Tag Archives: Book of Deuteronomy

Why Think Moses Was the Primary Author of Deuteronomy?

In chapter 34 of Deuteronomy, there are textual indications that Moses did not write the book of Deuteronomy.

First, chapter 34 records the death of Moses, but how could he record the events surrounding his own death?

Second, verses 1 and 2 state that the Promised Land includes “Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea.” The problem here is that only Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had been given their land up to this point. Dan, Naphtali, Ephraim, and Judah would not receive their land until many years after Moses died.

Third, the author states in verse 10 that “since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses.” This sentence would only make sense if someone was writing this text well after Moses’s death.

Do these texts prove that Moses did not write Deuteronomy? No, not at all. It is entirely possible that Moses wrote most of the book, but that later writers added to the end of the book. In fact, Jewish tradition holds that Joshua wrote some, if not all, of chapter 34.

We have strong internal evidence that Moses did indeed write the majority of the book of Deuteronomy from Deut 31:9 and 31:24. These verses reveal Moses’s command to the Levites to take the law Moses wrote down and store it with the ark of the covenant. Taken in context, what parts of Deuteronomy would have been considered the law?

Eugene Merrill, in The Book of Deuteronomy (New International Commentary on the Old Testament), describes what verse 9 and 24 would be referring to:

The term for ‘law’ (here tôrâ) normally refers to the Mosaic writings generally, but in the context of Deuteronomy it must be limited to that book alone and, in fact, to just the covenant text of chaps. 5–26 (plus the blessings and curses of chaps. 27 and 28).

Therefore we conclude that at least chapters 5-28 were most likely written by Moses, and quite possibly more. To think that chapter 34 proves that Moses had no hand in the composition of Deuteronomy is simply wrong.

Commentary on Deuteronomy 31-34 (Joshua Succeeds Moses)

Moses’s speeches and admonitions to the Israelites are about to come to an end. Chapter 31 begins with Moses telling them that he is 120 years old, and thus he is no longer able to lead the people. In addition, God has commanded that Moses not cross into the Promised Land because of his sin at Meribah.

Even though Moses will not be leading Israel across the Jordan River, he encourages them about what will happen. God Himself will go ahead of the people and drive out the Canaanites so that the children of Israel can take possession of the land. Moses reminds them how God destroyed the Amorite kings Sihon and Og. He will do the same for them in Canaan, so they must be strong and courageous and never doubt God’s presence.

In verses 7-8, Moses singles out Joshua for encouragement, as Joshua would be assuming leadership after Moses’s death. