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Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846

Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.

Old Testament · Book 5 of 66

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy records the speeches Moses gave Israel on the plains of Moab before they crossed the Jordan. He restates God's law for the new generation, and the book ends with his death on Mount Nebo.

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Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846

Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.

What is Deuteronomy about?

Deuteronomy is the last words of Moses. He speaks east of the Jordan in the land of Moab to the children of the generation that died in the wilderness. He retells the road from Horeb, gives the law again for life in the land, and sets the blessing and the curse before the people. Then he calls heaven and earth to witness and tells them to choose life. The book ends with Moses on Nebo, where the LORD shows him the land he will not enter, and he dies there in Moab.

All 34 chapters

Every chapter of the book, in one grid. Each cell opens that chapter.

  • The roadDeuteronomy 1 to 4
  • The great commandmentDeuteronomy 5 to 11
  • The statutesDeuteronomy 12 to 26
  • Blessing and curseDeuteronomy 27 to 28
  • The covenant in MoabDeuteronomy 29 to 30
  • Last wordsDeuteronomy 31 to 34

The colour is the movement of Moses' speeches the chapter stands in, and every cell opens that chapter's Study level. Chapter 4 stands in The road; the second speech begins at 4:44.

1From Horeb2Around Seir3Og and Pisgah4Hear, O Israel5The Ten Words6The Shema7A chosen people8Do not forget9Not by merit10New tablets11Blessing or curse12The chosen place13False prophets14Clean food, tithes15Year of release16Three feasts17Courts and king18Priest and prophet19Cities of refuge20Rules of war21Unsolved murder22Marriage laws23The assembly24Divorce and justice25Fair weights26Firstfruits27Ebal and Gerizim28Blessings and curses29Covenant in Moab30Choose life31Joshua charged32The Song33Moses blesses34Moses dies

Who wrote it, where, when, for whom, and why?

Deuteronomy says that Moses spoke these words to all Israel east of the Jordan (1:1) and began to explain the law in the land of Moab (1:5). It says that he wrote the law and gave it to the priests (31:9) and finished writing its words in a book (31:24). The rest of Scripture names these as the words of Moses: Numbers closes with the commands given on the plains of Moab (Numbers 36:13), Joshua is told to keep the Book of the Law (Joshua 1:8) and reads it aloud at Ebal (Joshua 8:34), Hilkiah finds the Book of the Law in the temple (2 Kings 22:8), and Ezra reads the Book of the Law of Moses to the people (Nehemiah 8:1). The Gospels and Acts name Moses as the one who gave its commands (Matthew 19:7; Acts 3:22).

The whole book stands in one place: the land of Moab east of the Jordan (1:5), in the valley opposite Beth-peor (3:29). From there Moses climbs Nebo at the end (34:1).

The book gives its own date: the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year after Israel left Egypt (1:3). Israel crosses the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month after it (Joshua 4:19), so the book stands in the last weeks before the crossing. How that year falls on a calendar, and when the book was written, is set out under Where do readers disagree.

Moses speaks to the generation alive at the border. The fathers who refused to enter the land had died in the wilderness (1:35 and 2:14), and Moses tells their children that the covenant was made with them, the people alive that day (5:3). The book is also for every generation after them: the law is to be read to all the people, men, women, children and foreigners, every seventh year at the Feast of Booths (31:10 to 12).

The book says why it was given: so that Israel would listen to the statutes and follow them and live, and go in and take the land (4:1), love the LORD their God with all their heart (6:4 to 5), and choose life (30:19). Moses had the finished book placed beside the ark of the covenant as a witness (31:26).

“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.

Deuteronomy 31:26, Berean Standard Bible.

Deuteronomy stands at the edge of Canaan after forty years in the wilderness. Israel has passed Edom, Moab and Ammon, defeated Sihon and Og, and settled two and a half tribes east of the Jordan (3:12 to 13). Across the river lie the nations of Canaan and their gods (7:1 to 5), and Jericho stands opposite the camp (34:1).

Sources. Deuteronomy 1:1, 1:3, 1:5, 1:35, 2:14, 3:12 and 13, 3:29, 4:1, 5:3, 6:4 and 5, 7:1 to 5, 30:19, 31:9, 31:10 to 12, 31:24, 31:26 and 34:1; Numbers 36:13; Joshua 1:8, 4:19 and 8:34; 2 Kings 22:8; Nehemiah 8:1; Matthew 19:7; Acts 3:22. Every verse is read in the Berean Standard Bible.

How is Deuteronomy arranged, and what is it for?

The six movements of the speeches, the theme, the purpose and the treaty form.

  1. The road1:1 to 4:43, 161 verses in chapters 1 to 4, turning at 4:1

    Moses retells the forty years from Horeb to the valley opposite Beth-peor, then turns at 4:1 to call Israel to listen and obey. The second speech begins at 4:44.

  2. The great commandment4:44 to 11:32, 187 verses in chapters 5 to 11, turning at 6:4

    The Ten Commandments are given again, and at 6:4 the LORD is confessed as one and loved with the whole heart. Israel is warned not to forget him in the land.

  3. The statutes12:1 to 26:19, 345 verses in chapters 12 to 26, turning at 12:1

    The laws for life in the land, from the one place of worship and the four offices to the household, the neighbour and the firstfruits.

  4. Blessing and curse27:1 to 28:68, 94 verses in chapters 27 to 28, turning at 28:15

    The law is to be written on stones beyond the Jordan and the curses read out between two mountains. Chapter 28 sets fourteen verses of blessing against fifty-four of curse.

  5. The covenant in Moab29:1 to 30:20, 49 verses in chapters 29 to 30, turning at 30:19

    The covenant is made in the land of Moab with the generation standing there, and at 30:19 life and death are set before them to choose.

  6. Last words31:1 to 34:12, 123 verses in chapters 31 to 34, turning at 34:5

    Joshua is commissioned, the law is written and laid beside the ark, Moses sings and blesses the tribes, and he dies on Nebo in sight of the land.

The book marks its own parts with four headings: These are the words (1:1), This is the law (4:44), These are the words of the covenant (29:1), and This is the blessing (33:1). The second speech runs from 4:44 to 28:68 and takes three movements here, because its parts do three different things.

The theme

The LORD who brought Israel out of Egypt is one, and he asks for the love of the whole heart. The covenant made at Horeb is made again with the children in Moab, with its terms for life in the land and its blessing and curse. The book sees past its own law to a day when the LORD will circumcise the heart of his people so that they love him (30:6).

The purpose

Deuteronomy was given so that a new generation would own the covenant before it crossed the Jordan without Moses. It is written down, laid beside the ark and read aloud every seven years, so that each generation after would hear it too. It closes the five books of Moses, and Joshua opens with the command to keep this Book of the Law.

