Deuteronomy

Name

The standard English name of the book comes from the ancient Greek Septuagint (from deuteronomion, yielding Latin Deuteronomium), and means “Second Law.” That approach to naming the book represents the Greek translation of the Hebrew phrase Mishneh Torah found in Deuteronomy’s Law of the King, where it more properly means “a copy of the law” (see 17.18n.); indeed, the title Mishneh Torah is sometimes used for the book in rabbinic literature. The name Deuteronomy reflects the early Jewish perspective that the book is Moses’s rehearsal of the Torah; according to Deuteronomy, Moses, shortly before he dies, revisits the earlier laws and narratives of the Tetrateuch (the first four books of the Bible) and teaches Israel about them. The main Hebrew name of the book is Debarim (“words”), from the book’s opening, “These are the words” (1.1), following an ancient Near Eastern convention of naming books after their opening phrase.

Authorship, Date, and Historical Context

Deuteronomy directly addresses the problem of the distance between past and present, between tradition and the needs of the contemporary generation, between revelation and interpretation. In that way, it is a remarkably modern text that instructs its audience in how to become more thoughtful readers of scripture. In narrative terms, Deuteronomy comes just as the Israelites, encamped on the plains of Moab, finally stand poised to enter the promised land. This entry into Canaan would provide the long‐awaited climax of the story that had begun with the promises to the ancestors in Genesis, and whose fulfillment had been delayed by the enslavement in Egypt and the wandering in the wilderness. Now, on the eve both of his death and of the nation’s entry into the land without him, Moses, as Deuteronomy’s speaker, interrupts the narrative action in order to deliver a series of three speeches (1.6–4.40; 5.1–28.68; 29.2–30.20), grouped together as a long farewell address. He reviews the nation’s history, expounds upon its laws, and instructs the people about the importance of loyalty to God. He also requires that the nation swear upon oath to uphold this combination of law and theological instruction as a covenant, one that supplements the prior covenant sworn at Horeb (the name for the mountain of revelation, called Sinai elsewhere; 29.1). Only after the conclusion of these discourses and a following appendix (chs 31–34) does the overall narrative line resume with the account of the nation’s entry into Canaan in the books of Joshua and Judges.

Despite the attribution of the text to Moses as its speaker, from the vantage point of modern biblical scholarship, Deuteronomy arose in its present form at a later period of Israelite history. The main sections of the book fit best in the seventh century bce as the composition of educated scribes associated with Jerusalem’s royal court. The striking similarities between the distinctive religious and legal requirements of Deuteronomy and the account of the major religious reform carried out by King Josiah of Judah in 622 bce (2 Kings 22–23) have long been recognized. That reform had been inspired by the discovery in the Temple of a “scroll of the Torah” (2 Kings 22.8; NRSV “book of the law”). Josiah’s reform restricted all sacrificial worship of God to Jerusalem and removed foreign elements from the system of worship; it culminated in the celebration of a nationally centralized passover at the Temple in Jerusalem (2 Kings 23.21–23). So strongly do these royal initiatives correspond to the distinctive requirements of Deuteronomy that scholars, both traditional and critical, have long identified the “scroll of the Torah” discovered in Josiah’s Temple as some form of the book of Deuteronomy.

Josiah’s reform, with Deuteronomy as its catalyst, was much more a revolution than a simple return to older forms of worship, as the book of Kings suggests. Previously, it had been entirely legitimate to sacrifice to God throughout the land, a principle reflected in biblical narratives such as Abraham at Shechem and near Bethel (Gen 12.7–8); Jacob at Bethel (Gen 35.1–7); Samuel at Mizpah, Ramah, Gilgal, and Bethlehem (1 Sam 7.9,17; 9.11–14; 10.8; 16.1–5); and Elijah upon Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18.20–46). Indeed, earlier biblical law stipulated that God would grant blessing “in every place where I [God] cause my name to be remembered” (Ex 20.24). Deuteronomy challenged that older norm, prohibiting sacrifice “at any place” (lit., “in every place”) and restricting it to a single site, implicitly Jerusalem (Deut 12.13–14). It is therefore striking that Deuteronomy presents itself as both an explication of the prior covenant (1.1–5) and as a supplement to it (29.1). Deuteronomy justifies itself in these two ways, yet neither description acknowledges the extent to which Deuteronomy actually challenges and revises earlier law in support of its new religious vision.

A century of Assyrian imperial domination serves as the historical background of Josiah’s reforms. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had fallen to the Assyrians in 722 bce (2 Kings 17). Continuing Assyrian incursions down the southeastern coast of the Mediterranean had all but reduced Judah to a rump‐state (2 Kings 18.13). In a desperate bid to preserve the nation’s autonomy, King Hezekiah of Judah made a pact with Assyria (2 Kings 18.13–18), as had his predecessor Ahaz (2 Kings 16.7–8). The resulting military allegiances may have led to religious syncretism, with foreign forms of worship introduced into the Temple (2 Kings 16.10–20; 21.1–6).

By the last quarter of the seventh century bce, Assyria’s might was in decline. In this context, Josiah’s religious reforms represented an important bid for Judean cultural, political, and religious autonomy. The monarch extended his reforms into the area of the former Northern Kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 23.15–20), territory formerly under Assyrian control. Deuteronomy, apparently written sometime during this historical crisis, likewise reflects the desire to preserve Judean cultural and religious integrity. Its authors were convinced that older conventions of worship and social organization were no longer viable. If the religion of the Lord was to survive the crisis, renewal and adaptation were necessary. The collection of laws that form the core of Deuteronomy (chs 12–26) provides a remarkably comprehensive program for cultural renewal. The laws deal with worship; the festival calendar; the major institutions of public life (justice, kingship, priesthood, prophecy); criminal, family, and civil law; and ethics. These laws are presented as the requirements of a covenant between God and the nation, which the people take an oath to uphold, upon penalty of sanctions, while maintaining unconditional loyalty to their God. That covenant structure closely corresponds to Neo‐Assyrian state treaties that have been recovered from this period, the most famous of which are the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon (672 bce). At a number of points, the authors of Deuteronomy seem consciously to have patterned their covenant after such treaties, treaties that had been repeatedly imposed upon Judah in the late eighth and seventh centuries bce. From this perspective, Deuteronomy is a countertreaty: Its authors turned the weapon of Assyrian imperialism into a bid for Judean independence, shifting its oath of loyalty from the Assyrian overlord to their divine sovereign.

The authors of Deuteronomy were thus tutored in international treaty conventions and elsewhere reveal their knowledge of the literary traditions of ancient Near Eastern law (see 15.1–18n.; 17.8–13n.,14–20n.; 22.13–30n.) and wisdom literature (1.13n.; 4.2n.). The authors of Deuteronomy made use of another common ancient Near Eastern convention as well. They did not directly attach their names to their compositions or write in their own voices; instead, they attributed their composition to a prestigious figure from the past. By employing Moses as their spokesperson, they established a link with tradition at precisely the time when tradition, for the sake of survival, had to be transformed. “Pseudepigraphy,” the convention of ascribing a text to an ancient personage, is particularly well known in the later literature of the Second Temple period; examples include Jubilees, 4 Ezra, the Testament of Abraham, and (among the Dead Sea Scrolls) the Temple Scroll.

Literary History

Deuteronomy preserves several layers of tradition—the structure of three different speeches given by Moses, with an appendix, already suggests a process of literary growth. That growth is closely connected to the gradual formation of the Hebrew Bible. When Deuteronomy was first promulgated, it would not have been part of any larger whole. Instead, it would have stood by itself as a “scroll of the Torah” (“book of the law”). It would have consisted of most of the laws of chs 12–26, framed by a relatively simple introduction and conclusion. This form of Deuteronomy presented itself as a treaty concluded between the nation and its God in a formal ceremony whereby each citizen took an oath of under penalty of strict sanctions (28.1–46). This was very likely the preexilic form of Deuteronomy.

At a later stage, presumably sometime during the Exile in the mid‐sixth century bce, Deuteronomy would have been incorporated into the Deuteronomistic History (the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) to serve as its introduction. At this point, the Deuteronomistic editors would have given the book its literary frame (1.1–4.40; chs 31–34), while also adding to the collection of laws, selectively tying its promises or expectations to the later historical material. Expansions in Deuteronomy that reflect the Babylonian exile may derive from this stage (see 4.25–31; 28.47–56; 30.1–10).

At a still later point, in the exilic or postexilic period, Priestly editors appended Deuteronomy to the nascent Pentateuch to serve as its conclusion. Ironically, the decision to conclude the Pentateuch with Deuteronomy interrupted and delayed the logically expected climax of the larger narrative of Genesis through Numbers: the conquest of the land. This narrative climax was instead deferred to the books of Joshua and Judges. The final form of Deuteronomy also contains supplemental material that seems to reflect postexilic concerns.

In the final chapters of Deuteronomy, these three viewpoints (Deuteronomic, Deuteronomistic, and Priestly) operate simultaneously, creating a complex interplay of perspectives. The legal section is brought to its conclusion with a formal ratification ceremony involving the swearing of an oath to assume the penalties for transgressing the covenant (chs 29–31). At the same time, other editors worked to embed Deuteronomy in the Deuteronomistic History. Still other editors tied the book to Genesis–Numbers and thus make the creation of Torah—no longer the occupation of the land—the climax of the newly created Pentateuch. The three perspectives operate concurrently, spinning like Ezekiel’s vision of “a wheel within a wheel” (Ezek 1.16).

Structure and Contents

1.1–4.43	I. The first discourse of Moses
1.1–5	A. Editorial heading
1.6–3.29	B. Historical review
4.1–40	C. Exhortation to obey the teaching of Moses
4.41–43	D. Appendix: Cities of refuge in Transjordan
4.44–28.68	II. The second discourse of Moses
4.44–49	A. Introduction
5.1–33	B. The revelation of the Decalogue at Sinai/Horeb
6.1–11.32	C. Preamble to the laws: the requirement of loyalty to God
12.1–26.15	D. The legal corpus: Deuteronomy’s transformation of earlier Israelite religion
26.16–19	E. Formal conclusion: the reciprocity of the covenant
27.1–26	F. Ceremonies at Shechem upon entry into the land
28.1–68	G. The consequences of obedience or disobedience: blessing or curse
29.1–30.20	III. The third discourse of Moses: the ratification ceremony for the covenant on the plains of Moab
29.1	A. Editorial heading: the relation between Moab and Horeb
29.2–9	B. Didactic review of Israel’s history
29.10–29	C. Imprecation to ensure loyalty to the covenant
30.1–10	D. Reassurance of restoration
30.11–14	E. The accessibility of Moses’s teaching
30.15–20	F. The necessity of choice
31.1–34.12	IV. The death of Moses and the formation of the Book of the Teaching
31.1–29	A. Moses makes arrangements for his death
31.30–32.43	B. The Song of Moses
32.44–47	C. Double conclusion to the Song
32.48–52	D. Moses commanded to die
33.1–29	E. The blessing of Moses
34.1–12	F. The death of Moses

Interpretation

Deuteronomy challenges its readers actively to confront the problem of the relation between revelation and interpretation, and breaks down conventional boundaries between scripture and tradition. It makes paradox central to its structure: the book distinctively narrates the process of its own formation (31.1–12) while also anticipating its prior existence as a complete literary work (17.18; 28.58; 30.10). Interpretation is directly and indirectly a theme of Deuteronomy (see 1.5). At many points, the authors of Deuteronomy reinterpret earlier narratives (see 6.1n.) and laws (particularly from the Book of the Covenant or Covenant Code in Ex 20–23). Moreover, the process of the book’s editing intentionally preserves conflicting perspectives on a full range of issues central to Israelite religion: on whether the revelation of the Decalogue at Horeb was direct or required the mediation of Moses (5.5n.); on the stature of Moses relative to other prophets (34.10n.); on the nature of divine punishment for sin (5.9–10n.; 7.10n.); on whether God rules as head of a pantheon or is the only God who exists (4.7–8n., 15–31n., 35n.; 32.8n.); and even on Deuteronomy’s own setting in time and place (1.1n.; 2.12n.; 3.11n.). These mutually exclusive positions preserve an ongoing ancient debate about fundamental religious assumptions. The editors of Deuteronomy opted against closure: they preserved these different schools of thought. Accordingly, there is in Deuteronomy no access to God in the covenant without entering into this debate. The modern reader of Deuteronomy must become, like the authors of Deuteronomy, an interpreter.

Bernard M. Levinson

¹ These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan—in the wilderness, on the plain opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di‐zahab. ²(By the way of Mount Seir it takes eleven days to reach Kadesh‐barnea from Horeb.) ³In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites just as the Lord had commanded him to speak to them. ⁴This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and^a in Edrei. ⁵Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law as follows:

⁶The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. ⁷Resume your journey, and go into the hill country of the Amorites as well as into the neighboring regions—the Arabah, the hill country, the Shephelah, the Negeb, and the seacoast—the land of the Canaanites and the Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. ⁸See, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land that I^a swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.”

⁹At that time I said to you, “I am unable by myself to bear you. ¹⁰The Lord your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars of heaven. ¹¹May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times more and bless you, as he has promised you! ¹²But how can I bear the heavy burden of your disputes all by myself? ¹³Choose for each of your tribes individuals who are wise, discerning, and reputable to be your leaders.” ¹⁴You answered me, “The plan you have proposed is a good one.” ¹⁵So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and reputable individuals, and installed them as leaders over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officials, throughout your tribes. ¹⁶I charged your judges at that time: “Give the members of your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly between one person and another, whether citizen or resident alien. ¹⁷You must not be partial in judging: hear out the small and the great alike; you shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. Any case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.” ¹⁸So I charged you at that time with all the things that you should do.

¹⁹Then, just as the Lord our God had ordered us, we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, until we reached Kadeshbarnea. ²⁰I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. ²¹See, the Lord your God has given the land to you; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you; do not fear or be dismayed.”

²²All of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to explore the land for us and bring back a report to us regarding the route by which we should go up and the cities we will come to.” ²³The plan seemed good to me, and I selected twelve of you, one from each tribe. ²⁴They set out and went up into the hill country, and when they reached the Valley of Eshcol they spied it out ²⁵and gathered some of the land’s produce, which they brought down to us. They brought back a report to us, and said, “It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.”

²⁶But you were unwilling to go up. You rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; ²⁷you grumbled in your tents and said, “It is because the Lord hates us that he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us. ²⁸Where are we headed? Our kindred have made our hearts melt by reporting, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified up to heaven! We actually saw there the offspring of the Anakim!’” ²⁹I said to you, “Have no dread or fear of them. ³⁰The Lord your God, who goes before you, is the one who will fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your very eyes, ³¹and in the wilderness, where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as one carries a child, all the way that you traveled until you reached this place. ³²But in spite of this, you have no trust in the Lord your God, ³³who goes before you on the way to seek out a place for you to camp, in fire by night, and in the cloud by day, to show you the route you should take.”

³⁴When the Lord heard your words, he was wrathful and swore: ³⁵“Not one of these—not one of this evil generation—shall see the good land that I swore to give to your ancestors, ³⁶except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his descendants I will give the land on which he set foot, because of his complete fidelity to the Lord.” ³⁷Even with me the Lord was angry on your account, saying, “You also shall not enter there. ³⁸Joshua son of Nun, your assistant, shall enter there; encourage him, for he is the one who will secure Israel’s possession of it. ³⁹And as for your little ones, who you thought would become booty, your children, who today do not yet know right from wrong, they shall enter there; to them I will give it, and they shall take possession of it. ⁴⁰But as for you, journey back into the wilderness, in the direction of the Red Sea.”^a

⁴¹You answered me, “We have sinned against the Lord! We are ready to go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.” So all of you strapped on your battle gear, and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. ⁴²The Lord said to me, “Say to them, ‘Do not go up and do not fight, for I am not in the midst of you; otherwise you will be defeated by your enemies.’” ⁴³Although I told you, you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the Lord and presumptuously went up into the hill country. ⁴⁴The Amorites who lived in that hill country then came out against you and chased you as bees do. They beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah. ⁴⁵When you returned and wept before the Lord, the Lord would neither heed your voice nor pay you any attention.

2 ⁴⁶After you had stayed at Kadesh as many days as you did,¹we journeyed back into the wilderness, in the direction of the Red Sea,^a as the Lord had told me and skirted Mount Seir for many days. ²Then the Lord said to me: ³“You have been skirting this hill country long enough. Head north, ⁴and charge the people as follows: You are about to pass through the territory of your kindred, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so, be very careful ⁵not to engage in battle with them, for I will not give you even so much as a foot’s length of their land, since I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ⁶You shall purchase food from them for money, so that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them for money, so that you may drink. ⁷Surely the Lord your God has blessed you in all your undertakings; he knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” ⁸So we passed by our kin, the descendants of Esau who live in Seir, leaving behind the route of the Arabah, and leaving behind Elath and Ezion‐geber.

The circuit via Transjordan

When we had headed out along the route of the wilderness of Moab, ⁹the Lord said to me: “Do not harass Moab or engage them in battle, for I will not give you any of its land as a possession, since I have given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.” ¹⁰(The Emim—a large and numerous people, as tall as the Anakim—had formerly inhabited it. ¹¹Like the Anakim, they are usually reckoned as Rephaim, though the Moabites call them Emim. ¹²Moreover, the Horim had formerly inhabited Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them, destroying them and settling in their place, as Israel has done in the land that the Lord gave them as a possession.) ¹³“Now then, proceed to cross over the Wadi Zered.”

So we crossed over the Wadi Zered. ¹⁴And the length of time we had traveled from Kadesh‐barnea until we crossed the Wadi Zered was thirty‐eight years, until the entire generation of warriors had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn concerning them. ¹⁵Indeed, the Lord’s own hand was against them, to root them out from the camp, until all had perished.

¹⁶Just as soon as all the warriors had died off from among the people, ¹⁷the Lord spoke to me, saying, ¹⁸“Today you are going to cross the boundary of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹When you approach the frontier of the Ammonites, do not harass them or engage them in battle, for I will not give the land of the Ammonites to you as a possession, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot.” ²⁰(It also is usually reckoned as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly inhabited it, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, ²¹a strong and numerous people, as tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them from before the Ammonites so that they could dispossess them and settle in their place. ²²He did the same for the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, by destroying the Horim before them so that they could dispossess them and settle in their place even to this day. ²³As for the Avvim, who had lived in settlements in the vicinity of Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) ²⁴“Proceed on your journey and cross the Wadi Arnon. See, I have handed over to you King Sihon the Amorite of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession by engaging him in battle. ²⁵This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under heaven; when they hear report of you, they will tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

²⁶So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to King Sihon of Heshbon with the following terms of peace: ²⁷“If you let me pass through your land, I will travel only along the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. ²⁸You shall sell me food for money, so that I may eat, and supply me water for money, so that I may drink. Only allow me to pass through on foot— ²⁹just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir have done for me and likewise the Moabites who live in Ar—until I cross the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving us.” ³⁰But King Sihon of Heshbon was not willing to let us pass through, for the Lord your God had hardened his spirit and made his heart defiant in order to hand him over to you, as he has now done.

³¹The Lord said to me, “See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin now to take possession of his land.” ³²So when Sihon came out against us, he and all his people for battle at Jahaz, ³³the Lord our God gave him over to us; and we struck him down, along with his offspring and all his people. ³⁴At that time we captured all his towns, and in each town we utterly destroyed men, women, and children. We left not a single survivor. ³⁵Only the livestock we kept as spoil for ourselves, as well as the plunder of the towns that we had captured. ³⁶From Aroer on the edge of the Wadi Arnon (including the town that is in the wadi itself) as far as Gilead, there was no citadel too high for us. The Lord our God gave everything to us. ³⁷You did not encroach, however, on the land of the Ammonites, avoiding the whole upper region of the Wadi Jabbok as well as the towns of the hill country, just as^a the Lord our God had charged.

³ When we headed up the road to Bashan, King Og of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, for battle at Edrei. ²The Lord said to me, “Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you, along with his people and his land. Do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.” ³So the Lord our God also handed over to us King Og of Bashan and all his people. We struck him down until not a single survivor was left. ⁴At that time we captured all his towns; there was no citadel that we did not take from them—sixty towns, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵All these were fortress towns with high walls, double gates, and bars, besides a great many villages. ⁶And we utterly destroyed them, as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon, in each city utterly destroying men, women, and children. ⁷But all the livestock and the plunder of the towns we kept as spoil for ourselves.

⁸So at that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites the land beyond the Jordan, from the Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon ⁹(the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir), ¹⁰all the towns of the tableland, the whole of Gilead, and all of Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, towns of Og’s kingdom in Bashan. ¹¹(Now only King Og of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. In fact his bed, an iron bed, can still be seen in Rabbah of the Ammonites. By the common cubit it is nine cubits long and four cubits wide.) ¹²As for the land that we took possession of at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites the territory north of Aroer,^a that is on the edge of the Wadi Arnon, as well as half the hill country of Gilead with its towns, ¹³and I gave to the half‐tribe of Manasseh the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, Og’s kingdom. (The whole region of Argob: all that portion of Bashan used to be called a land of Rephaim; ¹⁴Jair the Manassite acquired the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and he named them—that is, Bashan—after himself, Havvoth‐jair,^b as it is to this day.) ¹⁵To Machir I gave Gilead. ¹⁶And to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Wadi Arnon, with the middle of the wadi as a boundary, and up to the Jabbok, the wadi being boundary of the Ammonites; ¹⁷the Arabah also, with the Jordan and its banks, from Chinnereth down to the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea,^c with the lower slopes of Pisgah on the east.

¹⁸At that time, I charged you as follows: “Although the Lord your God has given you this land to occupy, all your troops shall cross over armed as the vanguard of your Israelite kin. ¹⁹Only your wives, your children, and your livestock—I know that you have much livestock—shall stay behind in the towns that I have given to you. ²⁰When the Lord gives rest to your kindred, as to you, and they too have occupied the land that the Lord your God is giving them beyond the Jordan, then each of you may return to the property that I have given to you.” ²¹And I charged Joshua as well at that time, saying: “Your own eyes have seen everything that the Lord your God has done to these two kings; so the Lord will do to all the kingdoms into which you are about to cross. ²²Do not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.”

²³At that time, too, I entreated the Lord, saying: ²⁴“O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your might; what god in heaven or on earth can perform deeds and mighty acts like yours! ²⁵Let me cross over to see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and the Lebanon.” ²⁶But the Lord was angry with me on your account and would not heed me. The Lord said to me, “Enough from you! Never speak to me of this matter again! ²⁷Go up to the top of Pisgah and look around you to the west, to the north, to the south, and to the east. Look well, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. ²⁸But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because it is he who shall cross over at the head of this people and who shall secure their possession of the land that you will see.” ²⁹So we remained in the valley opposite Beth‐peor.

⁴ So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. ²You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God with which I am charging you. ³You have seen for yourselves what the Lord did with regard to the Baal of Peor—how the Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, ⁴while those of you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today.

⁵See, just as the Lord my God has charged me, I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. ⁶You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!” ⁷For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? ⁸And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?

⁹But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children— ¹⁰how you once stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, “Assemble the people for me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me as long as they live on the earth, and may teach their children so”; ¹¹you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain while the mountain was blazing up to the very heavens, shrouded in dark clouds. ¹²Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. ¹³He declared to you his covenant, which he charged you to observe, that is, the ten commandments;^a and he wrote them on two stone tablets. ¹⁴And the Lord charged me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy.

¹⁵Since you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire, take care and watch yourselves closely, ¹⁶so that you do not act corruptly by making an idol for yourselves, in the form of any figure— the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. ¹⁹And when you look up to the heavens and see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, do not be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples everywhere under heaven. ²⁰But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron‐smelter, out of Egypt, to become a people of his very own possession, as you are now.

²¹The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he vowed that I should not cross the Jordan and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving for your possession. ²²For I am going to die in this land without crossing over the Jordan, but you are going to cross over to take possession of that good land. ²³So be careful not to forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you, and not to make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. ²⁴For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.

²⁵When you have had children and children’s children, and become complacent in the land, if you act corruptly by making an idol in the form of anything, thus doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and provoking him to anger, ²⁶I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy; you will not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. ²⁷The Lord will scatter you among the peoples; only a few of you will be left among the nations where the Lord will lead you. ²⁸There you will serve other gods made by human hands, objects of wood and stone that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. ²⁹From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul. ³⁰In your distress, when all these things have happened to you in time to come, you will return to the Lord your God and heed him. ³¹Because the Lord your God is a merciful God, he will neither abandon you nor destroy you; he will not forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them.

³²For ask now about former ages, long before your own, ever since the day that God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of heaven to the other: has anything so great as this ever happened or has its like ever been heard of? ³³Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and lived? ³⁴Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? ³⁵To you it was shown so that you would acknowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. ³⁶From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, while you heard his words coming out of the fire. ³⁷And because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them. He brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, ³⁸driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, giving you their land for a possession, as it is still today. ³⁹So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. ⁴⁰Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well‐being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.

⁴¹Then Moses set apart on the east side of the Jordan three cities ⁴²to which a homicide could flee, someone who unintentionally kills another person, the two not having been at enmity before; the homicide could flee to one of these cities and live: ⁴³Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.

⁴⁴This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. ⁴⁵These are the decrees and the statutes and ordinances that Moses spoke to the Israelites when they had come out of Egypt, ⁴⁶beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth‐peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned at Heshbon, whom Moses and the Israelites defeated when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷They occupied his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites on the eastern side of the Jordan: ⁴⁸from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion^a (that is, Hermon), ⁴⁹together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

⁵ Moses convened all Israel, and said to them:

Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I am addressing to you today; you shall learn them and observe them diligently. ²The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. ³Not with our ancestors did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. ⁴The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the fire. ⁵(At that time I was standing between the Lord and you to declare to you the words^b of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:

⁶I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; ⁷you shall have no other gods before^c me.

⁸You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁹You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, ¹⁰but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation^a of those who love me and keep my commandments.

¹¹You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

¹²Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. ¹³Six days you shall labor and do all your work. ¹⁴But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. ¹⁵Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

¹⁶Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

¹⁷You shall not murder.^b

¹⁸Neither shall you commit adultery.

¹⁹Neither shall you steal.

²⁰Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.

²¹Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife.

Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

²²These words the Lord spoke with a loud voice to your whole assembly at the mountain, out of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, and he added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me. ²³When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders; ²⁴and you said, “Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that God may speak to someone and the person may still live. ²⁵So now why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, we shall die. ²⁶For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and remained alive? ²⁷Go near, you yourself, and hear all that the Lord our God will say. Then tell us everything that the Lord our God tells you, and we will listen and do it.”

²⁸The Lord heard your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me: “I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you; they are right in all that they have spoken. ²⁹If only they had such a mind as this, to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever! ³⁰Go say to them, ‘Return to your tents.’ ³¹But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments, the statutes and the ordinances, that you shall teach them, so that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.” ³²You must therefore be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn to the right or to the left. ³³You must follow exactly the path that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you are to possess.

⁶ Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, ²so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. ³Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.

⁴Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.^{a 5}You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. ⁶Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. ⁷Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. ⁸Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem^b on your forehead, ⁹and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, ¹¹houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you have eaten your fill, ¹²take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹³The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear. ¹⁴Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you, ¹⁵because the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a jealous God. The anger of the Lord your God would be kindled against you and he would destroy you from the face of the earth.

¹⁶Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. ¹⁷You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his decrees, and his statutes that he has commanded you. ¹⁸Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you, ¹⁹thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.

²⁰When your children ask you in time to come, “What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?” ²¹then you shall say to your children, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²²The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. ²³He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. ²⁴Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case. ²⁵If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right.”

