6.1 Introduction to Deuteronomy

1
6.1 Introduction to Deuteronomy

• ATPS-BIB509

2
1. Importance of Deuteronomy

• 1.1 ". . . the importance of Dtn is . . .
  evidenced by the many modern scholars who hold
  that Dtn constitutes the center of OT theology."
  Childs, IOTS, 204
• Capstone of Gen-Deut.
• Introduces the Deuteronomistic History (Deut-2
  Kgs)
• 1.2 The relationship between 2 Kgs 22-24 (de
  Witte)

3
(No Transcript)
4
(No Transcript)
5
2. General Perspectives

• 2.1 "Traditionally the book has been viewed as
  Moses last will and testament (Philo), which he
  delivered in three final addresses to Israel."
  Childs, 207

6
2. General Perspectives

• 2.2 ". . . M. Weinfeld. His central thesis is
  that Dtn was composed by scribes and sages from
  the royal house of Judah during the eighth to
  seventh century BC and that the book reflects the
  wisdom of the ANE as its major source." Childs,
  208
• See Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic
  School his Anchor Bible Commentary

7
2. General Perspectives

• 2.3 G. Mendenhall and others have compared Dtn
  with the Hittite suzerain treaties
• PREAMBLE ("These are the words..."). Dtn 1.1-5
  "These are the words which Moses addressed to all
  Israel"

8
2. General Perspectives

• HISTORICAL PROLOGUE (Baltzer "antecedent
  history," i.e., events leading to and forming the
  basis of the treaty). Dtn 1.6-4.49.
• GENERAL STIPULATIONS (Baltzer statement of
  substance concerning the future relationship,
  which (1) is intimately related to the antecedent
  history, and (2) summarizes the purpose of the
  specific stipulations). Dtn 5-11.

9
2. General Perspectives

• SPECIFIC STIPULATIONS. Dtn 12-26.
• DIVINE WITNESSES various deities are called to
  witness the treaty. See 30.19 31.19 32.1-43.
  Possibly including provisions for the continuity
  of covenant and a successor for Moses.
• BLESSINGS AND CURSES relating respectively to
  the maintenance or breach of the covenant. Dtn
  27-28. Possibly including all of 27-30 as curses
  and blessings, with exhortation.

10
2. General Perspectives

• 2.4 ". . . the form of the present book of
  Deuteronomy is torah, a genre designation that
  might best be translated in its use in
  Deuteronomy as a program of catechesis. In its
  present form Deuteronomy is intended to function
  as a foundational and ongoing teaching document
  necessitated by the reality of human death and
  the need to pass the faith on to another
  generation." Olson, Deuteronomy and the Death of
  Moses A Theological Reading, 6

11
3. Name

• 3.1 "The name Deuteronomy comes from a
  mistranslation by the Septuagint translators of a
  clause in Deut 17.18, which refers to a
  repetition (deuterono,mion) of this law. The
  Hebrew actually instructs the king to make a
  copy of this law. The error on which the English
  title rests, however, is not serious, for Deut is
  in fact a repetition of the law of Moses as
  delivered at Mount Sinai (Horeb) in the books of
  Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.... As with the
  other books of the Pentateuch, the Hebrew title
  is taken from the opening words of the book,
  yrbdh hla, sometimes cited in English as simply
  'Devarim.'" Christensen, WBC, xl

12
4. Authorship

• 4.1 "The book itself does indeed states that
  Moses "wrote the words of this law in a book"
  (Deut 31.9, 24), and that he "spoke" certain
  parts of the contents 'in the ears of all the
  assembly of Israel' (1.5 4.45 31.30)." Cairns,
  ITC, 1

13
4. Authorship

• 4.2 List of Potential later material
• The account of Moses death (chap. 34) is
  obviously not from his hand.
• The writer is clearly already living in Western
  Palestine. In 1.1 he describes Moses a speaking
  beyond the Jordan, meaning specifically the
  southeastern corner of the land (similarly 1.5
  3.8 4.46).
• For the writer, the Hebrew occupation of
  Palestine is already history (2.12).