The parts of a covenant document, and where Deuteronomy has them

Six parts of a covenant document in the left column, each beside the passage of Deuteronomy that holds it.
The part of the covenantWhere Deuteronomy has it
The speaker named Who speaks, to whom, where and when.1:1 to 5, The road
What the LORD has done The road from Horeb retold, the kings defeated and the land given east of the Jordan.1:6 to 4:43, The road
The terms The Ten Commandments, the love owed to the LORD, and the statutes for the land.4:44 to 26:19, The great commandment and The statutes
The deposit and the public reading The law written, laid beside the ark, and read to all Israel every seventh year.31:9 to 13 and 31:26, Last words
The witnesses Heaven and earth called to witness, and the Song taught as a witness.30:19, 31:19 and 32:1, The covenant in Moab
The blessings and the curses The ceremony at Ebal and Gerizim, then the blessing and the curse of chapter 28.27 to 28, Blessing and curse
Each row names one part of a written covenant between a great king and a people, and the passage of Deuteronomy that does the same work. The bar and the words on the right name the movement the passage stands in, and both movements where the terms run across two. The match is observed in the text; what it implies for the date of the book is argued under Where do readers disagree. Sources: Deuteronomy 1:1 to 5, 1:6 to 4:43, 4:44 to 26:19, 27 to 28, 30:19, 31:9 to 13, 31:19, 31:26 and 32:1, read in the Berean Standard Bible.

The road remembered, Deuteronomy 1:1 to 4:43

What the text says in these 4 chapters, and the pages they open on.

Moses speaks in the land of Moab on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year. He begins with the road. The LORD told Israel to leave Horeb and take the land, but at Kadesh-barnea the people refused to go up, and that generation died in the wilderness. Their children went around Seir, passed Edom, Moab and Ammon without a fight, and defeated Sihon and Og east of the Jordan. Moses asked to cross and was told to look from Pisgah instead. At 4:1 he turns from the past to the law: listen, obey, and live.

Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

Deuteronomy 4:1

Berean Standard Bible. The turn from the road remembered to the law Israel is to keep.
  • Deuteronomy 1the words spoken in Moab, and the refusal at KadeshShow summary, 3 pages

    Moses' first sermon opens on the east side of Jordan in the fortieth year. ‘The LORD our God said to us at Horeb … You have stayed at this mountain long enough. Resume your journey’. The appointment of the judges of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens (a recap of Exodus 18). The sending of the spies from Kadesh-barnea at the people's request; the evil report; the unbelief; the LORD's anger; Moses' exclusion. The presumptuous push forward rebuked at Hormah. The first generation must die in the wilderness. The chapter is retrospective. Sermon by a man about to die, facing a congregation that did not see these things and must be told.

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  • Deuteronomy 2around Seir, and Sihon defeatedShow summary, 2 pages

    The wilderness journey continued. The march around Mount Seir: ‘You have been wandering around this hill country long enough’. The command not to meddle with Esau (Edom), with Moab, or with Ammon. Their land is not Israel's portion. The long list of peoples who succeeded one another in those lands shows that God disposes the nations. The crossing of the brook Zered forty-eight days after Kadesh closed the first generation's dying. Then Sihon king of Heshbon refuses passage; the LORD hardens his spirit; Israel takes his cities. The whole chapter is a retelling with theological emphasis: every step was under divine appointment; every withheld hand was a withheld hand.

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  • Deuteronomy 3Og defeated, and Moses sees from PisgahShow summary, 2 pages

    Og king of Bashan defeated. Sixty cities walled with high walls, gates, and bars; all taken. Og's bedstead of iron. Nine cubits by four. Was still in Rabbath of the children of Ammon. The land east of Jordan given to Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, with the charge that they cross armed before their brethren until all have their inheritance. Moses pleads to cross himself: ‘Please let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan’. The LORD's answer: ‘Do not speak to Me again about this matter. … Go to the top of Pisgah’. Joshua charged; the people will follow him in.

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  • Deuteronomy 4hear and obey, and the turn at 4:44Show summary, 3 pages

    The exhortation. ‘Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you … You must not add to or subtract from what I command you’. The LORD spoke out of the midst of the fire; no form was seen. Therefore no graven image, no bowing to the host of heaven. Scattering and restoration foretold for Israel. ‘Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived?’ Three cities of refuge east of Jordan appointed by Moses. Bezer, Ramoth, Golan. The chapter closes the first sermon with a double warning and a double grace. Remember what you have seen; the LORD is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

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The road as Moses retells it

  1. Station 1HorebDeuteronomy 1:6The LORD tells Israel to leave the mountain and go up.
  2. Station 2Kadesh-barneaDeuteronomy 1:19The spies sent, and the refusal to go up.
  3. Station 3Around SeirDeuteronomy 2:1Many days circling the hill country of Edom.
  4. Station 4The ZeredDeuteronomy 2:14Thirty-eight years, until the fighting men had died.
  5. Station 5The Arnon and SihonDeuteronomy 2:24The first king east of the Jordan given into their hand.
  6. Station 6Bashan and OgDeuteronomy 3:1The second king, and sixty cities taken.
  7. Station 7Opposite Beth-peorDeuteronomy 3:29The camp where Moses speaks.
The stations in the order chapters 1 to 3 name them, each at the verse where the text reaches it. The book sets the distance against the time at its opening: eleven days by the road from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea (1:2), and Moses speaking in the fortieth year (1:3). Sources: Deuteronomy 1:2, 1:3, 1:6, 1:19, 2:1, 2:14, 2:24, 3:1 and 3:29, read in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (2)

Who the text follows. A name with a page carries its door.

  • Moses

    The speaker of the whole book, who is not allowed to cross the Jordan.

  • Caleb

    The one spy of the first generation promised the land he walked on (1:36).

Places (2)

Where the chapters stand.

  • Kadesh-barnea

    Where the spies were sent out and the people refused to go up.

  • Pisgah

    The height from which Moses was told to look at the land.

Themes (2)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

The great commandment, Deuteronomy 4:44 to 11:32

What the text says in these 7 chapters, and the pages they open on.

The second speech opens with the Ten Commandments given again to the generation that did not stand at Horeb as adults, and Moses says the covenant was made with the people alive that day. At 6:4 he names the heart of it: the LORD is one, and Israel is to love him with all its heart, soul and strength, and to teach his words to its children. He warns that the land will bring plenty and plenty will bring forgetting. He reminds them that the land is not a reward for their righteousness, since they rebelled at Horeb, and that the LORD gave the tablets a second time. The section ends with a blessing and a curse set before them.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.

