Qumran Daily Blessings

Daily Prayers

2nd Century BCE–1st Century CE

Fifth Day of the Month, Morning Prayer

Fragment 4

1[When the sun] ris[es to shine on the earth they shall bless. They shall recite saying: Blessed is the God of Israel] 2who makes kno[wn . . . ] 3for the [da]y[ . . . ] 4gl[orious] festivals [ . . . ] 5and he will reward according to [ . . . Peace be upon you,] Israel. [ . . . ]
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Many documents in the Qumran library (the Dead Sea Scrolls) indicate the signal importance to the community of observing the correct calendar, which was ordained for the cosmos by God at the time of creation. The Qumran calendar is solar and corresponds broadly to that found in the books of Jubilees and Enoch. The ritual prescribed in this text involves reciting specific blessings every day of the month in the morning and in the evening, corresponding to both diurnal and seasonal times of transition on the cosmic calendar. The stereotypical blessing form in this text is the opening phrase “Blessed is the God of Israel.”