Era 4 · Covenant and Wilderness Deuteronomy

How Deuteronomy Came to Us

Four kinds of date: the story's setting, the traditions, the book's composition, and the oldest copies

· Lesson 32 of 32 · 16 min story

Deuteronomy presents itself as Moses' speeches, given in the land of Moab in the fortieth year (1:1–5), and says twice that Moses wrote "this law" and gave it to the priests (31:9, 24). Jewish and Christian tradition received it as the fifth book of Moses. Its final chapter describes his death, and tradition has long credited those verses to Joshua or to prophetic continuation.

Fragment of Genesis from the Dead Sea Scrolls — Historical manuscriptA Genesis fragment from the Dead Sea Scrolls.Image credit

In 1805 Wilhelm de Wette proposed that Deuteronomy, or its core, was the "book of the law" found in the Temple under King Josiah in 622 BC (2 Kings 22–23). That idea shaped two centuries of scholarship. Today it is a major scholarly hypothesis, not a settled identification.

The witnesses, by kind

Witness	Kind	Date	Notes
Dead Sea Scrolls (about 30–35 manuscripts, depending on how counted)	A find collection of Hebrew manuscripts, not one line of copying	2nd c. BC – 1st c. AD	Mostly fragments; some excerpt scrolls and tefillin; 4QDeut-j and 4QDeut-q have the major Song variants
Nash Papyrus	A single sheet for teaching or worship	2nd–1st c. BC	Decalogue and Shema
Samaritan Pentateuch	A separate Hebrew tradition	Ancient tradition; medieval manuscripts (edition: Florentin and Tal 2025)	Gerizim in 5:21 addition and 27:4; "has chosen" in Deut 12–26
Septuagint	Greek translation tradition with its own manuscripts	Translated c. 3rd century BC; great codices 4th–5th c. AD	"Angels of God" (32:8); longer 32:43; "they buried him" (34:6)
Vulgate, Old Latin, Syriac, Coptic	Later translations	2nd–5th c. AD	Mostly follow Hebrew or Greek; the Old Latin is reported to read Gerizim in 27:4
Leningrad Codex	Masoretic Hebrew manuscript	AD 1008	The oldest complete Hebrew Deuteronomy

None of these is known to have been copied from another surviving witness. The family tree on the passage pages shows shared traditions and translations, not direct copies.

The landmark differences

Passage	What differs	Kind of difference
5:6–21	Decalogue wording vs Exodus 20; Samaritan Gerizim commandment	Parallel passages; sectarian addition
12:5 and about twenty more	"Will choose" (MT) or "has chosen" (SP)	Manuscript variant
17:18	"A copy of this law" becomes "Deuteronomy" in Greek	Translation, source of the book's name
22:28–29	Verbs for seizing; the woman's status	Interpretation of the Hebrew, not a variant
Chapter 13, 23 and 29 numbering	Hebrew and English verse numbers differ by one	Versification, not a textual difference
26:5	"Wandering Aramean" or "an Aramean sought to destroy"	Interpretation and translation
27:4	Ebal (MT, LXX) or Gerizim (SP, Old Latin)	Manuscript variant at the heart of the Samaritan–Jewish divide
32:8	"Sons of Israel" (MT, SP) or "sons of God" (4Q37), "angels of God" (LXX)	Manuscript variant
32:43	Four lines (MT) or longer (4Q44, LXX)	Manuscript variant
33:2	"Fiery law" and the angels	Difficult text; translation
34:6	"He buried" or "they buried"	Manuscript variant or vocalization

The Shapira strips

In 1883 the Jerusalem antiquities dealer Moses Wilhelm Shapira offered the British Museum fifteen leather strips with a version of Deuteronomy in old Hebrew script. Experts declared them forgeries; Shapira took his own life in 1884, and the strips were sold and later disappeared. In 2021 Idan Dershowitz argued they were genuine ancient manuscripts, perhaps preserving an early form of Deuteronomy; Benjamin Suchard replied the same year with linguistic evidence of 19th-century forgery. Without the strips no physical test is possible. They are not counted as a witness here.

Composition: how scholars have explained it

Moses delivered and wrote the speeches and laws; later hands added the account of his death and small notes. Supporters point to the book's own claims, its treaty structure resembling Hittite treaties of the Late Bronze Age, and its consistent setting before the conquest.

Deuteronomy's language and ideas continue in Joshua through Kings, which many scholars call the "Deuteronomistic History"; its date and unity are also debated. These are interpretive models, not physical evidence.