⁷ When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy, and he clears away many nations before you—the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations mightier and more numerous than you—²and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you must utterly destroy them. Make no covenant with them and show them no mercy. ³Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, ⁴for that would turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. ⁵But this is how you must deal with them: break down their altars, smash their pillars, hew down their sacred poles,^a and burn their idols with fire. ⁶For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

⁷It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples. ⁸It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, ¹⁰and who repays in their own person those who reject him. He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject him. ¹¹Therefore, observe diligently the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that I am commanding you today.

¹²If you heed these ordinances, by diligently observing them, the Lord your God will maintain with you the covenant loyalty that he swore to your ancestors; ¹³he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you. ¹⁴You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock. ¹⁵The Lord will turn away from you every illness; all the dread diseases of Egypt that you experienced, he will not inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. ¹⁶You shall devour all the peoples that the Lord your God is giving over to you, showing them no pity; you shall not serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

¹⁷If you say to yourself, “These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?” ¹⁸do not be afraid of them. Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, ¹⁹the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. ²⁰Moreover, the Lord your God will send the pestilence^a against them, until even the survivors and the fugitives are destroyed. ²¹Have no dread of them, for the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a great and awesome God. ²²The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to make a quick end of them, otherwise the wild animals would become too numerous for you. ²³But the Lord your God will give them over to you, and throw them into great panic, until they are destroyed. ²⁴He will hand their kings over to you and you shall blot out their name from under heaven; no one will be able to stand against you, until you have destroyed them. ²⁵The images of their gods you shall burn with fire. Do not covet the silver or the gold that is on them and take it for yourself, because you could be ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God. ²⁶Do not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You must utterly detest and abhor it, for it is set apart for destruction.

⁸ This entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. ²Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. ³He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.^{a 4}The clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years. ⁵Know then in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child so the Lord your God disciplines you. ⁶Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. ⁷For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, ⁸a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, ⁹a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. ¹⁰You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.

¹¹Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. ¹²When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, ¹³and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, ¹⁵who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous^b snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, ¹⁶and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. ¹⁷Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” ¹⁸But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. ¹⁹If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. ²⁰Like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

⁹ Hear, O Israel! You are about to cross the Jordan today, to go in and dispossess nations larger and mightier than you, great cities, fortified to the heavens, ²a strong and tall people, the offspring of the Anakim, whom you know. You have heard it said of them, “Who can stand up to the Anakim?” ³Know then today that the Lord your God is the one who crosses over before you as a devouring fire; he will defeat them and subdue them before you, so that you may dispossess and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

⁴When the Lord your God thrusts them out before you, do not say to yourself, “It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to occupy this land”; it is rather because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. ⁵It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you are going in to occupy their land; but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is dispossessing them before you, in order to fulfill the promise that the Lord made on oath to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

⁶Know, then, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to occupy because of your righteousness; for you are a stubborn people. ⁷Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness; you have been rebellious against the Lord from the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place.

⁸Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. ⁹When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water. ¹⁰And the Lord gave me the two stone tablets written with the finger of God; on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken to you at the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. ¹¹At the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. ¹²Then the Lord said to me, “Get up, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have been quick to turn from the way that I commanded them; they have cast an image for themselves.” ¹³Furthermore the Lord said to me, “I have seen that this people is indeed a stubborn people. ¹⁴Let me alone that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and more numerous than they.”

¹⁵So I turned and went down from the mountain, while the mountain was ablaze; the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. ¹⁶Then I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God, by casting for yourselves an image of a calf; you had been quick to turn from the way that the Lord had commanded you. ¹⁷So I took hold of the two tablets and flung them from my two hands, smashing them before your eyes. ¹⁸Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin you had committed, provoking the Lord by doing what was evil in his sight. ¹⁹For I was afraid that the anger that the Lord bore against you was so fierce that he would destroy you. But the Lord listened to me that time also. ²⁰The Lord was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him, but I interceded also on behalf of Aaron at that same time. ²¹Then I took the sinful thing you had made, the calf, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly, until it was reduced to dust; and I threw the dust of it into the stream that runs down the mountain.

²²At Taberah also, and at Massah, and at Kibroth‐hattaavah, you provoked the Lord to wrath. ²³And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh‐barnea, saying, “Go up and occupy the land that I have given you,” you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, neither trusting him nor obeying him. ²⁴You have been rebellious against the Lord as long as he has^a known you.

²⁵Throughout the forty days and forty nights that I lay prostrate before the Lord when the Lord intended to destroy you, ²⁶I prayed to the Lord and said, “Lord God, do not destroy the people who are your very own possession, whom you redeemed in your greatness, whom you brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²⁷Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; pay no attention to the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin, ²⁸otherwise the land from which you have brought us might say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to let them die in the wilderness.’ ²⁹For they are the people of your very own possession, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”

¹⁰ At that time the Lord said to me, “Carve out two tablets of stone like the former ones, and come up to me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood. ²I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which you smashed, and you shall put them in the ark.” ³So I made an ark of acacia wood, cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. ⁴Then he wrote on the tablets the same words as before, the ten commandments^b that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me. ⁵So I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark that I had made; and there they are, as the Lord commanded me.

⁶(The Israelites journeyed from Beerothbene‐jaakan^c to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; his son Eleazar succeeded him as priest. ⁷From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with flowing streams. ⁸At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day. ⁹Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance with his kindred; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God promised him.)

¹⁰I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. And once again the Lord listened to me. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you. ¹¹The Lord said to me, “Get up, go on your journey at the head of the people, that they may go in and occupy the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them.”

¹²So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God^a and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well‐being. ¹⁴Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth with all that is in it, ¹⁵yet the Lord set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today. ¹⁶Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer. ¹⁷For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, ¹⁸who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. ¹⁹You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. ²⁰You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. ²¹He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen. ²²Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in heaven.

¹¹ You shall love the Lord your God, therefore, and keep his charge, his decrees, his ordinances, and his commandments always. ²Remember today that it was not your children (who have not known or seen the discipline of the Lord your God), but it is you who must acknowledge his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, ³his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all his land; ⁴what he did to the Egyptian army, to their horses and chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea^b flow over them as they pursued you, so that the Lord has destroyed them to this day; ⁵what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place; ⁶and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab son of Reuben, how in the midst of all Israel the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households, their tents, and every living being in their company; ⁷for it is your own eyes that have seen every great deed that the Lord did.

⁸Keep, then, this entire commandment that I am commanding you today, so that you may have strength to go in and occupy the land that you are crossing over to occupy, ⁹and so that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰For the land that you are about to enter to occupy is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sow your seed and irrigate by foot like a vegetable garden. ¹¹But the land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky, ¹²a land that the Lord your God looks after. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

¹³If you will only heed his every commandment^a that I am commanding you today—loving the Lord your God, and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul— ¹⁴then he^b will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil; ¹⁵and he^b will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill. ¹⁶Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and worshiping them, ¹⁷for then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain and the land will yield no fruit; then you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.

¹⁸You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem^c on your forehead. ¹⁹Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. ²⁰Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.

²²If you will diligently observe this entire commandment that I am commanding you, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, ²³then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and mightier than yourselves. ²⁴Every place on which you set foot shall be yours; your territory shall extend from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the Western Sea. ²⁵No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put the fear and dread of you on all the land on which you set foot, as he promised you.

²⁶See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: ²⁷the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today; ²⁸and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn from the way that I am commanding you today, to follow other gods that you have not known.

²⁹When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that you are entering to occupy, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. ³⁰As you know, they are beyond the Jordan, some distance to the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oak^a of Moreh.

³¹When you cross the Jordan to go in to occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and when you occupy it and live in it, ³²you must diligently observe all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today.

¹² These are the statutes and ordinances that you must diligently observe in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to occupy all the days that you live on the earth.

²You must demolish completely all the places where the nations whom you are about to dispossess served their gods, on the mountain heights, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. ³Break down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles^b with fire, and hew down the idols of their gods, and thus blot out their name from their places. ⁴You shall not worship the Lord your God in such ways. ⁵But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes as his habitation to put his name there. You shall go there, ⁶bringing there your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and your donations, your votive gifts, your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks. ⁷And you shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your households together, rejoicing in all the undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

⁸You shall not act as we are acting here today, all of us according to our own desires, ⁹for you have not yet come into the rest and the possession that the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰When you cross over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is allotting to you, and when he gives you rest from your enemies all around so that you live in safety, ¹¹then you shall bring everything that I command you to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and your donations, and all your choice votive gifts that you vow to the Lord. ¹²And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you together with your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levites who reside in your towns (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you).

¹³Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place you happen to see. ¹⁴But only at the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes—there you shall offer your burnt offerings and there you shall do everything I command you.

¹⁵Yet whenever you desire you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your towns, according to the blessing that the Lord your God has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as they would of gazelle or deer. ¹⁶The blood, however, you must not eat; you shall pour it out on the ground like water. ¹⁷Nor may you eat within your towns the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, the firstlings of your herds and your flocks, any of your votive gifts that you vow, your freewill offerings, or your donations; ¹⁸these you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God at the place that the Lord your God will choose, you together with your son and your daughter, your male and female slaves, and the Levites resident in your towns, rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God in all your undertakings. ¹⁹Take care that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.

²⁰When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, “I am going to eat some meat,” because you wish to eat meat, you may eat meat whenever you have the desire. ²¹If the place where the Lord your God will choose to put his name is too far from you, and you slaughter as I have commanded you any of your herd or flock that the Lord has given you, then you may eat within your towns whenever you desire. ²²Indeed, just as gazelle or deer is eaten, so you may eat it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it. ²³Only be sure that you do not eat the blood; for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the meat. ²⁴Do not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water. ²⁵Do not eat it, so that all may go well with you and your children after you, because you do what is right in the sight of the Lord. ²⁶But the sacred donations that are due from you, and your votive gifts, you shall bring to the place that the Lord will choose. ²⁷You shall present your burnt offerings, both the meat and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; the blood of your other sacrifices shall be poured out beside^a the altar of the Lord your God, but the meat you may eat.

²⁸Be careful to obey all these words that I command you today,^b so that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, because you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

²⁹When the Lord your God has cut off before you the nations whom you are about to enter to dispossess them, when you have dispossessed them and live in their land, ³⁰take care that you are not snared into imitating them, after they have been destroyed before you: do not inquire concerning their gods, saying, “How did these nations worship their gods? I also want to do the same.” ³¹You must not do the same for the Lord your God, because every abhorrent thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods. They would even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. ^32cYou must diligently observe everything that I command you; do not add to it or take anything from it.

^13d If prophets or those who divine by dreams appear among you and promise you omens or portents, ²and the omens or the portents declared by them take place, and they say, “Let us follow other gods” (whom you have not known) “and let us serve them,” ³you must not heed the words of those prophets or those who divine by dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you indeed love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. ⁴The Lord your God you shall follow, him alone you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep, his voice you shall obey, him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast. ⁵But those prophets or those who divine by dreams shall be put to death for having spoken treason against the Lord your God—who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery—to turn you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

⁶If anyone secretly entices you—even if it is your brother, your father’s son or^a your mother’s son, or your own son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your most intimate friend—saying, “Let us go worship other gods,” whom neither you nor your ancestors have known, ⁷any of the gods of the peoples that are around you, whether near you or far away from you, from one end of the earth to the other, ⁸you must not yield to or heed any such persons. Show them no pity or compassion and do not shield them. ⁹But you shall surely kill them; your own hand shall be first against them to execute them, and afterwards the hand of all the people. ¹⁰Stone them to death for trying to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹¹Then all Israel shall hear and be afraid, and never again do any such wickedness.

¹²If you hear it said about one of the towns that the Lord your God is giving you to live in, ¹³that scoundrels from among you have gone out and led the inhabitants of the town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods,” whom you have not known, ¹⁴then you shall inquire and make a thorough investigation. If the charge is established that such an abhorrent thing has been done among you, ¹⁵you shall put the inhabitants of that town to the sword, utterly destroying it and everything in it—even putting its livestock to the sword. ¹⁶All of its spoil you shall gather into its public square; then burn the town and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall remain a perpetual ruin, never to be rebuilt. ¹⁷Do not let anything devoted to destruction stick to your hand, so that the Lord may turn from his fierce anger and show you compassion, and in his compassion multiply you, as he swore to your ancestors, ¹⁸if you obey the voice of the Lord your God by keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.

¹⁴ You are children of the Lord your God. You must not lacerate yourselves or shave your forelocks for the dead. ²For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; it is you the Lord has chosen out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

³You shall not eat any abhorrent thing. ⁴These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, ⁵the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain‐sheep. ⁶Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof cleft in two, and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. ⁷Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cleft you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. ⁸And the pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. You shall not eat their meat, and you shall not touch their carcasses.

⁹Of all that live in water you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. ¹⁰And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

¹¹You may eat any clean birds. ¹²But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, ¹³the buzzard, the kite of any kind; ¹⁴every raven of any kind; ¹⁵the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; ¹⁶the little owl and the great owl, the water hen ¹⁷and the desert owl,^a the carrion vulture and the cormorant, ¹⁸the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat.^{b 19}And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. ²⁰You may eat any clean winged creature.

²¹You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to aliens residing in your towns for them to eat, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.

You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

²²Set apart a tithe of all the yield of your seed that is brought in yearly from the field. ²³In the presence of the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose as a dwelling for his name, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. ²⁴But if, when the Lord your God has blessed you, the distance is so great that you are unable to transport it, because the place where the Lord your God will choose to set his name is too far away from you, ²⁵then you may turn it into money. With the money secure in hand, go to the place that the Lord your God will choose; ²⁶spend the money for whatever you wish—oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your household rejoicing together. ²⁷As for the Levites resident in your towns, do not neglect them, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you.

²⁸Every third year you shall bring out the full tithe of your produce for that year, and store it within your towns; ²⁹the Levites, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you, as well as the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, may come and eat their fill so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work that you undertake.

¹⁵ Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts. ²And this is the manner of the remission: every creditor shall remit the claim that is held against a neighbor, not exacting it of a neighbor who is a member of the community, because the Lord’s remission has been proclaimed. ³Of a foreigner you may exact it, but you must remit your claim on whatever any member of your community owes you. ⁴There will, however, be no one in need among you, because the Lord is sure to bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession to occupy, ⁵if only you will obey the Lord your God by diligently observing this entire commandment that I command you today. ⁶When the Lord your God has blessed you, as he promised you, you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

⁷If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard‐hearted or tight‐fisted toward your needy neighbor. ⁸You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be. ⁹Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, “The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,” and therefore view your needy neighbor with hostility and give nothing; your neighbor might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt. ¹⁰Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. ¹¹Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, “Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.”

¹²If a member of your community, whether a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold^a to you and works for you six years, in the seventh year you shall set that person free. ¹³And when you send a male slave^a out from you a free person, you shall not send him out empty‐handed. ¹⁴Provide liberally out of your flock, your threshing floor, and your wine press, thus giving to him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹⁵Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; for this reason I lay this command upon you today. ¹⁶But if he says to you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you, ¹⁷then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his earlobe into the door, and he shall be your slave^b forever.

You shall do the same with regard to your female slave.^c

¹⁸Do not consider it a hardship when you send them out from you free persons, because for six years they have given you services worth the wages of hired laborers; and the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

¹⁹Every firstling male born of your herd and flock you shall consecrate to the Lord your God; you shall not do work with your firstling ox nor shear the firstling of your flock. ²⁰You shall eat it, you together with your household, in the presence of the Lord your God year by year at the place that the Lord will choose. ²¹But if it has any defect—any serious defect, such as lameness or blindness—you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God; ²²within your towns you may eat it, the unclean and the clean alike, as you would a gazelle or deer. ²³Its blood, however, you must not eat; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.

¹⁶ Observe the month^d of Abib by keeping the passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. ²You shall offer the passover sacrifice to the Lord your God, from the flock and the herd, at the place that the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his name. ³You must not eat with it anything leavened. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it—the bread of affliction—because you came out of the land of Egypt in great haste, so that all the days of your life you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt. ⁴No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days; and none of the meat of what you slaughter on the evening of the first day shall remain until morning. ⁵You are not permitted to offer the passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you. ⁶But at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name, only there shall you offer the passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, the time of day when you departed from Egypt. ⁷You shall cook it and eat it at the place that the Lord your God will choose; the next morning you may go back to your tents. ⁸For six days you shall continue to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly for the Lord your God, when you shall do no work.

⁹You shall count seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. ¹⁰Then you shall keep the festival of weeks to the Lord your God, contributing a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing that you have received from the Lord your God. ¹¹Rejoice before the Lord your God—you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, the Levites resident in your towns, as well as the strangers, the orphans, and the widows who are among you—at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. ¹²Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and diligently observe these statutes.

¹³You shall keep the festival of booths^a for seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your wine press. ¹⁴Rejoice during your festival, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, as well as the Levites, the strangers, the orphans, and the widows resident in your towns. ¹⁵Seven days you shall keep the festival to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose; for the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all your undertakings, and you shall surely celebrate.

¹⁶Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the festival of unleavened bread, at the festival of weeks, and at the festival of booths.^a They shall not appear before the Lord empty‐handed; ¹⁷all shall give as they are able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.

¹⁸You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall render just decisions for the people. ¹⁹You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality; and you must not accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. ²⁰Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

²¹You shall not plant any tree as a sacred pole^a beside the altar that you make for the Lord your God; ²²nor shall you set up a stone pillar—things that the Lord your God hates.

¹⁷ You must not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has a defect, anything seriously wrong; for that is abhorrent to the Lord your God.

²If there is found among you, in one of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and transgresses his covenant ³by going to serve other gods and worshiping them—whether the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden— ⁴and if it is reported to you or you hear of it, and you make a thorough inquiry, and the charge is proved true that such an abhorrent thing has occurred in Israel, ⁵then you shall bring out to your gates that man or that woman who has committed this crime and you shall stone the man or woman to death. ⁶On the evidence of two or three witnesses the death sentence shall be executed; a person must not be put to death on the evidence of only one witness. ⁷The hands of the witnesses shall be the first raised against the person to execute the death penalty, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

⁸If a judicial decision is too difficult for you to make between one kind of bloodshed and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another—any such matters of dispute in your towns—then you shall immediately go up to the place that the Lord your God will choose, ⁹where you shall consult with the levitical priests and the judge who is in office in those days; they shall announce to you the decision in the case. ¹⁰Carry out exactly the decision that they announce to you from the place that the Lord will choose, diligently observing everything they instruct you. ¹¹You must carry out fully the law that they interpret for you or the ruling that they announce to you; do not turn aside from the decision that they announce to you, either to the right or to the left. ¹²As for anyone who presumes to disobey the priest appointed to minister there to the Lord your God, or the judge, that person shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. ¹³All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act presumptuously again.

¹⁴When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,” ¹⁵you may indeed set over you a king whom the Lord your God will choose. One of your own community you may set as king over you; you are not permitted to put a foreigner over you, who is not of your own community. ¹⁶Even so, he must not acquire many horses for himself, or return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, since the Lord has said to you, “You must never return that way again.” ¹⁷And he must not acquire many wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; also silver and gold he must not acquire in great quantity for himself. ¹⁸When he has taken the throne of his kingdom, he shall have a copy of this law written for him in the presence of the levitical priests. ¹⁹It shall remain with him and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes, ²⁰neither exalting himself above other members of the community nor turning aside from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel.

¹⁸ The levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no allotment or inheritance within Israel. They may eat the sacrifices that are the Lord’s portion^{a 2}but they shall have no inheritance among the other members of the community; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them.

³This shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the two jowls, and the stomach. ⁴The first fruits of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. ⁵For the Lord your God has chosen Levi^b out of all your tribes, to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time.

⁶If a Levite leaves any of your towns, from wherever he has been residing in Israel, and comes to the place that the Lord will choose (and he may come whenever he wishes), ⁷then he may minister in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow‐Levites who stand to minister there before the Lord. ⁸They shall have equal portions to eat, even though they have income from the sale of family possessions.^a

⁹When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you must not learn to imitate the abhorrent practices of those nations. ¹⁰No one shall be found among you who makes a son or daughter pass through fire, or who practices divination, or is a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, ¹¹or one who casts spells, or who consults ghosts or spirits, or who seeks oracles from the dead. ¹²For whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord; it is because of such abhorrent practices that the Lord your God is driving them out before you. ¹³You must remain completely loyal to the Lord your God. ¹⁴Although these nations that you are about to dispossess do give heed to soothsayers and diviners, as for you, the Lord your God does not permit you to do so.

¹⁵The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet^c like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.^{a 16}This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” ¹⁷Then the Lord replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. ¹⁸I will raise up for them a prophet^b like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet,^c who shall speak to them everything that I command. ¹⁹Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet^d shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. ²⁰But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.” ²¹You may say to yourself, “How can we recognize a word that the Lord has not spoken?” ²²If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it.

¹⁹ When the Lord your God has cut off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you have dispossessed them and settled in their towns and in their houses, ²you shall set apart three cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. ³You shall calculate the distances^e and divide into three regions the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any homicide can flee to one of them.

⁴Now this is the case of a homicide who might flee there and live, that is, someone who has killed another person unintentionally when the two had not been at enmity before: ⁵Suppose someone goes into the forest with another to cut wood, and when one of them swings the ax to cut down a tree, the head slips from the handle and strikes the other person who then dies; the killer may flee to one of these cities and live. ⁶But if the distance is too great, the avenger of blood in hot anger might pursue and overtake and put the killer to death, although a death sentence was not deserved, since the two had not been at enmity before. ⁷Therefore I command you: You shall set apart three cities.

⁸If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors—and he will give you all the land that he promised your ancestors to give you, ⁹provided you diligently observe this entire commandment that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and walking always in his ways— then you shall add three more cities to these three, ¹⁰so that the blood of an innocent person may not be shed in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.

¹¹But if someone at enmity with another lies in wait and attacks and takes the life of that person, and flees into one of these cities, ¹²then the elders of the killer’s city shall send to have the culprit taken from there and handed over to the avenger of blood to be put to death. ¹³Show no pity; you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may go well with you.

¹⁴You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, set up by former generations, on the property that will be allotted to you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

¹⁵A single witness shall not suffice to convict a person of any crime or wrongdoing in connection with any offense that may be committed. Only on the evidence of two or three witnesses shall a charge be sustained. ¹⁶If a malicious witness comes forward to accuse someone of wrongdoing, ¹⁷then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days, ¹⁸and the judges shall make a thorough inquiry. If the witness is a false witness, having testified falsely against another, ¹⁹then you shall do to the false witness just as the false witness had meant to do to the other. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. ²⁰The rest shall hear and be afraid, and a crime such as this shall never again be committed among you. ²¹Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

²⁰ When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots, an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. ²Before you engage in battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the troops, ³and shall say to them: “Hear, O Israel! Today you are drawing near to do battle against your enemies. Do not lose heart, or be afraid, or panic, or be in dread of them; ⁴for it is the Lord your God who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to give you victory.” ⁵Then the officials shall address the troops, saying, “Has anyone built a new house but not dedicated it? He should go back to his house, or he might die in the battle and another dedicate it. ⁶Has anyone planted a vineyard but not yet enjoyed its fruit? He should go back to his house, or he might die in the battle and another be first to enjoy its fruit. ⁷Has anyone become engaged to a woman but not yet married her? He should go back to his house, or he might die in the battle and another marry her.” ⁸The officials shall continue to address the troops, saying, “Is anyone afraid or disheartened? He should go back to his house, or he might cause the heart of his comrades to melt like his own.” ⁹When the officials have finished addressing the troops, then the commanders shall take charge of them.

¹⁰When you draw near to a town to fight against it, offer it terms of peace. ¹¹If it accepts your terms of peace and surrenders to you, then all the people in it shall serve you at forced labor. ¹²If it does not submit to you peacefully, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it; ¹³and when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword. ¹⁴You may, however, take as your booty the women, the children, livestock, and everything else in the town, all its spoil. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. ¹⁵Thus you shall treat all the towns that are very far from you, which are not towns of the nations here. ¹⁶But as for the towns of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breathes remain alive. ¹⁷You shall annihilate them—the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites—just as the Lord your God has commanded, ¹⁸so that they may not teach you to do all the abhorrent things that they do for their gods, and you thus sin against the Lord your God.

¹⁹If you besiege a town for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you must not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them. Although you may take food from them, you must not cut them down. Are trees in the field human beings that they should come under siege from you? ²⁰You may destroy only the trees that you know do not produce food; you may cut them down for use in building siegeworks against the town that makes war with you, until it falls.

²¹ If, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess, a body is found lying in open country, and it is not known who struck the person down, ²then your elders and your judges shall come out to measure the distances to the towns that are near the body. ³The elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked, one that has not pulled in the yoke; ⁴the elders of that town shall bring the heifer down to a wadi with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the wadi. ⁵Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to him and to pronounce blessings in the name of the Lord, and by their decision all cases of dispute and assault shall be settled. ⁶All the elders of that town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi, ⁷and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor were we witnesses to it. ⁸Absolve, O Lord, your people Israel, whom you redeemed; do not let the guilt of innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel.” Then they will be absolved of bloodguilt. ⁹So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, because you must do what is right in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁰When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you take them captive, ¹¹suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman whom you desire and want to marry, ¹²and so you bring her home to your house: she shall shave her head, pare her nails, ¹³discard her captive’s garb, and shall remain in your house a full month, mourning for her father and mother; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. ¹⁴But if you are not satisfied with her, you shall let her go free and not sell her for money. You must not treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

¹⁵If a man has two wives, one of them loved and the other disliked, and if both the loved and the disliked have borne him sons, the firstborn being the son of the one who is disliked, ¹⁶then on the day when he wills his possessions to his sons, he is not permitted to treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the disliked, who is the firstborn. ¹⁷He must acknowledge as firstborn the son of the one who is disliked, giving him a double portion^a of all that he has; since he is the first issue of his virility, the right of the firstborn is his.

¹⁸If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother, who does not heed them when they discipline him, ¹⁹then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of that place. ²⁰They shall say to the elders of his town, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” ²¹Then all the men of the town shall stone him to death. So you shall purge the evil from your midst; and all Israel will hear, and be afraid.

²²When someone is convicted of a crime punishable by death and is executed, and you hang him on a tree, ²³his corpse must not remain all night upon the tree; you shall bury him that same day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you for possession.

²² You shall not watch your neighbor’s ox or sheep straying away and ignore them; you shall take them back to their owner. ²If the owner does not reside near you or you do not know who the owner is, you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until the owner claims it; then you shall return it. ³You shall do the same with a neighbor’s donkey; you shall do the same with a neighbor’s garment; and you shall do the same with anything else that your neighbor loses and you find. You may not withhold your help.

⁴You shall not see your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen on the road and ignore it; you shall help to lift it up.

⁵A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God.

⁶If you come on a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, with the mother sitting on the fledglings or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. ⁷Let the mother go, taking only the young for yourself, in order that it may go well with you and you may live long.

⁸When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof; otherwise you might have bloodguilt on your house, if anyone should fall from it.

⁹You shall not sow your vineyard with a second kind of seed, or the whole yield will have to be forfeited, both the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard itself.

¹⁰You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.

¹¹You shall not wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together.

¹²You shall make tassels on the four corners of the cloak with which you cover yourself.

¹³Suppose a man marries a woman, but after going in to her, he dislikes her ¹⁴and makes up charges against her, slandering her by saying, “I married this woman; but when I lay with her, I did not find evidence of her virginity.” ¹⁵The father of the young woman and her mother shall then submit the evidence of the young woman’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. ¹⁶The father of the young woman shall say to the elders: “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man but he dislikes her; ¹⁷now he has made up charges against her, saying, ‘I did not find evidence of your daughter’s virginity.’ But here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.” Then they shall spread out the cloth before the elders of the town. ¹⁸The elders of that town shall take the man and punish him; ¹⁹they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver (which they shall give to the young woman’s father) because he has slandered a virgin of Israel. She shall remain his wife; he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.