14
5. The Text of Deuteronomy

• 5.1 MT
• 1. The Hebrew text of Deuteronomy has been
  preserved in a remarkably good condition, in
  contrast to the text of other OT books (e.g., the
  books of Samuel or Job). Craigie, 34
• 2. Chapter 32 and 33 are problematic. . . . in
  Deuteronomy 32, 4QDeutq most often agrees with
  the Septuagint, not the Masoretic Text or the
  Samaritan Pentateuch. TDSSB, 146

15
5. The Text of Deuteronomy

• 5.2 Qumran
• 1. Of the thirty-three Deuteronomy scrolls,
  thirty were discovered at Qumran (two in Cave 1),
  three in Cave 2, twenty-two in Cave 4, and one
  each in Caves 5, 6, and 11), and three more were
  found at sites farther to the south (one at
  Masada, one at Nah9al H9ever, and one at
  Murabba(at). Although none of these scrolls is
  complete, at least part of every chapter of the
  book is represented between them. The Dead Sea
  Scrolls Bible, 145

16
5. The Text of Deuteronomy

• 2. "It is too early to be able to give definitive
  account of the textual nature of Deuteronomy, but
  there is a wide variety of textual variants
  preserved in the manuscripts from Qumran, and
  some manuscripts which preserve text that is
  totally from scripture were apparently not
  biblical manuscripts but manuscripts of biblical
  excerpts used for liturgical purposes." Ulrich

17
5. The Text of Deuteronomy

• 5.3 LXX
• 1. At times the translator does not follow the
  syntactic cuts which the Masoretic accentuation
  presupposes, but of course the translator was
  faced with a unpointed text. What changes in
  syntactic patterns in Deut do suggest is that the
  translator read his text differently. That the
  Deut translator at times presupposed a different
  vocalization is true, but that was the case with
  the translators of the other books of the
  Pentateuch as well it would be unreasonable to
  assume that he would have had exactly the same
  reading tradition as the Masoretes of a much
  later age, particularly in view of the at times
  quite complex syntactic patterns of the book.
  John Wevers, Notes on the Greek Text of
  Deuteronomy, ix

18
6. Deuteronomy the Pentateuch

• 6.1 In subject matter it is closely related to
  Exodus-Numbers, being wholly concerned with
  Moses, and its final chapter (Deut. 34) concludes
  the history of Moses begun in Exod 2. However,
  the view of Martin Noth that Deuteronomy was not
  originally connected with Exodus-Numbers but is,
  on the contrary, the first part of another work,
  a Deuteronomistic History - a history of Israel
  written during the Babylonian Exile and including
  the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings -
  has been very widely accepted. Whybray,
  Introduction to the Pentateuch, 85

19
7. Outline of Deuteronomy

• 7.1 Duane Christensen
• A. THE OUTER FRAME A look Backwards (Deut 1-3)
• B. THE INNER FRAME The Great Peroration (Deut
  4-11)
• C. THE CENTRAL CORE Covenant Stipulations (Deut
  12-26)
• B THE INNER FRAME The Covenant Ceremony (Deut
  27-30)
• A THE OUTER FRAME A Look Forwards (Deut 31-34)

20
7. Outline of Deuteronomy

• 7.2 Jeffrey H. Tigay
• I. Heading (1.1-5)
• II. Prologue First Discourse (1.6-4.43)
• III. Second Discourse The covenant made in Moab
  (4.44-28.69)
• IV. Third Discourse Exhortations to observe the
  covenant made in Moab (29.1-30.20)
• V. Epilogue Moses last days (31.1-34.12)

21
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.1 Parallels with Exod 20.23-23.19
• "Research has shown that the Deuteronomic code
  (or block of torah), Deut 12-26, is closely
  related to the so-called Book of the Covenant, Ex
  20.23-23.19. In fact, a careful comparison of the
  two reveals that (apart from one long section, Ex
  21.18-22.15, which has its own separate history)
  only four short sentences in the Book of the
  Covenant (Ex 20.26 22.28 29b, 31) are not
  reflected or expanded in the Deuteronomic code."
  Cairns, 4

22
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• "The rights of those at risk (the poor,
  foreigners, widows, orphans, women) are of common
  concern to the Book of the Covenant and the
  Deuteronomic code, on the one hand, and the
  prophets Amos, Micah, Hosea, and Isaiah, on the
  other. Similarly, the concern that the processes
  of the judiciary should be impartial, humane, and
  free from extortion and corruption is shared by
  both." Cairns, 15

23
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.2 Not found in the Book of the Covenant, but
  parallel in the Law code of the Ancient Near
  East
• Deut 21.18-21 Stubborn and Rebellious Son
• CH168 "If a seignior, having made up his mind to
  disinherit his son, has said to the judges, I
  wish to disinherit my son, the judges shall
  investigate his record, and if the son did not
  incur wrong grave (enough) to be disinherited,
  the father may not disinherit his son".
• CH169 "If he has incurred wrong against his
  father grave (enough) to be disinherited, they

24
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• shall let him off the first time if he has
  incurred grave wrong a second time, the father
  may disinherit his son."
• Deut 22.13-27 Laws for wives and those engaged
• CH127 "If a seignior pointed the finger at a nun
  or the wife of a(nother) seignior, but has proved
  nothing, they shall drag that seignior into the
  presence of the judge and also cut off his
  (hair)."
• CH128 "If a seignior acquired a wife, but did
  not draw up the contracts for her, that woman is
  no wife."