How Deuteronomy became Scripture

Deuteronomy is Torah for Jews and Samaritans (whose canon is the Torah alone) and part of every Christian Old Testament. Its acceptance is not the main question; its wording and formation are. It is among the books most quoted in the New Testament: Jesus' answers in the wilderness (8:3; 6:16; 6:13), the first commandment (6:4–5), the prophet like Moses (18:15), and Paul on the word near you (30:12–14) and the Song (32:21, 35, 43).

Research status for Deuteronomy

Area	Status	What remains
Chapter coverage 1–34	Research complete	All chapters in 31 lessons plus this one
32:8 and 32:43 witnesses	Evidence unresolved	4Q37 and 4Q44 letters marked extant or restored against DJD XIV; Greek against the Göttingen edition
27:4 witnesses	Evidence unresolved	Old Latin and Greek papyrus readings to be checked in editions; Segal 2025 to be summarized in full
Samaritan readings	Evidence unresolved	Checked in the library text; collation with Florentin and Tal (2025) outstanding; library text has gaps in 32:43
Esarhaddon parallels	Evidence unresolved	Line-by-line comparison with a published translation of the treaty
Images	Research outstanding	Tayinat tablet, Gerizim, Ebal and tefillin photographs still to be identified and checked
Claim-level citations	Research outstanding	Several law lessons cite primary texts without page-level references

What the evidence shows

Independently documentedDeuteronomy says Moses wrote "this law" (31:9, 24).
DisputedDeuteronomy is the book found in Josiah's Temple.Source: M. A. Sweeney, "Deuteronomy and the Reigns of Kings Hezekiah and Josiah of Judah," Oxford Handbook of Deuteronomy (2020) ↗; E. Nicholson, Deuteronomy and the Judaean Diaspora (Oxford, 2014) ↗
Independently documentedDeuteronomy is among the most frequently copied books at Qumran.Source: E. Ulrich et al., Qumran Cave 4.IX: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Kings, DJD XIV (Oxford, 1995)
DisputedThe Shapira strips were genuine ancient manuscripts.Source: I. Dershowitz, "The Valediction of Moses," ZAW (2021) ↗; B. D. Suchard, "A Valediction to Moses W. Shapira's Deuteronomy Document," Bibliotheca Orientalis 78 (2021) ↗
Strongly supportedDeuteronomy's structure resembles ancient treaties.
Matter of faithDeuteronomy is inspired Scripture.

Toward Joshua

Deuteronomy ends with Moses dead on the edge of the land and Joshua "full of the spirit of wisdom." The book of Joshua begins: "Now after the death of Moses." It brings the conquest narratives, Jericho, Ai and Hazor, the Amarna letters and the Merneptah Stele, and some of the most debated archaeology in the Bible.

Continue the journey

Journey of a PassageExodus 20:8–17: The Ten Commandments: order, Sabbath, and a Samaritan commandmentThe Decalogue is one of the best-attested passages in the Bible, yet its witnesses differ in three ways: the order of "murder, adultery, theft," the reason given for the Sabbath (Exodus 20 versus Deuteronomy 5), and an extra commandment about Mount Gerizim in the Samaritan Pentateuch.

Investigations

Optional deep dives: the ancient sources, the physical evidence, and every interpretation side by side, including unconventional ones, each labeled for what it is.

Esarhaddon's Succession Treaty and DeuteronomyTreaty: authentic, excavated · Specific parallels: real · Direct translation: disputed

Did Deuteronomy borrow its loyalty laws and curses from an Assyrian oath of 672 BC?

In 672 BC the Assyrian king Esarhaddon made his officials and vassals swear loyalty to his son Ashurbanipal. A complete copy of the oath was found at Tell Tayinat in Turkey in 2009. Its demands to report disloyal prophets and relatives, and some of its curses, closely resemble Deuteronomy 13 and 28. How close, and what that means, is debated.

Open the full investigation →

Josiah and the Book Found in the TempleJosiah: historical king · Book found: biblical report · Identification with Deuteronomy: a major hypothesis

Was the scroll found in Josiah's Temple an early form of Deuteronomy?

In about 622 BC, during Temple repairs, the high priest Hilkiah reported finding "the book of the law." King Josiah tore his clothes, read it to the people, removed the high places and held a great Passover in Jerusalem. Since 1805, many scholars have identified that book with Deuteronomy or its core. Others disagree.

