scroll · Hebrew · OT

4QDeuteronomy-q

Also known as: 4Q44

50 BC – 1 BC (~25 BC) · dated by paleography

Evidence card

A quick read on the physical object before the interpretive summary.

2 sources

Artifact

scroll · Hebrew

Date basis

50 BC – 1 BC (~25 BC) · paleography

Survival

~5% physically present

Contents

Deuteronomy 32:9-43 (Song of Moses)

Artifact/map cue

Held at Israel Antiquities Authority · Discovery: 1952, Qumran Cave 4

Date

50 BC – 1 BC (~25 BC)

Passage represented

Deuteronomy 32:9-43 (Song of Moses)

Fragmentary or partial witness

How much survives

~5% of the claimed text is physically present

Why it matters

Famous for Deuteronomy 32:8. Where the Masoretic text reads 'sons of Israel' (bene yisrael), 4QDeut-q reads 'sons of God' (bene elohim) — agreeing with the Septuagint. This affects how the verse is understood: the Most High apportions nations to divine beings, with Yahweh receiving Israel.

What it contains

Deuteronomy — 32:9-43 (Song of Moses) (partial)

~5% of the claimed text is physically present.

Notable readings

Deuteronomy 32:8

'sons of God' / 'sons of Elohim' (bnei elohim)

Almost certainly the original. The Masoretic 'sons of Israel' looks like a later theological smoothing. Modern translations (NRSV, ESV note, NET) follow the scroll.

Deuteronomy 32:43

Longer form including 'let all the gods worship him' — quoted in Hebrews 1:6

Hebrews quotes a Hebrew text closer to this scroll than to the Masoretic.

Where & when

Held at: Israel Antiquities Authority
Discovery: 1952, Qumran Cave 4

Source trail

Named catalogues, editions, libraries, or scholarship used for this manuscript page.