25
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• CH129 "If the wife of a seignior has been caught
  while lying with another man, they shall bind
  them and thrown them into the water. If the
  husband of the woman wishes to spare his wife,
  then the king in turn may spare his subject."
• CH130 "If a seignior bound the (betrothed) wife
  of a(nother) seignior, who had had no intercourse
  with a male and was still living in her fathers
  house, and he has lain in her bosom and they have
  caught him, that seignior shall be put to death,
  while that woman shall go free."
• CH131 "If a seignior wife was accused by her
  husband, but she was not caught while lying with
  another man, she shall make affirmation by god
  and return to her house."

26
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.3 Laws found neither in the Book of Covenant
  nor ANE
• Exhortations to Israel to "cleave to the LORD"
  and love him with all the heart. - Primacy of
  loving God with all ones heart Deut 6.4 7.6-16
  8.5-6 13.1-4, 10 14.1-2 26.1-11.
• Regulations designed to preserve the status and
  welfare of the Levites. - 12.18b-19 14.27-29a
  18.1-8.
• Rules regulating the role of prophecy in Israel.
  - 13.1-5 18.9-22.

27
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.3 Laws found neither in the Book of Covenant
  nor ANE
• Regulations concerning the "Yahwehs war."
• 20.1-9 Kindling the fighting spirit cf. Judg
  7.1-3
• 20.10-18 21.10-14 Treatment of prisoners
• 23.1-8 Categories barred from participation, lest
  the ritual purity of the army be compromised.
• 23.9-14 Preserving the ritual purity of the
  encampment.
• 24.5 The newly-married exempted.

28
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.3 Laws found neither in the Book of Covenant
  nor ANE
• Regulations concerning the "Yahwehs war."
• 25.17-19 Command to annihilate the Amalekites.
• Regulations defining the office of kingship -
  17.14-20 1 Sam 8 12 Jud 9.7-15 Hos 5.1 8.4
  10.15 13.10-11.
• Insistence that there is only one legitimate
  shrine where Israel may worship Yahweh. -
  12.1-28 14.22-29 15.19-23 16.1-17 17.8-13
  18.1-8 19.1-13.

29
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.4 Deuteronomys revision of earlier laws
• 1. Law of Slave and Maidservant (Deut 15.12-18 /
  Exod 21.1-11)
• "The casuistic section of this law in covenant
  code (Ex 21.3-4, 8-11), which deals with the
  owners rights in regard to the wife and children
  of the slave as well as the personal rights of
  the maidservant was totally omitted from
  Deuteronomy, because Deuteronomy does not view
  the slave and maidservant as property (chattel)
  belonging to the masters house, as does the
  covenant code (Ex 21.1-11). Their status is
  defined as hirelings (Deut 15.18 cf. Lev 25.40)
  who sell their labor." Weinfeld

30
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.4 Deuteronomys revision of earlier laws
• 2. Law of Kidnapping (Deut 24.7 / Exod 21.16)
• The law is nationalized by adding "kidnapping a
  fellow Israelite"
• 3. ". . . casuistic laws dealing with injuries,
  theft, and damage to property (Ex 21.18-22.16)
  were omitted from Deuteronomy because they are
  not the concern of a religious-moral code. The
  only laws from this section that remains in
  Deuteronomy are the lex talionis punishment in
  kind (Ex 21.12-25) and the law of seducing a
  virgin (22.15-16)." Weinfeld

31
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.4 Deuteronomys revision of earlier laws
• 4. "The law of the sorceress in Ex 22.17 was
  broadened and developed in Deuteronomy (18.9-13),
  while the ban of the idolater (Ex 22.19) merited
  a separate chapter in Deuteronomy (chap 13 also
  17.2-7)." Weinfeld
• 5. "The covenant code forbids the Israelite to
  wrong or afflict the resident alien (Ex 22.20-22
  23.9).The author of Deuteronomy, in contrast, not
  only enjoins the Israelite to refrain from
  discriminating against the resident alien, but
  also exhort the Israelite to love him (10.19 cf.
  Lev 19.34) and to be solicitous for his welfare
  (14.21, 29 16.11, 14 24.17, 19, 20)." Weinfeld