Open the full investigation →

Gerizim and Ebal: Altars, Temples and a Lead TabletGerizim sanctuary: real, first date debated · Ebal structure: real, function disputed · Ebal "curse tablet" reading: disputed

What has archaeology found on the mountains of blessing and curse?

Mount Gerizim has a large sacred precinct of the Samaritans, excavated by Yitzhak Magen. Mount Ebal has an Iron Age structure that Adam Zertal identified as Joshua's altar, and a small lead object announced in 2023 as an early curse tablet naming YHW. Each claim needs careful sorting.

Open the full investigation →

The Shapira Strips: A Lost "Deuteronomy"Strips: lost · Authenticity: disputed · Status on this site: not a witness

Were the leather strips Moses Shapira sold in 1883 ancient manuscripts or forgeries?

In 1883 the antiquities dealer Moses Wilhelm Shapira offered the British Museum leather strips written in old Hebrew letters with a version of Deuteronomy's speeches. Scholars declared them forgeries; Shapira died in 1884 and the strips vanished. In 2021 the case was reopened.

Open the full investigation →

Journey of a Passage

Exodus 20:8–17: The Ten Commandments: order, Sabbath, and a Samaritan commandment →The Decalogue is one of the best-attested passages in the Bible, yet its witnesses differ in three ways: the order of "murder, adultery, theft," the reason given for the Sabbath (Exodus 20 versus Deuteronomy 5), and an extra commandment about Mount Gerizim in the Samaritan Pentateuch.
Deuteronomy 12:5: "Will choose" or "has chosen"? →The Masoretic Text speaks of the place God "will choose"; the Samaritan Pentateuch of the place God "has chosen." One letter changes a promise about an unnamed future place into a reference to one already chosen. The difference recurs about twenty times in Deuteronomy 12–26.
Deuteronomy 22:28–29: Seizing an unbetrothed woman: what the words say →The same Hebrew stands in every witness checked. The questions are what its verbs mean and what the law required of the woman. The Greek translator understood force; the Hebrew uses a different verb from the assault law just before it.
Deuteronomy 26:5: A wandering Aramean, or an Aramean who sought to destroy? →Three words, arami 'oved avi, open the farmer's confession. The Hebrew letters are the same everywhere; the readings are not. Most translations say "a wandering (or perishing) Aramean was my father." The Passover Haggadah and the Vulgate say an Aramean persecuted him.
Deuteronomy 27:4: Ebal or Gerizim? →Where were the stones and the altar to be set up? The Masoretic Text and most Greek manuscripts say Mount Ebal, the mountain of the curse. The Samaritan Pentateuch says Mount Gerizim, the mountain of the blessing, and the Old Latin is reported to agree. Many scholars think Gerizim is older; the question is not settled.
Deuteronomy 28:69 / 29:1: One verse, two chapter numbers →"These are the words of the covenant… in the land of Moab" is the last verse of chapter 28 in Hebrew Bibles and the first verse of chapter 29 in English ones. The words are the same; only the numbering differs. Similar one-verse shifts occur at the start of chapters 13 and 23.
Deuteronomy 32:8–9: Sons of Israel, or sons of God? →When the Most High divided the nations, He set their bounds "according to the number of the sons of Israel" in the Masoretic Text, but "the sons of God" in a Dead Sea Scroll, and "the angels of God" in the Greek. It is one of the most significant textual differences in the Torah.
Deuteronomy 32:43: The Song's last verse: four lines, six, or eight →The Masoretic Text ends the Song with four lines calling the nations to rejoice. A Qumran manuscript has six lines, beginning with the heavens and "all you gods" bowing down. The Greek has eight, including "let all the angels of God worship him," the line Hebrews 1:6 quotes.
Deuteronomy 33:2: A fiery law, or angels at His right hand? →The last line of 33:2 is one of the hardest in the Torah. Hebrew manuscripts write a single word, eshdat, which tradition reads as two: "fire of law." The Samaritan text lacks "fire"; the Greek speaks of angels at God's right hand.
Deuteronomy 34:6: Who buried Moses? →"He buried him": the Hebrew suggests God Himself buried Moses. The Greek reads "they buried him." The consonants allow both; the vowels and the translators chose.

Why this matters to the rest of Scripture

The book of the law found in the Temple.
"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth."
Ezra reads the law.
Jesus answers from Deuteronomy.
The prophet like Moses.

Sources to explore

Overviews are a starting point. Each links onward to the primary sources and specialist studies behind it.