The other day someone asked about Deuteronomy 29:32, which goes: “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.”
The person was in a bit of a tizzy because when he went to consult a Hebrew text—presumably a Jewish translation of the Old Testament—he came to discover there was no Deuteronomy 29:32. He then let his imagination get the best, speculating the verse must have been added later on by the early church father Jerome, the translator of the Latin Bible. Moreover, he even thought Jerome was guilty of adding to the text!
Curious to know what he was talking about, I got on the Internet and found an online version of the Tanakh (an English translation of the Old Testament produced by the Jewish Publication Society). I came to find out that in the Tanakh Deuteronomy 29 ends with verse 31. Not to panic, I kept on reading and the verse was in the very next chapter. So the warning about adding and taking away to the Law in modern Protestant English translations (e.g. King James Version; The New American Standard; New International Version; English Standard Version) is Deuteronomy 29:32, but in the Hebrew Bible and the Tanakh it is found in Deuteronomy 30:1. English Bible also notes that Deuteronomy 29:32 is Chapter 13:1 in the Hebrew.
The man was simply over reacting with a wild imagination. There is no conspiracy. The text had not been changed. The difference is in the way different Bible versions order the chapter and verses. Whatever the case may be the chapter and verses are not inspired.
It is always important to pay close attention to the details of the Scripture, but never add to it our own imaginative twists in any way shape or form. More importantly, we do not want to miss the message being communicated. God’s people are to always be mindful of all that the Lord has commanded them to do, not adding to them legalistic prescriptions, nor forsaking their guidance.
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