Deuteronomy
About this date: Dates are broad scholarly estimates of composition or final editing, not dates of the events narrated. Traditional attributions and scholarly assessments can differ.
Deuteronomy presents Moses' addresses as Israel stands east of the Jordan. Retelling, exhortation, law, blessing, and warning turn the memory of deliverance into a demand for covenant loyalty.
Historical context
The speeches are set before entry into Canaan. Their narrated Mosaic setting and scholarly debates about the book's later composition and editing must remain distinct.
Key points
- The Shema joins the confession of Israel's God to love, teaching, and daily practice.
- Memory of wilderness dependence challenges self-sufficiency after prosperity.
- The law's concern for the foreigner, orphan, and widow belongs to its covenant theology.
Scripture
- Deuteronomy 6:4-9 — The Shema places love of God within household teaching and habitual remembrance.
- Deuteronomy 8:1-20 — Wilderness memory warns against claiming wealth as a purely personal achievement.
- Deuteronomy 10:12-22 — Love of God is linked with justice and love for the foreign resident.
- Matthew 4:1-11 — Jesus answers the temptations with Deuteronomy; compare the quoted passages in Israel's wilderness context.
Sources and further reading
- Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles: canonical books and Apocrypha
- Catholic Catechism §120: canon and book list
- Deuteronomy: complete public-domain WEB text
- Orthodox Church in America: canon of Scripture
- Orthodox Church in America: Old Testament historical books
- USCCB Bible introductions: historical and literary notes