Deuteronomy 6:4

Berean Standard Bible. The confession Israel has recited ever since, and the verse Jesus names first.
  • Deuteronomy 5the Ten Commandments given againShow summary, 4 pages

    The Decalogue restated. The LORD's covenant at Horeb with ‘us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day’. The ten words again, with slight differences (the Sabbath now grounded in Egyptian deliverance as well as creation; covetousness phrased with wife first). The people's plea: ‘let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not’. Moses as mediator receives the covenant's expansions. ‘O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always’. The second sermon begins.

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  • Deuteronomy 6the Shema, and teaching the childrenShow summary, 3 pages

    The Shema. ‘Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ (6:4–5). These words shall be in your heart; teach them diligently to your children; talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up. Bind them as a sign upon your hand, as frontlets between your eyes; write them on the posts and gates. Beware lest in the land of milk and honey you forget the LORD. When your son asks you, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?’. Tell him the story. Jesus cites 6:5 as the first great commandment (Mark 12:29–30).

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  • Deuteronomy 7A chosen peopleShow summary, 3 pages

    The election of Israel and the driving out of the nations. Seven nations greater and mightier than Israel. Hittite, Girgashite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, Jebusite. The LORD will deliver before them. No covenants with them, no intermarriage, no compromise with their altars. ‘The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. … because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers’. Cursed things are not to be brought into the house; the gold and silver of their gods are an abomination.

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  • Deuteronomy 8the manna, and the danger of plentyShow summary, 2 pages

    ‘man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD’. Moses remembers the manna, the clothes that did not wear out, the feet that did not swell. The wilderness was a school. Humbling, proving, teaching dependence. A good land is coming. Brooks, fountains, wheat, barley, vines, figs, pomegranates, oil olive, honey; iron and brass for tools. Beware of full stomachs: ‘Be careful not to forget the LORD your God … when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell … then your heart will become proud’. Jesus' first wilderness answer comes from this chapter (Matt 4:4).

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    • Manna

      The bread from heaven and the bread of life.

    • Deuteronomy 8:3

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Deuteronomy 8 verse by verse

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  • Deuteronomy 9not for your righteousness, and the golden calfShow summary, 2 pages

    Israel not righteous. A hard chapter to hear. The LORD will drive out nations greater than Israel, but ‘it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people’. Moses recalls the golden calf, the breaking of the tables, the forty days on his face pleading, the grinding of the calf to powder, the waters drunk in judgment. Taberah, Massah, Kibroth-hattaavah, Kadesh. The catalogue of rebellions. ‘Remember this, and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God in the wilderness.’ The inheritance is not wages; it is covenant. Henry: repentance is the door of inheritance, not merit.

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    • The golden calf

      The calf at the mountain's foot, the broken tablets and the intercession.

    • Deuteronomy 9:5

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

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  • Deuteronomy 10new tablets, and what the LORD asksShow summary, 4 pages

    The second tables and the Levites. Moses hewed two tables like the first; the LORD wrote the ten words upon them; they were put in the ark Moses had made. The Levites set apart to bear the ark and to minister. Then the grand summary: ‘what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul’. Circumcise the foreskin of your heart; stop being stiffnecked. The God who is God of gods loves the stranger; love the stranger because you were strangers in Egypt. The moral argument is grounded in memory.

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  • Deuteronomy 11Blessing or curseShow summary, 2 pages

    Ebal and Gerizim previewed. Remember the chastening, the wonders in Egypt, Pharaoh, the Red Sea, Dathan and Abiram. The land is not like Egypt. Watered by foot with a shaduf. But a land of hills and valleys, drinking water of the rain of heaven. Early and latter rain given if you obey. ‘See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse’. The blessing if you obey, the curse if you will not. When the LORD brings you in, put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. Love the LORD, walk in his ways, hold fast to him; and no man shall be able to stand before you.

    On this chapter (2)

    • The two ways

      The way of life and the way of death, from Deuteronomy to the Psalms.

    • Deuteronomy 11:26

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Deuteronomy 11 verse by verse

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The Ten Words twice, Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5

  • The SabbathExodus 20:8 to 11 and 5:12 to 15Exodus opens with remember and Deuteronomy with observe. Deuteronomy adds the ox and the donkey to those who rest, and so that your servants may rest as you do. Exodus gives the six days of creation as the reason (20:11); Deuteronomy gives the slavery in Egypt (5:15).
  • Father and motherExodus 20:12 and 5:16Deuteronomy adds as the LORD your God has commanded you, and that it may go well with you.
  • CovetingExodus 20:17 and 5:21Exodus names the neighbour's house first and then his wife; Deuteronomy names the wife first, and adds his field.

The same wording in both: The LORD who brought you out of Egypt (20:2 and 5:6); No other gods (20:3 and 5:7); No idol, and no bowing to one (20:4 to 6 and 5:8 to 10); The name of the LORD (20:7 and 5:11); Murder (20:13 and 5:17); Adultery (20:14 and 5:18); Stealing (20:15 and 5:19); False witness (20:16 and 5:20).

The commandments stand in the same order in both chapters, and 3 of them differ in wording. The Sabbath differs most: Exodus grounds it in the creation and Deuteronomy in the rescue from Egypt. Sources: Exodus 20:2 to 17 and Deuteronomy 5:6 to 21, read in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (2)

Who the text follows. A name with a page carries its door.

  • Aaron

    Moses' brother, whose death is noted at 10:6.

  • The fathers

    Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to whom the LORD swore the land (6:10).

Places (2)

Where the chapters stand.

  • Horeb

    Where the tablets were broken and written again (9:8 to 10:5).

  • Massah

    Where Israel tested the LORD, named at 6:16 and 9:22.

Themes (2)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

Where the New Testament uses these chapters (4)each marked as a quotation or an allusion, with the evidence
  • Explicit quotationThe Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4 to 5 at Mark 12:29 to 30. Asked which commandment is first, Jesus answers with the Shema and the command to love the LORD with the whole heart. Held by Jesus, as Mark records him.
  • Explicit quotationBread alone, Deuteronomy 8:3 at Matthew 4:4. Jesus answers the first temptation with the words given to Israel about the manna. Held by Jesus, as Matthew records him.
  • Explicit quotationDo not test the LORD, Deuteronomy 6:16 at Matthew 4:7. Jesus answers the second temptation with the command given after Massah. Held by Jesus, as Matthew records him.
  • Explicit quotationWorship and serve him only, Deuteronomy 6:13 at Matthew 4:10. Jesus answers the third temptation with the command to fear and serve the LORD alone. Held by Jesus, as Matthew records him.

The statutes for the land, Deuteronomy 12 to 26

What the text says in these 15 chapters, and the pages they open on.

