Old Testament · book 5
Deuteronomy
What tradition claims
Moses
1410 BC – 1400 BC
Critical scholarship
640 BC – 550 BC
The gap
Claimed start: 1410 BCGap: 1,280 yearsEarliest MS: 125 BCtoday
Earliest manuscript: Papyrus Rylands 458
Earliest complete copy
Claimed start: 1410 BCGap: 2,413 yearsEarliest MS: 1008today
Earliest manuscript: Leningrad Codex
Notes
Critical scholarship since de Wette (1805) has identified Deuteronomy with the 'book of the law' found in the Temple under King Josiah (2 Kings 22, c. 622 BCE) — i.e. composed in the 7th century BCE. 4QDeut-q preserves the Song of Moses with a striking 'sons of God' reading at 32:8 against the Masoretic 'sons of Israel'.
Disputed passages in Deuteronomy
Passages in this book that aren't in the earliest manuscripts, or read differently in them.
All witnesses on file (3)
- Nash Papyrus · 150 BC – 100 BC (~125 BC)
- Papyrus Rylands 458 · 150 BC – 100 BC (~125 BC)
- 4QDeuteronomy-q · 50 BC – 1 BC (~25 BC)