Deut 32:9
reads as follows:
For (כִּי) Yahweh's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his
inheritance. (KJV, slightly revised)
The
Masoretic Text (MT) reads:
כִּי חֵלֶק יְהֹוָה
עַמּוֹ יַעֲקֹב
חֶבֶל נַחֲלָתוֹ׃
The text
itself only appears in fragmentary form in the Dead Sea Scrolls. According to
the Lexham Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew-English Interlinear Bible (available on
Logos), what exists in 4QDeutQ is simply:
נח]לתו
So, there is
questions if the conjunction כִּי was part of the text at Qumran
originally. However, there is strong evidence the conjunction is not original. The LXX does not use “for”
but “and” (και):
καὶ ἐγενήθη μερὶς κυρίου
λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ιακωβ σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ισραηλ
The NETS renders the verse as follows:
And his people Iakob
became the Lord's portion, Israel a measured part of his inheritance.
Why is this important? This would indicate that Deut 32:9 originally
began with ויהי and this, when read in context, would indicate (1) YHWH was one of the “sons of God” in Deut 32 and (2)
the text distinguishes, not identifies, the persons of YHWH and El. Let us
rework Deut 32:7-9 (NRSV, slightly revised for clarification) in light of
this:
Remember the days of
old, consider the years long past; ask your fathers, and he will inform you;
your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High [El Elyon] apportioned
the nations, when he divided humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples
according to the number of the gods; and Yahweh's portion was his people, Jacob
his allotted share.