At 12:1 Moses gives the statutes and ordinances Israel is to keep in the land. Worship is gathered to the one place the LORD will choose to put his Name. The laws set out who governs the people: judges in every town, a king who must write out a copy of the law, the priests and Levites, and a prophet like Moses whom the LORD will raise up. Then come the laws of life, land and war, and the laws of the household and the neighbour, with a care that runs through them for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. The statutes end with a basket of firstfruits and a confession of the story from a wandering Aramean to the land.

Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.

Deuteronomy 12:5

Berean Standard Bible. The place the LORD will choose, which the book returns to again and again and never names by town.
  • Deuteronomy 12the place the LORD will chooseShow summary, 3 pages

    One place of worship. ‘Destroy completely’ the altars and pillars and groves of the nations; do not worship the LORD in their manner. He will choose a place to set his name there. There you shall come, there you shall bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices and tithes and vows and freewill offerings and the firstlings of your herds and flocks. Eat of them before the LORD and rejoice. Blood not eaten; poured on the earth as water. ‘Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”’ The religion of Israel is worship at the LORD's altar, not imitation of the surrounding altars.

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  • Deuteronomy 13False prophetsShow summary, 2 pages

    False prophets and tempters within the family. If a prophet or a dreamer says ‘Let us follow other gods’ and gives a sign. Even one that comes to pass. He is not to be heard; he is a testing from the LORD. Such a prophet must be put to death. If your brother, son, daughter, wife of your bosom, or friend as your own soul entice you secretly: ‘Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death’. If a whole city is drawn away, the city is to be utterly destroyed. The chapter's severity is proportionate to the stakes: idolatry is not a private matter; it poisons the covenant community.

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  • Deuteronomy 14Clean food, tithesShow summary, 4 pages

    The dietary reminder and the tithe. ‘You are sons of the LORD your God’. Do not mar yourselves for the dead as the nations do. The clean and unclean list from Leviticus 11 recapitulated. ‘You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk’ (third appearance). The tithe eaten before the LORD at the place he chooses, or converted to money and spent there when the distance is too great (for wine, strong drink, oxen, sheep, whatever your soul desires). The third-year tithe kept at home for the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Worship and charity intertwined in the rhythm of harvest.

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  • Deuteronomy 15Year of releaseShow summary, 3 pages

    The Sabbatical-year release and the Hebrew servant. Every seventh year, every creditor who has lent shall release what he has lent to his neighbour and brother. Lending to the stranger may continue. ‘There will be no poor among you’. The ideal and the realism in the same breath: ‘there will never cease to be poor in the land’. Therefore open your hand wide. The Hebrew servant freed in the seventh year goes out free with liberal provision; if he chooses to stay, his ear is bored through with an awl at the door-post. Firstlings of the herd and flock eaten before the LORD at the chosen place. Gill notes the chapter's twin stress: release liberally, free liberally.

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  • Deuteronomy 16Passover, Weeks and BoothsShow summary, 4 pages

    The three pilgrimage feasts and the charge to judges. Passover at the place the LORD shall choose. No leaven seen within all your borders seven days. Weeks. Seven weeks from the sickle put to the standing corn; rejoicing before the LORD with household, Levite, stranger, fatherless, widow. Tabernacles. Seven days from the ingathering. Three times a year all males shall appear before the LORD; none shall appear empty. ‘You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town … Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe … Pursue justice, and justice alone, so that you may live, and you may possess the land’.

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  • Deuteronomy 17the courts and the law of the kingShow summary, 2 pages

    Courts and the king. Sentences not resolved in the gates shall come up to the priests and the judge at the central place. Their verdict binding. Should Israel ask for a king, three strictures: no multiplying horses (no return to Egypt); no multiplying wives (his heart turn not away); no multiplying silver and gold. The king shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book from the priests' original: ‘and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God’. The chapter anticipates the kingship of Israel's later centuries; every king is to be a covenant reader.

    On this chapter (2)

    • Jubilee

      The years of release in Israel's law.

    • Deuteronomy 17:18

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Deuteronomy 17 verse by verse

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  • Deuteronomy 18the priests' portion and the prophet like MosesShow summary, 4 pages

    The priests' portion and the prophet like Moses. Levites have no part among their brethren; the LORD is their inheritance. They receive shoulder, cheeks, maw, firstfruits, the firstfleece. False practice. Divination, observers of times, enchanters, witches, charmers, consulters with familiar spirits, wizards, necromancers. Is an abomination. ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.’ (18:15). The mark of the true prophet: what he speaks in the name of the LORD comes to pass. Peter cites this verse of Christ in Acts 3:22.

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  • Deuteronomy 19Cities of refugeShow summary, 2 pages

    Cities of refuge in the land; the landmark; the false witness. Three cities within the land on this side of Jordan (with three more if the LORD enlarges the coast). The manslayer with unintentional death flees there; the avenger of blood will not prevail; the high priest's death ends the refuge. The deliberate murderer, though he flee, is fetched thence and given to the avenger's hand. ‘You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker’. A false witness must bear the penalty he sought to bring on the accused: ‘You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot’.

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  • Deuteronomy 20Rules of warShow summary, 3 pages

    Laws of war. ‘When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them … for the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you’. A priest encourages; officers release. The new-house man, the new-vineyard man, the newly-betrothed man, the fearful. When approaching a far city, proclaim peace first; if refused, besiege. Cities of the seven nations of the land. Destroy utterly. Do not destroy fruit trees: ‘Are the trees of the field human, that you should besiege them?’ The chapter is Israel's war manual; its constraints are as notable as its permissions.

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  • Deuteronomy 21Unsolved murderShow summary, 2 pages

    The unsolved murder, the captive wife, the rebellious son, and the hanging on a tree. A corpse in the field. The nearest city's elders break a heifer's neck at an unploughed stream; they wash their hands over it and testify that this blood is not theirs. A captive woman taken as wife. Thirty days of mourning; then a full wife, not to be sold. A firstborn of two wives. The beloved's son does not supplant the hated's son if he is the firstborn. A stubborn, rebellious son. The elders of his city stone him. A hanged man: ‘he that is hanged is accursed of God; his body shall not remain all night upon the tree’. Galatians 3:13 reads this verse to the cross.

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    • The tree

      The tree from Eden to the cross, and the curse on one hung on a tree.

    • Deuteronomy 21:23

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

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  • Deuteronomy 22Marriage lawsShow summary, 2 pages

    Community laws. The brother's ox or sheep gone astray. Bring it home. The brother's ass fallen. Lift it up. Women's clothes on a man, men's on a woman. Abomination. The mother bird spared on the nest: ‘so that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days’. Battlements on new house-roofs. No seed mixed in one vineyard, no ox and ass yoked together, no garment of wool and linen together. Fringes on the four corners of your cloak. Laws of virginity, adultery, rape, and the betrothed damsel. The tokens of virginity preserved by the parents, the elders at the gate as judges. The covenant community's fabric protected.

