Discussions of 4QMMT have often focused on whether the epilogue refers to a tripartite canon comprising the Books of Moses, the prophets, and David. Recent scholarship has tended to doubt the possible reference to a Davidic corpus but has nonetheless persisted in the assumption that the Book of Moses ( ספר מושה ) refers to the canonical five-book Torah. In this article I reexamine the use of the term ספר מושה in 4QMMT and other Second Temple-period sources and argue that the expression had a narrower scope, specifically denoting the Book of Deuteronomy. By recognizing the restricted nature of the ספר מושה in MMT, we are better able to appreciate early Jewish conceptions of Scripture and the important place of Deuteronomy in the rhetoric of the epilogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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