32
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.4 Deuteronomys revision of earlier laws
• 6. "The covenant code ordains that anything that
  has been torn by beasts, terefah, which
  Israelites are forbidden to eat for sacral
  reasons, should be cast to the dogs (Ex
  22.25-26). The Deuteronomic law, by contrast,
  ever attentive to the needs of indigent persons,
  enjoins the Israelite to give the carcass to the
  resident alien (1421). Weinfeld

33
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.4 Deuteronomys revision of earlier laws
• 7. "Ex 23.14 ordains that a stray animal must be
  returned to its rightful owner. The Deuteronomic
  legislator, however, extends this law to garments
  and all types of lost articles (22.3) and exhorts
  the finder not to ignore the lost object but to
  take it home with him and keep it until it is
  sought by its owner (22.2-3)." Weinfeld
• 8. "The laws of just judgment (Ex 23.1-3, 6-8)
  were developed in Deuteronomy (16.18-20 17.8-13
  19.15-21 24.17-18 25.1-3), though in
  Deuteronomy 16.19 there are still signs of
  dependence on the covenant code." Weinfeld

34
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.4 Deuteronomys revision of earlier laws
• 9. "In the old codes we find three types of
  firstborn dedications the firstborn of man, of a
  pure animal, and of an impure animal (Ex 13.1,
  11-16 22.28-29 34.19-20 cf. Lev 27.26-27 Num
  18.15-18). Deuteronomy, however, does not mention
  the firstborn of man or of impure animals, but
  only the firstborn of pure animals (Deut
  15.19-23)." Weinfeld
• 10. "Concerning the sabbatical year, the covenant
  code commands that the land shall not be worked
  during that year and that its fruits be left
  ownerless so that the poor and even the beasts of
  the field should be able eat from them (Ex 23.10-

35
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.4 Deuteronomys revision of earlier laws
• 11 cf. Lev 25.1-7). Deuteronomy does not
  mention the law of releasing the land but only
  release of debts." Weinfeld
• 11. "Deuteronomy and JE are similar as regards
  the absence of exact dates for the festivals, for
  both are popular sources, unlike the priestly
  literature, which represents the priestly
  institution and must therefore be especially
  concerned with calendrical and other matters
  pertaining to the implementation of cultic
  ceremonies. The same is the case with the laws
  concerning the New Year Day and the Day of
  Atonement, which are mentioned in neither
  Deuteronomy nor JE." Weinfeld

36
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.4 Deuteronomys revision of earlier laws
• 12. "Deuteronomy and JE both enjoin pilgrimage to
  the holy sites (Ex 23.17 34.23 Deut 16.16),
  with the difference that Deuteronomy adds the
  phrase "in the place that he will choose."
  Weinfeld
• 13. "JE and Deuteronomy command the instruction
  of the children (Ex 12.26-27 13.8-15 Deut
  6.20-25), which bears the character of a
  catechism aimed at inculcating in the younger
  generation a national religious education by
  means of recounting the event of he Exodus from
  Egypt." Weinfeld
• 14. "With regard to the scope of the promised
  land, Deuteronomy follows JE and speaks of a land
  that extends from the wilderness and the Red
  sea to the

37
8. The Legal Code (chp. 12-26)

• 8.4 Deuteronomys revision of earlier laws
• Euphrates (Gen 15.18 Ex 23.13 JE Deut 1.7
  11.24). The priestly literature fixes the
  northern boundary at Lebo-Hamath (Num 13.21
  34.8) and excludes Transjordan from territory of
  the promised land. In the historical documents of
  he periods of territorial expansion both types of
  border designations are found (2 Sam 8.3 1 Chr
  18.3 1 Kgs 5.4 on the one hand, and 1 Kgs 8.65
  and 2 Kgs 14.25 on the other)." Weinfeld

38
9. Keys to Deut's Law

• 9.1 "First, Dtn emphasizes that Gods covenant is
  not tied to past history, but is still offered to
  all the people." Childs, 224
• 9.2 "Secondly, the promise of God to his people
  still lies in the future." Childs
• 9.3 "Thirdly, Dtn teaches that the law demands a
  response of commitment." Childs
• 9.4 "Finally, the ability to summarize the law in
  terms of loving God with heart, soul and mind is
  a major check against all forms of legalism."
  Childs