²⁰If, however, this charge is true, that evidence of the young woman’s virginity was not found, ²¹then they shall bring the young woman out to the entrance of her father’s house and the men of her town shall stone her to death, because she committed a disgraceful act in Israel by prostituting herself in her father’s house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

²²If a man is caught lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman as well as the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

²³If there is a young woman, a virgin already engaged to be married, and a man meets her in the town and lies with her, ²⁴you shall bring both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry for help in the town and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

²⁵But if the man meets the engaged woman in the open country, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. ²⁶You shall do nothing to the young woman; the young woman has not committed an offense punishable by death, because this case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor. ²⁷Since he found her in the open country, the engaged woman may have cried for help, but there was no one to rescue her.

²⁸If a man meets a virgin who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are caught in the act, ²⁹the man who lay with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the young woman’s father, and she shall become his wife. Because he violated her he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.

^30aA man shall not marry his father’s wife, thereby violating his father’s rights.^b

²³ No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.

²Those born of an illicit union shall not be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of their descendants shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.

³No Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of their descendants shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord, ⁴because they did not meet you with food and water on your journey out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. ⁵(Yet the Lord your God refused to heed Balaam; the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you.) ⁶You shall never promote their welfare or their prosperity as long as you live.

⁷You shall not abhor any of the Edomites, for they are your kin. You shall not abhor any of the Egyptians, because you were an alien residing in their land. ⁸The children of the third generation that are born to them may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.

⁹When you are encamped against your enemies you shall guard against any impropriety.

¹⁰If one of you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he shall go outside the camp; he must not come within the camp. ¹¹When evening comes, he shall wash himself with water, and when the sun has set, he may come back into the camp.

¹²You shall have a designated area outside the camp to which you shall go. ¹³With your utensils you shall have a trowel; when you relieve yourself outside, you shall dig a hole with it and then cover up your excrement. ¹⁴Because the Lord your God travels along with your camp, to save you and to hand over your enemies to you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.

¹⁵Slaves who have escaped to you from their owners shall not be given back to them. ¹⁶They shall reside with you, in your midst, in any place they choose in any one of your towns, wherever they please; you shall not oppress them.

¹⁷None of the daughters of Israel shall be a temple prostitute; none of the sons of Israel shall be a temple prostitute. ¹⁸You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a male prostitute^a into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.

¹⁹You shall not charge interest on loans to another Israelite, interest on money, interest on provisions, interest on anything that is lent. ²⁰On loans to a foreigner you may charge interest, but on loans to another Israelite you may not charge interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings in the land that you are about to enter and possess.

²¹If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not postpone fulfilling it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you would incur guilt. ²²But if you refrain from vowing, you will not incur guilt. ²³Whatever your lips utter you must diligently perform, just as you have freely vowed to the Lord your God with your own mouth.

²⁴If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in a container.

²⁵If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain.

²⁴ Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house ²and goes off to become another man’s wife. ³Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies); ⁴her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that would be abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.

⁵When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any related duty. He shall be free at home one year, to be happy with the wife whom he has married.

⁶No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.

⁷If someone is caught kidnaping another Israelite, enslaving or selling the Israelite, then that kidnaper shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

⁸Guard against an outbreak of a leprous^a skin disease by being very careful; you shall carefully observe whatever the levitical priests instruct you, just as I have commanded them. ⁹Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your journey out of Egypt.

¹⁰When you make your neighbor a loan of any kind, you shall not go into the house to take the pledge. ¹¹You shall wait outside, while the person to whom you are making the loan brings the pledge out to you. ¹²If the person is poor, you shall not sleep in the garment given you as^b the pledge. ¹³You shall give the pledge back by sunset, so that your neighbor may sleep in the cloak and bless you; and it will be to your credit before the Lord your God.

¹⁴You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns. ¹⁵You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.

¹⁶Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents; only for their own crimes may persons be put to death.

¹⁷You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pledge. ¹⁸Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.

¹⁹When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings. ²⁰When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.

²¹When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. ²²Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this.

²⁵ Suppose two persons have a dispute and enter into litigation, and the judges decide between them, declaring one to be in the right and the other to be in the wrong. ²If the one in the wrong deserves to be flogged, the judge shall make that person lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of lashes proportionate to the offense. ³Forty lashes may be given but not more; if more lashes than these are given, your neighbor will be degraded in your sight.

⁴You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.

⁵When brothers reside together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, taking her in marriage, and performing the duty of a husband’s brother to her, ⁶and the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed to the name of the deceased brother, so that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. ⁷But if the man has no desire to marry his brother’s widow, then his brother’s widow shall go up to the elders at the gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.” ⁸Then the elders of his town shall summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, “I have no desire to marry her,” ⁹then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face, and declare, “This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.” ¹⁰Throughout Israel his family shall be known as “the house of him whose sandal was pulled off.”

¹¹If men get into a fight with one another, and the wife of one intervenes to rescue her husband from the grip of his opponent by reaching out and seizing his genitals, ¹²you shall cut off her hand; show no pity.

¹³You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, large and small. ¹⁴You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, large and small. ¹⁵You shall have only a full and honest weight; you shall have only a full and honest measure, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are abhorrent to the Lord your God.

¹⁷Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey out of Egypt, ¹⁸how he attacked you on the way, when you were faint and weary, and struck down all who lagged behind you; he did not fear God. ¹⁹Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies on every hand, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; do not forget.

²⁶ When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, ²you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. ³You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” ⁴When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, ⁵you shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. ⁶When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, ⁷we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. ⁸The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; ⁹and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.” You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. ¹¹Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

¹²When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year (which is the year of the tithe), giving it to the Levites, the aliens, the orphans, and the widows, so that they may eat their fill within your towns, ¹³then you shall say before the Lord your God: “I have removed the sacred portion from the house, and I have given it to the Levites, the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows, in accordance with your entire commandment that you commanded me; I have neither transgressed nor forgotten any of your commandments: ¹⁴I have not eaten of it while in mourning; I have not removed any of it while I was unclean; and I have not offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God, doing just as you commanded me. ¹⁵Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our ancestors— a land flowing with milk and honey.”

¹⁶This very day the Lord your God is commanding you to observe these statutes and ordinances; so observe them diligently with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷Today you have obtained the Lord’s agreement: to be your God; and for you to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and to obey him. ¹⁸Today the Lord has obtained your agreement: to be his treasured people, as he promised you, and to keep his commandments; ¹⁹for him to set you high above all nations that he has made, in praise and in fame and in honor; and for you to be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.

²⁷ Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged all the people as follows: Keep the entire commandment that I am commanding you today. ²On the day that you cross over the Jordan into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and cover them with plaster. ³You shall write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over, to enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. ⁴So when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, about which I am commanding you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall cover them with plaster. ⁵And you shall build an altar there to the Lord your God, an altar of stones on which you have not used an iron tool. ⁶You must build the altar of the Lord your God of unhewn^a stones. Then offer up burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God, ⁷make sacrifices of well‐being, and eat them there, rejoicing before the Lord your God. ⁸You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very clearly.

⁹Then Moses and the levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying: Keep silence and hear, O Israel! This very day you have become the people of the Lord your God. ¹⁰Therefore obey the Lord your God, observing his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you today.

¹¹The same day Moses charged the people as follows: ¹²When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim for the blessing of the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. ¹⁴Then the Levites shall declare in a loud voice to all the Israelites:

¹⁵“Cursed be anyone who makes an idol or casts an image, anything abhorrent to the Lord, the work of an artisan, and sets it up in secret.” All the people shall respond, saying, “Amen!”

¹⁶“Cursed be anyone who dishonors father or mother.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”

¹⁷“Cursed be anyone who moves a neighbor’s boundary marker.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”

¹⁸“Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind person on the road.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”

¹⁹“Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”

²⁰“Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has violated his father’s rights.”^a All the people shall say, “Amen!”

²¹“Cursed be anyone who lies with any animal.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”

²²“Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”

²³“Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother‐in‐law.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”

²⁴“Cursed be anyone who strikes down a neighbor in secret.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”

²⁵“Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”

²⁶“Cursed be anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by observing them.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”

²⁸ If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; ²all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God:

³Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.

⁴Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.

⁵Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

⁶Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

⁷The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. ⁸The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you undertake; he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ⁹The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. ¹⁰All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. ¹¹The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you. ¹²The Lord will open for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all your undertakings. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. ¹³The Lord will make you the head, and not the tail; you shall be only at the top, and not at the bottom—if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, by diligently observing them, ¹⁴and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I am commanding you today, either to the right or to the left, following other gods to serve them.

¹⁵But if you will not obey the Lord your God by diligently observing all his commandments and decrees, which I am commanding you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you:

¹⁶Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.

¹⁷Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

¹⁸Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.

¹⁹Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

²⁰The Lord will send upon you disaster, panic, and frustration in everything you attempt to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. ²¹The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until it has consumed you off the land that you are entering to possess. ²²The Lord will afflict you with consumption, fever, inflammation, with fiery heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. ²³The sky over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you iron. ²⁴The Lord will change the rain of your land into powder, and only dust shall come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed.

²⁵The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out against them one way and flee before them seven ways. You shall become an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ²⁶Your corpses shall be food for every bird of the air and animal of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away. ²⁷The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with ulcers, scurvy, and itch, of which you cannot be healed. ²⁸The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind; ²⁹you shall grope about at noon as blind people grope in darkness, but you shall be unable to find your way; and you shall be continually abused and robbed, without anyone to help. ³⁰You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall lie with her. You shall build a house, but not live in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but not enjoy its fruit. ³¹Your ox shall be butchered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it. Your donkey shall be stolen in front of you, and shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, without anyone to help you. ³²Your sons and daughters shall be given to another people, while you look on; you will strain your eyes looking for them all day but be powerless to do anything. ³³A people whom you do not know shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors; you shall be continually abused and crushed, ³⁴and driven mad by the sight that your eyes shall see. ³⁵The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. ³⁶The Lord will bring you, and the king whom you set over you, to a nation that neither you nor your ancestors have known, where you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone. ³⁷You shall become an object of horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you.

³⁸You shall carry much seed into the field but shall gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. ³⁹You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. ⁴⁰You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. ⁴¹You shall have sons and daughters, but they shall not remain yours, for they shall go into captivity. ⁴²All your trees and the fruit of your ground the cicada shall take over. ⁴³Aliens residing among you shall ascend above you higher and higher, while you shall descend lower and lower. ⁴⁴They shall lend to you but you shall not lend to them; they shall be the head and you shall be the tail.

⁴⁵All these curses shall come upon you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God, by observing the commandments and the decrees that he commanded you. ⁴⁶They shall be among you and your descendants as a sign and a portent forever.

⁴⁷Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, ⁴⁸therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and lack of everything. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. ⁴⁹The Lord will bring a nation from far away, from the end of the earth, to swoop down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, ⁵⁰a grim‐faced nation showing no respect to the old or favor to the young. ⁵¹It shall consume the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground until you are destroyed, leaving you neither grain, wine, and oil, nor the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, until it has made you perish. ⁵²It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout your land; it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout the land that the Lord your God has given you. ⁵³In the desperate straits to which the enemy siege reduces you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your own sons and daughters whom the Lord your God has given you. ⁵⁴Even the most refined and gentle of men among you will begrudge food to his own brother, to the wife whom he embraces, and to the last of his remaining children, ⁵⁵giving to none of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because nothing else remains to him, in the desperate straits to which the enemy siege will reduce you in all your towns. ⁵⁶She who is the most refined and gentle among you, so gentle and refined that she does not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge food to the husband whom she embraces, to her own son, and to her own daughter, ⁵⁷begrudging even the afterbirth that comes out from between her thighs, and the children that she bears, because she is eating them in secret for lack of anything else, in the desperate straits to which the enemy siege will reduce you in your towns.

⁵⁸If you do not diligently observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, fearing this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, ⁵⁹then the Lord will overwhelm both you and your offspring with severe and lasting afflictions and grievous and lasting maladies. ⁶⁰He will bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were in dread, and they shall cling to you. ⁶¹Every other malady and affliction, even though not recorded in the book of this law, the Lord will inflict on you until you are destroyed. ⁶²Although once you were as numerous as the stars in heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. ⁶³And just as the Lord took delight in making you prosperous and numerous, so the Lord will take delight in bringing you to ruin and destruction; you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to possess. ⁶⁴The Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. ⁶⁵Among those nations you shall find no ease, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a languishing spirit. ⁶⁶Your life shall hang in doubt before you; night and day you shall be in dread, with no assurance of your life. ⁶⁷In the morning you shall say, “If only it were evening!” and at evening you shall say, “If only it were morning!”—because of the dread that your heart shall feel and the sights that your eyes shall see. ⁶⁸The Lord will bring you back in ships to Egypt, by a route that I promised you would never see again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.

^29a These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb.

^2bMoses summoned all Israel and said to them: You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, ³the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. ⁴But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear. ⁵I have led you forty years in the wilderness. The clothes on your back have not worn out, and the sandals on your feet have not worn out; ⁶you have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink—so that you may know that I am the Lord your God. ⁷When you came to this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out against us for battle, but we defeated them. ⁸We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half‐tribe of Manasseh. ⁹Therefore diligently observe the words of this covenant, in order that you may succeed^a in everything that you do.

¹⁰You stand assembled today, all of you, before the Lord your God—the leaders of your tribes,^b your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel, ¹¹your children, your women, and the aliens who are in your camp, both those who cut your wood and those who draw your water— ¹²to enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, sworn by an oath, which the Lord your God is making with you today; ¹³in order that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you and as he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. ¹⁴I am making this covenant, sworn by an oath, not only with you who stand here with us today before the Lord our God, ¹⁵but also with those who are not here with us today. ¹⁶You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. ¹⁷You have seen their detestable things, the filthy idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, that were among them. ¹⁸It may be that there is among you a man or woman, or a family or tribe, whose heart is already turning away from the Lord our God to serve the gods of those nations. It may be that there is among you a root sprouting poisonous and bitter growth. ¹⁹All who hear the words of this oath and bless themselves, thinking in their hearts, “We are safe even though we go our own stubborn ways” (thus bringing disaster on moist and dry alike)^c— ²⁰the Lord will be unwilling to pardon them, for the Lord’s anger and passion will smoke against them. All the curses written in this book will descend on them, and the Lord will blot out their names from under heaven. ²¹The Lord will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law. ²²The next generation, your children who rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who comes from a distant country, will see the devastation of that land and the afflictions with which the Lord has afflicted it— ²³all its soil burned out by sulfur and salt, nothing planted, nothing sprouting, unable to support any vegetation, like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his fierce anger— ²⁴they and indeed all the nations will wonder, “Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What caused this great display of anger?” ²⁵They will conclude, “It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. ²⁶They turned and served other gods, worshiping them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them; ²⁷so the anger of the Lord was kindled against that land, bringing on it every curse written in this book. ²⁸The Lord uprooted them from their land in anger, fury, and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as is now the case.” ²⁹The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and to our children forever, to observe all the words of this law.

³⁰ When all these things have happened to you, the blessings and the curses that I have set before you, if you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, ²and return to the Lord your God, and you and your children obey him with all your heart and with all your soul, just as I am commanding you today, ³then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, gathering you again from all the peoples among whom the Lord your God has scattered you. ⁴Even if you are exiled to the ends of the world,^a from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back. ⁵The Lord your God will bring you into the land that your ancestors possessed, and you will possess it; he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.

⁶Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live. ⁷The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on the adversaries who took advantage of you. ⁸Then you shall again obey the Lord, observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, ⁹and the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, ¹⁰when you obey the Lord your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

¹¹Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. ¹²It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” ¹³Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” ¹⁴No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

¹⁵See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. ¹⁶If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God^a that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. ¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, ¹⁸I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. ¹⁹I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, ²⁰loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

³¹ When Moses had finished speaking all^b these words to all Israel, ²he said to them: “I am now one hundred twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, and the Lord has told me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ ³The Lord your God himself will cross over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua also will cross over before you, as the Lord promised. ⁴The Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. ⁵The Lord will give them over to you and you shall deal with them in full accord with the command that I have given to you. ⁶Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.”

⁷Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: “Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give them; and you will put them in possession of it. ⁸It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

⁹Then Moses wrote down this law, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰Moses commanded them: “Every seventh year, in the scheduled year of remission, during the festival of booths,^{a 11}when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ¹²Assemble the people—men, women, and children, as well as the aliens residing in your towns—so that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God and to observe diligently all the words of this law, ¹³and so that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.”

¹⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Your time to die is near; call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, so that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting, ¹⁵and the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud; the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses, “Soon you will lie down with your ancestors. Then this people will begin to prostitute themselves to the foreign gods in their midst, the gods of the land into which they are going; they will forsake me, breaking my covenant that I have made with them. ¹⁷My anger will be kindled against them in that day. I will forsake them and hide my face from them; they will become easy prey, and many terrible troubles will come upon them. In that day they will say, ‘Have not these troubles come upon us because our God is not in our midst?’ ¹⁸On that day I will surely hide my face on account of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods. ¹⁹Now therefore write this song, and teach it to the Israelites; put it in their mouths, in order that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites. ²⁰For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I promised on oath to their ancestors, and they have eaten their fill and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, despising me and breaking my covenant. ²¹And when many terrible troubles come upon them, this song will confront them as a witness, because it will not be lost from the mouths of their descendants. For I know what they are inclined to do even now, before I have brought them into the land that I promised them on oath.” ²²That very day Moses wrote this song and taught it to the Israelites.

²³Then the Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and bold, for you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I promised them; I will be with you.”

²⁴When Moses had finished writing down in a book the words of this law to the very end, ²⁵Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, ²⁶“Take this book of the law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God; let it remain there as a witness against you. ²⁷For I know well how rebellious and stubborn you are. If you already have been so rebellious toward the Lord while I am still alive among you, how much more after my death! ²⁸Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officials, so that I may recite these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly, turning aside from the way that I have commanded you. In time to come trouble will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”

³⁰Then Moses recited the words of this song, to the very end, in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

³² Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

²May my teaching drop like the rain,

 my speech condense like the dew;

like gentle rain on grass,

 like showers on new growth.

³For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;

 ascribe greatness to our God!

⁴The Rock, his work is perfect,

 and all his ways are just.

A faithful God, without deceit,

 just and upright is he;

⁵yet his degenerate children have dealt falsely with him,^a

 a perverse and crooked generation.

⁶Do you thus repay the Lord,

 O foolish and senseless people?

Is not he your father, who created you,

 who made you and established you?

⁷Remember the days of old,

 consider the years long past;

ask your father, and he will inform you;

 your elders, and they will tell you.

⁸When the Most High^a apportioned the nations,

 when he divided humankind,

he fixed the boundaries of the peoples

 according to the number of the gods;^b

⁹the Lord’s own portion was his people,

 Jacob his allotted share.

¹⁰He sustained^c him in a desert land,

 in a howling wilderness waste;

he shielded him, cared for him,

 guarded him as the apple of his eye.

¹¹As an eagle stirs up its nest,

 and hovers over its young;

as it spreads its wings, takes them up,

 and bears them aloft on its pinions,

¹²the Lord alone guided him;

 no foreign god was with him.

¹³He set him atop the heights of the land,

 and fed him with^d produce of the field;

he nursed him with honey from the crags,

 with oil from flinty rock;

¹⁴curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,

 with fat of lambs and rams;

Bashan bulls and goats,

 together with the choicest wheat—

 you drank fine wine from the blood of grapes.

¹⁵Jacob ate his fill;^e

 Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked.

 You grew fat, bloated, and gorged!

He abandoned God who made him,

 and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁶They made him jealous with strange gods,

 with abhorrent things they provoked him.

¹⁷They sacrificed to demons, not God,

 to deities they had never known,

to new ones recently arrived,

 whom your ancestors had not feared.

¹⁸You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you;^f

 you forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹The Lord saw it, and was jealous;^g

 he spurned^h his sons and daughters.

²⁰He said: I will hide my face from them,

 I will see what their end will be;

for they are a perverse generation,

 children in whom there is no faithfulness.

²¹They made me jealous with what is no god,

 provoked me with their idols.

So I will make them jealous with what is no people,

 provoke them with a foolish nation.

²²For a fire is kindled by my anger,

 and burns to the depths of Sheol;

it devours the earth and its increase,

 and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

²³I will heap disasters upon them,

 spend my arrows against them:

²⁴wasting hunger,

 burning consumption,

 bitter pestilence.

The teeth of beasts I will send against them,

 with venom of things crawling in the dust.

²⁵In the street the sword shall bereave,

 and in the chambers terror,

for young man and woman alike,

 nursing child and old gray head.

²⁶I thought to scatter them^a

 and blot out the memory of them from humankind;

²⁷but I feared provocation by the enemy,

 for their adversaries might misunderstand

and say, “Our hand is triumphant;

 it was not the Lord who did all this.”

²⁸They are a nation void of sense;

 there is no understanding in them.

²⁹If they were wise, they would understand this;

 they would discern what the end would be.

³⁰How could one have routed a thousand,

 and two put a myriad to flight,

unless their Rock had sold them,

 the Lord had given them up?

³¹Indeed their rock is not like our Rock;

 our enemies are fools.^a

³²Their vine comes from the vinestock of Sodom,

 from the vineyards of Gomorrah;

their grapes are grapes of poison,

 their clusters are bitter;

³³their wine is the poison of serpents,

 the cruel venom of asps.

³⁴Is not this laid up in store with me,

 sealed up in my treasuries?

³⁵Vengeance is mine, and recompense,

 for the time when their foot shall slip;

because the day of their calamity is at hand,

 their doom comes swiftly.

³⁶Indeed the Lord will vindicate his people,

 have compassion on his servants,

when he sees that their power is gone,

 neither bond nor free remaining.

³⁷Then he will say: Where are their gods,

 the rock in which they took refuge,

³⁸who ate the fat of their sacrifices,

 and drank the wine of their libations?

Let them rise up and help you,

 let them be your protection!

³⁹See now that I, even I, am he;

 there is no god besides me.

I kill and I make alive;

 I wound and I heal;

 and no one can deliver from my hand.

⁴⁰For I lift up my hand to heaven,

 and swear: As I live forever,

⁴¹when I whet my flashing sword,

 and my hand takes hold on judgment;

I will take vengeance on my adversaries,

 and will repay those who hate me.

⁴²I will make my arrows drunk with blood,

 and my sword shall devour flesh—

with the blood of the slain and the captives,

 from the long‐haired enemy.

⁴³Praise, O heavens,^a his people,

 worship him, all you gods!^b

For he will avenge the blood of his children,^c

  and take vengeance on his adversaries;

he will repay those who hate him,^b

 and cleanse the land for his people.^d

⁴⁴Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua^e son of Nun. ⁴⁵When Moses had finished reciting all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶he said to them: “Take to heart all the words that I am giving in witness against you today; give them as a command to your children, so that they may diligently observe all the words of this law. ⁴⁷This is no trifling matter for you, but rather your very life; through it you may live long in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.”

⁴⁸On that very day the Lord addressed Moses as follows: ⁴⁹“Ascend this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites for a possession; ⁵⁰you shall die there on the mountain that you ascend and shall be gathered to your kin, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his kin; ⁵¹because both of you broke faith with me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribath‐kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, by failing to maintain my holiness among the Israelites. ⁵²Although you may view the land from a distance, you shall not enter it—the land that I am giving to the Israelites.”

³³ This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death. ²He said:

The Lord came from Sinai,

 and dawned from Seir upon us;^a

 he shone forth from Mount Paran.

With him were myriads of holy ones;^b

 at his right, a host of his own.^c

³Indeed, O favorite among^d peoples,

 all his holy ones were in your charge;

they marched at your heels,

 accepted direction from you.

⁴Moses charged us with the law,

 as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵There arose a king in Jeshurun,

 when the leaders of the people assembled—

 the united tribes of Israel.

before his death.

⁶May Reuben live, and not die out,

 even though his numbers are few.

⁷And this he said of Judah:

O Lord, give heed to Judah,

 and bring him to his people;

strengthen his hands for him,^a

 and be a help against his adversaries.

⁸And of Levi he said:

Give to Levi^b your Thummim,

 and your Urim to your loyal one,

whom you tested at Massah,

 with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah;

⁹who said of his father and mother,

 “I regard them not”;

he ignored his kin,

 and did not acknowledge his children.

For they observed your word,

 and kept your covenant.

¹⁰They teach Jacob your ordinances,

 and Israel your law;

they place incense before you,

 and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

¹¹Bless, O Lord, his substance,

 and accept the work of his hands;

crush the loins of his adversaries,

 of those that hate him, so that they do not rise again.

¹²Of Benjamin he said:

The beloved of the Lord rests in safety—

the High God^c surrounds him all day long—

 the beloved^d rests between his shoulders.

¹³And of Joseph he said:

Blessed by the Lord be his land,

 with the choice gifts of heaven above,

 and of the deep that lies beneath;

¹⁴with the choice fruits of the sun,

 and the rich yield of the months;

¹⁵with the finest produce of the ancient mountains,

 and the abundance of the everlasting hills;

¹⁶with the choice gifts of the earth and its fullness,

 and the favor of the one who dwells on Sinai.^e

Let these come on the head of Joseph,

 on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

¹⁷A firstborn^f bull—majesty is his!

 His horns are the horns of a wild ox;

with them he gores the peoples,

 driving them to^g the ends of the earth;

such are the myriads of Ephraim,

 such the thousands of Manasseh.

¹⁸And of Zebulun he said:

Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out;

 and Issachar, in your tents.

¹⁹They call peoples to the mountain;

 there they offer the right sacrifices;

for they suck the affluence of the seas

 and the hidden treasures of the sand.

²⁰And of Gad he said:

 Blessed be the enlargement of Gad!

 Gad lives like a lion;

 he tears at arm and scalp.

²¹He chose the best for himself,

 for there a commander’s allotment was reserved;

he came at the head of the people,

 he executed the justice of the Lord,

 and his ordinances for Israel.

²²And of Dan he said:

Dan is a lion’s whelp

 that leaps forth from Bashan.

²³And of Naphtali he said:

O Naphtali, sated with favor,

 full of the blessing of the Lord,

 possess the west and the south.

²⁴And of Asher he said:

Most blessed of sons be Asher;

 may he be the favorite of his brothers,

 and may he dip his foot in oil.

²⁵Your bars are iron and bronze;

and as your days, so is your strength.

²⁶There is none like God, O Jeshurun,

 who rides through the heavens to your help,

majestic through the skies.

²⁷He subdues the ancient gods,^a

 shatters^b the forces of old;^c

he drove out the enemy before you,

 and said, “Destroy!”

²⁸So Israel lives in safety,

 untroubled is Jacob’s abode^d

in a land of grain and wine,

 where the heavens drop down dew.

²⁹Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,

 a people saved by the Lord,

the shield of your help,

 and the sword of your triumph!

Your enemies shall come fawning to you,

 and you shall tread on their backs.

³⁴ Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, ²all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, ³the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. ⁴The Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” ⁵Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. ⁶He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth‐peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. ⁷Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. ⁸The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.

What Moses saw from Mt. Nebo.

