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4Q35 Deuteronomyh

Language: Hebrew

Date:  50 B.C -1 A.D.

Location: Qumran Cave 4

Contents: Deuteronomy 1:1-17, 22, 24, 29-33, 35-39, 41, 43-46; 2:1-6; 28-30; 4:31-34; 19:21; 31:9-11; 33:7-22

 

Deuteronomy 1

These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan[1] in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suf, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that Yahweh had given him in commandment to them; after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying, “Yahweh our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, ‘You have lived long enough at this mountain. Turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all the places near there, in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the South, by the seashore, in the land of the Canaanites, and in Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’ ”

I spoke to you at that time, saying, “I am not able to bear you myself alone. 10 Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude. 11 Yahweh, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you! 12 How can I myself alone bear your problems, your burdens, and your strife? 13 Take wise men of understanding and well known according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.”

14 You answered me, and said, “The thing which you have spoken is good to do.” 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. 16 I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him. 17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.”

[..]

22 You came near to me, everyone of you, and said, “Let’s send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.”

 [..]

24 They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.

[..]

29 Then I said to you, “Don’t be terrified. Don’t be afraid of them.

[..]

31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how that Yahweh your God bore you, as a man does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.”

32 Yet in this thing you didn’t believe Yahweh your God, 33 who went before you on the way, to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day.

[..]

35 “Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it. I will give the land that he has trodden on to him, and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh.”

37 Also Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, saying, You also shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover your little ones, whom you said would be captured or killed, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, shall go in there. I will give it to them, and they shall possess it.

[..]

41 Then you answered and said to me, “We have sinned against Yahweh, we will go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us.” Every man of you put on his weapons of war, and presumed to go up into the hill country.

[..]

43 So I spoke to you, and you didn’t listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah. 45 You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh didn’t listen to your voice, nor turn his ear to you. 46 So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you remained.

 

Deuteronomy 2

1 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Yahweh spoke to me; and we encircled Mount Seir many days.

Yahweh spoke to me, saying, 3 You have encircled this mountain long enough. Turn northward. 4 Command the people, saying, ‘You are to pass through the border of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore be careful.Don’t contend with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession. 6 You shall purchase food from them for money, that you may eat. You shall also buy water from them for money, that you may drink.’ ”

[..]

28 You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink. Just let me pass through on my feet, 29 as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me; until I pass over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God gives us.” 30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as it is today.

[..]

Deuteronomy 4

31 For Yahweh your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them. 32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as this great thing is, or has been heard like it? 33 Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

[..]

Deuteronomy 19

21 Your eyes shall not pity: his life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

[..]

Deuteronomy 31

Moses wrote this law on a scroll, and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tents, 11 when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

[..]
Deuteronomy 33

This is for Judah. He said,

“Hear, Yahweh, the voice of Judah.

Bring him in to his people.

With his hands he contended for himself.

You shall be a help against his adversaries.”

About Levi he said,

“Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one,

whom you proved at Massah,

with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah.

He said of his father, and of his mother, I have not seen him.’

He didn’t acknowledge his brothers,

nor did he know his own children;

for they have he has observed your word,

and keep keeps your covenant.

10 They shall teach Jacob your ordinances,

and Israel your law.

They shall put incense before you,

and whole burnt offering on your altar.

11 Yahweh, bless his skills.

Accept the work works of his hands.

Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him,

of those who hate him, that they not rise again.”

12 And about Benjamin he said,

The beloved of Yahweh will dwell in safety by him.

He covers him all day long.

He dwells between his shoulders.”

13 About Joseph he said,

“His land is blessed by Yahweh,

and for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew,

for the deep that couches beneath,

14 for the precious things of the fruits of the sun,

for the precious things that the moon can yield,

15 for the best things of the ancient mountains,

for the precious things of the everlasting hills,

16 for the precious things of the earth and its fullness,

the good will of him who lived in the bush.

Let this come on the head of Joseph,

on the crown of the head of him who was separated from his brothers.

17 The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his.

His horns are the horns of the wild ox.

With them he will push all the peoples, to the ends of the earth.

They are the ten thousands of Ephraim.

They are the thousands of Manasseh.”

18 About Zebulun he said,

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out;

and Issachar, in your tents.

19 They will call the peoples to the mountain.

There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness,

for they will draw out the abundance of the seas,

the hidden treasures of the sand.”

20 About Gad he said,

“He who enlarges Gad is blessed.

He dwells as a lioness,

and tears the arm, and yes, the crown of the head.

21 He provided the first part for himself,

for the lawgiver’s portion reserved was reserved for him.

He came with the heads of the people.

He executed the righteousness of Yahweh,

His ordinances with Israel.”

22 About Dan he said,

“Dan is a lion’s cub

that leaps out of Bashan.”



[1] The first line of the scroll appears to be edited, with “the Jordan in the wilderness” left out and then written in above, and “Suf” left out.

How to read these pages:

      The translation to the left is based on the World English Bible. Words in regular black font are words in the scrolls matching the traditional text for that passage.

      Words in italics cannot be seen in the scroll, since the scroll is fragmentary. These words are supplied for readability by the World English Bible translation.

      Words present in the scroll but with some letters unreadable or missing are in blue like this: blue. One Hebrew word often is translated into multiple English words, and when this occurs, all the English words are in blue.

      Words present in the scroll but with spelling differences that do not affect the meaning are in green like this: green. This is common in Hebrew.

      If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the traditional text that are missing from the text of the scroll are marked through in red like this: strike-through.

      If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the scroll that are not in the traditional text are underlined in red like this: new words.