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  • Deuteronomy 23The assemblyShow summary, 2 pages

    The assembly, the camp's purity, and various laws. Castrated and bastards barred from the assembly of the LORD; Ammonite and Moabite to the tenth generation; Edomite and Egyptian admitted in the third generation. The camp must be kept clean. A place outside for nature, a paddle on the weapon to cover it: ‘For the LORD your God walks throughout your camp’. The escaped slave finds asylum. No harlots, no sodomites, no usury to a brother. Vows to be paid promptly. Eating freely in a neighbour's vineyard or cornfield as you pass through, but not filling a vessel or putting a sickle to his grain.

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  • Deuteronomy 24Divorce and justiceShow summary, 3 pages

    Divorce, gleanings, labour, and the pledge. Divorce permitted but not encouraged; a second husband's divorce does not restore the first. The newly-wed man free from war and public charge for a year. No handmill or upper millstone taken as a pledge: ‘that would be taking one’s livelihood as security’. Kidnapping punished with death. Leprosy: ‘Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam’. Lending without entering the debtor's house to fetch a pledge; the poor man's garment returned at sundown. Wages paid the same day. No perverting the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, widow; no pledge from the widow. Gleanings of field, olive, vine left for the poor.

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  • Deuteronomy 25Fair weightsShow summary, 2 pages

    Various laws; levirate marriage; Amalek. Forty stripes by number, not more. Lest the brother be degraded. The ox not muzzled that treads out the corn (Paul in 1 Cor 9:9 reads this pastorally). The brother who dies without a son. His widow marries his brother, and the firstborn succeeds in the dead brother's name; the brother's refusal met by the plucking off of his shoe. A just weight and a just measure (‘everyone who behaves dishonestly in regard to these things is detestable to the LORD your God’. The chapter closes: ‘Remember what the Amalekites did to you along your way from Egypt’) blot out the remembrance of Amalek.

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  • Deuteronomy 26the firstfruits and the confessionShow summary, 3 pages

    The confession at the firstfruits. The Israelite shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, put it in a basket, come to the place the LORD shall choose, and recite before the priest the little creed: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there … But the Egyptians mistreated us … So we called out to the LORD, the God of our fathers … Then the LORD brought us out of Egypt … And He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey’. The third-year tithe testified. None to the dead, none unclean. ‘And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession’.

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The plan of the statutes

  1. The place and its worshipDeuteronomy 12:1 to 16:17The one place the LORD chooses, false prophets, clean food, the tithe, the year of release and the three feasts.
  2. The four officesDeuteronomy 16:18 to 18:22Judges (16:18), the king (17:14), the priests (18:1) and the prophet (18:15).
  3. Life, land and warDeuteronomy 19:1 to 21:23Cities of refuge, boundary stones, witnesses, the rules of war and the unsolved murder.
  4. Household and neighbourDeuteronomy 22:1 to 25:19Lost property, marriage, the assembly, loans, wages, gleaning and honest weights.
  5. The firstfruits and the confessionDeuteronomy 26:1 to 19The basket brought to the place and the confession of 26:5.
The laws of chapters 12 to 26 fall into five runs by subject. The four offices stand together in the middle of the second: judges, the king, the priests and the prophet. Sources: Deuteronomy 12:1, 16:17, 16:18, 17:14, 18:1, 18:15, 18:22, 19:1, 21:23, 22:1, 25:19, 26:1, 26:5 and 26:19, read in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (2)

Who the text follows. A name with a page carries its door.

Places (2)

Where the chapters stand.

  • The place the LORD will choose

    The one place of worship, named from 12:5 to 26:2 and never named by town.

  • The cities of refuge

    Three cities for the manslayer who killed without intent (19:2).

Themes (2)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

Where the New Testament uses these chapters (5)each marked as a quotation or an allusion, with the evidence
  • Explicit quotationA certificate of divorce, Deuteronomy 24:1 at Matthew 19:7. The Pharisees ask why Moses commanded a certificate of divorce, and Jesus answers from the beginning of creation. Held by the Pharisees and Jesus, as Matthew records them.
  • Explicit quotationThe prophet like Moses, Deuteronomy 18:15 at Acts 3:22. Peter quotes the promise of a prophet like Moses and applies it to Jesus; Stephen quotes it again at Acts 7:37. Held by Peter and Stephen, as Luke records them.
  • Explicit quotationHanged on a tree, Deuteronomy 21:23 at Galatians 3:13. Paul cites the curse on one hung on a tree and says Christ became a curse for us. Held by Paul.
  • Explicit quotationTwo or three witnesses, Deuteronomy 19:15 at Matthew 18:16. Jesus applies the rule of two or three witnesses to a brother who will not listen; Paul uses it at 2 Corinthians 13:1. Held by Jesus and Paul.
  • Explicit quotationDo not muzzle the ox, Deuteronomy 25:4 at 1 Corinthians 9:9. Paul cites the law of the threshing ox for the right of those who preach to be paid; he cites it again at 1 Timothy 5:18. Held by Paul.

Blessing and curse, Deuteronomy 27 to 28

What the text says in these 2 chapters, and the pages they open on.

Moses and the elders command that once Israel crosses the Jordan the law is to be written on plastered stones and an altar built on Mount Ebal. Six tribes are to stand on Gerizim to bless and six on Ebal for the curse, and the Levites are to read out twelve curses, each answered by the people's amen. Chapter 28 sets out what follows obedience: blessing in the town and the field, rain in season and victory over enemies. From 28:15 it sets out what follows disobedience: disease, drought, defeat, siege, and at the last a scattering among the nations and a return to Egypt in ships.

“Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

Deuteronomy 28:1

Berean Standard Bible. The blessing opens on the condition of listening to the voice of the LORD.
  • Deuteronomy 27the stones, the altar and the twelve cursesShow summary, 2 pages

    Ebal and Gerizim. The third sermon begins. Great stones to be set up on Mount Ebal with all the words of this law written upon them, plastered with plaster. An altar of unhewn stones. Six tribes (Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, Benjamin) on Mount Gerizim to bless; six (Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali) on Mount Ebal to curse. Twelve curses pronounced by the Levites with loud voice, each answered with ‘Amen’. The graven image, the despiser of parents, the mover of the landmark, the misleader of the blind, the perverter of judgment, the incestuous, the smiter of the neighbour secretly, the confirmer of blood. The covenant's sanctions spoken.