⁹Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁰Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. ¹¹He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, ¹²and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

1.1–4.43: The first discourse of Moses has two subsections: a historical retrospective (1.6–3.29) and a sermon on the importance of obeying the teaching of Moses (4.1–40). An editorial heading (1.1–5) and an appendix (4.41–43) frame the discourse. 1.1–5: Editorial heading. 1: Beyond the Jordan, the land east of the Jordan River (Transjordan), “the land of Moab” (v. 5), where the Israelites have stopped, awaiting entry into the land. The reference places the editor west of the Jordan, in Canaan. According to the narrative line, however, the Israelites have not yet reached the promised land, and Moses never does. From this and similar anachronisms, medieval Jewish commentators already recognized that not all of the Pentateuch could be attributed to Moses (see also 2.12; 3.11n.; 20.15; 34.5; Gen 12.6). The plain (lit., “the Arabah”), the Rift Valley that includes the Jordan River and stretches south from the Dead Sea through Eilat/Aqaba and the Red Sea into Africa. The places mentioned cannot be identified with certainty. 2: Eleven days implies a scathing indictment of the nation. As a result of their rebellion in the desert (Num 13–14), it actually took them thirty‐eight years, eight months, and twenty days to reach this point after they first broke camp (Num 10.11). Kadesh‐barnea, see Num 13.26n. Horeb (Ex 3.1; 17.6; 33.6) is Deuteronomy’s term for the mount of revelation. “(Mount) Sinai,” in contrast, is the more standard term used by the J and P writers (see Ex 19.11; 34.29); it occurs in Deuteronomy only in 33.1, in an embedded poem, where it refers more generally to a mountainous region in the south. 4: Num 21.21–35. 5: Expound, the Heb seems intentionally ambiguous about whether Moses here proclaims new religious teachings or simply explicates material already proclaimed. Law, better, “teaching” (Heb “torah,” 4.8,44; 27.3,8,26; 28.58,61; 29.21,29; 30.10; 31.9,11–12; 32.46). The word designates not only the combination of ritual, civil, family, and ethical law found in chs 12–26 but also the religious instruction of chs 5–11. For later editors, as here, the same word seems to refer to the entire book of Deuteronomy (cf. 2 Kings 14.6).

1.6–3.29: Historical review. Moses rehearses the Exodus, the revelation at Horeb/Sinai, and the rebellion in the desert for the generation who arose after these events, so that they may understand what brought them to the present moment. At a number of points, this narrative diverges from that of Exodus‐Numbers. 1.6: The original of the divine command quoted has not been preserved (cf. Num 10). 7: Amorites, as at Gen 15.16, is used generically for the family of nations who are the original inhabitants of Canaan, rather than for one specific nation (contrast Gen 15.19–21; Ex 3.8,1717). The Shephelah is the region of foothills between the hill country on the east and the seacoast on the west. The Negeb is the semiarid region south of the hill country. Great river, the ideal borders of the Israelite empire extended to the Euphrates (Gen 15.18), the northern limit of David’s conquests according to 2 Sam 8.3. 8: See … set the land before you, God symbolically displays the land and transfers its legal title to Israel (similarly, Gen 13.14–15). 9–18: This account combines and reinterprets two previous accounts of the creation of a military‐judicial system to share the burden of leadership (compare vv. 9–12 with Num 11.14–17 and vv. 13–17 with Ex 18.13–27), placing the institutionalization of leadership after the departure from Sinai rather than before it and omitting the advisory role of Jethro, Moses’s non‐Israelite father‐in‐law (contrast Ex 18). 10: Stars of heaven, fulfilling the promises made to the ancestors (Gen 15.5; 22.17; 26.4; Ex 32.13). 11: God of your ancestors, Deuteronomy’s normal phrase is “the Lord your/our God” (i.e., vv. 6,10). This departure from that formula ties this new generation to its past by recalling God’s earlier promises (Gen 26.24; 32.9; Ex 3.6). 13: Wise (contrast Ex 18.21), an attribute regularly stressed by Deuteronomy (4.6; 16.19; 32.29), suggesting the influence of wisdom literature upon its authors. Reputable (lit., “knowing”), continuing the emphasis upon wisdom as a criterion for leadership. 16: Resident alien, the non‐Israelite who lives in the community without title to land and who is therefore economically vulnerable; Deuteronomy insists upon a single law in civil and religious matters that applies to Israelite and non‐Israelite residents alike (5.14; 10.18–19; 14.29; 16.11; 24.14,17,19–21). 17: Similarly, 16.18–20.

1.19–46: From Horeb to Kadesh. A retelling, with significant variations, of the spies’ reconnaissance of the land (Num 13), the people’s complaining of God’s inability to fulfill the promises made to Israel’s ancestors (Num 14.1–38), and the abortive attempt to penetrate Canaan from the south despite the divine command not to do so (Num 14.39–45; cf. 21.1–3). 28: Anakim, see Num 13.22,33n. 30: Ex 14.14. 33: Fire … cloud, see Ex 13.21–22n. 34–38: See Num 14.28–30. 37: Here Moses is not punished for his own sin (contrast 32.51; Num 20.10–13; 27.12–23), but instead vicariously bears the punishment due Israel for its sin (see 3.24–28; 4.21).

2.1–3.29: The circuit via Transjordan. 1–8a: Num 20.14–21. From Kadesh, Israel turned south through the Arabah to the Gulf of Aqaba in order to go around Seir (Edom; Num 21.4; cf. 33.47–49). 4: Descendants of Esau, see Gen 36.1. 6: Money, silver or gold that was weighed out. 8a: Elath, see 1 Kings 9.26. Ezion‐geber, see Num 33.35. 8b–25: Num 21.4–20, significantly revised. Turning along the brook Zered (modern Wadi elHasa), which formed Edom’s northern boundary, Israel detoured through the wilderness of Moab toward the Amorite kingdom of Sihon. 9: Moab and Ammon (v. 19) were traditionally related through Lot (Gen 19.36–38). 10–12: NRSV attempts to mitigate the anachronistic postconquest perspective by confining it to parentheses (see v. 12n.). 10–11: Emim … Rephaim (cf. v. 20; 3.11–13), names reflecting the legendary view that the aboriginal inhabitants of the land were fearsome giants; cf. Num 13.32–33. 12: Horim, see Gen 36.20–30n. As Israel has done … possession, the conquest is represented anachronistically as already having been completed (see 1.1n.; 3.11n.). 13: Wadi, a streambed that had water only in the rainy winter season. 14: Fulfilling God’s angry oath (1.34–35; Num 14.28–30). Without the death of the generation of the Exodus, here marked as accomplished, there can be no entry into the promised land. 15: Lord’s own hand, they did not die of natural causes. The imagery reverses the standard idea of holy war: God had turned against Israel rather than fighting on its behalf (see 3.22; 7.1–5; 12.29–31; 20.1–20). 18: Ar, location unknown. 20: Cf. vv. 10–12n.; Gen 14.5. 23: Caphtor, Crete, referring to the conquest of the coastal plain by “Sea Peoples” such as Philistines shortly after 1200 bce (see Gen 10.2–5,14; Am 9.7). 24: Arnon, see Num 21.12–13. 26–37: The victory over Sihon, whose capital was at Heshbon. The earlier source in Num 21.21–32 is here supplemented and revised. 30: See Ex 4.21n. 34: Utterly destroyed, see 7.2n. 37: The river Jabbok makes a wide bend south and thus forms the western border of Ammon (3.16); see map on p. 253. 3.1–11: The victory over Bashan (Num 21.33–35). 1: Edrei, on the extreme south border of Bashan. 11: The oversized bed of Og, one of the legendary Rephaim (2.10–11), was a “museum piece” in Rabbah, a city on the Ammonite border. The claim that this bed can still be seen there places the historical perspective of the narrator, and thus of Deuteronomy’s composition, long after the events here recounted (1.1n.; 2.12n.). A cubit was approximately 18 in. (45 cm), so the bed was about 6 ft (1.8 m) wide and 13 ft (4 m) long. 12–22: The allotment of tribal territories in Transjordan (Num 32; Josh 13). 14: Num 32.41. 17: The territory included the eastern part of the Jordan Valley or Arabah. 18–20: The men of the Transjordanian tribes are to join the others in the conquest of the land west of the Jordan. 22: The whole story of the Exodus, wilderness journey, and invasion of Canaan is governed by the convictions of holy war, whereby God is a divine warrior who engages in battle on behalf of Israel. 23–29: Num 27.12–23. 24: What god … can perform, the assertion of God’s superior power, relative to other gods in heaven, assumes the existence of other gods (5.7n.; 6.4n.; 32.8n.; Ex 15.11; Ps 89.5–8). For the later perspective of monotheism, see 4.35n. 26: See 1.37n. 27: Mount Pisgah, see 34.1n.

4.1–40: Exhortation to obey the teachings of Moses. While preceding the Decalogue (5.6–21), this unit provides a later theological reflection upon it, focusing on the instructions regarding idols in 5.8–10 and broadening its significance. Admonitions to obedience (vv. 1,40) frame the unit, which systematically contrasts obedience (vv. 5–24)/disobedience (vv. 25–31); remembering/forgetting (vv. 9,23); the Lord/other gods (vv. 7,34); Israel’s revealed Torah/the laws of other nations (vv. 8,28); and God/idols (vv. 12–20). The correct worship of God is aniconic: images (whether of God or of objects in nature) should play no role in Israelite religion. This becomes so strong a theme that idolatry by itself is asserted to be the cause of the nation’s exile from its land (vv. 25–31). The explicit reference to exile suggests that the unit is a late theological explanation for the Babylonian exile in the early sixth century bce. The focus on idolatry as the basis for the divine punishment diverges significantly from the perspective elsewhere in the book that views failure to heed “all his [God’s] commandments and decrees” as the cause of exile (28.15; cf. 28.1,45,58–59). 1–4: The incident at Peor (Num 25.1–9) is recalled to emphasize the importance of fidelity to God and the dire consequences of worshiping other gods. 2: This admonition not to alter the teaching of Moses, whether by addition or subtraction (cf. 12.32), parallels similar admonitions in wisdom literature (Prov 30.6; Eccl 3.14; 12.12–13; Sir 42.21; cf. Rev 22.18–19) and in ancient Near Eastern legal traditions. 5–8: The author here challenges the prevailing Near Eastern idea that wisdom was a royal prerogative; for example, the ancient Babylonian Laws of Hammurabi (ca. 1750 bce) praised the “just decisions” of its “wise” king (cols 47.1; 4.7), while here it is the nation Israel who will be internationally renowned as “wise” for its “just” laws (vv. 6,8). See also 29.29n.; 30.11–14n. 7–8: Israel is distinguished both by its god and by its law: The two ideas are interlocked. God is near, both in having entered history on behalf of Israel and in revealing his will as Torah (30.14). The laws are just (better, “righteous”), not only in their morality but also as embodying the will of God. 9–14: The revelation at Horeb (Ex 19–20 [in which the location of revelation is referred to as Sinai]; Deut 5) is recalled in order to instruct this generation, who did not experience it. 9: The paired injunctions not to forget the powerful experience of God’s actions and to educate your children, so that the past becomes present also to them, represent a prominent aim of Deuteronomy: to overcome the distance of the past and maintain it as a source of identity (vv. 23,25; 6.2,7,20–25; 8.11; 9.7; 31.13; 32.18). Your eyes have seen, as well as the following “how you once stood” (v. 10), are highly paradoxical assertions. Neither is literally true: The actual generation of the Exodus had died off (2.14–15n.). This paradoxical structure of thought, whereby Moses addresses those who had not witnessed the events as if they had, while insisting that they inculcate the events to posterity, is central to Deuteronomy’s theology of history (5.3–4,23; 11.7; 29.14–15). Because of their sharp divergence from the narrative setting, these verses may well represent a different source or literary layer in Deuteronomy. 10: My words, the Decalogue (“ten commandments”; v. 13; 5.22; 9.10; 10.2,4). Elsewhere, however, the phrase refers comprehensively to the legal corpus of chs 12–26 (12.28). Fear, respectful reverence, not intimidation (see Job 28.28; Prov 1.7). 11: The manifestation of a god (“theophany”) was often associated with disturbances of nature in Ugaritic (Canaanite) literature. This motif was taken over by Israelite writers and applied to God (Ex 19.16–19; 20.21; Pss 18.7–15; 29.3–9). 12: Form (also vv. 15–16,23,25), directly alluding to the Decalogue’s prohibition against making idols in 5.8 (=Ex 20.4). 13: A subtle reinterpretation of Sinai: The specification of that event as one where God proclaimed ten commandments occurs only here, at 10.4, and at Ex 34.28. There is no special number of or name for the commandments (lit., “words”) in Ex 19–20 or Deut 5. The rationale for two stone tablets (as at 5.22) derives from ancient Near Eastern treaties, whereby both sovereign and vassal would retain a separate complete copy of the treaty. 15–31: Reinterpretation of the commands regarding idol worship in 5.8–10. The Decalogue concedes the existence of other gods, while prohibiting Israel from worshiping them (5.7; cf. 32.8; Ex 15.11; Ps 82.1). It then separately prohibits the making of images (5.8). The distinction between those two commandments is dissolved here. The existence of other gods is no longer conceivable; the sole focus is the prohibition against idols. Here and elsewhere (see v. 19n.) key ideas in Deuteronomy are reinterpreted from a later theological perspective; such passages therefore represent a later textual layer that dates to the exilic period. 16b–19a: This catalogue follows the order of creation in Gen 1 in reverse order, consistent with ancient scribal practice when quoting an earlier text. 18: Water under the earth, seas, rivers, and lakes. Ancient cosmology conceived the earth to be a disk floating on such waters (cf. Gen 1.9). 19: Sun … host of heaven may reflect images derived from foreign forms of worship brought into the Jerusalem Temple by Manasseh but removed by Josiah (2 Kings 21.5; 23.4–5; Jer 8.2). The idea of idols or of celestial phenomena literally being worshiped sharply distorts ancient Near Eastern religion, which regarded such phenomena as visible manifestations or emblems of a deity, not as themselves divine. This polemic, with the idea that God allotted the celestial phenomena to other nations while reserving Israel as “his very own possession” (v. 20; cf. 7.6n), reinterprets the earlier idea that God, as head of the pantheon, assigned other nations to the supervision of lesser gods but retained Israel as “the Lord’s own portion,” “his allotted share” (see 32.8–9 and 32.9n). The author deanimates those gods, reducing them to lifeless celestial objects. 21: See 1.37n. 26: Heaven … witness, similarly, 30.19; 31.28; 32.1; Isa 1.2; 44.23; Pss 69.34; 96.11. 27–28: These verses allude to the exile of conquered populations, a policy used effectively by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. 32–40: Continuation of the double focus on the uniqueness of God’s revelation to Israel and of the covenant he made with the nation. Several passages fit best in the historical context of the Babylonian exile (see v. 35n.). 33: Alludes to the normal expectation that no human can look directly upon God and survive (Gen 16.13; 32.30; Ex 3.6; 19.21; 33.20). 34: Attempted, better, “ventured” (as at 28.56). Trials … wonders refers to the signs performed by Moses and Aaron in Egypt, including the plagues, to persuade Pharaoh to release Israel (Ex 7.3; 8.23; 10.1–2; 11.9–10). 35: There is no other, this affirmation of full monotheism (contrast v. 7; 5.7) corresponds to the thought of the exilic Second Isaiah (Isa 43.10–13; 44.6–8; 45.6–7,22).

4.41–43: An appendix. The cities of refuge to be established in Transjordan. Since the law concerned with these cities (ch 19) does not refer to this passage, these verses are most likely an editorial appendix composed after the completion of ch 19 (cf. Num 35.9–15; Josh 20.8). Similar disconnected appendixes often appear in the Bible at the conclusion of longer literary units (e.g., Lev 27), suggesting that Deut 1.1–4.43 as a whole was added to 4.44–49.

4.44–28.68: The second discourse of Moses.  

4.44–49: Introduction. Cf. 1.1–5. 49: Sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea.

5.1–33: The revelation of the Decalogue at Sinai/Horeb. Ostensibly a retelling of Ex 19–20, this version introduces significant changes in both detail and theology. The central idea is that God publicly reveals the law to the entire nation across boundaries of gender, ethnicity, and class. Near Eastern legal collections, in contrast, were attributed to a human monarch and were concerned to preserve class distinctions. Moreover, a deity disclosing himself to an entire nation was unprecedented. The Decalogue has God address each Israelite individually using a singular form of “you,” rather than the expected plural form. In contrast to Near Eastern law, the prohibitions are universal and absolute: the aim of the law is to transform society by creating a moral community in which murder, theft, etc. will no longer exist. Obedience to God’s will (vv. 6–16) demands active respect for the integrity of the neighbor (vv. 17–21). The editing drives home the point that there is no access to God or revelation without mediation and interpretation (vv. 5,28–32), preserving two mutually independent viewpoints about whether God spoke directly to the people (v. 4) or only through the mediation of Moses (v. 5n.). Similarly, the editing retains a debate about the terror involved in hearing directly the divine voice (vv. 24–25).

5.1–5: Making the past present. 3: Not with our ancestors … but with us, inconsistent with the earlier emphasis that the generation who experienced these events has now died off (2.14–15). The aim is to overcome the limits of historical time and place through participation in the covenant, which makes revelation “present” (see 4.9n.; 11.2; 29.14–15n.). Our ancestors may refer either to the Exodus generation (2.14–15n.) or to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (1.11n.). 5: NRSV suggests that the first sentence serves to clarify v. 4. More likely, the statement presents an alternative perspective inconsistent with v. 4. I was standing between … you, contrast “face to face” (v. 4). You … did not go up the mountain, contradicting v. 4, “with you … at the mountain.” And he said, in Hebrew, the original transition from the end of v. 4 directly to the Decalogue.

5.6–21: The Decalogue. This version differs at several points from that in Ex 20.2–17. 7–10: See 4.15–31n. 9: Punishment for sins against God extends across three generations. This principle of vicarious punishment contrasts sharply with the Israelite norm for civil and criminal law, which restricts punishment to the agent alone (24.16). Later layers of tradition challenged this theological principle of divine justice (see 7.10n.; Jer 31.29–30; Ezek 18). 10: Steadfast love or “grace” (Heb “ḥesed”), loyalty of action as an expectation of the covenant (2 Sam 7.15; Hos 6.6). Who love me, technical language of Near Eastern treaties, where “love” refers to the loyalty of action that the vassal owes the sovereign. 11: The intent is to prohibit careless use of the divine name in the context of swearing an oath (“May God do X to me unless I do Y”); such oaths were viewed as legally binding (see Judg 11.29–40). 12: Observe, contrast Ex 20.8 (“Remember”). 14: The law equally benefits slaves and nonIsraelites (1.16n.; 15.15; 16.11; 24.17). 15: Contrast the rationale provided for the sabbath at Ex 20.11, where it is associated with the creation of the world. Here it is associated with the origin of Israel as a people. Here also, as elsewhere, Deuteronomy emphasizes the Exodus as a central motivation for religious and social practices. 16: As … commanded you, the ostensible precise repetition of the Decalogue here diverges from the original (Ex 20.12) by shifting to the perspective of Moses as speaker, whose annotation is now included in the revelation. 17: Murder is correct; text note b is an inaccurate translation (“kill,” as a global prohibition). 18: The absolute prohibition of adultery transforms it from the breach of the contractual rights of the woman’s husband into an offense against both God and the larger community. Near Eastern law normally granted the husband the sole right of deciding whether to execute or otherwise punish the wife for adultery (see Laws of Hammurabi §129). Biblical law here removes the wife from the disposal of the husband and grants her the status of legal person (see 22.22n.). 21: Wife … house, contrast the sequence of Ex 20.17. 22: Two … tablets, see 4.13n.

5.22–33: Moses as mediator. While the Decalogue was given directly to the people (v. 4; 4.10–13), the rest of the laws were mediated to the people by Moses, at their plea (v. 27; 4.14). 23–27: 4.33; cf. Ex 20.18–21. 24–25: An awkward juxtaposition; v. 24 may be an insertion reflecting 4.33. The people’s anxiety explains the request that Moses serve as mediator. 28–31: The idea that Moses mediates between God and the people will be used in two ways: to justify the laws that Moses subsequently propounds as revelation (chs 12–26) and to justify the institution of prophecy (18.15–22).

6.1–11.32: Preamble to the laws: the requirement of loyalty to God. A sermonic preamble to the laws of chs 12–26. 6.1–3: An introduction to this separate literary unit, stressing the rewards of obedience to the covenant. 1: The commandment … occupy, the Hebrew is nearly identical to 5.31. The precise repetition of terminology legitimates the entire second discourse—both the commandment (chs 6–11) and the statutes and the ordinances (the legal corpus of chs 12–26; see 12.1)—as originating in direct divine revelation from God on Horeb (5.31). The Book of the Covenant (Ex 21–23), with its “ordinances” (Ex 21.1), and the “statutes and the ordinances” of Deuteronomic law (6.1; 12.1), now in implicit tension, are independently presented as God’s words to Moses on the mountain immediately following the Decalogue (Ex 20.21; 24.3,12). 2: Fear, see 4.10n. 4–25: A sermon on the opening verses of the Decalogue in 5.6–10, incorporating direct allusions to them: vv. 4 and 14 refer to 5.7; vv. 12,21,23 refer to 5.6; v. 15 (“jealous God”) refers to 5.9; vv. 5,17 refer to 5.10. 4–9: In Jewish tradition these verses begin the important prayer known as the Shema (“Hear!”). 4–5: This “first” commandment (Mk 12.29–30) restates the Decalogue’s prohibitions in 5.6–7 in positive form. Hear, O Israel (5.1; 9.1; 20.3; 27.9), an imperative modeled on a wisdom teacher’s call for attention (Prov 1.8; 4.1,10; 5.7; 7.24; 23.19). The Lord … alone, as text note a indicates, the Hebrew is difficult; the translation selected makes most sense historically. The focus is not on God’s nature in the abstract but on the quality of Israel’s relationship to God. The proclamation, like 5.7, does not deny the existence of other gods but is concerned with the exclusivity of Israel’s loyalty to God (as in ch 13). This perspective is universalized in later prophecy (Zech 14.9). 5: Love, see 5.10n. The paradox of commanding a feeling (as in Lev 19.17–18) is resolved with the recognition that covenantal “love” is not private emotion but loyalty of action toward both deity and neighbor (see 5.1–33n.). 7: At home … away, using paired opposites, possibly as a merism (28.3–6n.) to indicate totality: One should talk about the commandments at all times. 8: Bind them, based on the wisdom teacher’s symbolically urging his students to focus on the lesson (Prov 3.3; 6.21; 7.3). Taken literally, this law provides the basis for the Jewish practice of binding phylacteries (Heb “tefillin,” an Aramaic plural form), containing selected texts from the Torah, upon the arm and forehead. 9: Doorposts, important transitional spaces in which religious‐legal ceremonies were performed and where divine images might be stored (see Ex 12.721–23; 21.6; Isa 57.8). Perhaps partially reacting against a formerly magical background, this law devotes that space to the teaching of Moses. The law provides the basis for the Jewish convention of placing a small box containing this and related texts upon the upper portion of the right doorpost (Heb “mezuzah”). 10–11: The list, land … houses … cisterns … olive groves (cf. Josh 24.13; Neh 9.24–25), defines the elements of a society established in its land. Israel is about to both inherit its land and become an established society. 12: The threat of forgetting and the risk of apostasy are repeatedly stressed (4.9–14n.; 8.11–20; 32.18; cf. 5.29; Hos 2.5–13). 16: Test … Massah, for the incident and the Hebrew pun, see Ex 17.2–7; see also Mt 4.7. 20: The Jewish Passover text (“Haggadah”) includes this and similar didactic questions (Ex 12.21–27; 13.1–10,11–16). 22: See 4.34n.

7.1–10.11: Risks to covenantal fidelity upon entry to the land. The first risk is that Israel enters an already inhabited land, whose greater population and different religious practices it must confront (ch 7). Thereafter, successful habitation carries its own risks of complacency and loss of historical memory (ch 8).

7.1–26: The war of conquest. Two topics are treated: the command to destroy the original occupants of Canaan (vv. 1–3,6,17–24); and the command not to worship their gods (vv. 4–5,7–15,25–26). The two themes are joined at v. 16. 1: An after‐the‐fact literary compilation more than a historical portrayal: The peoples included in the “table of nations” vary considerably (Gen 15.19–21; Ex 3.8,17; 13.5; 23.23; 33.2; 34.11; Deut 20.17; Josh 3.10; 9.1; 11.3; 12.8; 24.11; Judg 3.5; 1 Kings 9.20; Ezra 9.1; Neh 9.8; 2 Chr 8.7). Hittites (Gen 23.10; 25.9; 49.29–30; 50.13; Num 13.29; etc.), the Hittite Empire (ca. 1700–1200 bce) in fact flourished not in Canaan but in Anatolia, in central Turkey. The Jebusites, according to the Bible the pre‐Israelite inhabitants of Jerusalem, retained control of the city until conquered by David several centuries after the conquest (2 Sam 5.6–7). The latter narrative implies the nonimplementation of this law. The ideal number seven, which signifies completion or totality (28.7; Gen 1; the plague list of Pss 78.44–51 and 105.28–36 in contrast to Ex 7–12), suggests that the enumeration may be artificial. 2: This requirement for destruction is anomalous: Earlier sources contemplate only expulsion (Ex 23.23–33; cf. 34.11). The definition and requirements of the “ban” (Heb “ḥerem”) vary considerably throughout the Bible: total destruction of people and property (here; 13.15–17; 20.16–17; 1 Sam 15.3); sparing of property (2.34–35; 3.6–7); sparing of women, children, and property (20.10–14). Finally, other narratives more realistically speak of the failure of conquest except in limited areas and the use of conquered populations for labor (Josh 15–17; Judg 1; 3.1–6). These factors suggest that the law of the ban is an anachronistic literary formulation. It first arose centuries after the settlement; it was never implemented because there was no population extant against whom it could be implemented. Its polemic in favor of religious purity is directed at internal issues of religious purity in postexilic Judah. Often the authors of Deuteronomy stigmatize as “Canaanite” older forms of Israelite religion that they no longer accept (see v. 5n.; 16.22n.; 18.9–14n.). Utterly destroy, or “place under the ban,” or “devote,” namely set aside for divine use and denied to humans. The war of conquest, as a holy war, should not be one where the individual profits through plunder (see 12.29–31n.; 13.15–17n.; 20.1–20n.; Josh 7). The law addresses apostasy as opposed to ethnicity; it is directed against apostate Israelites in 8.20; 13.15–17. 3: This prohibition against intermarriage does not fit easily after v. 2, suggesting several layers of editing. It is also inconsistent with 21.10–14, which seems to reflect a more original policy. 5: See Ex 34.13n. Pillars, stone monuments that marked places where God appeared and were thus originally legitimate in worship (Gen 35.14; Ex 24.4; Hos 3.4). Only subsequently were they prohibited as alien (Ex 23.24; 34.13; Lev 26.1; Deut 12.3; 16.22; 2 Kings 18.4). Sacred poles, or, with text note a, Asherim. The singular, “Asherah,” preserves the name of an important Canaanite goddess (1 Kings 18.19) known from Ugarit. Archaeological evidence suggests this goddess may also have been popular in Israel. Here the word designates merely a tree or wooden pole (16.21; Judg 6.25–26,28). 6–16: The meaning of Israel’s covenantal relationship to God. 6: For suggests that the verse (also 14.2) originally continued v. 3, since it provides the rationale for total separation from the Canaanites, not for the destruction of their shrines. This verse summarizes Deuteronomy’s view of Israel’s relation to God. Holy, lit., “set aside as separate,” as is clear here. Chosen, the precondition of Israel’s elected status. His treasured possession (14.2; 26.18; Ex 19.5; Ps 135.4; Mal 3.17), designating Israel as the exclusive property of God; cf. 4.20n., where a different Heb word is used. Just as the monarch is entitled to private “treasure” not in the public domain (1 Chr 29.3), so does God single Israel out for a special relationship. 9–11: A discourse on verses 5.9–10 in the Decalogue that radically revises their meaning. The reuse of key phrases and inversion of the order of punishment and blessing in 5.9–10 mark the citation (see 4.16b–19a n.). 9: Covenant loyalty, NRSV translates the same word as “steadfast love” at 5.10 (see note). 10: In their own person, individually or personally. The repetition of the phrase, bracketing the key idea that God does not delay, highlights the rejection of vicarious punishment (5.9n.; Ex 34.7). Instead, the sermon argues for individual retribution, as in criminal law (24.16), while deleting any reference to the transmission of punishment across generations. 12–14: Natural fertility is here made contingent upon obedience to the covenant. 17–26: Israel need not fear more powerful nations since, according to the idea of the holy war, God “is present with you” in battle (v. 21; 6.15; cf. 20.1–4). These verses echo Ex 23.20–33. 20: Pestilence, see Ex 23.27–28; Josh 24.12. 22: Abbreviating Ex 23.29–30; contrast 9.3.

