; and the heavens, and they [had] no light.
24I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
25I beheld, and, lo, [there was] no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
26I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place [was] a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, [and] by his fierce anger.
27For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken [it], I have purposed [it], and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
29The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city [shall be] forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
30And [when] thou [art] spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; [thy] lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
31For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, [and] the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, [that] bewaileth herself, [that] spreadeth her hands, [saying], Woe [is] me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
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 Jeremiah C
Israel Antiquities AuthorityOfficial manuscript record and fragment photography.
Qumran Cave 4.X: The Prophets
Oxford University PressCritical edition and analysis of the Cave 4 Jeremiah 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.