Texts in Conversation
In Deuteronomy 30, Israel returns to God after experiencing blessings and curses. In 4Q398 from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the quotation adds the last days, turning that promise into a claim about the community’s own time.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 30:1
Hebrew Bible
1 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses I have set before you, you will reflect upon them in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you. 2 Then if you and your descendants turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being just as I am commanding you today, 3 the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he has scattered you.
4Q398 14–17 i 5–8
4QMMT/The Halakhic Letter
Dead Sea Scrolls, Torah and Temple Practices
5 [it is written] that you [will turn aside from the way and] evil [will meet] you. And it is written, “And it shall be, when 6 [all] these [things come] upon you in the last days, the blessing 7 [and the] curse, [you will take it] to your heart and return to him with all your heart 8 [and with all] your soul [at the end of the time” …]
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Notes and References
“... This text is a paraphrase,
repeating the contents of Deut 30:2. As I have already written above,
whereas the biblical text does not mention any specific time for the
repentance referred to in the Torah, in these two passages of Miqßat
Ma’aseh haTorah (4Q397; 4Q398) there appears an exegetical addition
of this sort, in which the things are made actual by interpreting what is
said about the End of Days as referring to the present time of the sect.
In 4Q398 14-17 i 5-8 there is again a reworking of Deut 30:1, where
it states that the blessing and curse will take place at the End of Days. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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