Also, sometimes called 4QInstruction, these are fragments of manuscript from the Dead Sea Scrolls, and part of a collection of fragments referred to as both 'The Secret of the Way Things Are' and 'A Sapiental Work.' In Fragment 9, Wisdom is referred to as a she (Sophia, anyone?) Just thought that was interesting…



Fragment 6
1… the secret of men …
2You are needy, and …
3your poverty in your counsel …
4Test these things by the secret of the way things are
5from the place of origins and by the weight …
Fragment 9
5…Do not let your mind dwell
6on Folly, do not be like the multitude of the wicked … Acquire Wisdom, for
7by it He created it, for she, Wisdom, is the measure of creation … She made them
8together, the dominion of male with female
9her spirit, dominion is in her, for …
10and if one has less than another …
11Accordingly … male and female, and in the scales of …


Translation by Edward Cook