8.1–20: The temptation to pride and self‐sufficiency in the land. Moses warns the people that success in Canaan will tempt them to forget the wilderness lesson of complete dependence upon God. 1–10: An appeal to Israel’s memory: In the wilderness God sustained the people daily (Ex 12.37–17.16; Num 11–14). 3: Manna, see Ex 16; Num 11.7–8. 5: Suffering is here interpreted as discipline, as in a parent’s correction of a child (Hos 11); this metaphor reflects the influence of wisdom literature (see Prov 3.11–12; cf. 1.13n.; 4.2n.; 4.5–8n.; 4.10n.; 6.4n.; 11.2).

8.11–20: The peril of prosperity. 11: A bold equation between the Lord and the legal corpus (his commandments … ordinances … statutes … today). Disobedience of Deuteronomy’s laws becomes tantamount to forgetting God and transgressing the Decalogue’s prohibitions in 5.7–9 (see v. 19n.). 15: Poisonous snakes, Num 21.6–9. Water … from flint rock, Ex 17.1–7; Num 20.2–13; Ps 114.8. 16: Manna, see v. 3n. 19: Other gods … serve … worship, citing 5.7,9. Worship, translated “bow down to” at 5.9. 20: Like the nations, here Israel is itself placed under the ban if it commits apostasy (see 7.1–26n.). Destroying … perish, in Hebrew, the same word is repeated to underscore the precise “measure for measure” nature of the punishment. Israel’s election (7.6n.) grants no exemption from upholding the law. Rightful habitation in the promised land, like its fertility (7.12–14n.), depends upon covenantal obedience, not ethnic identity (7.2n.).

9.1–10.11: The already broken and renewed covenant. God does not give the land to the people as a reward for righteousness, for in the wilderness they acted rebelliously. 9.2: See 1.28n.; 2.10. 4–5: Victory will be given in the holy war because Canaan has been irrevocably corrupted by the actions of its present occupants and because of God’s enduring commitment to the promises made to Israel’s ancestors. 6–24: Historical traditions show that Israel has been rebellious since the Exodus (Ezek 20.5–8; contrast Hos 2.14–20; Jer 2.2–3). 8–10: Ex 24.12–18; 31.18. 11–21: Ex 32, revised. 17: Smashing them, not in simple anger but reflecting a legal ceremony to confirm breach of treaty (Ex 32.19). 22: Num 11.1–3; Ex 17.1–7; Num 11.31–34. 23: Num 13–14. 25–29: A paraphrase of Ex 32.11–14. Deuteronomy portrays Moses as the ideal prophet (34.10–12); he intercedes for the people and suffers because of them (1.37n.; cf. Isa 53).

10.1–11: The second ascent of the mountain (cf. Ex 34.1–4,27–28). 1–3: These verses reflect a tradition that Moses made the ark and put the stone tablets in it (1 Kings 8.9); it is fundamentally different from the Priestly tradition with its gold‐covered ark (Ex 25.10–12). 3: Acacia, an insect‐resistant hardwood found in arid regions. 6–9: An editorial insertion concerning Levites, the Ark and other levitical matters; vv. 6–7 seem to quote a wilderness itinerary from the Priestly literature (cf. Num 33.30–38). 6: Num 20.22–29. 8: Ex 32.25–29. The Levites’ role is to bear the ark (Num 4.4–15), to minister, i.e., conduct the sacrificial services (Num 18), and to bless the people (Num 6.22–27). 9: See 12.12n.; 18.2n.

10.12–11.32: Obedience as the condition for prosperity in the land. This section provides the climax and conclusion of the historical review in 8.1–10.11. 10.12–13: Earlier, breach of the Decalogue prohibitions in 5.7–9, which focus specifically on God, had been redefined and equated with “failing to keep his commandments … ordinances … and … statutes” (8.11n.). Now obedience to God is similarly redefined as compliance with the fixed commandments … and … decrees (v. 13) of Deuteronomy, i.e., the laws of chs 12–26 (see 28.15,45). For a similar catechism that does not extend the traditional focus upon God to law, see Mic 6.8. And to keep (lit., “by keeping”) the precise antithesis of 8.11. The sequence love … keep … commandments cites 5.10. 16: Circumcise … the … heart means to open oneself to God (Lev 26.41); no distinction is intended between mind, will, and emotion. The metaphorical formulation, which challenges any attempt to reduce Deuteronomy to narrow “legalism,” corresponds to prophetic ideals (cf. Jer 4.4; 31.33). 17–18: Integrity in the administration of court justice (v. 17; cf. 1.17; 16.19) and protection of the marginalized (v. 18) are given a theological foundation, making the remarkable argument that human social ethics amounts to imitation of God. Responsibility for ensuring justice in court and for defending the marginalized were conventional royal prerogatives (Laws of Hammurabi prologue; Ps 72.4). Deuteronomy contemplates no such role for the monarch (17.14–20n.). Instead, it is God who protects the rights of the marginalized, entering history to do so (cf. Ex 3.7–10; Phil 2.6–7). Love of neighbor thus originates in divine action. 18–19: Strangers … stranger, better, the legal term “resident alien” in both cases. Just as justice must be rendered to Israelite and alien alike (see 1.16n.), so must “love” also include the resident alien (cf. Lev 19.33–34). 18: Loves … providing, note love’s concrete expression in action and service (see 5.10n.; 6.5n.). 19: For you were, see Ex 22.21; 23.9. 22: Seventy persons (Gen 46.27; Ex 1.5) comes first in the Hebrew, emphasizing Israel’s miraculous transformation into a nation. Stars in heaven, see 1.10n.

11.1–32: Loyalty to the covenant provides the condition for life in Canaan. The punishments and rewards noted in this section are predominantly addressed to a plural “you,” stressing communal rather than individual responsibility. 2: The frequent word today in Deuteronomy emphasizes the contemporaneity of the covenant (see 5.3n.). Discipline, see 8.5n. 4: See Ex 14. 6: The address is based upon the early tradition of the revolt of Dathan and Abiram (Num 16). There is no mention of Korah’s rebellion (Num 16.3–11), which was added to Num 16 by the Priestly school after this abstract was made. 10–12: Though the Nile provided sufficient water, the Nile valley had to be irrigated through human effort, since rainfall was minimal; Canaan’s crops are irrigated by seasonal rainfall. The difference is mentioned to stress Israel’s dependence upon God, who gives and withholds rain (Am 4.7–8), as well as the sanctity of the land of Israel (see 21.23). 14: The early rain ends the summer dry season (October‐November); the later rain comes in the spring (March‐April). 16–17: See 7.12–14n. 18–21: See 6.6–9. 24: Every place … yours, a legal ritual that effected transfer of title by pacing out the perimeter of the territory (Gen 13.17). The territory is described in terms of the ideal limits noted of biblical King David’s empire (see 1.7n.). The Western Sea, the Mediterranean. 26–32: The two ways (see ch 28; 30.15–20). 26: Curse, the sanctions for violating a treaty, which a vassal assumes in a sworn oath (see 28.15–68). 29–30: These verses represent an editorial intrusion, hinting ahead to ch 27. Previously, blessing … and the curse identify the benefits of covenantal obedience and the sanctions for breach of covenant (vv. 26–28; 28.2,15). That theme is the expected climax of this chapter. Here they are restricted to a series of positive and negative sayings shouted from mounts Gerizim and … Ebal, in anticipation of ch 27. Gerizim, on the south, and Ebal, on the north, flank the pass guarded by the city of Shechem in the central hill country. This geographic restriction fits poorly in a chapter otherwise directed to the entire land (vv. 22–25,31–32). 30: The oak of Moreh, at Shechem (see Gen 12.6). 31–32: Transition to the legal corpus. 32: Diligently observe … statutes and ordinances, cited in reverse order at 12.1 to effect the transition from the literary frame of Deuteronomy (chs 1–11) into the laws (chs 12–26).

12.1–26.15: The legal corpus: Deuteronomy’s transformation of earlier Israelite religion. Just as Deuteronomy provides a significant reinterpretation of earlier narrative traditions about the nation’s past (see 1.19–46n; 4.1–40n; 5.1–33n; 7.9–11n; etc.), so does it here advance a major new understanding of the nation’s religious requirements and legal traditions.

12.1–32: Centralization and purification of worship. Restriction of sacrificial worship of God to a single sanctuary and removal of foreign influence represent two of the most distinctive features of Deuteronomy’s idea of religion and law. Four sections of the text (vv. 2–7,8–12,13–19,20–28) command centralization; a fifth (vv. 29–31) warns against alien worship. 1: An editorial superscription. Earth, more accurately, “land (of Israel).” 2–7: Israel must reject the Canaanite precedent of multiple sanctuaries. 2: You, The chapter alternates between plural (vv. 1–12) and singular (vv. 13–31), which, combined with six repetitions of the centralization command (vv. 5,11,14,18,21,26), suggests a long compositional history. Demolish, see Ex 23.23–24; 34.11–14; Deut 7.5. Heights … leafy tree, Canaanite sanctuaries, “high places” (1 Kings 3.2; 2 Kings 16.4), but used to worship God as well (1 Kings 3.4). 3: See 7.5n. 5: The place that the Lord … will choose, biblical narrative reflects a tradition in which Jerusalem played no role in Israel’s history until the period of King David. Consequently the city cannot be named explicitly without undermining the literary form of Deuteronomy as an address by Moses. As his habitation, better, “to establish it” (the divine name), indicating possession and special relationship. Put his name there, Deuteronomy rejects the idea that a nation’s God would inhabit the Temple (contrast 1 Kings 8.12–13). 6: Burnt offerings, in which all of the flesh was burned on the altar (v. 27; cf. the Priestly sacrificial laws in Lev 1.3–17). Sacrifices, other offerings where portions of the animal were assigned to the priests or shared by worshipers (v. 27; 18.1–3; cf. Priestly law in Lev 3; 7.29–36). 8–12: That worship at multiple sanctuaries was to have limited temporal validity differs from Ex 20.24. 8: Our own desires, a negative judgment, as in Judg 17.6; 21.25. 9–10: Rest and … possession, territorial security (Josh 21.44) would allow centralization. In the biblical account, this was fulfilled with David’s conquest of Jerusalem, which allowed the construction of the Temple (2 Sam 7.1,11; 1 Kings 8.56). 12: Since the Levites were not assigned land (see Josh 13.14; cf. Ezek 44.28), they had to depend upon voluntary offerings (see 10.9; 18.1–2). 13–19: The earliest of the chapter’s five sections is concentrically arranged in a chiasm to structure diverse material in an ABC:C’B’A’ pattern.

A Take care that (13)

B but only (Heb “ki ʾim”) + centralization (14)

C yet (“raq”) + secular slaughter (15)

C′ but (“raq”) + secular slaughter (16)

B′ rather (“ki ʾim” [untranslated in NRSV]) + centralization (18)

A′ Take care that (19)

13–16: Two important, revolutionary distinctions: First, between sacrificial worship at random sites, any place, rejected as illegitimate, and legitimate sacrifice performed at a single sanctuary, the place that the Lord will choose. This contrasts with previous norms, when altars were common throughout the land (Gen 12.7; 35.1–7; 1 Sam 3.1; 7.17; 1 Kings 18.20–46). Second, between ritual sacrifice and secular slaughter of domestic animals for food. According to the biblical account, prior to Deuteronomy all slaughter, even for food, was sacrificial and took place at an altar. With altars throughout the land, that rule imposed no burden upon Israelites. The prohibition of all local altars, however, created a real difficulty for those without easy access to the central sanctuary. The permission granted here for local, secular slaughter answers that need. By analogy to the rules for hunting wild game (gazelle or deer), domestic animals may be slaughtered throughout the land, on condition that their blood is poured out on the ground like water (cf. Lev 17.13). Blood symbolizes “life” (v. 23; 15.23; Gen 9.4–5; Lev 17.14; 19.26). 17: Tithe, see 14.22–29n. 20–28: Permission for secular slaughter is now justified by the expansion of Israel’s boundaries. 30: Elsewhere, the corruption of Israelite religion is presented as resulting from the attractions of marital contract (7.1–5,25) or political treaty (Ex 23.33; 34.12). 31: Burn their sons and their daughters, the Canaanites are accused of child sacrifice (see 2 Kings 3.27; 23.10; Jer 19.5–6; ch 31), elsewhere associated with the deity Molech (Lev 18.21; 20.2–5). 32: An exhortation to preserve the law unchanged. Diligently observe, the same idiom found at 12.1 (also 11.32) frames the unit with an inclusio. Do not add to it or take anything from it, an ancient Near Eastern scribal formula often included in the epilogues of treaties, inscriptions, and law collections to protect them from being defaced, altered, or written over (see 4.2n.).

13.1–18: Unconditional loyalty to God. Various hypothetical situations involving conflict of covenant loyalty to God, treated analogously to ancient Near Eastern suzerainty treaties, which stipulated absolute loyalty. 1–5: A prophet or diviner invites listeners to commit idolatry. While Deuteronomy presents Moses as the founder of Israelite prophecy, establishing both its standard (18.15–22) and its pinnacle (34.10–12), Deuteronomy nonetheless regulates prophecy, requiring the execution of the prophet who contravenes Deuteronomy’s teaching (vv. 1–5; 18.19–22) and subordinating prophecy to covenantal law. No longer is the power to perform signs the test of a prophet’s legitimacy (contrast v. 2 with 34.11–12; Ex 4.1–9,21; 1 Kings 18.20–40). 1: The religious stature of prophets makes it difficult to resist their incitement to commit apostasy. Dreams, the two sources of religious authority correspond to the nearly contemporary Neo‐Assyrian Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon (672 bce), which require loyalty even in the face of conspiracy from “your brothers, your sons, your daughters, or from the mouth of a prophet, an ecstatic, or an inquirer of oracles” (VTE §10). Omens or portents were used by legitimate prophets to authenticate their proclamations (34.11; Ex 4.1–9,21; 7.9; Judg 6.17). 5: Treason, as betrayal of the divine suzerain. Purge the evil from your midst, a formula emphasizing the obligation to eliminate particularly offensive religious transgressions. These are strong terms of condemnation, found only in Deuteronomy (see, e.g.. 17.7,12; 19.19; 21.21; etc.). 6–11: Conflict between family love, marriage, or friendship, and covenantal fidelity (cf. Lk 14.26). 6: Secretly, with no witnesses. Father’s son, this addition of the half‐brother (see text note a) provides a poor reading. The Heb deliberately selects the most intimate of human relations in this verse; thus the full brother (mother’s son). 9: But you shall surely kill them, i.e., summary execution. The absence of witnesses and a trial conflicts with Deuteronomy’s requirements elsewhere (17.4,6; 19.15), but arises from the grave threat to the covenant (Ex 32.25–27; Num 25.6–9). 10: Stone, the penalty carried out by the community for violations of its fundamental values or sources of authority: apostasy or treason (see 17.2–7; Lev 20.2; Josh 7.10–26; 1 Kings 21.8–14), blasphemy (Lev 24.13–23), defying parental authority (21.18–21; 22.20–21), and betraying marriage (22.23–24). Each is prohibited by the Decalogue (5.6,11,16,18). 13: Scoundrels, lit., “sons of worthlessness,” or “children of Belial” (KJV). 15–17: The infidelity of the Israelite town requires that its entire population be placed under the same ban as that used for the Canaanites (7.1–6,25–26; 12.29–30; 20.16–18). 16: Normally, new occupants would rebuild cities after destruction right on top of the ruin (Heb “tel”).

14.1–29: The obligations of holiness. 1–22: Special status entails special obligations, one of which is dietary. The affirmation of holiness (vv. 2,21) therefore frames the list of permitted and prohibited foods. 1: Children of the Lord, the first of three metaphors to emphasize the special relation between God and Israel. The divine parent has special custody for the child (Ex 4.22–23; Hos 1.10) but, equally, special indignation at wrongdoing (32.5–6,19–20; Isa 1.2). Lacerate … shave … dead, many scholars associate these practices with foreign religion. However, laceration and head shaving, common mourning rituals, were more likely associated with ancestor worship or cults of the dead, an aspect of Israelite family religion (Lev 19.27–28; 1 Kings 18.28; Jer 16.6–7; 41.4–5; 47.5; Am 8.10). 2: Holy, Israel must distinguish itself from other nations by observing special requirements. Treasured possession, see 7.6n. 3–21: Deuteronomy’s dietary restrictions differ from the more detailed list of permitted and prohibited foods provided by the Priestly source (Lev 11.2–23). A binary classification system, permitted vs. forbidden, is systematically applied to each of the three basic divisions of species within creation (Gen 1.20–25; 9.2–3), which are grouped according to their habitat as creatures of the land (vv. 1–8), water (vv. 9–10), and air (vv. 11–20). Animals that do not satisfy the defining characteristics for their group are not to be eaten: the pig (v. 8) and shellfish (v. 10). The terms unclean (v. 8) and clean (v. 11) do not refer to hygiene; ritually “impure” and “pure” are better translations. Not all of the species mentioned can be identified. 21: Anything that dies of itself, carrion (Ex 22.31) or any animal not slaughtered so that the blood can be drained (12.16,23–25). Boil a kid, Deuteronomy extends an older law specifically connected to the pilgrimage festival offerings (Ex 23.19; 34.26) into a general dietary rule. Some scholars view it as directed against Canaanite religious rituals, others as concerned to prevent the abuse of animals. 22–29: An annual tithe of ten percent of crops and livestock was a common tax or honorarium paid to a monarch (Gen 14.20; 28.22; 1 Sam 8.15,17). Here the rule signifies that Israel is God’s steward, working but not owning the land; see Lev 25.23. 23: The standard rules of the tithe (Lev 27.30–33; Num 18.21–32; cf. Ex 22.30) are revised to direct offerings to the single sanctuary (12.17). You shall eat, whereas Deuteronomy assigns the tithe to the landholder, Lev 27.30 assigns it to the sanctuary and Num 18.21 to the Levites. 24–25: In light of centralization, the sanctified crops (designated for the sanctuary) may be converted into money (better “silver,” see 2.6n.), to facilitate the journey. That “firstlings” (v. 23) may also be sold for silver is at variance with Lev 27.32. Too far, as in 12.21. 27: Levites, see 12.12n. 28–29: One out of every three years the tithe law is shifted away from the central sanctuary to focus on the needs of the disadvantaged and the marginalized in the local community, to ensure they too may eat their fill.

15.1–18: Remission of debts (vv. 1–11) and manumission of slaves (vv. 12–18). On accession to the throne, ancient Near Eastern rulers would sometimes grant one‐time cancellation of debts, return land confiscated by the crown, and free indentured slaves. That custom, Akkadian duraru, is reflected in the Heb deror, jubilee, or release, of Lev 25.10; Isa 61.1; Jer 34.15,17. Deuteronomy’s conception of the covenant between Israel and God entails a similar fresh start as a covenantal obligation that recurs every seven years, adjusting earlier laws in the Book of the Covenant (Ex 21–23) to the innovation of centralization of worship. The sequence reflects increasingly severe stages of financial distress: from debt to indentured servitude, an ancient form of bankruptcy (see Lev 25.13–55 for a similar sequence).

15.1–6: Cancellation of debts. 1: Seventh year, this law presupposes Ex 23.10–11, which stipulates that agricultural land should be permitted to lie fallow each “seventh year.” 2: Remission, the same verb in Ex 23.11, “lie fallow,” now means cancellation of debts. 3: In not canceling debts of foreigners, the legislator makes a concession to the pragmatic concerns of the creditor (cf. Ex 22.25). 4: There will … be no one in need, or, “no poor.” This contrasts with the pragmatism of v. 7.

15.7–11: An appeal to conscience, anticipating the problem of implementing and enforcing such a law. 9: Cry … guilt, the law has no judicial penalty or sanction (similarly, 24.15; Ex 22.23–24).

15.12–18: Manumission. This adjusts the older laws regulating male (Ex 21.2–6) and female (Ex 21.7–11) slaves in four ways: (1) A single law applies to both sexes, abrogating the older law (contrast v. 17b with Ex 21.7b); (2) the ceremony where the slave relinquishes freedom is secularized (vv. 16–17), so that it now takes place at the house rather than at a local sanctuary (Ex 21.6); (3) the master must now grant the slave a gift (vv. 13–14; contrast Ex 21.2); (4) by conjoining the Book of the Covenant’s manumission (Ex 21.2–6) and land sabbatical (Ex 23.10–11) laws, Deuteronomy creates a single year of release and transforms manumission, formerly based in the individual household, into a year of universal liberty. The delay of manumission from every seventh to every fiftieth year in Lev 25.39–44 may reflect the difficulty of implementing this idealistic law. 12: Hebrew, see Ex 21.2n. Is sold or “sells himself” (see text note a); a court might require a thief, unable to repay a theft, to indenture his labor as compensation (Ex 22.1–4); or, overcome by debt, a poor person might assign his labor to repay a loan (Lev 25.39–44). 14–15: The gift provided the manumitted slave recalls and reenacts the nation’s own manumission by God from slavery in Egypt. 18: Like vv. 8–10, an appeal to conscience that anticipates the difficulty of enforcing a law that lacks judicial sanction.

15.19–23: Sacrifice: Older convention required that each firstborn male domestic animal be offered as a sacrifice to God at one of the local sanctuaries (Ex 13.1–2,11–16; 22.29–30; 34.19–20). The author now adjusts that law to the new one stipulating a single sanctuary. 19: Not do work, thereby reserving the animal for God. 20: In the presence of the Lord, at the central sanctuary in Jerusalem. 21–23: Blemished firstborn livestock may not be taken to the central sanctuary; instead they should be slaughtered locally, following the requirements for secular slaughter (12.15–16,21–25).

16.1–17: The festival calendar. Previously, each male Israelite was commanded to undertake three pilgrimages to “appear before the Lord”: to make an offering at one of the multiple local sanctuaries (v. 16; cf. Ex 23.14–18). These occasions, which Deuteronomy redirects to the central sanctuary, were called “pilgrimage festivals.” The three festivals were unleavened bread (Heb “matsot”), harvest, and ingathering (Ex 23.14–17; 34.18,23). Deuteronomy renames the latter two “weeks” (Heb “shavu˓ot,” v. 10) and “booths” (Heb “sukkot,” v. 13), their current names. 1–8: Passover, as originally described in the Exodus narrative, was a separate, family observance (Ex 12.1–13,21–23), involving a nighttime slaughter of a sheep or goat in the doorway of the house, where the blood was smeared to mark the house as Israelite. Deuteronomy’s centralization of worship necessitated the redirection of the paschal slaughter to the central sanctuary (vv. 2,6–7). The older blood ritual then merges with the festival of unleavened bread, also celebrated in early spring. In contrast to Deuteronomy, the festivals of Passover and unleavened bread remain distinct in Lev 23.5–6; Num 28.16,17–25. 1: Abib (lit., “new ear” of grain), in early spring, when ears of barley, the first crop, began to ripen (Ex 13.4; 23.15; 34.18). Originally the first month of the Hebrew calendar (Ex 12.2), later called “Nisan.” 2: From the flock and the herd, Ex 12.4–5,21 restricts the offering to the flock only. 3: For seven days, combining the seven‐day observance of the festival of unleavened bread (Ex 12.14–20; 23.15) and the one‐evening observance of Passover (vv. 1–3a,4b–7). 7: Cook, more accurately, “boil,” like other standard sacrifices (Ex 29.1; Lev 6.28; 8.31; Num 6.19; Zech 14.21). This provision conflicts with the stipulation that the paschal offering be “roasted over the fire,” not “boiled in water” (Ex 12.8–9). The two inconsistent requirements for preparing the Passover are harmonized at 2 Chr 35.13. 9–12: The festival of weeks (Heb “shavu˓ot”; Ex 34.22; Lev 23.15–16; Num 28.26), originally a “festival of harvest” (Ex 23.16) celebrated in June. In postbiblical Judaism, the festival came to be associated with the revelation at Mount Sinai (Ex 19–20); in the New Testament it is called Pentecost because it begins on the fiftieth day after Passover (Acts 2.1; 20.16; 1 Cor 16.8). 9: Begin to count … from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain, the seven weeks begin when the grain is ripe, delaying the celebration until the conclusion of the harvest. Lev 23.15 offers a slightly different date for this festival. 11: You and your sons and your daughters, the command to rejoice specifies the inclusion of women (as v. 14; 12.12,18). Slaves … widows, the marginalized and the disadvantaged are also included. Strangers, better, “resident aliens”; see 1.16n. 13–15: The festival of booths (Heb “sukkot”), originally the fall harvest festival, called “ingathering” (Ex 23.16; 34.22; cf. Lev 23.33–43). 16–17: The formulaic summary reuses the conclusion of the older festival calendar in the Book of the Covenant (Ex 23.17). Two elements, however, reflect older assumptions inconsistent with the rest of this chapter: Passover (vv. 1–8) is not mentioned, and the pilgrimage requirement is directed to all your males (as Ex 23.17).

16.18–18.22: Laws of public officials. The proposed government has judicial, executive, and religious branches: local and central courts (16.18–17.13), kingship (17.14–20), levitical priesthood (18.1–8), and prophecy (18.9–22). Each relates to the others and is subordinated to the authority of the word of God, the teaching of Deuteronomy. Even institutions that might claim absolute authority, such as king or prophet, are integrated into a comprehensive vision. The continual concern with centralization of worship connects this section with the preceding legislation on the sacrificial system. The ritual laws (16.21–17.1) seem to intrude between two paragraphs each concerned with justice (16.18–20; 17.2–7), but the repetition provides a transition into the new section, while establishing the underlying unity of both areas of community life: (A) worship (12.1–16.17); (B) justice (16.18–20); (A′) worship (16.21–17.1); (B′) justice (17.2–7,8–13).

16.18–17.13: The organization of justice. 16.18–20: Deuteronomy here establishes a professionalized local judiciary. 18: Towns (lit., “gates”), the local sphere (12.15,17,21; 16.5), as distinguished from the central sanctuary; also the traditional place where the village elders dispensed justice (Job 29.7; Ruth 4.1,11; Lam 5.14). By leaving the elders unmentioned, Deuteronomy contracts or eliminates their authority, though they are mentioned elsewhere (e.g., 19.12; 21.2; 22.15). 19: You must not distort justice, an admonition, quoting Ex 23.6a (where the same verb is translated “pervert”). For a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, the older law in Ex 23.8, whose reference to “those with sight” (NRSV’s “officials” is not correct) is revised in light of Deuteronomy’s stress upon wisdom (see 1.13n., 34.9n.).

16.21–17.1: Prohibitions against Canaanite cultic objects (7.5; 12.3; Ex 34.13). 16.21–22: See 7.5n. 17.1: See 15.21, here broadened into a general law of sacrifice.

17.2–7: Local justice. This law overlaps with 13.6–11, but is placed here because it deals with the procedures and jurisdiction of the local courts. The law grants the local courts maximum autonomy (see 16.8), provided that a trial is conducted according to rational standards that assure empirical proof. 2: A man or woman, the law views the woman as a legally responsible individual. The viewpoint in marriage and family law differs, however (see 22.13–29). 3: Contravening the Decalogue (5.8–9). 5: Stone to death, see 13.10n. 6: Two or three witnesses, the condition for establishing proof. The prohibition against execution on the basis of testimony by one witness is also found at 19.15–16; Num 35.30.

