English Translation of Damascus Document (Brit Damesek)
4Q271(Df)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (1)
...with money...
...[his means did not] suffice to [return it to him] and the year [for
redemption approaches?]...
...and may God release him? from his sins. Let not [ ] in one, for
it is an abomination....And concerning what he said (Lev. 25:14), ["When you
sell
anything to or buy anything from] your neighbor, you shall not defraud one
another," this is the expli[cation...
...] everything that he knows that is found...
...and he knows that he is wronging him, whether it concerns man or beast.
And if
[a man gives his daughter to another ma]n, let him disclose all her blemishes
to him, lest he bring upon himself the judgement
[of the curse which is said (Deut. 27:18)] (of the one) that "makes the blind
to wander out of the way." Moreover, he should not give her to one unfit for
her, for
[that is Kila'yim, (plowing with) o]x and ass and wearing wool and linen
together. Let no man bring
[a woman into the holy] who has had sexual experience, whether she had such
experience
[in the home] of her father or as a widow who had intercourse after she was
widowed. And any woman
[upon whom] there is a bad name in her maidenhood in her father's home, let
no man take her, except
[upon examination] by reliable [women] who have clear knowledge, by command
of the Supervisor over
[the Many. After]ward he may take her, and when he takes her he shall act in
accordance with the law ...and he shall not tell...
[ ] L [ ]
Transcription and translation by J. Baumgarten
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