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Law · Old Testament · 34 chapters

The book of Deuteronomy

The book of remembrance and love

Author
Moses (according to tradition); the account of his death (ch. 34) was probably added by Joshua
Written
Around 1406 BC, in the plains of Moab, just before the death of Moses
Time covered
The last days of Moses, beginning in the eleventh month of the fortieth year after the exodus from Egypt (1:3)
Key word
Remember

Deuteronomy gathers the last speeches of Moses. It first recalls forty years of history: the failure at Kadesh, God’s faithfulness in the wilderness, the victories over Sihon and Og. It then restates the ten commandments and unveils their heart: “Hear, O Israel… thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart” (6:4-5). Specific laws for life in Canaan follow: worship at the place God chooses, tithes, feasts, king, prophets, justice, compassion toward the weak. Then come the blessings and curses, the call to choose life, the installation of Joshua, the song and the blessing of Moses. The book ends with his death on Mount Nebo.

Main theme

Before entering the promised land, the new generation is called to remember what God has done, to love him with all its heart and to obey him: “Choose life” (30:19).

Outline

  1. Deuteronomy 1-4 — First speech: remembering the road

    Moses retraces the history from Horeb to the plains of Moab and calls the people not to forget.

  2. Deuteronomy 5-11 — Second speech: the heart of the law

    The ten commandments, the Shema and the call to love God, without pride or forgetfulness.

  3. Deuteronomy 12-26 — Laws for life in Canaan

    Worship, feasts, authorities, justice, family and compassion: a society under the eye of God.

  4. Deuteronomy 27-30 — Blessings, curses and the choice of life

    The renewed covenant sets Israel before life and death.

  5. Deuteronomy 31-34 — The last days of Moses

    Joshua installed, the song and blessing of Moses, then his death on Mount Nebo.

Key points

  • Deuteronomy is the law restated to a new generation, just before the entry into Canaan (1:3-5; 5:3).
  • The Shema is Israel’s confession of faith: one God, to be loved with all one’s heart (6:4-5).
  • Faith is passed on in the family: talking about the Word at home, on the road, when lying down and when rising (6:7).
  • The wilderness taught that man lives by every word of God; Jesus quotes this verse to the devil (8:3; Matt 4:4).
  • God chose Israel out of love and faithfulness to his promises, not because of its size or its righteousness (7:7-8; 9:6).
  • Moses announces a prophet like himself whom the people must hear (18:15; Acts 3:22).
  • The covenant sets blessing and curse before the people: “Choose life” (30:19).
  • Moses dies on Mount Nebo after seeing the land; Joshua takes over (34:1-9).
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Deuteronomy 6:4–5 — The Shema, which Jesus calls “the first and great commandment” (Matt 22:37-38).
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
Deuteronomy 8:3 — The lesson of the wilderness, quoted by Jesus at his temptation (Matt 4:4).
The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
Deuteronomy 18:15 — The promise of a prophet like Moses, fulfilled in Jesus (Acts 3:22).

Jesus in Deuteronomy

Jesus is the prophet like Moses foretold in 18:15 (Acts 3:22); he is even greater than Moses (Heb 3:5-6). At his temptation in the wilderness, he answers the devil three times from Deuteronomy (Matt 4:4, 7, 10; Deut 8:3; 6:16; 6:13), obeying where Israel had failed. By becoming “accursed” on the tree (21:23), he redeemed us from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13), and he fulfills the promise of a circumcised heart to love God (30:6).

Did you know?

  • Jesus rebuffed the devil’s three temptations with three quotations from Deuteronomy (Matt 4:4, 7, 10).
  • In his final blessing of the tribes, Moses does not name Simeon (33:6-25), whose inheritance would later lie within that of Judah (Josh 19:1).
  • No one knows the tomb of Moses, for the LORD himself buried him (34:6); the epistle of Jude mentions the archangel Michael disputing with the devil about the body of Moses (Jude 9).

Quiz on Deuteronomy

Complete: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God …”

On which mountain did Moses climb to see the promised land before he died?

How old was Moses when he died?

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