17.8–13: Justice at the central sanctuary. In the pre‐Deuteronomic period, legal cases in which there was an absence of physical evidence or of witnesses were remanded to the local sanctuary, where the parties to the dispute would swear a judicial oath at the altar (19.17; Ex 22.7–11; 1 Kings 8.31–32; note also Ex 21.6). These two laws (17.2–7,8–13) thus fill the judicial void created by Deuteronomy’s prohibition of the local sanctuaries (ch 12). Now, any case that requires recourse to the altar is remanded to the central sanctuary; all other cases, even capital ones, may be tried locally (vv. 2–7). 8: These cases must be referred to the central sanctuary because, in the absence of witnesses or evidence, local officials cannot make a ruling. Between one kind of bloodshed and another, namely murder and manslaughter (Ex 21.12–14; Num 35.16–23). In each pair, the distinction is between premeditated and unintentional offenses. 9: The tribunal at the sanctuary includes both priestly and lay members. The account of Jehoshaphat’s setting up tribunals throughout Judah composed of lay and clerical judges reflects this law (2 Chr 19.5–11).

17.14–20: The law of the king. Deuteronomy greatly restricts royal authority. Generally, Near Eastern monarchs promulgated law; here the monarch is subject to the law and required to read it daily (v. 19). Deuteronomy even denies the king his typical judicial role as court of last appeal (cf. Ps 72.1–4; 2 Sam 12.1–14; 14.1–24; 1 Kings 3.16–28). This law emphasizes what the king cannot do rather than what he may do. 14: Like all the nations, see 1 Sam 8.5,19–20. 16–18: The offenses parallel warnings against royal autocracy outlined at the very founding of the monarchy (1 Sam 8.10–18). They likely presuppose Solomon’s trade in horses (1 Kings 10.26–29) and his wealth (1 Kings 10.14–22). The Deuteronomistic Historian believed those marriages led to idolatry (1 Kings 11.9–13). A copy of this law, the Septuagint translates this phrase incorrectly as “this repetition of the law” (Gk “to deuteronomion touto”), the source of the book’s name. Like later traditional views, it sees Deuteronomy as a reprise of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, ignoring the extent to which it revises and challenges earlier law.

18.1–8: The levitical priesthood. Centralization also affected the Israelite priesthood. A “job description” (vv. 1–5) precedes discussion of this impact (vv. 6–8). 1: Levitical priests, the Deuteronomic conception differs from that of Priestly literature, which speaks of two distinct groups, “the priests” and “the Levites.” The Priestly source sees a hierarchy within the tribe of Levi between direct descendants of Aaron and the rest. Only the Aaronide priests officiate at the altar (Num 18.5,7) and receive the priestly share of the offerings (Num 18.8–20). The Levites serve the priests, and are prohibited from officiating (Num 18.3–4,6); they receive tithes and in turn tithe to the priests (Num 18.21–31). Here, in Deuteronomy, all within the tribe are levitical priests and both serve at the altar and receive sacrifices. 2: No inheritance, see 12.12n. The Lord is their inheritance, God grants them a share of the sacrificial offerings, making them dependent upon other Israelites for support. In contrast, the priest‐prophet Ezekiel allocates land to the priests and the Levites in his vision of the future restoration of Judah (Ezek 48.10–14). 5: Stand and minister, officiate at the altar. 6–8: When the local altars throughout the land are outlawed (12.8–12,13–15), the Levites serving there would be unemployed and, owning no land, would become destitute. Accordingly a Levite who leaves any of your towns … and comes to the central sanctuary in Jerusalem must be provided for (contrast 2 Kings 23.9). This emphasis underscores that the countryside altars were not entirely Canaanite sanctuaries (as 12.2–4 asserts). 8: Equal portions, the choice meats, grains, and oil assigned the tribe in vv. 3–4.

18.9–22: A prophet like Moses. 9–14: Just as the legal corpus prohibits sacrificial worship it condemns as Canaanite (12.1–4,29–31; also 7.1–6,25–26; Ex 23.24; 34.11–16), it prohibits forms of divination it brands as foreign and abhorrent. In each case it requires its own alternative: here, prophecy rather than divination. However, divination is not elsewhere typified as foreign (1 Sam 28.3–25; Isa 8.19–22; 29.4). Thus, describing the practice as foreign may actually cloak a condemnation of Israelite popular religion. 10: Pass through fire, child sacrifice (see 12.31n.), joined with divination for condemnation because each is “abhorrent” (v. 9). 10–11: Practices divination … seeks oracles from the dead, the most comprehensive compilation of such activities in the Bible (Ex 22.18; Lev 19.30–31; 20.6,27; Isa 8.19; Ezek 21.21). 11: Who consults ghosts or spirits … dead, necromancy or conjuring the dead (1 Sam 28.7–15; Isa 8.19–20; 29.4). As in many contemporary religions, family religion in antiquity devoted extensive attention to communicating with the dead, especially with ancestors. 12: Abhorrent, more commonly “abomination,” as at Lev 26.26–27,29. There is no claim that divination is ineffective; it is, however, illegitimate (see 1 Sam 28.7–25). 15–22: Deuteronomy transforms prophecy, viewing the prophet as the spokesperson of Torah (see 13.1–5n.) and defining Moses as the paradigmatic prophet. 15: The Lord … will raise up, prophecy by divine election. That God alone appoints the prophet makes the prophet independent of all institutions and able to challenge them. Yet the laws in vv. 20–22, which emphasize various cases in which the prophets are to be executed, also curb the power of prophets, especially their ability to undo the contents of Deuteronomy’s laws. More than one prophet is clearly intended. Like me, at Horeb (5.23–33), Moses established the model of prophecy as mediating God’s word to the people. Thus the prophet, like the king (17.15), should be from among your own people. 16–17: See 5.23–31; Ex 20.18–21. 18: Cf. Jer 1.9; the prophet’s oracles do not originate from other deities, from dead spirits, from skilled manipulation of objects, or from the prophet’s own reflections. 20–23: Having established an Israelite model of prophecy, the law provides two criteria to distinguish true from false prophecy. The first is that the prophet should speak exclusively on behalf of God, and report only God’s words. The second makes the fulfillment of a prophet’s oracle the measure of its truth (Jer 28.9). That approach attempts to solve a critical problem: If two prophets each claim to speak on behalf of God yet make mutually exclusive claims (1 Kings 22.6 versus v. 17; Jer 27.8 versus 28.2), how may one decide which speaks the truth? The solution offered is not free of difficulty. If a false prophet is distinguished by the failure of his oracle to come true, then making a decision in the present about which prophet to obey becomes impossible. Nor can this criterion easily be reconciled with 13.2, which concedes that the oracles of false prophets might come true.

19.1–14: Cities of refuge (see 4.41–43n.). Sanctuary for those who killed unintentionally shielded them from revenge killing by the kin of the dead person (vv. 6,12). In light of centralization, Deuteronomy proscribes the previous site of refuge, the local altar (Ex 21.13), and instead designates three “neutral” cities. 1: For the formulaic introduction, see 12.29. 4: Who might flee there, more literally, “where he might flee (there),” an exact citation of Ex 21.13b, the older law that requires revision in light of centralization. 5: May flee to one of these cities, explicitly amended to include the city reference. 6: But if the distance is too great, Deuteronomy’s updating of older law; see 14.24. In hot anger, if the kinsman kills the slayer in hot pursuit, the law is powerless. 8: Enlarges your territory, a means for updating older law to address present realities by casting the provision for change as intended from the beginning (see 12.20; Ex 34.20). 10: The blood of an innocent person, killing someone who has unintentionally committed homicide would constitute murder. Bloodguilt, the spilling of innocent blood, which defiles the land (see 21.1–9n.). 12: Revising Ex 21.14. Handed over to the avenger, the law regulates but does not replace the clan‐based system of justice. 14: A transitional verse. The sacrosanct status of a boundary marker was a legal tradition in the ancient Near East (see 27.17; Isa 5.8; Hos 5.10; Job 24.2; Prov 22.28).

19.15–21: The integrity of the judicial system. A law that requires probity on the part of the newly established judges (16.18) and a law that demands corresponding integrity from witnesses (19.21) form an inclusio around this large unit by emphasizing the honesty required of all participants in the judicial system. 15: A single witness, the same Heb phrase as “only one witness” at 17.6. On the evidence of two or three witnesses shall a charge be sustained, broadening the focus of 17.6 on capital crimes and prohibiting hearsay or spurious accusation (one person’s word against another’s). 17: Both parties, the accuser and the accused. Before the Lord, testimony before the altar at the central sanctuary (12.7; 14.23; 17.8–13). 19: Do to the false witness … meant to do to the other, reciprocal justice, called “talion,” the technical term for “an eye for an eye” (from Latin “lex talionis,” meaning “law of retribution”); elsewhere employed for bodily injury or homicide (Ex 21.23–25; Lev 24.17–21). It distinguishes crimes against the person (requiring talion) from property crimes (where only financial compensation is permitted). By applying it to crimes against the judicial system, the legislators here seek to ensure the integrity of the law by using the highest sanction available to them.

20.1–20: Rules for waging holy war. In contrast to other legal collections, which include only brief sections concerning military engagement (Ex 23.23–33; 34.11–16; Num 35.50–56), Deuteronomy, reflecting a literary setting of Israel about to enter the land, concerns itself extensively with the laws of holy war. God as divine warrior directly confronts the adversary on behalf of the nation, and God’s presence in the camp imposes additional purity requirements on the people (23.10–14). The holy war is fought to create a covenantal community organized by divine law (Lev 18.24–29; 20.22–24), not as a war of imperial gain. Accordingly, seizing the spoils of war, including human prisoners, is prohibited; all had to be devoted exclusively to God, like the “whole burnt offering” (13.16). A contemporary inscription, the Moabite Stone (ca. 850 bce), establishes that similar theologies of holy war were shared by some of Israel’s neighbors. In Deuteronomy, the conception of the conquest of the promised land as a holy war represents a highly schematized idealization, formulated half a millennium after the settlement, at a time when ethnic Canaanites would long have assimilated into the Israelite population. 1: The adversary is superior both in military equipment and in numbers (see Josh 11.4; Judg 4.3; cf. Judg 1.19). Army, lit., “people.” 3–4: See 9.1–3; 31.3–6; cf. Ex 14.14,25; 15.1–4. 5–9: Designed to help ensure the future of the community by allowing young conscripts to finish establishing their own households before sending them to a war in which they may die. 5: Dedicated (or “inaugurated”), although Solomon’s dedication of the Temple is narrated (1 Kings 8), there are no specific rituals of home dedication recorded in the Bible. The parallel curse employs “live” (28.30). 6: Enjoyed its fruit, to ensure healthy vine growth, new vines are pruned to prevent them from producing fruit during their first few years. 7: Engaged … married, see 22.13–30n. 8: Comrades, lit., “brothers,” to which Deuteronomy frequently, and distinctively, gives the meaning, “fellow citizens” (cf. 24.7); NRSV also translates the same word as “neighbor” (15.7,9,11; 22.1–4; 24.13; 25.3) and “Israelite” (23.19–20; 24.14). 11: The use of a defeated people for forced labor was widespread. According to the biblical account, Israelites so used the indigenous population of Canaan (Judg 1.27–36), and David’s cabinet included an official responsible for “forced labor” (2 Sam 20.24). 15–18: Thus you shall treat all the towns that are very far from you, a secondary addition retroactively restricts the preceding rules of engagement (vv. 10–14), which tolerate the taking of captives as “forced labor,” so that they apply only to foreign wars. The stipulation that the indigenous population of Canaan should uniformly be exterminated is a literary fiction (see 7.2n.). 15: The nations, the Canaanites. Here, on the anachronism, see 1.1n.; 2.12n. 16: But as for the towns of these peoples that the Lord … is giving you refers to the inhabitants of the land (v. 17). 17: You shall annihilate them, the Heb phrase is elsewhere translated as “utterly destroy” (7.2; 13.15); it refers to killing and sanctifying the dead to a deity. 19–20: Wars often involved the kind of “scorched earth policy” prohibited here (2 Kings 3.19,25). 20: Siegeworks were regularly built against walled cities (1 Sam 20.15; 2 Kings 25.1).

21.1–9: Atonement for an unsolved murder. This archaic law is concerned to maintain the moral and ritual purity of the land of Israel (see 21.23). Since contact with a murder victim’s blood rendered the land impure (Gen 4.10; Num 35.33–34), it was imperative to “purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel” (19.13). The established method for doing so was to restore justice by putting the murderer to death (Gen 9.5–6). However, this law, which has gone through several stages of reworking, addresses circumstances when doing so is impossible because the perpetrator of the murder cannot be identified. Similar ancient Near Eastern laws for corpses discovered outside cities emphasize financial liability rather than atoning for the spilled blood (Laws of Hammurabi §§23–24; Hittite Laws §6). The original significance of the law’s rituals is difficult to recover. 1: Open country, beyond the legal jurisdiction of any particular town (see 22.23,25), and where witnesses are unlikely. 2: Elders … judges, see 16.18n. Measure the distances to establish legal jurisdiction, as in the similar Hittite Laws §6. 3: Never been worked … not pulled in the yoke, symbolizing the human victim’s innocence (similarly, Num 19.2). 4: Wadi with running water (Am 5.24), lit., “with reliable water,” in contrast to unreliable seasonal streams (Jer 15.18). Break the heifer’s neck, nonsacrificial killing (see Ex 13.13; 34.20); sacrifice requires slitting the throat. 5: Priests, not mentioned in v. 2, and likely a later addition. All cases contrasts with 17.9, where the levitical priests at the central sanctuary adjudicated only cases that could not be resolved locally. 6: Wash their hands over the heifer, with no laying on of hands, and thus without symbolic transfer of culpability to the animal (contrast Lev 16.21–22). 7: Our hands … witnesses, stronger in Heb: “As for our hands, they did not shed this blood nor did our eyes see,” covering both direct action and failure to avert or report a crime (cf. Lev 5.1). 8: Absolve, O Lord, the ritual of vv. 3–6 has no intrinsic efficacy; prayer in combination with the ritual is the means of absolution. They will be absolved, better, “that they may be absolved,” since absolution ultimately depends upon divine action, not human ritual.

21.10–25.19: Miscellaneous civil and family laws. The following laws are concerned with family, civil, and ethical issues. Laws to extend legal protection to women when they would otherwise be disenfranchised concern female captives (21.10–14), property rights of the less‐favored wife (21.15–17), and false charges of infidelity (22.13–19).

21.10–14: Legal obligations toward female captives. This procedure most likely originally applied to the Canaanite population (20.14,15–18n.). Female war captives routinely became concubines. This law accords such women some dignity and protection against enslavement. 12–13: The rituals provide both captive and captor means to effect a transition from one status to another. 13: Full month, symbolically, a full period of mourning, as for Aaron and Moses (Num 20.29; Deut 34.8). Alternatively, the month’s wait would prove that the woman was not pregnant. Mourning, it is unclear whether the parents actually died in the war or are lost to her because of her captivity. The time to grieve implies legal respect for the female captive as a person. Go in to her, approach her sexually; consummation provides the legal means to become husband, and … wife. 14: Cf. Ex 21.7–8. Money, see 2.6n. Dishonored, “violated” sexually (22.24,29; Gen 34.2; Judg 19.24; 2 Sam 13.12).

21.15–17: Legal protection of the less‐favored wife. The law uses the norm of primogeniture (Gen 25.29–34; Laws of Hammurabi §§165–70) to protect the son of the less‐favored wife from disinheritance. 17: Double portion, as text note a indicates, two‐thirds (see Zech 13.8), leaving one‐third for the other son. Right of the firstborn, the foundation narratives concerning Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph do not follow the legal norm here affirmed (Gen 17.15–22; 21.8–14; 27.1–40; 48.8–22).

21.18–21: The rebellious son. The Decalogue requirement to honor the parents (5.16; Ex 20.12) carries no explicit sanction; here flagrant and sustained disobedience is a capital offense. 19: Elders were judges of family law and held court at the city gate, a public forum (22.15; 25.7; Job 29.7; Ruth 4.1–2,11; Lam 5.14). The professionalized judiciary established at the same site (16.18) may have had jurisdiction specifically over religious and criminal law (17.2–7). 21: Here, mere parental testimony suffices (contrast 13.14; 17.4). Stone him, see 13.10n.

21.22–23: Treatment of the executed. Public exposure of the corpse of an executed criminal, which was not the norm, was a form of reproach directed against enemies of the state (Josh 8.29; 10.26; 1 Sam 31.10; Esth 9.6–14). Out of respect for the body, to prevent it from serving as carrion (2 Sam 21.10), this law sets stringent limits to that procedure. 22: Hang … on a tree, the Heb word for “tree” is broader, covering anything made of wood; the law could also refer to suspension from “gallows” (Esth 9.13) or a “pole” (Gen 40.19), or possibly, based upon Neo‐Assyrian precedent, impalement upon a stake. 23: The concern to avoid defilement of the land by demonstrating respect for the corpse even of someone convicted of wrongdoing shows the close connection between criminal law and ritual purity in Deuteronomy.

22.1–12: Various moral and religious responsibilities of citizenship. The rationale for the sequence and selection of these laws is often unclear.

22.1–4: Moral duties toward the neighbor. Two laws (vv. 1–3,4) that develop two corresponding laws from the earlier Book of the Covenant. 1–3: The earlier law governing the return of wandering animals (Ex 23.4–5) is here revised and extended. 1: Your neighbor’s ox, a revision of “your enemy’s ox” (Ex 23.4). Neighbor, lit., “brother”; see 20.8n. 3: Anything else, the earlier law is universalized to apply to any lost property. 4: Reworking Ex 23.5 to emphasize the neighbor, as in v. 1.

22.5–12: Miscellaneous laws. 5: The prohibition against cross‐dressing seeks to maintain gender boundaries; a similar concern for boundaries is evident in vv. 9–11. 6–7: Avoiding simultaneous consumption of two generations of the same creature is also evident in other laws (14.21; Ex 23.19; 34.26; Lev 22.28). 8: The flat roof was used as living space (Josh 2.6; Judg 3.20–25; 2 Sam 11.2) and was where people often slept. Bloodguilt, criminal negligence; a capital offense (see 19.10n.). 9–11: These laws attempt to maintain specific boundaries between categories seen as incompatible (as in v. 5; 14.3–20); see the corresponding laws in Lev 19.19. 9: Forfeited, not permitted for human consumption. 12: Tassels, this may reflect an application of royal garb, seen, for example, in Neo‐Assyrian palace reliefs, to the nation as a whole. Num 15.37–40 gives a theological rationale.

22.13–30: Violations of marriage law. In the ancient Near East, marriage was a contractual arrangement between the woman’s father and the husband. The woman remained in her father’s household until a suitor paid the bridewealth (vv. 28–29; Ex 22.16–17) to compensate for the reduction of the household. At that point she became formally “engaged,” although still residing with her father (v. 21). Later, at the marriage feast, the union was consummated (Gen 29.22–25), and the woman took up residence in her husband’s house.

22.13–21: False accusation of breach of marital contract. 14: Makes up charges against her, possibly for mercenary reasons, since nonfulfillment of the marital contract would entail refund of the bridewealth and possibly a payment of a penalty for breach of contract. The evidence, the bloodstained cloth of v. 17. 15: Elders, see 16.18n.; 21.19n. 17: The cloth upon which husband and wife slept upon consummation of the relationship. It was understood that the cloth should have been bloodstained from the couple’s first intercourse; there is scant medical support for this widespread assumption. No other biblical text refers to this cloth. Nor is it likely that such a cloth was kept by the parents, but it would have been easy for them to manufacture one. This entire case is set up to deter false accusations against the bride and her family. 19: They shall fine him, the penalty for his slanderous accusation is financial, although the penalty for her lack of virginity, if proven true, is capital (vv. 20–21); contrast 19.19. One hundred shekels (of silver), about 1.1 kg (2.5 lb), twice the fine for rape (v. 29). 21: Entrance of her father’s house, at the very site of the offense. Stone her to death, see 13.10n. Disgraceful act in Israel, a violation of basic community sexual and religious norms (Gen 34.7; Josh 7.15; Judg 19.23–34; 20.6,10). Purge the evil, see 13.5n.

22.22–30: Adultery and rape. 22: Adultery, defined in biblical law as a man having sex with a woman betrothed or married to another man, is a violation of the Decalogue (5.18) and a capital offense (Lev 18.20; 20.10). Both of them shall die, a contrast with ancient Near Eastern norms, which required the male’s death but left the wife’s fate to her husband (but cf. Prov 6.34). The law removes the wife from her husband’s authority and defines her as a legal person accountable for her actions. 23–27: Two laws to determine culpability (vv. 23–24) or nonculpability (vv. 25–27) in cases of rape or seduction. Both laws show detailed points of contact with Middle Assyrian Laws (M.A.L.; ca. 1076 bce). 23: Engaged to be married, this distinction in legal status between the betrothed and married woman permits another distinction between adultery and rape: Although the woman still resides with her father, she is contractually bound to her future husband. Therefore consensual sex with the betrothed woman by anyone other than her future husband would constitute adultery. In the town, where there are potential witnesses (M.A.L. §A 12). 25: The assault in open country, where rescuers or witnesses are unlikely, suggests planned malice. 26: Like … someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, i.e., premeditated (19.11–13). The importance of the analogy is not in the definition of the crime, however. Rather, it is in the determination of the legal status of the participants in the crime; the analogy absolves the woman of legal culpability for adultery. 28–29: These conditions correspond to M.A.L. §A 55, which implies forced rape. In contrast, Ex 22.16–17 specifies intercourse with, but not forced rape of, a “virgin who is not engaged.” The conflation of these two models in this law blurs the distinction between consensual and non‐consensual intercourse on the woman’s part. 28: And lies with her, as in Ex 22.16. 29: Fifty shekels, cf. Ex 22.16–17. In both cases, intercourse with an unmarried, unbetrothed woman is not adultery. Ex 22.16–17 requires payment of the bridewealth, usually a negotiated amount (Gen 34.12), and grants the father the right to refuse the marriage. In Deuteronomy’s law, the father must agree to the marriage and therefore must negotiate the bridewealth with the man who had intercourse with his daughter. The fixed payment here seems to be a fine (cf. v. 19) intended to compensate the father for diminished potential earnings had he been able to negotiate a higher bridewealth with another man. 30: A transition to the next section. Father’s wife, i.e., a widowed stepmother (see Lev 18.7–8). Violating his father’s rights, lit., “uncovering his father’s skirt” (text note b); i.e., even indirect sexual contact with him must be avoided (Gen 9.23–24; 49.4; Lev 18.8; 20.11).

23.1–8: Restrictions on access to Israel’s assembly. 1: Testicles … penis, the same physiological qualification that Lev 21.17–23 requires of the priesthood, but in this case applied to all Israel (see 14.2n.). 2: Illicit union, incestuous marriages (22.30; Lev 18.6–18). Tenth generation, see v. 3n. 3–8: The restrictions do not entail denial of residence rights, and those named would retain the protection afforded by the legal status of “resident alien” (see 1.16; 5.14; Lev 19.10,33–34; 23.22). 3–6: These laws were reused and extended in the postexilic period to prohibit intermarriage (Ezra 9–10; Neh 13.1–3). 3: Ammonite or Moabite, perhaps introduced after v. 2 because of an older tradition concerning their incestuous origins (Gen 19.30–38). The book of Ruth represents a significant exception to this perspective. Tenth generation, “forever,” as explicitly stated in the Hebrew. 4: The rationale varies from the earlier report that Israel detoured around Ammon without requesting assistance and received food and water from Moab (2.19,29,37). Balaam, see Num 22–24. 7: Not abhor … Edomites, the perspective here differs from that of biblical texts in which the Edomites are condemned for their participation in the destruction of Jerusalem (Ps 137.7; Obadiah). Kin, through Esau (Gen 25.24–26; 36.1). Egyptians, this injunction remarkably overlooks the enslavement (26.6; 28.60,68; Ex 1–15), going back to the provision of sanctuary (Gen 37–50).

23.9–14: Special rules for the military camp. The theology of holy war assumes God’s direct participation in the campaign (7.17–24; 20.4), creating a demand for heightened purity, like that required of the entire people at Sinai (Ex 19.10,14). Sexual abstinence seems also to have been required (1 Sam 21.4–5; 2 Sam 11.8–11; cf. Ex 19.15). 10–11: Cf. Lev 15.16–18. 12: Designated area, a latrine. 14: Travels along, see 20.4; 31.6. Anything indecent, see 24.1n.

23.15–25.19: The heightened moral responsibilities of the covenant community.  

23.15–16: Prohibition of the return of escaped slaves. The law rejects the almost universal stipulation within ancient Near Eastern law that escaped slaves must be returned (Laws of Hammurabi §§16–20; Hittite Laws §§22–24). 16: The extraordinary repetition emphasizes that the entire community must be open to them.

23.17–18: Restrictions on prostitution. Prostitution is presupposed, but prostitution by Israelites is illegal. The regulations also seek to preserve the Temple’s sanctity. 17: Temple prostitute (Heb “qedeshah”), the translation reflects belief in the existence of sacred prostitution in Israel and the ancient Near East, for which there is scant evidence; more likely qedesha is a standard euphemism for the coarser term for prostitute (v. 18). The same alternation between the two terms appears in Gen 38.15,21. The word might better be translated as “one set aside.” 18: Prostitute, Heb zonah, closer to “whore” (Hos 1.2). Male prostitute (lit., “dog”), in context, a euphemism for the male counterpart to a common female prostitute. To maintain holiness, the law forbids donating income gained from prostitution to the Temple (cf. Hos 4.14; Mic 1.7).

23.19–25: Financial ethics, vows, gathering by the needy. 19–20: This law builds on Ex 22.25, which clarifies that lending served primarily as a means of social support for “the poor among you” (similarly, Lev 25.36–37). Charging interest would amount to profiteering from the misfortunes of others. Money, see 2.6n. 20: A foreigner, as distinct from the “resident alien,” who fully participated in Israel’s social welfare system (see 1.16n.); for similar distinctions, see 15.3; Lev 25.44–45. 21–23: A vow (v. 21) promises payment of something to God (usually a sacrifice at a temple) in exchange for receiving something (see 1 Sam 1.11). This cautious reserve about vows, understandable in light of Judg 11.29–40, closely corresponds to wisdom teachings (Eccl 5.4–6). For a more positive view, see Ps 50.14. 24–25: These rules prohibit exploitation of Deuteronomy’s extensive support system for the needy (14.28–29; 24.19–22; 25.4). 25: Pluck … hand, to address immediate hunger (Lk 6.1; cf. Mt 12.1; Mk 2.23).

