Deuteronomy 12 — Dead Sea Scrolls
1 attestation entry • 0 variants • 4QDeut family
Manuscript Overview
Summary
Deuteronomy 12 begins the legal core (chs 12–26) with the centralization-of-worship law. 4QDeutᶠ preserves portions of chs 9–10 and 17–26 but the chapter 12 attestation is sparse. The centralization formula ('the place that the LORD your God will choose') tracks MT.
Notable Variants
No significant content variants. The MT 'place the LORD will choose' (יבחר) is preserved at Qumran. (The Samaritan Pentateuch reads בחר 'has chosen,' a major Samaritan-MT divergence pointing to Mount Gerizim; the DSS witnesses preserved here side with MT.)
Manuscripts
4QDeutᶠ (4Q33), 11QDeut (11Q3)
Scroll Condition
Fragmentary attestation; the comparison-with-Samaritan question is therefore largely unresolved by Qumran for this chapter.
Instead, seek out the place that the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish His name — to His dwelling you must go.
The centralization formula ('the place that the LORD your God will choose') is preserved with the imperfect verb יבחר ('will choose'), agreeing with MT against the Samaritan perfect בחר ('has chosen').
fragmentary