THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

The title of Deuteronomy in Hebrew isDebarim, “words,” from its opening phrase. The English title comes from the Septuagint of17:18,deuteronomion, “copy of the law”; this title is appropriate because the book replicates much of the legal content of the previous books, serving as a “second law.” It brings to a close the five books of the Torah or Pentateuch with a retrospective account of Israel’s past—the exodus, the Sinai covenant, and the wilderness wanderings—and a look into Israel’s future as they stand poised to enter the land of Canaan and begin their life as a people there.

The book consists of three long addresses by Moses. Each of these contains narrative, law, and exhortation, in varying proportions. In an expansion of the first commandment of the decalogue (Ex 20:5–6;Dt 5:9–10), Moses tells the Israelites how to make a success of their life as a people once…