Chs 24–25: Laws promoting social harmony. 24.1–22: This section (ch 24), like the previous one (ch 23), begins with a restriction on marriage and concludes stipulating care for those in need (note 22.30 = 23.1 Heb). 1–4: This complex law, theologically applied by two prophets (Isa 50.1; Jer 3.1,8), addresses only remarriage after divorce to a wife who subsequently married another; it does not prohibit remarriage in general. Biblical law includes no general laws of either marriage or divorce, only special cases that raise particular ethical or religious issues. 1: Male‐initiated divorce was the norm, though there is some evidence in the Near East and in the Jewish papyri from Elephantine in Egypt (fifth century bce) of contracts permitting either party to initiate divorce proceedings. He finds … about her, formula for disloyal action or betrayal of trust (1 Sam 29.3,6,8; 2 Kings 17.4; cf. 1 Sam 12.5). Objectionable, “indecent” (23.14). It is unclear from the Hebrew what valid criteria for divorce were. Certificate of divorce, legally freeing her to remarry. 4: After she has been defiled, not in general, since she is permitted to remarry, but specifically as regards relations with her first husband. 5: Another of the rules for holy war (20.1–20; 21.10–14; 23.9–14). Newly married, contrast the premarital deferral from service in 20.7. Be happy with, better, “give happiness to,” including conjugal relations for the purpose of producing an heir before the man is required to risk his life in battle. 6: The law prohibits economic oppression (like vv. 10–15). Take … in pledge, accept as collateral for a loan. Mill or an upper millstone, like the “garment” of v. 12, they are essential to the owner’s survival, and thus may not be taken. 7: Restricts the application of Ex 21.16 to kidnappers of fellow Israelites; perhaps also an interpretation of Deut 5.19. 8–9: Leprous skin disease, not leprosy, but rather a general term for a skin disease; see Lev 13.1–14.57. Remember … Miriam, see Num 12.1–15. 10–13: Expands upon Ex 22.26–27 (cf. Am 2.8; Prov 20.16; 22.27; 27.13; Job 22.6). The Yavneh Yam inscription (late seventh century bce) documents a similar case. 14–15: Deuteronomy’s ethics are based upon the conviction that God identifies with and vindicates the oppressed (cf. Ex 22.21–24; Lev 19.13). 14: The prohibition against economic exploitation is not contingent upon ethnicity or nationality; see 1.16n. 15: See 15.9n. 16: This law restricting punishment to the responsible individual, cited in 2 Kings 14.6, applies to both civil and criminal law. Collective responsibility applies to offenses against God (5.9–10; Ex 34.7; Num 16.31–33; Josh 7.24–25; 2 Sam 21.1–9), a theological principle subsequently brought into conformity with the law of individual liability (7.10; Jer 31.29–30; Ezek 18). 17: You shall not deprive … of justice, in Hebrew, identical to the comprehensive “You shall not distort justice” (16.19). This law, therefore, ensures protection of the most vulnerable, the resident alien or the orphan. Take … in pledge, better, “seize” to force payment (see Job 24.3). This accords the widow special protection; see also vv. 10–13n. 18: See 15.15. 19–22: Lev 19.9–10; 23.22. The story of Ruth, both a widow and an alien, presupposes such laws, which assign harvest gleanings to the needy, allowing them to eat without begging for food. 20: Beat, with poles, so as to harvest the olives (Isa 17.6). 25.1–3: A double restriction upon judicial flogging, also employed for discipline in nonjudicial contexts (Ex 21.20; Prov 10.13; 26.3; 1 Kings 12.14). 2: In his presence, under the judge’s direct supervision, “by [his] count” (the more likely rendering of NRSV number of lashes). 3: Forty lashes, a definitive restriction for which there is no parallel in Near Eastern law; the Middle Assyrian Laws stipulate floggings of five to one hundred lashes (M.A.L. §B 7–10). Your neighbor, the criminal, despite his judicial status, retains human dignity. 4: For similar humane treatment of animals, see 22.6–7; Prov 12.10. 5–10: Biblical, Near Eastern, and Roman inheritance law assigned special responsibilities to the “husband’s brother” (vv. 5–7), for which Hebrew had a special term (cf. Latin “levir,” hence “levirate marriage”). See variant versions of this law in Gen 38.8 and Ruth 4.5–6. 5: When brothers reside together: in joint tenancy on patrimonial land not yet subdivided among them as heirs. The law addresses the contingency of a father who dies leaving sons who are not yet ready to set up their own independent households. In such circumstances, the patrimony would be managed jointly until the land could be properly divided. However, should one of the heirs die childless prior to this division of property, he and his line would never inherit his share; it would be subsumed into the others’ shares. Thus, the purpose of the levirate law was to “build up the house” of the deceased son (v. 10), to ensure he had an heir to inherit his fair share of the jointly held property. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, possibly the brother’s death provided an exception to the incest prohibition of marrying a sister‐in‐law (cf. the prohibition in the later Lev 18.16; 20.21). 6: Firstborn, only the first child produced by this union will be treated as the deceased brother’s child for purposes of inheritance rights; cf. Gen 38.8. 9: The intent of the ceremony is public shaming for his dereliction of duty. 10: Known as, lit., “called by the name of,” thus explicitly applying a form of retributive justice (19.19n.). For refusing to build up the deceased’s “name” (vv. 6–7) and “house” (v. 9), the brother’s own house is stigmatized by its new name. 11–12: An additional law dealing with threats to reproduction (cf. Ex 21.22–25). Physical mutilation (characteristic in the Middle Assyrian Laws) is nowhere else prescribed in the Bible, except in the general formula for talion (19.21; Ex 21.23–24; Lev 24.19–20). That rationale does not apply here, however, since there is no symmetry between injury and punishment. The issue may rather be the perceived insult to dignity (cf. Laws of Hammurabi §195). 13–16: Cf. Laws of Hammurabi §108; Lev 19.35–36; Am 8.5. 14: By fraudulently using two different sets of counterweights—small ones to sell grain but large ones to purchase it—a merchant could turn a tidy profit. 17–19: Builds upon Ex 17.8–16, in which the Amalekites, a fierce desert tribe, attacked Israel (cf. Ps 83.4–8). 18: These details are not found in Ex 17.8–16; they may have been supplied by the Deuteronomic author in order to justify the extirpation of Amalek (v. 19; cf. Ex 17.14; 1 Sam 15.2–3). 19: Rest, see 3.20; 12.9n.

26.1–15: Concluding liturgies. Two already prescribed laws (14.22–29) are given a historical and theological foundation similarly, (16.12, for the festival of weeks). 1–11: The context is the festival of weeks (16.9–12), when the Israelite was to make an annual pilgrimage to the central sanctuary, bringing the first fruits of the harvest, to thank God for the land’s bounty. 4: When the priest, contrast v. 10. vv. 3–4 may be a later addition emphasizing the role of priests in the ceremony. Thus, v. 5 may have originally continued v. 2. 5–9: These verses were long regarded by scholars as an ancient confession of faith, one of the oldest units of the Pentateuch. More recent scholarship regards this section as a concise summary from a later perspective. 5: Wandering Aramean suggests the Jacob tradition (Gen 25.20). 6: Afflicted … hard labor, see Ex 1.11–14. 8–9: It is striking that the giving of the law on Horeb is missing here (cf. also Josh 24.3–13). Perhaps this ancient liturgy did not know of this event. 11: Celebrate, or “rejoice” (16.11,14–15), specifically in a festive meal consumed at the central sanctuary (12.7,18), which must include the Levites and the aliens. The mention of these marginal groups provides a transition to the following law. 12–15: Produce was tithed annually and consumed by the farmer and his household at the central sanctuary (14.22–27); every third year that tithe was used locally to support the poor (14.28–29). 12: Aliens … widows, see 1.16n.; 14.29; 23.3–8,20n. 14: The formula, containing a triple confession of the donor’s ritual purity, probably originated in donations of produce to God at a sanctuary, where purity would be expected. That formula has now been reused for the donation of food to the poor “within your towns” (v. 12). Offered any of it to the dead, the duty of the living to care for dead ancestors through food offerings at their place of burial was widely assumed in the ancient Near East (see the Ugaritic Aqhat epic), is confirmed archeaologically, and continued to be carried out in Second Temple times (Tob 4.17). This practice is not condemned here; it is viewed as improper only in relation to sacred donations, because of the impurity associated with death (Lev 22.2–4). 15: From your holy habitation, from heaven, as in 1 Kings 8.30. The double proposition may point to the correction of an older theology in light of a newer one, following Deuteronomy’s normal view that only God’s name resides in the Temple (12.11; 16.11; 26.2). For the earlier idea, that God himself inhabits the Temple, see 1 Kings 8.13; cf. Deut 12.5. Bless your people Israel and the ground, the farmer prays for the blessing of the community and of the land, not directly for fertility or the abundance of his own crops.

26.16–19: Formal conclusion: the reciprocity of the covenant, representing the legal corpus as a mutually binding relationship between God and Israel. Having just read the law to the people, Moses presents it to them in a formal ratification ceremony (vv. 17–18; cf. 2 Kings 23.1–3). 16: Statutes and ordinances … observe … diligently forms an inclusio with 12.1, providing the laws of chs 12–26 with an elegant frame to mark their conclusion. 17–18: Obtained, the past tense points to an already completed ritual, not preserved in Deuteronomy, in which both Israel and God explicitly assented to the covenant and affirmed the mutuality of the obligations that each will undertake. This reciprocal model contrasts with the Sinai covenant in Exodus, which was unilaterally offered by God (Ex 19.3–6) and unilaterally agreed to by Israel (Ex 19.8; 24.3,7). Deuteronomy invokes the language of the Sinai covenant as a model while revising it significantly in the process. 18: His treasured people, see 7.6n. In praise … fame and … honor, NRSV implies that the accolades will be given to Israel; the Hebrew also allows for the possibility that the honors will go to God because of his action on Israel’s behalf (see Jer 13.11; 33.9). As he promised you, Ex 19.5–6. 19: High above all nations, see 28.13–14n. That he has made, see Ex 19.5b. A people holy to the Lord continues the reference to Ex 19.5–6, while substituting people for “nation,” which Deuteronomy uses for non‐Israelites (12.29).

27.1–26: Ceremonies at Shechem upon entry into the land. The injunctions of 11.29–32 are here reiterated and detailed. The laws of chs 12–26 are thus framed with ceremonies that connect entry into the land with obedience to the teaching of Moses. The chapter joins four separate sections that are only loosely connected to one another and to the rest of Deuteronomy. An editor has aligned the sections with one another, while breaking up the continuity of the speech of chs 26 and 28. The resulting digression preserves several competing traditions about how and where the covenant between God and Israel was concluded: at Sinai; or on the plains of Moab; or at Gilgal immediately upon entering the land; or at the important northern shrine of Shechem (see 11.29n.). 1–8: This section combines two separate requirements: the raising of plastered stones inscribed with the teaching (vv. 1–4,8) and the construction of a stone altar for sacrifice (vv. 5–7). 1: Moses is referred to in the third person, interrupting his first‐person address (chs 5–26; 28). And the elders, nowhere else in Deuteronomy do they join Moses in addressing the people; this plural subject does not easily fit the following singular I. 2: Cover them with plaster, to serve as a surface for inscription. Archaeology attests the use of plaster‐covered wall or stele inscriptions. 4: Mount Ebal, at over 3,000 ft (1,000 m), the tallest mountain in the region. It lies in central Canaan, adjacent to the city of Shechem. But that site is inconsistent with v. 2 and the beginning of this verse, which each anticipate that the ceremony will take place immediately upon crossing the river. It would be impossible to reach Shechem in a day. The most logical explanation is that Josh 4 points to the original form of these verses, with Gilgal as the site where Israel complied with this command. That older tradition was replaced here by the reference to the mountains around Shechem, the chief town of the northern tribes (Josh 24.1,32). 5–7: These verses are an insertion that reinterprets the plastered stones on which the teaching is to be inscribed as an altar of unhewn stones, following Ex 20.25. Such an altar, outside of Jerusalem, conflicts with the centralization requirement of ch 12, and further suggests the antiquity and the independence of this tradition from the rest of Deuteronomy. The fulfillment of this law is narrated in Josh 8.30–35. 9–10: This is a new paragraph, independent of what precedes it. 9: And the levitical priests, see v. 1n.; here too the plural subject is continued by “I” (v. 10). This very day, contrast statements that define the bond as previously formed, either at the time of the Exodus (Ex 6.6–7) or at Sinai (4.20; Ex 19.5–6). 11–13: A fragment that refers to an ancient covenant ceremony at Shechem, instituted at the command of Moses (Josh 8.30–35). The antiquity of the tribal list is seen in the facts that Levi is listed as a tribe (Gen 49.5–7) and that the division of the house of Joseph into Manasseh and Ephraim has not yet occurred (Gen 49.22–26; contrast Deut 33.17). The division of the tribes into two groups of six is attested only here. 11: The same day, lit., “on that day,” without further specification. 12–13: Mount Gerizim for the blessing … Mount Ebal for the curse, see 11.29n. One group of tribes, on Gerizim, proclaims a set of blessings (see 28.1–14); the other, on Ebal, a set of curses (see 28.15–68). 14–26: Despite the paragraphing in NRSV, v. 14 more likely begins a new section, with a very different conception of the ceremony: The tribe of Levi alone proclaims a set of prohibited actions and all the people—acting in unison and not divided into tribes—respond, Amen (see Jer 11.3–5). There is no list of blessings (cf. v. 12). The “cursed be” proclamations here stigmatize a summary list of rejected actions while making no references to the consequences of the transgressions. 14: Levites, contrast Deuteronomy’s normal term, “levitical priests” (v. 9; 18.1). 15–26: The twelve curses correspond to the twelve tribes, although this section makes no reference to the tribal division and the people function as a single entity (v. 14). The resulting incongruence points to the many editorial revisions that this chapter has undergone. 15: See 4.15–31n. 16: See 5.16. 17: See 19.14n.

28.1–68: The consequences of obedience or disobedience: blessing or curse. The covenant specifies a series of blessings and curses that follow upon national obedience or disobedience to the law. These are modeled after ancient Near Eastern state treaties, which spell out, at their conclusion, the consequences of breaching the treaty. This chapter has several close parallels to the Neo‐Assyrian Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon (VTE), dating to 672 bce. The disproportion between the sections devoted to blessing (vv. 1–14) and to curse (vv. 15–68) may be a reaction to the Babylonian conquest, deportation, and exile of Judah (597 and 586 bce), here recast as a prophetic warning. Two appendixes, vv. 47–57 and 58–68, each seek to make theological sense of that catastrophe. The two other legal collections of the Pentateuch (Ex 21–23 and Lev 17–26) similarly end with exhortations to obedience, accompanied by blessings and curses (Ex 23.20–33; Lev 26). Here an inclusio frames and defines the blessings section: if you … obey … by diligently observing (vv. 1,13). 1–2: The proem emphasizes the conditionality of the exalted status of Israel, perhaps because of the Exile. High above all the nations (see also v. 13), a metaphor for the nation’s election, also applied to the Davidic dynasty (Ps 89.27). (Contrast 26.19, where this affirmation is unconditional, fulfilling God’s past promises.) 3–6: The six benedictions have their malediction counterpart at vv. 16–19. The two antonym pairs (vv. 3,6) provide a frame to the unit. The opposites form a merism to stress totality (like “night and day”); see 6.7n. 3: City and field, “everywhere,” urban and rural. 4: Fruit … livestock, fecundity for humans, crops, and livestock is contingent upon obedience to the covenant; see 7.12–14n. 7: Military success is conditional upon covenantal obedience, rather than strength of arms (9.1–3; Josh 1.6–8). 9: The Lord will establish … if you keep, holiness is conditional upon obedience, a shift from other passages where Israel’s holiness is not future but present, and not conditional but unconditional (7.6; 14.2; cf. 26.19). 10: Called by the name of the Lord, relationship with God includes accountability and corresponding divine oversight. The formula can apply to either the nation (here; 2 Chr 7.14; Isa 63.19; Jer 14.9) or an individual (Ex 33.12; Jer 15.16). 12: Storehouse, in Israelite and Near Eastern cosmology, primordial waters above the dome of the sky were released as rain (Gen 1.7; 7.11). Lend … borrow, see 15.6.

28.15–68: Consequences of disobedience. A broad range of misfortunes, from infertility to military defeat (vv. 15–46), precede a second section (vv. 47–68) on foreign invasion, siege, national defeat, and exile, a reversal of the covenantal promises and of the nation’s history of salvation: By disobeying the covenant, the nation undoes its own history. 15–46: A chiastic inclusio frames the section: the initial sequence AB (not obey … observing … curses … overtake, v. 15) is repeated in reverse at the end as B’A’ (curses … overtaking … not obey … observing, v. 45). 15: Negating v. 1. 16–19: Negating vv. 3–6. 20: Corresponding to the tripartite blessing for obedience (v. 8) stands the triple threat of disaster (better, “curse”), panic, and frustration. The threats are spelled out in vv. 21–44. Me, the first‐person reference shifts from Moses to God, as at 7.4; 17.3. 21–44: This section echoes treaties that the Neo‐Assyrian empire imposed on its vassal states, suggesting that the curse section of these state treaties, perhaps in Aramaic translation, provided a model for this chapter. Judah was a vassal to the Assyrian empire (2 Kings 18.13–18) and both Neo‐Assyrian and Judean officials spoke Aramaic, the international language of diplomacy (2 Kings 18.26–27). 23: Bronze … iron, see VTE §§63–64: “May [the gods] make your ground like iron … Just as rain does not fall from a bronze sky …” (D. J. Wiseman, in ANET, p. 5396.1 25: Negates v. 7. 26: Even executed criminals must be buried by sundown, lest the corpse become carrion (21.22–23); abrogation of that law underscores the punishment’s horror (Jer 7.33). 27–35: The apparently arbitrary sequence of punishments closely resembles VTE §§39–43, where each curse is associated with a particular Neo‐Assyrian god: the moon god Sin with leprosy; the sun god Shamash, blindness; and Dilipat (the planet Venus), rape, dispossession, and pillage. 27: Boils of Egypt, inversion of 7.15. See Ex 9.9–11. 28–29: Blindness, Shamash, the god of justice, punishes disobedience by withholding light and vision; this punishment entails the breakdown of civil order and legal standards. 30: Woman … house … vineyard, contrast 20.7, which provides the same conditions for exemption from conscription, in different order. Here, all hope of establishing households is dashed. Society will lack its essential structures for building family, community, and economy. 32: The children will be taken captive by foreign conquerors. 36: Both the Neo‐Assyrian army (2 Kings 17) and the Neo‐Babylonian invaders (2 Kings 24–25) practiced deportation. 37: Byword, the opposite idea was central to God’s covenant with Abraham, whose people were to become the paradigm of divine providence (Gen 12.3). 38–42: Futility curses. The frustration of human labor through infertility of the harvest (caused by invasion from insects or other natural enemies) is punishment for infringement of the covenant (Lev 26.20; Am 4.7–12), reversing the blessings of vv. 7–15. 43–44: Reversing vv. 12b–13. 46: A sign and a portent, the normal phrase for miracles God performed on behalf of Israel at the time of the Exodus, “signs and wonders” (4.34; 6.22; 7.19; 29.3; 34.11; Ex 7.3; 8.23; 10.1–2; 11.9–10), in the singular here designates the divine punishment of Israel.

28.47–57: Scenario of foreign invasion. A later appendix, outside the frame provided by vv. 45–46. 47: Because you did not serve, the future curse is based upon wrongdoing in the past, in contrast to the conditional, future formulation of v. 15, which presents disobedience as a future possibility. Abundance, prosperity in the land will cause Israel to forget its source (see 6.11–12; 8.11–20; 33.15,18). 48: The punishment corresponds precisely to the offense: Serve, earlier meaning sacrificial worship of God (13.5), now means labor as a servant or slave (5.13; 13.12). Iron yoke, symbolizing vassal status, as in Jer 27–28. 49–57: Systematic presentation of foreign conquest, proceeding from invasion (vv. 48–50), to the invaders’ plunder and despoiling of the land (v. 51), to crippling siege (v. 52), and culminating in the horrors of starvation that arise from the siege (vv. 53–57). These descriptions of the invader and of the consequences of the siege are based upon the literary model of the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon. 49–52: Closely parallels Jer 5.15–19. 49: Like an eagle, cf. Ezek 17.3,7; Hab 1.8. 51: Contrast the idealist war laws of 20.19–20, which prohibit occupiers from despoiling the land. 52: It shall besiege you … until your … walls … come down, the Neo‐Assyrian (2 Kings 17.5) and Babylonian armies (2 Kings 24.3; 25.1–7) employed advanced engineering to mount a siege campaign involving ramparts, battering rams, and catapults. 53–57: The starvation resulting from the siege causes a complete breakdown of the normal social order, as parents become predators of their children and family members compete for food. Cannibalism under siege conditions is a common literary trope; see Lev 26.29; 2 Kings 6.28–32; Jer 19.9; Lam 4.10; Ezek 5.10; and VTE §§47,69,71,75.

28.58–68: Undoing the Exodus. This seems to represent a third layer to the chapter. 58: This book, how the commandments have become transformed from oral proclamation to written text is unexplained, since it is not until 31.9,24 that Moses commands that his teaching be put into writing. Moreover, previously the required obedience was to the plural “commandments” (vv. 1,9,13,15,45). Here, for the first time in the chapter, Israel must obey a codified, single law (Heb “torah” or “teaching”). This … name, better, “Name,” standing directly for God (elsewhere in the Pentateuch only Lev 24.11; in later Judaism “the Name” (Heb “HaShem”) becomes an important circumlocution for Yahweh, God’s personal name). 59–68: Consistent with the “book” perspective, the consequences for breach of the written teaching have a different focus: a systematic reversal of the national history, covenantal promises, and theology included in that teaching. The punishment amounts to an anti‐Torah that will dissolve the national identity. 59–61: After the miracle of the Exodus, God had promised, if the people obeyed, “I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians” (Ex 15.26). 62: Stars … heaven, God will cancel the promise made to Abraham that his people shall be as numerous as the stars of heaven (Gen 15.5–6; cf. Deut 1.10; 10.22). 63: Dispossession and exile (as in 4.26; Lev 26.33–39) rescind the covenantal promise of the land, contravening even the unconditional divine promises of Gen 12.7; 13.17. 64: The double loss of Israel’s identity: Dispersion of the population dissolves its political identity, and idol worship dissolves its religious identity. 65–67: In the absence of the national destiny provided by the covenant, historical existence has no meaning. 68: Forced return to Egypt, where the former taskmasters now spurn Israel’s desperate bid to sell itself back into slavery and thus to undo its own history. For selling oneself into slavery under financial hardship to pay off debts or gain support (“indenture”), see Lev 25.39. Route … never see again (cf. 17.16), reverses the unconditional promise at the time of the Exodus: “the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again” (Ex 14.13).

29.1–30.20: Third discourse of Moses. The ratification ceremony for the covenant of the plains of Moab. Israel is formally adjured to enter the covenant: To swear to obey the laws of chs 12–26 under penalty of the sanctions of ch 28. 29.1–29: A didactic review of Israel’s history (vv. 2–9) precedes an imprecation to ensure loyal adherence to the covenant (vv. 10–29). 1: Editorial heading. The laws, hitherto plural (“statutes and ordinances,” 5.1; 12.1; cf. 4.45), are now a coherent, single tradition: the covenant. In addition to, presentation of the laws as a supplement to the Decalogue, in contrast to 4.44–45; 12.1, which mention neither the Decalogue nor the laws’ supplementary status. This may be an effort to explain addition of the Decalogue to an earlier form of Deuteronomy. 2: You have seen, as at 5.2–4, the present generation is in reality one generation removed from the miraculous events. 3: Signs … wonders, see 28.46n. 4: But to this day, more accurately: “The Lord has not given you … until today.” The admonition creates a tension with the preceding two verses: The addressees who “have seen” the miraculous events (v. 2), which their own “eyes saw” (v. 3), are accused of having lacked eyes to see. The castigation reflects the episodes of rebellion (9.7–24). 5–6: The speech reinterprets the wilderness wandering, full of trials and tribulations according to Numbers, and presents it positively, as a miraculous experience that led Israel to know God. 5: I, see 7.4; 17.3; 28.20,68. Clothes … feet, see 8.4. 6: You have not eaten bread … not drunk wine, you had no normal food. The manna, quails, and water that Israel consumed were instead miraculous food supplied by divine providence (8.2–5; Ex 16; Num 11.4–9,31–33). Know, not abstract speculation but the recognition of God’s historical actions on behalf of the nation. I am the Lord your God, better, “I, Yahweh, am your God” (6.4; Ex 20.2). 7–8: See 1.4; 2.26–3.22; Num 21.21–35. 10: Stand assembled in formal array for a public legal ceremony (cf. Ps 82.1). Today, transition from historical review (vv. 1–8) to present adjuration (similarly, VTE §33). 11: Cut your wood … draw your water, see Josh 9.27. 12: Covenant … sworn by an oath, the formula recurs at v. 14, thus framing the central idea, the binding relationship between God and Israel. Oath, more accurately, “its imprecation” or “its curse.” Neo‐Assyrian treaties were validated by means of a concluding imprecation (VTE §§37–56,58–106). The partner accepts the consequences of noncompliance. The laws of chs 12–26 represent the stipulations; ch 28, the sanctions; and ch 29, the imprecation. 14–15: The covenant binds even future generations (as in VTE §§25,33,34,57). The author advances a powerful notion of Israel’s identity and participation in the covenant that is not limited by time and space, nor historically contingent. 17–27: A stark, two‐part warning, showing how the attempt of even a single individual secretly to withdraw from the covenant (vv. 17–19) jeopardizes the entire nation (vv. 20–28). 18: Turning away, transferring loyalty to other gods (13.6–11; 17.2–7). Poisonous and bitter growth, Hos 10.4; Am 5.7; 6.12. 19: Bless themselves, rather than proclaim the imprecation, hoping to escape the sanctions of the covenant. Moist and dry, paired antonyms, probably a merism designating totality (see 28.3–6n.). 20: Passion, God’s zeal to defend the mutual exclusivity of the covenant relation (5.9; Ex 34.14). Descend on them, more literally, “crouch down upon them” (cf. Gen 4.7), an animate image. Blot out, the erasure of a tablet or scroll (Num 5.23), given a theological cast: Following Mesopotamian models, the divine decree of human fate is recorded in a heavenly book, with erasure symbolizing punishment (9.14; Gen 6.7; Ex 17.14; 32.32; 2 Kings 14.27; Ps 9.6). 22–28: The negative instruction. As the wilderness wandering provided an instructional lesson for the nation (vv. 5–6), so will Israel, transformed into a devastation, provide an object lesson. Verses 24–28 provide a reversal of the Israelite child’s inquiry about God’s redemptive acts (4.32–38; Ex 12.25–27; 13.8–10). 23: Sulfur and salt were used in antiquity as defoliants by invading armies. Sodom … Zeboiim, proverbial wicked cities in the arid area around the Dead Sea (cf. Gen 19.24–25; Isa 1.9–10). 25: The covenant, conflating the covenants of Horeb and Moab (29.1). 26: Gods … not allotted to them, as at 32.8–9, each nation is allocated its own god, and the Lord is the God of Israel. As at 5.8–9, the existence of other deities is here conceded. Contrast 4.19, where it is rather only inanimate “stars … that God has allotted,” which reinterprets the polytheistic image from the later perspective of monotheism. 28: As is now the case, reference to the present implies that the chapter was composed subsequent to the Babylonian exile of 586 bce. 29: Secret, concealed acts that God will punish (vv. 18–19), or future events. More likely, the antithesis with revealed rejects religions of esoteric speculation that restrict access to truth to a learned few. This law (Heb “torah”), based upon a public revelation (ch 5) and Moses’s instruction (chs 12–26), is accessible to all.

