The exhibition credits J. Baumgarten’s Hebrew transcription. Gaps, uncertain readings and supplied wording are part of its presentation.
Dead Sea Scrolls · Hebrew
Damascus Document 4Q271: honest dealing
The exhibition’s numbered English excerpt allows a focused reading of truthful dealing and knowingly causing another person loss.
Institutional translation excerpt checked
- Physical witness
- 4Q271 / 4Q Dᶠ · Hebrew Qumran Damascus Document fragment
- Selected unit
- Library of Congress exhibition fragment · displayed lines 4–7
- Edition or research reference
- J. Baumgarten, transcription and translation in the Library of Congress Scrolls from the Dead Sea exhibition, 1993; later scholarly fragment/column concordance still to check.
- Review boundary
- Displayed lines 4–7 and the named translation were inspected. A later DJD fragment or column number is not assigned here.
Follow the reading
English translation credited to J. Baumgarten. The selected unit interprets Leviticus 25:14 within this community document.
A credited translation and displayed line reference are available for this short financial-law unit.
Read the selected passage
The selected lines move from a scriptural command against defrauding another person in a transaction to the question of knowingly causing loss. A careful reader can ask what is being represented, what is known and what another person needs to know.
The exhibition translation includes incomplete and supplied wording. Its signs should remain visible in any quotation. Studying this unit does not make every rule elsewhere in the ancient document a present-day Babylon instruction.
What remains to check
Match the exhibition fragment to the later critical edition’s fragment and column labels, then collate its photograph. Full edition access remains an independent task.
Bring the learning forward
Consider one agreement in your own life. What information can you make clearer so that another person can choose freely? This practice joins truthful conduct with dignity; it does not supply a verdict on a reader’s worth.
The Father and Yeshua remain Babylon’s devotional centre. This reflection offers perspective and a freely chosen next step; it makes no judgement about a reader’s worth.
Sources you can retrace
These source links identify the consulted catalogue, transcription, edition or scholarly quotation. Source images and complete modern translations remain at their original hosts.
- Library of Congress · Damascus translation ↗
Transcription and translation: J. Baumgarten; 1993 exhibition.
Consulted institutional excerpt - Library of Congress · Damascus object record ↗
Library of Congress. Displayed line numbers are retained without an unverified DJD-fragment assignment.
Object and exhibition context
Cite this Babylon study
Babylon Learning Centre. “Damascus Document 4Q271: honest dealing.” Passage Research Studio, revision 1, 5 November 2026. https://learn.babylonencyclopedia.com/research/passages/damascus-4q271-honest-dealing/
The ancient edition is credited separately above. These downloads cite Babylon’s study, not a new edition or translation of the manuscript.
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Learning in the Light
In Babylon, the Father’s light opens perspective, learning and a chosen next step. Your worth remains intact. Every person is sovereign, with dignity, freedom and room to grow.
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