_{Handout 30}

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy – Prof’s suggested nickname:

In general, Deuteronomy:

• Is not a “2nd Law”, but is . . .

• It reaffirms both . . .

• It divides into 3 Speeches:
  • Chs. 1-4 Historical prologue = here’s how we got here.
  • Chs. 5-28 The main speech, which repeats many of the laws, and concludes with a list of covenantal blessings & curses.
  • Chs. 29-30 A concluding general appeal ( = the 3rd speech)
  • Plus: Chs. 31-34 - Final concluding narratives & songs.

• Its structure also resembles the known the structure of . . .

  Is this altogether surprising?

• Deut. seems to anticipate . . .

• [Deut 2:14 Moses reminds them that the entire generation of fighting men from the 1st census has died off.]

• [Deut 4:6-8 The other nations will remark: “What other nation is so wise . . . , etc.” (3x).]

• Deut 5 – The 10 Commandments, repeated / restated.

• Deut. 6:1-9 The “Shema” and the Great Commandment

  • v. 4 The “Shema”; traditionally rendered: “Hear (!), O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.”

    But what is the specific point that this verse is affirming?

  • v. 5 The Great Commandment

    Similar in spirit to this, also note:

    • Deut. 10:14-22, esp. v. 16 – Which calls on the Israelites to circumcise their hearts.
    • Deut. 30:1-10, esp. v.6 – It speaks of a time when Yahweh will circumcise their hearts.

• Deut 7:1-15. Some Distinctive Features of the Sinai Covenant.

  [Similar passages: 8:1,18; 11:8-21; 13:17-18; 30:11-20]

  • 7:1-5 Drive out the Canaanites. (As we saw above in Exod 23:20-33.)
  • 7:6 Yahweh chose them out of all peoples to be his treasured possession (Exod 19:5).
  • 7:7-14 If they honor Yahweh alone as God, and to obey the law, then Yahweh will bring to them these covenantal blessings . . .
  • (!) 7:14 If(!) they follow Yahweh’s law, they will be blessed →

• [Deut 8:3 “. . . to teach you that man does not live by bread alone . . .”. ]

• [Deut 8:4 Did you happen to notice that . . . “your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell up?”]

• Deut. 13 No worshipping false/foreign gods; Israelites who do so are to be put to death.

  • Q: What covenant does this reflect?

    A:

• Deut 18:9-13

• Deut 18:14-22, esp. vv. 15, 18-19 A “Prophet like Moses” will come; see (!) Deut 34:10 below.

  [cf. Jer 18:7-8.]

  [In the NT, see John 1:21-25, 6:14 & 7:40]

• [Deut 20:10–15 How Israel is to deal with cities / nations “that are at a distance’ = that are not Canaanites. ]

• Deut 21:18–21 How to deal with a stubborn & rebellious son . . .

• Deut 22:13–21 The case of a new wife whose virginity is question by her husband.

  • 22:13–19 – If his claims are slanderous . . .
  • 22:20–21 – If the charge is true . . . :(

• Deut 24:1–4 Certificate of Divorce – “If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him . . .”.

• Deut 26:19 They are his treasured possession, and He will set them high above all the nations, if . . .

• Deut. 28 The Blessings and the Curses of the Sinai Covenant

  • Q: What chapter that came earlier does this remind us of? __ )

    Yet note esp. v. 9 → Yahweh swears(!) to bless them → if (!) they honor & obey him.

• Deut 29:9-28 The Renewal of the Sinai Covenant, + the “oath-which-invokes-a-curse” of the Sinai covt.

  Note the outcome for an Israelite who scorns God and goes his own way . . .

• Deut 30:1-10 “The Lord will circumcise your hearts . . .”

  But read(!) the context; this is portrayed as occurring after . . .

• Deut 30:15-20 This is the “Final Appeal” of the entire Pentateuch. Its central thoughts are:

  • Not simply:
  • But rather,
  • Esp.:
  • And if they do, then:

• Deut 34:4 “This is the land I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob . . .”. Moses gets to see it, but . . .

• Deut 34:10 → Is commonly translated: “No prophet has ever arisen like Moses . . .”.

  But it can also be understood as:

  If so, what does it suggest?

  • Q: Also, what does the natural reading of this verse suggest concerning when it was written?