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4Q175

Testimonia

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1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,⁠ “You have heard the sound of the words of 2 this people, which they spoke to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. 3 If only this heart of theirs would remain, to fear me and to keep all⁠ 4 my commandments always, so that it may go well with them and with their children forever. 5 I will raise up for them a prophet like you⁠ from among their brothers, and I will put my words 6 in his mouth, and he will speak to them all that I command him. And the man 7 who does not listen to my words, which the prophet speaks in my name, I myself 8 will call him to account.” 9 And he took up his oracle and said, “The utterance of Balaam son of Beor, the utterance of the man 10 whose eye is perfect, the utterance of one who hears the words of God and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who 11 sees the vision of the Almighty, fallen down with eyes uncovered. I see him, but not now; 12 I behold him, but not near. A star shall march out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel,⁠ and it shall crush 13 the temples of Moab and tear down all the sons of Seth.” 14 And of Levi he said, “Give to Levi your Thummim, and your Urim to your faithful one, whom 15 you tested at Massah and with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah, who said of his father, ‘I have not 16 … him,’ and to his mother, ‘I do not know you.’ His brothers he did not acknowledge, and his son he did not 17 know. For he kept your word and guarded your covenant. They shall make your judgments shine for Jacob,⁠ 18 your Torah for Israel. They shall set incense before you and a whole offering on your altar. 19 Bless, O LORD, his strength, and accept the work of his hands. Crush the loins of his adversaries, and those who hate him, 20 so that they do not rise.” 21 At the time when Joshua finished praising and giving thanks with his praises, 22 he said, “Cursed be the man who rebuilds this city.⁠ With his firstborn 23 he shall lay its foundation, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates.” And behold, a cursed man, one of Belial, 24 is rising to be a fowler’s snare to his people and a ruin to all his neighbors. And there will arise 25 […] … so that the two of them may be instruments of violence. And they will rebuild 26 [this city] and set up for it a wall and towers, to make it a stronghold of wickedness 27 [and a great evil] in Israel, and a horror in Ephraim and in Judah. 28 […] and they will commit profanation in the land, and great blasphemy among the sons of 29 [Jacob. They will shed] blood like water on the rampart of the daughter of Zion and within the boundary of 30 […] Jerusalem.

Texts in conversation

Compare 4Q175 1:1 and Samaritan Exodus 20:21

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation · Samaritan

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Summary

The Dead Sea Scroll 4Q175 collects passages about a future prophet, king, and priest, opening with Deuteronomy 5 and 18 as one speech from God to Moses. The Samaritan version of Exodus 20 connects those passages the same way, for reasons still unclear.

Passages

4Q175 1:1

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation · Testimonia
1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “You have heard the sound of the words of 2 this people, which they spoke to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. 3 If only this heart of theirs would remain, to fear me and to keep all 4 my commandments always, so that it may go well with them and with their children forever. 5 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words 6 in his mouth, and he will speak to them all that I command him. And the man 7 who does not listen to my words, which the prophet speaks in my name, I myself 8 will call him to account.”
160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q175

Samaritan Exodus 20:21

Samaritan · Samaritan Penteteuch
21 And the people stood far away, and Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: “I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. Everything they have said is good. If only they had hearts like this, so that they would fear me, and keep my commandments always, so that things might go well for them, and with their children forever! I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. And if anyone does not listen to the words he shall speak in my name, I will demand [it] from him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you think to yourself, ‘How may the word which Shema has not spoken be known?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of Shema, if the word does not happen or come
130–120 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Samaritan Exodus

References

“... Moreover, the first section quoted in this text comes from Dt 5: 28-29, which de facto has no more messianic import than the 4QPsalms of Joshua. But it is closely joined to Dt 18: 18-19 in the first paragraph (note the paragraph dividers on the plate published by Allegro). Mgr P. W. Skehan is quoted as saying that 'the combination of Dt 18: 18-19 with Dt 5: 28-29 is already found in the Samaritan Pentateuch at Ex 20:21'. This fact likewise explains the first few words of the fragment, [...] 'And (Yahweh) spoke to Moses saying'. They differ from the introductory formula of Dt 5: 28, [...] which Allegro thinks has been changed 'for the purpose of the Testimonia selection'. As a matter of fact, the introductory phrase found in 4QTestimonia is identical with that used in the Samaritan Hebrew Pentateuch at Ex 20: 21 b [...]. That there is some connection here between this text and the Samaritan Pentateuch is obvious, even though we have not yet discovered just what it is. At any rate, the close joining of the two passages of Deuteronomy in one paragraph shows that they were regarded as a unit, which ends with the promise of a prophet to come. ...”
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Essays on the Semitic Background of the New Testament (Missoula, MT: Scholars, 1971), 82–83.
“... One of the first scrolls published, the Community Rule or Manual of Discipline (1QS) contains a famous passage, which is widely regarded as a summary of the messianic expectations of the Qumran sect: "They shall depart from none of the counsels of the Law to walk in the stubbornness of their hearts, but shall be ruled by the primitive precepts in which the men of the Community were first instructed until there shall come the Prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel" (1QS 9:11). The scriptural underpinning for this expectation was found in the Testimonia (4Q175), which strings together a series of biblical passages without interpretation: Exod 20:21 (Samaritan text = Deut 5:28-29 + Deut 18:18-19) promises that "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren"; Num 24:15-17 (Balaam's oracle about the star and the scepter); Deut 33:8-11 (the blessing of Levi); and a passage from the Psalms of Joshua, including Josh 6:26 ("Cursed be the man who rebuilds this city"), which refers to "an accursed man, a man of Belial." The passages from Exodus 20 (Samaritan text = Deuteronomy 18), Numbers 24 and Deuteronomy 33 have usually been understood with reference to the prophet and messiahs of Israel and Aaron, respectively. ...”
John J. Collins, The Scepter and the Star: Messianism in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 79–80.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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4Q175 1:1 and Samaritan Exodus 20:21

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