Q659 MT Deut 31:9 omits SV(2) –4QDeuth has an expansive
4QDeuth 10 1 ]l( plus.^1191
Q660 MT Deut 33:8 omits SV(2) – 4QDeuth has an expan-
4QDeuth 11-15 1 ]wll wbh sive plus.^1192
Q661 MT Deut 33:9 wyty)r SV(1) – Difference in person.^1193
4QDeuth 11-15 2 Kty)r
Q662 MT Deut 33:9 wrm# SV(1) – Difference in number.^1194
4QDeuth 11-15 3 rm#
Q663 MT Deut 33:9 Ktyrbw SV(1) – 4QDeuth lacks the con-
4QDeuth 11-15 3 Ktyrb junction.
1191
4QDeuth is restored on the basis of the LXX: rps l( t)zh hrwth t) h#m btkyw, “And Moses wrote this
law 1192 upon a scroll.”
The phrase in the MT lacks a verb: Kdysx #y)l Kyrw)w Kymt, “your Tumim and your Umim belong to
your faithful man.” 4QDeuth provides an imperative verb: Kdysx #y)l Kyrw)w Kymt ywll wbh, “give to Levi
your Tumim, and your Umim to your faithful man,” which is supported by the reading in the LXX and in
4QTestimonia (4Q175) I 14. J.A. Duncan, "New Readings for the 'Blessings of Moses' from Qumran," JBL
114, 2 (1995) 280, suggests that 4QDeut 1193 h has the original reading with the LXX.
The pronominal object suffix in 4QDeuth refers to wm)lw wyb)l, “to his father and to his mother,” here in
the second person, while the MT refers to the same nouns in the third person. Among the witnesses the
reading in 4QDeuth is supported by the LXX, which has the second person accusative singular pronoun σε,
while the SP lacks a pronominal object altogether. The parallel text in 4QTestimonia I 15-16 has no pro-
nominal object in reference to wyb), but has a separate verb plus unusual pronominal object suffix in refer-
ence to wm), written as yhkyt(dy, “I do not know you.” J.A. Duncan, "New Readings," 280, assumes that
confusion as to the grammatical function of the preposition l led to the difference between our sources,
where the tradition underlying 4QDeuth and the LXX read the preposition as nota dativi, while that under-
lying the MT read the preposition as specification. In this sense the MT can be translated “Who says of his
father and his mother I have not seen him” against 4QDeuth “Who says to his father and his mother I have
not seen you.” Both nouns are referred to with the masculine singular pronominal suffix, for which see note
above on the ‘priority of the masculine.’ 1194
The use of the singular throughout Deut 33 in 4QDeuth is in contrast to the variation between singular
and plural forms in the MT. Here the singular verb fits the context of verse 9, where the pronominal suf-
fixes and other verb forms are generally in the singular. The LXX agrees with the reading in 4QDeuth. J.A.
Duncan notes that the “3pl is at variance with the poetic convention of the singular utilized throughout the
blessings” (Deuteronomy Manuscripts, 71, but see also n. 3 there).