Texts in Conversation
In Deuteronomy 5, God wishes that Israel would obey the commandments forever. In 4Q175 from the Dead Sea Scrolls, this wish leads straight into the promise of a prophet like Moses, linking future prophecy with obedience.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 5:29
Hebrew Bible
28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you—they have spoken well. 29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever.
4Q175 1–8
Testimonia
Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation
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.”
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Notes and References
“... The assumed juridical role of the eschatological prophet in 1QS 9:11 is
likewise found in 4QTestimonia, where this association is made explicit.
As discussed in the general treatment of 4QTestimonia, the first citation
in this text comes from the Samaritan version of Exod 20:22, which
represents a conflation of MT Deut 5:25–26 (Eng. 28–29) and 18:18–
19. Together, these biblical verses function as a prooftext for the future
eschatological prophet. In this composite text, the role of the prophet is
patently clear. [...] The alignment of MT 5:25–26 and 18:18–19 provides an added ele-
ment to the post-Mosaic prophetic function. MT Deut 5:25–26 estab-
lishes Moses as the mediator of law for Israel in addition to his other
prophetic responsibilities. Here too, an immediate problem arises on
account of the fact that Moses cannot carry out this responsibility for-
ever. The alignment of this text with MT Deut 18:18–19 provides the
solution. Moses’ lawgiving responsibilities will also be administered by
the future class of prophets. This prophet will be the recipient of divine
messages, which will then be relayed directly to the Israelites (4Q175
5–6). God insists that the prophet faithfully relate the divine direc-
tive (4Q175 6). The immediate context of the tradition preserved in
the Samaritan Pentateuch is concerned with Israel’s continued faithful
adherence to the law after departing from Sinai. This task now falls to
the prophet ‘like Moses’ who will appear in the future.49
4QTestimonia, following closely related interpretive traditions, relo-
cates MT Deut 5:25–26 and 18:18 in an eschatological context. A cen-
tral task of the prophet ‘like Moses’ in the Samaritan textual tradition
is to continue the lawgiving responsibilities of Moses. 4QTestimonia,
by transforming the entire literary unit into an eschatological context,
assumes the juridical function of the prophet in the eschatological era. ...”
Jassen, Alex P.
Mediating the Divine: Prophecy and Revelation in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Second Temple Judaism
(p. 171–172) Brill, 2007
* 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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