Ages of Creation. 4Q180 and 4Q181, collectively known as “Ages of Creation,” is sometimes referred to as a “Pesher on the Periods.” This is because the extant 4Q180 opens with the word “Interpretation” (פֵּשֶׁר, pesher) and then later uses the word again. However, it is difficult to determine if this text is a thematic pesher or some sort of rewritten Bible (or parabiblical) text that simply prefaces its telling of biblical accounts (compare Jubilees). The text seems to blend the modern interpretive categories.

• 4Q180 (4QAgesCreat A): Introduced as an “interpretation concerning the ages which God made,” this text contains an interpretive description of Gen 18:20–21 and possibly Gen 6:4.

• ‘Azaz’el, angels, and giants are all mentioned in 4Q180, close to the portion of the text that may be an interpretation of Genesis 6:4. (Genesis 6:4 is about the Nephilim, and the sons of God having intercourse with the daughters of men, thus creating the mighty warriors.) This section of 4Q180 seems related to the broader tradition of 1 Enoch and Jubilees (also compare Genesis Apocryphon). Prior to this portion of the text, Isaac is mentioned in what appears to be a short, genealogical summary of ages of generations.

• Genesis 18:20–21 is about the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah; 4Q180 also mentions Abraham and Lot in general, close to the quotation of Gen 18:20–21. Mount Zion and Pharaoh are also mentioned in Frags. 5–6 of 4Q180 (and Zion is also possibly mentioned in Frags. 2–4 just prior to the mention of Abraham and Lot.)

• 4Q181 (4QAgesCreat B): Similar to 4Q180 in general framework, but the extant text does not quote from any biblical texts directly. Instead, 4Q180 describes the guilt of a community, the defilement of sin, and the sons of heaven and earth being delivered by God to an evil community “until its end.” An election of a few (by God) is then described; there are depicted as fit for God’s congregation and eternal life. 4Q181 Frag. 2 seems to mention Abraham and does mention Isaac, and once again may reference Gen 6:4, as it too mentions giants. There is also a mention of those who are unjust and do evil, a comparison to God’s attributes, and an additional reference to the ages in general.