Deuteronomy 4:2

Hebrew Bible

1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to you. 3 You have witnessed what the Lord did at Baal Peor, how he eradicated from your midst everyone who followed Baal Peor. 4 But you who remained faithful to the Lord your God are still alive to this very day, every one of you.

Proverbs 30:6

Hebrew Bible

4 Who has ascended into heaven, and then descended? Who has gathered up the winds in his fists? Who has bound up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you can know! 5 Every word of God is purified; he is like a shield for those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, lest he reprove you and prove you to be a liar. 7 Two things I have asked from you; do not refuse me before I die: 8 Remove falsehood and lies far from me; do not give me poverty or riches; feed me with my allotted portion of bread,

 Notes and References

"... the Bible’s own descriptions of text production feature a world where texts are generally written down from dictation for subsequent recitation and reference. (Fishbane notes possible echoes in Deuteronomy 4:2 and 13:1 (also compare Proverbs 30:6), of a Mesopotamian formula regarding exact copying—“not adding to or subtracting”—that is found in the Erra epic, a tradition that itself appears to have been transmitted through visual copying. Such claims of and exhortations to exact transmission, however, also have parallels in oral tradition) Oral vocalization aided the internalization of such texts by a literate elite, and this elite then could perform such texts (possibly still using a written copy) for a broader, illiterate populace. Thus, long-duration Israelite texts, like their counterparts in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece, were transmitted dually—in written media and in the minds and hearts of those who had ingested them ..."

Carr, David McLain Writing on the Tablet of the Heart: Origins of Scripture and Literature (p. 160) Oxford University Press, 2005

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