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    • The two ways

      The way of life and the way of death, from Deuteronomy to the Psalms.

    • Deuteronomy 27:26

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

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  • Deuteronomy 28the blessing and the curseShow summary, 3 pages

    The blessings and the curses in full. Fourteen verses of blessings: blessed in the city and in the field, in the fruit of body, ground, cattle, store. Enemies smitten; blessings on the goings out and comings in. Then fifty-four verses of curses: cursed in city and field, in body, ground, cattle, store; consumption, fever, blasting, mildew, enemies, madness, blindness, oppression; wife taken, son taken, crops eaten by locust and palmer-worm; exile; serving gods of wood and stone; the besieged eating the flesh of their children. The prophets will quote this chapter for centuries. Moses publishes in advance the twin futures of obedience and apostasy, blessing and covenant curse.

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    • The two ways

      The way of life and the way of death, from Deuteronomy to the Psalms.

    • The land covenant

      The promise of the land and its return after exile.

    • Deuteronomy 28:1

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

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The two mountains and the ledger of chapter 28

Mount Gerizim, to bless

Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, Benjamin

Mount Ebal, for the curse

Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali

28:1 to 14, the blessing, 14 verses28:15 to 68, the curse, 54 verses
Six tribes stand on Mount Gerizim to bless and six on Mount Ebal for the curse (27:12 to 13). In chapter 28 the blessing runs 14 verses and the curse 54, counted from the Berean Standard Bible in the store. Sources: Deuteronomy 27:12, 27:13, 28:1 to 14 and 28:15 to 68.

Characters (2)

Who the text follows. A name with a page carries its door.

  • The Levites

    Who read the curses aloud to all Israel (27:14).

  • The twelve tribes

    Divided six and six between the two mountains.

Places (2)

Where the chapters stand.

  • Mount Ebal

    Where the stones are written and the altar built, and the curse is spoken (27:4).

  • Mount Gerizim

    Where six tribes stand to bless the people (27:12).

Themes (2)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

Where the New Testament uses these chapters (1)each marked as a quotation or an allusion, with the evidence
  • Explicit quotationCursed is everyone who does not continue, Deuteronomy 27:26 at Galatians 3:10. Paul cites the last curse of the Ebal ceremony against relying on the works of the law. Held by Paul.

The covenant in Moab, Deuteronomy 29 to 30

What the text says in these 2 chapters, and the pages they open on.

The third speech opens at 29:1 with the words of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant at Horeb. It is made with everyone standing there, from the leaders to the water carrier, and with those not yet born. Moses foresees exile and a return, when the LORD will gather his people and circumcise their hearts so that they love him (30:6). The command is not too hard or far away, but near, in the mouth and the heart. He calls heaven and earth to witness, and sets life and death before the people, and tells them to choose life.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Deuteronomy 30:19–20

Berean Standard Bible. The choice the whole book has been building toward, with heaven and earth as witnesses.
  • Deuteronomy 29the covenant made in MoabShow summary, 4 pages

    The covenant renewed in the land of Moab. ‘All of you are standing today before the LORD your God … you leaders of tribes, elders, officials … your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps’. The covenant is with those present and ‘with those who are not here today’. The secret things belong to the LORD our God; but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever. Warning against the one whose heart turns aside (‘no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit’) whose presumption the LORD will not spare. The future exile anticipated, and the Gentiles' question, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land?’ answered in advance.

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  • Deuteronomy 30return, the circumcised heart, and choose lifeShow summary, 4 pages

    ‘I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing’. When the blessings and the curses have come upon Israel and they are scattered, ‘return to the LORD your God and obey His voice … then He will restore you from captivity’. The word is not hidden, not far off, not beyond the sea: ‘the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.’ (Paul quotes in Rom 10). ‘I have set before you today life and goodness, as well as death and disaster. … Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live … and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life’.

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Characters (2)

Who the text follows. A name with a page carries its door.

  • Those not here today

    The later generations the covenant is made with (29:15).

  • The leaders and the water carrier

    Everyone standing in Moab, named from the heads of the tribes down (29:10 to 11).

Places (1)

Where the chapters stand.

Themes (3)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

Where the New Testament uses these chapters (1)each marked as a quotation or an allusion, with the evidence
  • Explicit quotationThe word is near you, Deuteronomy 30:12 to 14 at Romans 10:6 to 8. Paul reads the nearness of the commandment as the word of faith he preaches. Held by Paul.

Last words and the death of Moses, Deuteronomy 31 to 34

What the text says in these 4 chapters, and the pages they open on.

Moses is a hundred and twenty years old and will not cross the Jordan. He charges Joshua before all Israel to be strong and courageous, writes the law and gives it to the priests, and orders it read to all the people every seventh year at the Feast of Booths. The LORD tells him that Israel will turn to other gods, and gives him a song to teach them as a witness. Moses speaks the Song, blesses the tribes one by one, and climbs Mount Nebo. The LORD shows him the land from Gilead to the sea, and Moses dies there in Moab, and no prophet has arisen in Israel like him.

So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, as the LORD had said.

Deuteronomy 34:5

Since that time, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face— no prophet who did all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent Moses to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his officials and all his land, and no prophet who performed all the mighty acts of power and awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Deuteronomy 34:10–12

Berean Standard Bible. The death of Moses in the land of Moab, and the verdict on him that closes the Torah.
  • Deuteronomy 31Joshua charged, and the law laid beside the arkShow summary, 2 pages

    Joshua commissioned publicly; the Law written; the reading every seven years. Moses is 120; he cannot any more go out and come in; the LORD has said he will not cross Jordan. ‘Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.’ The Law is written and delivered to the priests and elders; read every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles before all Israel. Men, women, children, strangers. That they may hear and learn. The LORD foretells the people's future apostasy; Moses is to write a song that will testify against them in the evil day to come.

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  • Deuteronomy 32the Song of MosesShow summary, 4 pages

    The song of Moses. ‘Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth’. A covenant lawsuit in verse. The Rock of Israel; his work is perfect; his ways are judgment. Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked. The LORD will provoke them with a foolish nation; fire kindled to the lowest hell; arrows drunk with blood. ‘See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal’ (32:39). Vengeance is mine, and recompence. ‘Rejoice, O nations, with His people’. Cited in Rom 15:10. Moses teaches the song so that Israel cannot unlearn it. ‘Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo … And there on the mountain that you climb, you will die’.

