© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2010 JANER 10.2 Also available online – brill.nl/jane DOI: 10.1163/156921210X538098 THE SYNTAX OF DEUTERONOMY 13:2-3 AND THE CONVENTIONS OF ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN PROPHECY JEFFREY STACKERT Divinity School, University of Chicago, 1025 E. 58th St. Chicago, IL 60637 stackert@uchicago.edu Abstract As is the case with many ancient Near Eastern texts, biblical texts oftentimes betray a complex compositional history. In the case of Deuteronomy 13:2-3, philologically-driven analyses have concluded that the grammatical awkwardness of these verses results from an interpolation. This article attempts to test such analyses through recourse to historical evidence of ancient Near Eastern religious practice. It argues that positing an interpolation in these verses is unnecessary philologically. Moreover, the hypothetical Urtext that results when the purported interpolation is removed defies the conventions of both biblical and non-biblical ancient Near Eastern prophetic practice. Keywords : Deuteronomy 13:2-3, ancient Near Eastern prophecy, biblical prophecy Deut 13:2-3 (MT) states, והמופת האות ובא3 מופת או אות אליך ונתן חלום חלם או נביא בקרבך יקום כי2 ונעבדם ידעתם לא אשר אחרים אלהים אחרי נלכה לאמר אליך אשר־דבר 2 If a prophet or dream diviner arises in your midst and performs for you a sign or a wonder, 3 and the sign or the wonder succeeds—one who spoke to you, saying, “Let us go after other gods”—whom you do not know—“that we may serve them” . . . The syntactic awkwardness of v. 3a has rightly attracted significant scholarly attention. The problematic issue is the relative clause אשר אליך דברin v. 3aƤ and its relation to what precedes and follows it. Many scholars, following the suggestion of Max Löhr, argue that vv. 2b-3a (minus לאמר) is an interpolation that muddies a putative,