30.1–10: Reassurance of restoration. This section, with its emphasis on restoration, does not logically follow ch 29 and is most likely a later insertion that serves the religious needs of a community different from that of the book’s original audience (see v. 5n.). The unit employs the Heb word shub seven times, in seven different ways to establish the close bond between human repentance and divine forgiveness: (v. 1) “If you call them to mind … (v. 2) and return … (v. 3) then the Lord will restore your fortunes … and gathering you again … (v. 8) Then you shall again obey … (v. 9) For the Lord will again take delight … (v. 10) because you turn.” 1: Call them to mind, lit., “take [them] to heart.” 4: Cf. Am 9.2–3. 5: Bring you into the land that your ancestors possessed, the “you” explicitly refers to the Judean exiles in Babylon, rather than the desert generation whom Moses addresses on the plains of Transjordan. More … numerous, the covenantal promise (Gen 17.2; 22.17). For similar claims that the future will repeat the past while also surpassing it, see Isa 42.9; 43.6–20; 51.9–11. 6: The Lord … will circumcise your heart, God is the agent; previously Israel itself was to “circumcise … the foreskin of your heart” (see 10.16n.). The change suggests skepticism about the people’s ability to effect such a change of heart independently (see Jer 31.31–34; Ezek 11.19–20; 36.26–27). 7: The curses remain in effect but are deflected from Israel to the adversary; contrast 28.47,49, where the foreign nation is God’s agent to punish Israel. 9: Fruit, blessings upon return conforming to those promised upon initial entry (28.4). 10: Obey the Lord … by observing … this book of the law, or, more precisely, “this book of the teaching.” The reference is to the text of Deuteronomy itself, which replaces the live speech of Moses (12.28,32) or prophetic speech (18.18–9) as revealer of God’s word.

30.11–20: The original continuation of ch 29 is composed of two sections, vv. 11–14,15–20. 11–14: Turning their own imagery against them, the passage challenges the assumptions of Near Eastern wisdom schools about the inaccessibility of divine wisdom and the limits of human knowledge (cf. Job 28). 11: The accessibility of Moses’s teaching. Surely, better, “because,” logically continuing 29.29 and emphasizing the ready accessibility of the divinely given teaching. (The NRSV translation is an accommodation to the insertion of vv. 1–10.) This commandment, Deuteronomy as a whole (as at 6.1). 12: See Prov 30.4. That we may hear it, lit., “so that he may proclaim it to us.” 14: In your mouth, in antiquity, texts were normally read, taught, and recited aloud (6.7; 31.19, 21; Josh 1.8). 15–20: The necessity of choice. As the nation is about to enter the land, Moses presents Israel with a stark choice: its future well‐being lies entirely in its own hands, depending upon whether each Israelite commits himself or herself to covenantal obedience. 16: Loving … walking in his ways, in Near Eastern treaties, “love” means to act loyally and to honor the commitments of the treaty (6.5n.). 19: Heaven and earth to witness, see 4.26n.; 32.1n. Choose life, the didactic use of life and death suggests the influence of wisdom teachings upon the authors (Prov 11.19; 14.27; 18.21; cf. Jer 8.3; 21.8).

31.1–34.14: The death of Moses and the formation of the Book of the Teaching. With the conclusion of the treaty between God and Israel in ch 30, Deuteronomy now returns to Moses, the mediator of the treaty. His life is ending, and the question of succession is given a two‐fold answer, since Moses was both political and religious leader of Israel. Joshua will be his political and military successor (31.1–8,14–15,23; 32.44,48–52; 34.9), and “a book … of this law” (31.24) will instruct the nation in religion. Deuteronomy thus ends in paradox: Moses, ostensibly the book’s narrator, narrates his own death (ch 34), and the Book of the Teaching, already presupposed (29.27), nevertheless provides an account of its own formation (31.9–13,24–29). The conclusion of Deuteronomy also ends the Pentateuch. As they set Deuteronomy as the conclusion of that larger work, later editors with the background of the Exile added perspectives on the function of the entire Torah in the people’s life. Finally, the Pentateuch’s literary precedent of a patriarch’s deathbed bequest and blessing (Gen 27; 48–49) led to the incorporation of “The Song of Moses” (32.1–43) and of “The Blessing of Moses” (ch 33), each of which likely circulated independently. The resulting text thus blends several viewpoints. Themes like the appointment of Joshua begin, then begin again from a different perspective, and then are continued only after a digression, which marks the insertion of new material.

31.1–29: Moses makes arrangements for his death. Publicly announcing his imminent death, Moses invests Joshua with leadership and initiates the writing of the Book of the Teaching, which is to be taught regularly to the entire people. These two legacies seem independent of each other and suggest that an earlier narrative about leadership has been expanded with an account of the formation of Deuteronomy. Each tradition, furthermore, is doubled; the chapter thus contains many layers of tradition. First is a double announcement of Moses’s imminent death: v. 2 (at his own initiative, citing previous divine commandment, in which he appoints Joshua directly) and vv. 14–15 (with no reference to a previous announcement, and with divine appointment of Joshua). Second is a double tradition of transfer of leadership: Although Moses begins a public ceremony in order himself to appoint the new leader (vv. 7–8), a variant tradition has God commission Joshua directly (vv. 14–15,23). Third is a double tradition of Moses’s writing: one of “the book … of this law” (v. 24) and one of “this song” (v. 19). These traditions are harmonized, somewhat, as each is to serve as a “witness” (vv. 21,26). The first, which refers to Deuteronomy, was supplemented by the second in order to integrate the following “Song of Moses” (32.1–43). Fourth, in the “Song” tradition, Israel’s future apostasy is already a foregone conclusion (vv. 16–22,28–29); in the covenant‐making tradition, there is yet hope that, by taking the law to heart, Israel might avoid catastrophe (vv. 9–13,24–27). 2: One hundred twenty years old, the Hebrew places the age first, thereby forefronting the key issue: Moses has reached the maximum age for humans (Gen 6.3), making it urgent to assure continuity of leadership. I am no longer able to get about, lit., “to go out and come in,” i.e., lead the nation in military campaigns (28.6; Num 27.17; 1 Kings 3.7; cf. 2 Sam 11.1). 2–3: Refers back to 1.37–38; 3.27–28. The death of a major leader and the transfer of his authority mark important turning points within the larger context of the Deuteronomistic History and partially follow a common model (cf. Josh 23.2; 1 Sam 12.2; 1 Kings 2.1–2). 4: The successful military campaigns in Transjordan provide assurance in the conquest of Canaan (1.27–28; Num 13–14). 5: Command, the ban (7.1–7; 12.29–31; 20.16–18). 9–13: The institution of a covenant ceremony to be held in the sabbatical year (15.1–11), during the festival of booths (16.13–15). 12: The teaching (NRSV “law”; Heb “torah”) is taught to women, minors, and aliens, rather than just to males (cf. Neh. 8.2; contrast Ex 19.15). 14: Tent of meeting, in the non‐Priestly tradition, the site outside camp where God speaks to Moses, with Joshua in attendance (Ex 33.7–11); contrast the Priestly literature’s tabernacle, located in the center of the Israelite encampment, which houses the ark of the covenant and the altar (Ex 26–27; Num 7.1–3; 18.1–7). So that I may commission him, the standard tradition involves direct commission by Moses at God’s command (3.27–28; 34.9; Num 27.18–23). 15: The double reference to the pillar of cloud, located both at [or, “in”] the tent (cf. Ex 30.36; 40.34–35; Lev 16.2) and at the entrance to the tent (cf. Ex 33.9–10; Num 12.5) blends the traditions associated with each of the two tents (see v. 14n.). 17–18: Our God, better, “our gods,” suggesting that the people will have strayed so far from the covenant that they attribute the resulting divine punishment to other gods, leading to God’s angry response. 22–23: The sequence of Moses wrote (v. 22) and … commissioned (v. 23) uses the same terms as “When Moses finished writing … Moses commanded” (vv. 24–25). The repetition of the paired terms provided a means for editors to insert the section on the song (vv. 16–22). 23: The Lord commissioned, lit., “he commanded,” with no subject identified. NRSV has added the reference to the Lord, since the verse does not continue v. 22, but directly resumes vv. 14–15.

31.30–32.43: The Song of Moses. The Song is a late insertion that reflects upon Israel’s history, probably presupposing the Exile. In form it is a revised and expanded prophetic lawsuit (cf. Isa 1; Jer 2; Mic 6; Ps 50) with this structure: introduction and summoning of witnesses (vv. 1–3); accusation (vv. 4–6); recital of God’s loving actions (vv. 7–14); indictment (vv. 15–18); declaration of punishment (vv. 19–25). Yet God interrupts his own judicial sentence to recognize a risk to his honor: Other nations might conclude that Israel’s God was weak should they see Israel destroyed (vv. 26–27). God therefore reverses himself, cancels the punishment, and decides instead to punish Israel’s enemies so as to vindicate Israel (vv. 28–42). The Song concludes with a call for the divine council to praise God for his actions; the call may originate from within the divine council itself (v. 43; similarly Ps 29.1). A prose frame links the Song to Deuteronomy, identifying Moses, otherwise unmentioned, as its speaker (31.30; 32.44). 32.2: Teaching, the original prophetic lawsuit has been combined with wisdom themes (Prov 1.5; 4.2; 17.21). 4: Rock, better, “Mountain,” a title applied to the high god of ancient Canaan (see v. 8n.) and to the biblical God (vv. 15,18,30–31,37; Isa 44.8; Ps 78.35). 6: Created you, when God redeemed Israel from Egypt (Ex 15.16, correcting NRSV “acquired”). 8: Most High, or Elyon (text note b), is a title of El, the senior god who sat at the head of the divine council in the Ugaritic literature of ancient Canaan. The Bible applies El’s title to Israel’s God (Gen 14.18–22; Num 24.16; Pss 46.4; 47.2; esp. 78.35, where it is parallel to Rock). Gods, the lesser gods who make up the divine council (Pss 82.1; 89.6–7), to each of whom Elyon here assigns a foreign nation. 9: The Lord’s own portion, NRSV has added own in order to identify Yahweh with Elyon and avoid the impression that Yahweh is merely a member of the pantheon; see also 4.19n. 10: Sustained, more likely “found” (Hos 9.10). The Song here traces the beginnings of Israel to the wilderness period, romanticizing its ideal purity (similarly Hos 2.14–15; Jer 2.2–3; contrast Deut 9.6–7,22–27; Ezek 20). Apple of his eye, i.e., the aperture or pupil of the eye. 11: Israel as God’s fledgling; see Ex 19.4. 13: Heights, see Ex 15.17. 14: Curds, symbolic of extravagant hospitality offered to special guests (Gen 18.8; Judg 5.25). Bashan, in northern Transjordan, was famous for its cattle. 15: Jeshurun, probably meaning “upright,” is a poetic term for Israel (33.5,26; Isa 44.2). 17: Demons, better, “protective spirits” (also Ps 106.37). Not God, the language is sarcastic: “a non‐god” (see v. 21). 18: God is depicted as a woman; gave you birth refers specifically to labor pain (Isa 51.2; cf. Isa 42.14). 21: Jealous refers to the covenant’s demand for exclusive loyalty to God (5.8; 6.15; Num 25.11). Accordingly, the punishment for breach of the covenant metes out precise retributive justice (see 19.19n.). The Hebrew emphasizes the sarcasm: thus, with what is no god and what is no people, lit., “with a non‐god,” “with a non‐people.” Their idols, lit., “their vapors” or “their vanities,” even “their vapidities” (Jer 8.19; 10.15; 16.19; Eccl 1.2). 22: Sheol, the underworld (Gen 37.35; 1 Sam 2.6; Ps 139.8); the abode of all the dead, not a place of damnation like the later idea of hell. 23: Arrows, divine punishments (v. 42; Ezek 5.16; Pss 7.13; 18.14; 38.2). 24: Burning consumption, the name of the Ugaritic god of pestilence; thus better, “devoured by Plague.” 25: Woman, better, “young woman,” to emphasize the double merism (28.3–6n.), which symbolizes the totality of the slaughter. 26–27: The Song here pivots from judgment of Israel to her vindication at the expense of the foreign invaders. 27: I feared, God has feelings and vulnerabilities (as at Gen 6.6). 28–33: God’s soliloquy is interrupted by another voice, who refers to God in the third person and speaks on behalf of Israel (vv. 30–31). 28–29: The foreign nation, like Israel, has failed in wisdom, justifying God’s judgment (see v. 6). 30: Ironically inverts the holy war idea (3.22; 20.1): The enemy is reproached for failing to understand that it owes its triumph over Israel to God rather than force of arms. God will thus punish Israel’s conquerors to preserve his own honor (see 9.25–29; Num 14.13–16). 32: Sodom … Gomorrah, here symbolizing moral corruption more than ruinous devastation (cf. 29.23n.). 34: This, the punishment of the foreign nation, which is about to be announced (vv. 35–42). Laid up … sealed up, the formal legal procedures for rolling and then sealing a witnessed deed or contract with wax, so that the unaltered document can subsequently be introduced into court as evidence (Isa 8.16; Jer 32.9–15). 35: Vengeance, better, “vindication,” since the idea is not revenge but justice. 36: Their power is gone, neither bond nor free, God will act when no one survives who can take charge or provide assistance (2 Kings 14.26; cf. 1 Kings 14.10; 21.21; 2 Kings 9.8). 39: Similar to exilic Second Isaiah (Isa 41.4; 43.10,13; 44.6; 45.6–7,22; 48.12). 41: Takes, lit., “returns,” in retributive justice. Thus, vengeance gives the wrong idea (see v. 35n.). Those who hate me, treaty language that refers to disloyal action that violates the covenant; thus better translated, “those who reject me” (5.9). 43: The second, fourth, and fifth lines have been reconstructed by NRSV in light of a Dead Sea Scrolls manuscript (4QDeutq) and the LXX, both of which seem to reflect an earlier version of the text than the one preserved by the Heb text (MT). With heavens and land, the verse forms an inclusio to “heavens … earth” (v. 1), thus framing the poem and returning the focus to Israel’s impending entry into the promised land. Praise … his people, better “O heavens, rejoice with him!” All you gods, the divine council (v. 8n.; Ps 29.1), probably removed from the MT because of the conflict with monotheism (see vv. 8–9n.). Avenge the blood, God as divine blood avenger (cf. 19.6), who removes the stain of Israel’s blood from the land by requiting the aggressor for having spilled it (19.11–13). Cleanse, since the moral stain on the land can only be “wiped clean” (the word’s literal meaning) with the blood of the murderer (Num 35.33–34; cf. Deut 21.8): here, the foreign nation. God’s position is nonetheless morally ambiguous, since it was he who had sanctioned the foreign invasion as punishment for Israel’s wrongdoing (vv. 19–26).

32.44–47: Double conclusion to the Song. Two originally separate conclusions joined by Deuteronomy’s editors. 44: All the words … , an inclusio (see 31.30). 45–47: A separate section, the original continuation of 31.29 prior to the insertion of the Song. 46: All the words, the laws of Deuteronomy (31.24); now, following the insertion of the Song, referring to both.

32.48–52: Moses commanded to die. This section contains a second version of the Priestly announcement of Moses’s death (Num 27.12–14). The original Priestly announcement was interrupted by Deuteronomy’s insertion into the Pentateuch. The restatement of that announcement here thus reminds the reader where the account left off in Numbers, at which point the narrative continues with the account of Moses’s death (Deut 34). 49: This mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, as in the Priestly narrative (Num 27.12; 33.47); but, according to the Deuteronomistic tradition, Pisgah (3.27). The two traditions are joined at 34.1. 50: You shall die, a command, “Die … !” This unusual imperative establishes that Moses both lives and dies at God’s command (34.5n.). Gathered to your kin, buried in a family tomb, where the bones of the generations would be gathered together (2 Kings 8.24; 22.20; cf. 1 Kings 13.31); here used metaphorically, since Moses’s burial place is unknown (34.6). Mount Hor, consistent with the Priestly tradition (Num 20.22–29; 33.37–39); but, in the Deuteronomistic tradition, “Moserah” (10.6). 51: You broke faith, see Num 20.1–13; cf. 1.37n.; 4.21.

33.1–29: The Blessing of Moses. In form a father’s blessing of his progeny when death is imminent (Gen 27.27–29; 48.15–16; 49.1–28; cf. 1 Kings 2.1–4), Moses’s address to the tribes arrayed before him (29.2,10; 31.7,30) treats all Israel as his own progeny, gathered before the deathbed (Gen 48.2; 49.33). Following the model of other blessings, the speaker addresses the tribes in the singular, as if they were individual sons (contrast v. 19). (Of the 12 sons of Jacob, only Simeon, his second born, is entirely missing.) This poem is an insertion, intruding between God’s command to Moses to ascend Nebo to prepare for his death (32.49–50) and Moses’s compliance (34.1–5). The literary model of the patriarchal blessing of the twelve tribes (vv. 6–25) has been consciously embedded in a framing poem addressed to a united Israel (vv. 1–5,26–29) that imitates victory hymns to the divine warrior (Judg 5; Ps 18.7–15; Hab 3; cf. Ex 15). That older model has been significantly transformed, however. In vv. 1–4, the expected climax of the divine theophany in the military defeat of the enemy has been totally eclipsed (cf. vv. 26–29), although it is the logical precondition for the proclamation of God as king (v. 5). The new climax is instead Moses’s proclamation of Torah (v. 4n.). The reference here to Sinai instead of Deuteronomy’s usual Horeb (see 1.2n.) is an attempt to integrate Deuteronomy with the other literary sources of the Pentateuch (Ex 19–20; Lev 25.1; Num 10.12). The editors have used an inclusio pattern to embed the blessing (with its focus upon the individual tribes) into the framing hymn to the divine warrior (where united Israel is the focus). Thus the word symmetry Lord:Jacob:Jeshurun::Jeshurun’:Jacob’:Lord’ (A:B:C::C’:B’:A’; vv. 2,4,5,26,28,29) brackets the inserted blessing. Older hymns to the divine warrior sometimes list the tribes’ contributions to the battle (Judg 5.14–18), which facilitates the combination of the two models. Although it draws upon older textual traditions, the poem in its present form is almost certainly exilic or postexilic. The combination of two separate literary models and the emphasis on divinely revealed Torah rather than the divine warrior’s manifestation in battle suggest the later literary setting. 1: Man of God, a type of prophet (Josh 14.6; 1 Sam 9.6; 1 Kings 13.1–32; 17.18,24; 2 Kings 4.7–41); this term is not used elsewhere of Moses in Deuteronomy. 2: The Lord … dawned, God’s departure from his distant mountain stronghold, dramatically coming to the rescue of his people, closely follows the model of Judg 5.4; Hab 3.3. Myriads of holy ones, the divine council who accompany God into battle (32.8n.; Pss 68.17; 89.7). Sinai … Seir, the parallelism locates Sinai near Seir, associated with Edom (Judg 5.4), in southern Transjordan. 3: His holy ones, originally, the divine council of v. 2, reinterpreted to refer to Israel (7.6; 14.2,21; 26.19; 28.9; Lev 19.2; Num 16.3) to provide a transition to v. 4. 4: Moses charged us, since Moses is himself the speaker (v. 1), this verse is an insertion that presents the promulgation of the Torah (NRSV “law”) as the climax of the divine warrior’s theophany. 5: A king, almost certainly God as divine king of Israel (Ex 15.18; Num 23.21; Judg 8.22–23; 1 Sam 8.7; Isa 33.22; Ps 29.10). Jeshurun, see 32.15n. 6: Reuben, who once had the leadership of the firstborn (see Gen 49.3–4), is apparently threatened with extinction. 7: Judah, in sore trouble because of an unnamed adversary, should be helped by other tribes. 8–11: Levi, once a warlike tribe (Gen 49.5–7), is to receive the prerogatives of the priesthood: to teach law, or Torah (v. 10), and to officiate at the altar. 8: Thummim and Urim, the priestly divination devices (see Ex 28.30n.; Ezra 2.63). Massah and Meribah, see Ex 17.1–7; Num 20.2–13. 9: On Levi’s zealous loyalty to the covenant, at the expense of father and mother … kin, and … his children, thus complying with 13.7, see Ex 32.25–29. 13–17: See Gen 49.25–26. 16–17: By ascribing primacy of rule and the status of firstborn to Joseph, this blessing conflicts with the law affirming the norm of primogeniture (21.15–17). 16: Who dwells on Sinai refers to Ex 3.1–6 (see text note e). Prince, Joseph (the Northern Kingdom, destroyed in 722 bce) enjoyed greater prestige than Judah (v. 7). 17: Ephraim and Manasseh, the two tribes making up “the house of Joseph” (Gen 48.13–14). 18–19: Zebulun and Issachar will enjoy great influence owing to the resources of the Mediterranean and Lake Chinnereth, later known as the Sea of Galilee (Gen 49.13). 20–21: Gad occupied the best tableland in Transjordan but aided the other tribes in the occupation of Canaan (Num 32). 22: Dan, vigorous as a lion’s whelp, must here already have migrated from its original tribal allotment on the southern coastal plain to the far north at the base of Mount Hermon (Judg 18). Bashan, see 32.14n. 23: Naphtali, located in the region of the Sea of Galilee west and south of Dan. 24–25: Asher, located below Phoenicia, is to be strong and prosperous. 26–29: The resumption of the hymn to the divine warrior (vv. 2–5), and a return to the focus upon Jeshurun (v. 26), meaning all Israel (v. 28). 26: Much like the Canaanite storm god Baal, Israel’s divine warrior rides upon the clouds (Pss 18.10–12; 68.4,33; Isa 19.1). 27: NRSV justifiably reinterprets the Hebrew (see text notes a, b) in order to continue the mythic imagery of v. 26. 28: As in Ugaritic myth, the theophany of the divine warrior and his proclamation as king results in the fertility of the land. 29: Tread on their backs, a standard symbol of military triumph (Josh 10.24; Ps 110.1).

34.1–12: The death of Moses. This chapter directly continues the narrative concerning the death of Moses and the transfer of leadership to Joshua, his successor (ch 31 and 32.48–52). At another level, however, it also continues Num 27, where God had commanded Moses to “go up this mountain” to survey the promised land before his death, and to “lay your hand” upon Joshua, to transfer the mantle of authority to him (vv. 12,18), bracketing Deuteronomy and suggesting that editors interrupted an earlier form of the narrative in order to include Deuteronomy in the Pentateuch. 1: Went up, responding to the command of 32.49; Num 27.12. The verse joins two different traditions about the site of Moses’s death: Mount Nebo, in Transjordan, east of Jericho; and Mount Pisgah, which is slightly to its northwest, and unmentioned in 32.49. To preserve both traditions, the editor presents them as if they were the same. 2–3: The lofty vantage point allows Moses to look northward to the Sea of Galilee (area of the tribal allotment of Dan and Naphtali), to the Western Sea (the Mediterranean), south to the Negeb desert and along the Jordan rift valley as far south as Zoar (once located at the southern end of the Dead Sea as one of the “cities of the Plain”; Gen 14.2,8; 19.29). 5: At the Lord’s command, see 32.50n. The unusual formulation greatly honors Moses, who, despite advanced age, does not die of old age nor succumb to physical or intellectual infirmity. 6: He was buried, lit., “He buried him,” a clear indication that God buried Moses, as God sealed Noah into the ark (Gen 7.16). Instead of Moses’s progeny assuming the responsibility of caring for the dead, God undertook it personally. Beth‐peor, 3.29; 4.46; Josh 13.20. No one knows his burial place, thus precluding pilgrimages to the site as a shrine. 7: One hundred twenty, see 31.2n. 8: Thirty days, so also for Aaron (Num 20.29). 9: Full of the spirit of wisdom, as at 1.13 and 16.18–20, Deuteronomy revises earlier traditions to stress wisdom as the essential qualification of office, and thus what Joshua receives from Moses. Num 27.18 depicts Joshua as already possessing an undefined “spirit” (often associated with prophecy or possession), while Moses was to transfer his “authority” to him. Laid his hands on him, as at Num 27.22–23, a means of transfer of attributes (Lev 16.21; Num 8.10–13), here used for investiture into office. 10–12: Moses as the greatest exemplar of prophecy both in direct access to divine revelation and in power to work miracles. The double elevation, which differs from his more human representation elsewhere in the book, suggests an editor’s later, idealizing retrospective, with Deuteronomy now worked into the Pentateuch as a whole. 10: Never since, more correctly, “But there never again arose in Israel a prophet like Moses.” NRSV obscures the tension between the perspective of this verse and the divine promise to Moses that the line of prophetic succession will continue in the future: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you” (18.18). Face to face, rather than through dreams or visions (13.1); similarly, Ex 33.11; Num 12.8–10. Other traditions reject the concept that Moses had such direct access to God (Ex 33.20–23).

^a Gk Syr Vg Compare Josh 12.4: Heb lacks and

^a Sam Gk: MT the Lord

^a Or Sea of Reeds

^a Gk Tg: Heb and all

^a Heb territory from Aroer

^b That is Settlement of Jair

^c Heb Salt Sea

^a Heb the ten words

^a Syr: Heb Sion

^b Q Mss Sam Gk Syr Vg Tg: MT word

^c Or besides

^a Or to thousands

^b Or kill

^a Or The Lord our God is one Lord, or The Lord our God, the Lord is one, or The Lord is our God, the Lord is one

^b Or as a frontlet

^a Heb Asherim

^a Or hornets: Meaning of Heb uncertain

^a Or by anything that the Lord decrees

^b Or fiery; Heb seraph

^a Sam Gk: MT I have

^b Heb the ten words

^c Or the wells of the Bene‐jaakan

^a Q Ms Gk Syr: MT lacks your God

^b Or Sea of Reeds

^a Compare Gk: Heb my commandments

^b Sam Gk Vg: MT I

^c Or as a frontlet

^a Gk Syr: Compare Gen 12.6; Heb oaks or terebinths

^b Heb Asherim

^a Or on

^b Gk Sam Syr: MT lacks today

^c Ch 13.1 in Heb

^d Ch 13.2 in Heb

^a Sam Gk Compare Tg: MT lacks your father’s son or

^a Or pelican

^b Identification of several of the birds in verses 12–18 is uncertain

^a Or sells himself or herself

^a Heb him

^b Or bondman

^c Or bondwoman

^d Or new moon

^a Or tabernacles; Heb succoth

^a Heb Asherah

^a Meaning of Heb uncertain

^b Heb him

^c Or prophets

^a Or such prophets

^b Or prophets

^c Or mouths of the prophets

^d Heb he

^e Or prepare roads to them

^a Heb two‐thirds

^a Ch 23.1 in Heb

^b Heb uncovering his father’s skirt

^a Heb a dog

^a A term for several skin diseases; precise meaning uncertain

^b Heb lacks the garment given you as

^a Heb whole

^a Heb uncovered his father’s skirt

^a Ch 28.69 in Heb

^b Ch 29.1 in Heb

^a Or deal wisely

^b Gk Syr: Heb your leaders, your tribes

^c Meaning of Heb uncertain

^a Heb of heaven

^a Gk: Heb lacks If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God

^b Q Ms Gk: MT Moses went and spoke

^a Or tabernacles; Heb succoth

^a Meaning of Heb uncertain

^a Traditional rendering of Heb Elyon

^b Q Ms Compare Gk Tg: MT the Israelites

^c Sam Gk Compare Tg: MT found

^d Sam Gk Syr Tg: MT he ate

^e Q Mss Sam Gk: MT lacks Jacob ate his fill

^f Or that begot you

^g Q Mss Gk: MT lacks was jealous

^h Cn: Heb he spurned because of provocation

^a Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain

^a Q Ms Gk: MT nations

^b Q Ms Gk: MT lacks this line

^c Q Ms Gk: MT his servants

^d Q Ms Sam Gk Vg: MT his land his people

^e Sam Gk Syr Vg: MT Hoshea

^a Gk Syr Vg Compare Tg: Heb upon them

^b Cn Compare Gk Sam Syr Vg: MT He came from Ribeboth‐kodesh,

^c Cn Compare Gk: meaning of Heb uncertain

^d Or O lover of the

^a Cn: Heb with his hands he contended

^b Q Ms Gk: MT lacks Give to Levi

^c Heb above him

^d Heb he

^e Cn: Heb in the bush

^f Q Ms Gk Syr Vg: MT His firstborn

^g Cn: Heb the peoples, together

^a Or The eternal God is a dwelling place

^b Cn: Heb from underneath

^c Or the everlasting arms

^d Or fountain