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  • Deuteronomy 33Moses blesses the tribesShow summary, 2 pages

    The blessing of the tribes. ‘The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran’. Reuben: ‘Let Reuben live and not die’. Judah. Bring him to his people. Levi. Your Urim and Thummim with your holy one; teach Jacob your judgments. Benjamin. The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him. Joseph. Blessed of the LORD be his land for the precious things of heaven, the earth, the sun, the moon, the ancient mountains, the fulness thereof, and the good will of him that dwelt in the bush. Zebulun and Issachar. Gad. Dan. Naphtali. Asher. ‘There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid … The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms’.

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  • Deuteronomy 34Nebo, and the death of MosesShow summary, 3 pages

    Moses' death. He goes up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. The LORD shows him all the land. Gilead, Dan, Naphtali, Ephraim, Manasseh, Judah to the utmost sea, the south, the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, to Zoar. ‘This is the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob … I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it’. So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD; he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knows of his grave to this day. Moses was 120; his eye not dim, nor his natural force abated. Israel wept for him thirty days. ‘Since that time, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face’.

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The sea123456Nebo

What Moses saw from Nebo

  1. 1Gilead to Danverse 1
  2. 2Naphtaliverse 2
  3. 3Ephraim and Manasseh
  4. 4Judah to the Western Sea
  5. 5The Negevverse 3
  6. 6Jericho to Zoar
The LORD shows Moses the land from Nebo in six sweeps, and the numbers follow the order of 34:1 to 3: north to Dan, west across the tribes to the sea, then south to the Negev and Zoar. The map is schematic: the regions are drawn as points and their places are approximate, and it carries no scale. The painting in the band shows the same moment. Sources: Deuteronomy 34:1 to 4, read in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (2)

Who the text follows. A name with a page carries its door.

  • Moses

    Who sings, blesses the tribes, and dies at a hundred and twenty (34:7).

  • Joshua

    The son of Nun, charged before all Israel (31:7) and filled with the spirit of wisdom (34:9).

Places (2)

Where the chapters stand.

  • Nebo

    The mountain where Moses sees the land and dies (32:49, 34:1).

  • Jericho

    The city across the Jordan that Nebo faces (34:1).

Themes (2)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

  • tsur, rock

    The name the Song gives the LORD (32:4).

  • The Torah

    The five books of Moses, which end here.

Where the New Testament uses these chapters (3)each marked as a quotation or an allusion, with the evidence
  • Probable allusionI will never leave you, Deuteronomy 31:6 at Hebrews 13:5. Hebrews gives the promise made to Israel and to Joshua as a word to believers; the same promise stands at Joshua 1:5. Held by the writer to the Hebrews.
  • Explicit quotationVengeance is mine, Deuteronomy 32:35 at Romans 12:19. Paul cites the Song of Moses to forbid taking revenge; Hebrews 10:30 cites the same line. Held by Paul and the writer to the Hebrews.
  • Explicit quotationRejoice, O nations, Deuteronomy 32:43 at Romans 15:10. Paul cites the Song's call to the nations among the texts that show the Gentiles praising God. Held by Paul.

Where do readers disagree?

One list: the readings with their holders, and what the evidence does not settle.

  • Who wrote Deuteronomy, and when?

    • Moses, on the plains of Moab. Argued from the treaty form by Meredith G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King (1963), and Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (2003).
    • A seventh-century book, the scroll of Josiah's reform. Held by W. M. L. de Wette, Dissertatio critico-exegetica (1805), and Julius Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Israel (1878).

    What the evidence does not settle: The book's own claim stands against comparison with treaties of two eras, and no copy is older than the Qumran scrolls.

    The argument in full

    Moses, on the plains of Moab. The book says Moses spoke and wrote it (1:1, 1:5, 31:9, 31:24), Joshua reads it as the Book of the Law of Moses (Joshua 8:34), and Jesus speaks of Moses commanding what Deuteronomy 24:1 says (Matthew 19:7 to 8).

    A seventh-century book, the scroll of Josiah's reform. The one chosen place of chapter 12 is read as the programme of Josiah's reform, and the curses of chapter 28 are set beside the Assyrian loyalty oaths of the seventh century.

    The witnesses to the text, 5

    The Nash Papyrus (c. 150 to 100 BC). A single sheet from Egypt carrying the Ten Commandments followed by the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4 to 5. Before the Dead Sea Scrolls it was the oldest known Hebrew biblical manuscript. The Qumran Deuteronomy scrolls (c. 250 BC to AD 68). More than thirty copies of Deuteronomy were found in the caves at Qumran, among the most copied books there with Psalms and Isaiah. Most agree closely with the Masoretic Text; 4QDeut-j and 4QDeut-q carry the readings of the Song of Moses at 32:8 and 32:43. The Masoretic Text (c. AD 900 (the Leningrad and Aleppo Codices)). The standard Hebrew text behind English translations of Deuteronomy. At 32:8 it reads the sons of Israel. The Samaritan Pentateuch (an independent tradition, its manuscripts medieval). A Hebrew Torah kept outside rabbinic Judaism. Where the Masoretic Text at 27:4 names Ebal for the altar, it names Gerizim. The Septuagint (c. third century BC). The Greek Torah the apostles most often quote. Its Song of Moses is the wording behind Romans 15:10 and Hebrews 1:6.

    The finds, 2

    The structure on Mount Ebal (excavated 1982 to 1989 by Adam Zertal, dated by him to c. 1200 BC). A large stone installation with a ramp, ash and the bones of clean animals on the mountain Deuteronomy names for the curse (27:13). Zertal identified it as the altar of Joshua 8:30 to 31; others read it as a watchtower or a farmstead, and the identification is disputed. The Arad temple and the Beersheba horned altar (excavated 1962 to 1967 (Arad) and 1969 to 1976 (Beersheba)). A Judahite sanctuary whose altar went out of use, and a horned altar found taken apart with its stones built into a wall. Both are read on the one chosen place of chapter 12, one way as a late reform and the other as the putting down of altars that had always been irregular.

  • What does the treaty match prove about the date?

    • It points to the second millennium. Held by Kline and by Kitchen in the works named above.
    • It points to the seventh century. Held by Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School (1972).

    What the evidence does not settle: Both bodies of parallels are real, and a form can outlive its age, so the parallels alone do not fix a date.

    The argument in full

    It points to the second millennium. The Hittite treaties of about 1400 to 1200 BC carry a historical prologue and blessings as well as curses, and so does Deuteronomy; the later Assyrian treaties drop both.

    It points to the seventh century. Several curses of chapter 28 sit close in wording and order to the Succession Treaty of Esarhaddon of 672 BC.

