48 Brandon D. Crowe is a covenantal witness against Israel, upbraiding God’s people for their rebellion in contrast to his goodness toward them. It speaks of the coming judgment against Israel because of their disobedience, but ends on a hopeful note that reconciliation would be the last word. Significant for the present study is the use of filial imagery throughout the Song (7). Israel is rebuked for being unfaithful sons of God in v. 5 (8), and Yhwh is referred to as Israel’s Father in v. 6. In v. 19 the Israelites are accused of being Yhwh’s faithless sons and daughters, and v. 20 similarly identifies the Israelites as sons in whom is no faithfulness. These verses are preceded by the rare language of God’s divine begetting of Israel in v. 18 (9), to which we will return below. In some manuscripts the image of Yhwh’s fatherhood and Israel’s sonship is also found in v. 43 (10). These passages lead to the conclusion that Israel’s sonship is a key feature of the Song of Moses. In terms of circulation, the Song of Moses was a popular, widely utilized text in Second Temple Jewish and early Christian writings, making it probable that Matthew knew Deut 32 in some form. Manuscript evidence from Qumran finds the text preserved in copies of Deuteronomy (11), among special-use manuscripts (12), and non-biblical scrolls reference Deut 32 in numerous places (13). It is quoted frequently in apocryphal and pseudepigraphical writings (14), and it is mentioned explicitly by both Philo and Josephus (15). In Christian literature the Song is likely cited in Romans (10,19;12,19;15,10), Philippians (2,15), Acts (17,26), Hebrews (1,6.10,30), Revelation (15,3-4), 1 Clement (3,1.29,2; cf. 59,3-4), and the Book of Odes (2). In addition to these rather explicit references, it is not difficult to adduce a profusion of other allusions and echoes to Deut 32 in these, and other, documents. The point is simply that the Song of Moses was widely known and employed by authors preceding and roughly contemporaneous with Matthew (16). (7) Filial imagery is not limited to the Song, but is also found in Deut 1,31; 8,5; 14,1. (8) MT: ˆb; LXX tevkna. (9) MT: dly; LXX: gennavw. (10) LXX, 4QDeutq. The language of Israel as sons (and daughters) is plural in vv. 5.19.20 (and 43 LXX); the singular possessive pronouns are used of Israel collectively in vv. 6.18. (11) 4QDeutc, 4QpaleoDeutr. (12) 4QPhylN, 4QDeutq, j, k1. It may be significant for the present argument that the Song as a whole (32,1-43) seems to have been in circulation as a unit. This renders it more likely that Matthew would have known the Song as a unit, and been aware of it well beyond the limits of his supposed sources. (13) CD V, 16-17; 1QS IX, 23; 1QM XII, 11-12; 1QH XIII, 10.27. (14) Tob 13-14; Sir 24,13-17; 2 Macc 7,6; 4 Macc 18,18-19; 2 Bar 84,2.6. (15) Philo, Leg. 3,105; Post. 121.167; Plant. 59; Deter. 14; Sobr. 10; Mut. 182; Somn. 2,191; Josephus, Ant. 4,303. Cf. C. DOGNIEZ – M. HARL, La Bible d’Alexandrie 5. Le Deutéronome (Paris 1992) 320. (16) Here it is assumed only that Matthew was written in the first century.