Q808 MT Deut 5:26 Myyx SV(1) – Difference in number.^1254
4QDeutn V 9 yx
Q809 MT Deut 5:27 rm)y SV(1) – Lexical interchange.^1255
4QDeutn V 10 rbdy
Q810 MT Deut 5:27 t)w OV(l) – Possible difference in
4QDeutn V 10 ht)w pronunciation.^1256
Q811 MT Deut 5:27 Mhl OV(l) – Possible difference in
4QDeutn VI 3 hmhl pronunciation.
Q812 MT Deut 5:1 (m,# OV(l) – Possible difference in
pronunciation or grammatical
form.^1257
4QDeuto 5 1 h(m#
Q813 MT Deut 5:9 Mdb(t Not Counted – The placement of
4QDeuto 6-7 2 ]l[ the fragment is uncertain.^1258
Q814 MT Deut 32:37 omits SV(2) – 4QDeutq has an expan-
4QDeutq I 1 hwhy sive plus.^1259
Q815 MT Deut 32:37 omits SV(1) – The MT lacks the relative
4QDeutq I 2 r#) pronoun.
1254
The phrase translated as “the living god” appears with both the singular and plural adjective √yx, “liv-
ing,” in the MT. The phrase with the plural adjective occurs once in Deuteronomy, twice in Samuel (1Sam
17:26, 36) and once in Jeremiah (Jer 23:36). With the singular adjective the phrase occurs twice in Kings (2
Kgs 19:4, 16) and twice in Isaiah (Isa37:4, 17). According to E. Eshel, "4QDeutn," 141-42, the change from
a plural adjective to a singular adjective is exegetical. 1255
The use of the verb √rbd in 4QDeutn harmonises with the same verb in the next clause. All of the other
witnesses support the reading in the MT. 1256
1257 See note above.
1258 See the comments in note above, and the same reading in Q678 and Q775.
4QDeuto may be restored: Mhl db(t )lw, “and you shall not serve them,” against the reading in the MT
Mdb(t )lw, “and you shall not serve them.” In this reading the dative pronominal object suffix is marked
with nota dativi l in 4QDeuto against being appended directly to the verbal predicate in the MT. However,
as noted in E. Ulrich and F.M. Cross, Qumran Cave 4. IX, 131-32, the placement of fragments 6 and 7 of
4QDeuto is not certain, and it remains a possibility that the fragments preserve a text or texts that agree with
the MT here. 1259
The subject is clarified in 4QDeutq: hwhy rm)w, “And Yahweh will say.”