A guide to Deuteronomy

Who wrote Deuteronomy, and when?

Traditionally Moses, with the account of his death added later. Traditionally about 1406 BC, on the plains of Moab.

Deuteronomy presents itself as a series of speeches Moses gave to Israel on the plains of Moab shortly before his death, and tradition has credited him with the book. The final chapter, which describes his death and burial, must have been added by someone else, and Jewish tradition says Joshua did so. On the traditional view the speeches date to about 1406 BC. Many scholars think the book took its present shape much later, with some linking it to the book of the law found in the temple in the reign of King Josiah around 622 BC (see 2 Kings 22). Christians hold both views. The name Deuteronomy means "second law", because the book repeats and applies the law given at Sinai.

Who was Deuteronomy written to?

The new generation of Israel about to cross the Jordan under Joshua.

The audience is the generation that grew up in the wilderness, the children of those who had left Egypt. They were now camped on the plains of Moab, and the Jordan River and the land of Canaan lay in front of them. They had not stood at Sinai as adults and had not seen the plagues, so Moses retells the story as if it had happened to them, because in a real sense it had. They were about to face new pressures: farming instead of gathering manna, cities instead of camps, and the constant pull of the gods of the people around them. Moses would not be crossing with them. Deuteronomy is his last chance to prepare them for life in the land without him.

What was happening at the time?

Moses is about to die and cannot go into the land. Deuteronomy is his renewal of the covenant with the children of those who left Egypt: a retelling of their story, a restating of the law for life in the land, and a passionate appeal to love and obey the LORD. Jesus quoted it more than almost any other book.

Why was Deuteronomy written?

To renew the covenant so that Israel would love God wholeheartedly and live well in the land.

Deuteronomy was written to renew the covenant between the LORD and Israel and to plead with the people to love him with all their heart. It does this by remembering what God has done, by restating his law for life in the land, and by setting out the blessings that follow obedience and the curses that follow rebellion (see chapters 27 to 30). The book wants its readers to choose life, which means choosing the LORD. It cares deeply about justice for the poor, the foreigner, the widow and the orphan, and about keeping worship pure. In the wider story of the Bible, Deuteronomy shapes the prophets, who measure Israel against its standard, and it shapes Jesus, who answered the devil with its words and called its command to love God the greatest of all.

How to read Deuteronomy today

Chapter 6 is the place to start. It contains the command to love the LORD with heart, soul and strength, which Jesus called the greatest commandment. Then read chapters 4 to 11, which are Moses' most heartfelt appeal, and chapters 29 to 34, which end the book with a choice and a farewell. Watch for the words remember, love, today and heart, which come up over and over. Do not force the blessings and curses in chapter 28 into a formula for your own life; they were made with Israel as a nation, and the book itself expects that Israel will fail and that God will one day change hearts (see chapter 30). As you read, pray that God would give you a whole heart for him, and thank him for the mercy that follows even after failure.

The key verse in Deuteronomy

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Passages worth knowing in Deuteronomy

• Deuteronomy 6:4-9

  The Shema

  Love the LORD with all your heart; the greatest commandment.

• Deuteronomy 8

  Remember the wilderness

  Man does not live by bread alone.

• Deuteronomy 18:15-19

  A prophet like Moses

  The promise the New Testament sees fulfilled in Jesus.

• Deuteronomy 28

  Blessings and curses

  The choice set before Israel, and the outline of its later history.

• Deuteronomy 30:11-20

  Choose life

  The word is near you; the appeal at the heart of the book.

• Deuteronomy 34

  The death of Moses

  He sees the land but does not enter; Joshua takes over.

The main themes of Deuteronomy

• Wholehearted love for God
• Remembering
• Covenant blessing and curse
• One God, one place of worship
• Justice and compassion

An outline of Deuteronomy