    The Hittite vassal treaties, Hittite, from the archives at Hattusa, c. 1400 to 1200 BC. A fixed order of parts: the great king named, what he has already done for the vassal, the terms, the deposit and public reading of the text, the witnesses, and the blessings and the curses. Meredith G. Kline (Treaty of the Great King, 1963) and Kenneth A. Kitchen (On the Reliability of the Old Testament, 2003) argue that this form belongs to the second millennium, since the historical prologue and the blessings drop out of the later Assyrian treaties. The Succession Treaty of Esarhaddon and the Sefire treaties, Neo-Assyrian and Aramaean, 672 BC (Esarhaddon); eighth century BC (Sefire). Loyalty oaths sworn to a king, heavy with curse lists, in which the vassal is bound to love the king. Several curses of Deuteronomy 28 sit close in wording and order to curses in Esarhaddon's treaty. Moshe Weinfeld (Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School, 1972) reads these first-millennium parallels as evidence for a seventh-century book.

  • Who wrote the account of Moses' death?

    • Joshua or a later hand added it. Held by Rabbi Judah in the Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 15a, and by Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible (1832), on 34:1.
    • Moses wrote it at God's word. Held by Rabbi Simeon in the Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 15a, the same passage.

    What the evidence does not settle: The chapter names no writer, and the phrase to this day (34:6) is read by both sides.

    The argument in full

    Joshua or a later hand added it. The chapter reports Moses' death and burial (34:5 to 6) and looks back across time to say no prophet has arisen like him (34:10).

    Moses wrote it at God's word. Moses wrote the closing verses as the LORD spoke them, before the events, and wrote them in tears.

  • Was the scroll found in Josiah's temple Deuteronomy?

    • A copy of the book of Moses, lost and found. Held by Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on 31:9, and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765), on 31:26.
    • The book was written in that age and published by the find. Held by W. M. L. de Wette, Dissertatio critico-exegetica (1805).

    What the evidence does not settle: Both readings agree the scroll matched Deuteronomy; they differ on how old it was when it was found.

    The argument in full

    A copy of the book of Moses, lost and found. Deuteronomy orders a copy laid beside the ark (31:26) and a copy written by every king (17:18), so a scroll in the temple is what the book expects.

    The book was written in that age and published by the find. The reforms that follow 2 Kings 22:8 track Deuteronomy closely: the high places torn down, worship gathered to Jerusalem, and the Passover kept as chapter 16 orders.

  • Does the one chosen place contradict the altar law of Exodus 20?

    • Two laws for two situations. Held by J. G. McConville, Deuteronomy (2002), and by Kitchen.
    • A later reform replacing an older law. Held by de Wette and by Wellhausen in the works named above.

    What the evidence does not settle: Altars stand at Ebal, Shiloh, Mizpah and Carmel after Moab, and both readings have to account for them.

    The argument in full

    Two laws for two situations. Exodus 20:24 governs the wilderness and the years before the land is at rest; Deuteronomy 12:9 to 10 binds the one place to the rest the LORD will give.

    A later reform replacing an older law. Chapter 12 is read as the charter of Josiah's centralizing reform.

  • Why did God command the destruction of the Canaanite cities?

    The Canaanite conquest, argued in full→
    • Judgment on the grounds the text gives. Set out by Christopher J. H. Wright, The God I Don't Understand (2008).
    • The wording follows the conventions of ancient war reports. Held by K. Lawson Younger, Ancient Conquest Accounts (1990).

    What the evidence does not settle: The command at 20:16 to 18 stands; the readings differ on how its wording was meant, and chapter 28 puts Israel under the same judgment.

    The argument in full

    Judgment on the grounds the text gives. Deuteronomy gives the wickedness of the nations (9:5) and the danger that they teach Israel their practices (20:18), and Genesis 15:16 had said the sin of the Amorites was not yet full.

    The wording follows the conventions of ancient war reports. Egyptian, Hittite and Assyrian campaign texts use the same total language, and Joshua and Judges report survivors in cities said to be wholly destroyed.

  • Does 29:1 close the second speech or open a covenant of its own?

    The covenants, read in order→
    • It opens the covenant in Moab, the covenant of Horeb made again. Held by Wesley and Henry, each on 29:1, and by Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy (1976).
    • It closes the speech before it. Held by Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, on 29:1.

    What the evidence does not settle: The verse can stand as the colophon of what goes before or the heading of what follows, and the Hebrew and English numbering divide on it.

    The argument in full

    It opens the covenant in Moab, the covenant of Horeb made again. The verse names a covenant made in Moab in addition to the one at Horeb; Wesley and Henry read it as the one covenant proclaimed and ratified again for the second generation.

    It closes the speech before it. A new subject begins at 29:2, and the Hebrew Bible numbers the verse 28:69, the last line of the blessings and the curses.

  • Does 32:8 read the sons of God or the sons of Israel?

    The Watchers and the Nephilim→
    • The sons of God. Read by the Septuagint and the Qumran fragment 4QDeut-j, printed by the Berean Standard Bible, and argued by Michael S. Heiser (The Unseen Realm, 2015).
    • The sons of Israel. Read by the Masoretic Text, printed by the King James and American Standard versions, and taken so by Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 32:8.

    What the evidence does not settle: Both readings are old; which one the Song first carried is argued from the witnesses and not settled by them.

    The argument in full

    The sons of God. The nations are divided according to the number of the heavenly host, and the LORD keeps Israel as his own portion (32:9).

    The sons of Israel. The bounds of the nations are set according to the number of Israel, and Henry reads the verse as God ordering the nations with a regard to his people.

  • Which of these laws bind the church?

    • The moral law binds, and the ceremonial and civil laws are fulfilled. Set out in the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapter 19, and held by Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 13:17.
    • The civil penalties would still serve a people well. Held by Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, on 19:21 and 21:18.

    What the evidence does not settle: Where each law falls between moral, ceremonial and civil is argued law by law, and the New Testament names only some of them.

    The argument in full

    The moral law binds, and the ceremonial and civil laws are fulfilled. Jesus declares all foods clean (Mark 7:19), and the council at Jerusalem lays on Gentile believers no more than a few necessary things (Acts 15:28 to 29).

    The civil penalties would still serve a people well. Clarke writes that the law of like for like and the law of the rebellious son restrained crime, and that a people would be better for them if they were in force.

The pages Deuteronomy opens on

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Sources for this page

The painting in the band is Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain. The movements, the chapter entries, the figures and the Context are read off the text of Deuteronomy. The works behind the readings under Where do readers disagree are W. M. L. de Wette, Dissertatio critico-exegetica (1805); Julius Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Israel (1878); Meredith G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King (1963); Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School (1972); Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy (1976); K. Lawson Younger, Ancient Conquest Accounts (1990); J. G. McConville, Deuteronomy (2002); Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (2003); Christopher J. H. Wright, The God I Don't Understand (2008); Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm (2015); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765); Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible (1832); the Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 15a; and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646).

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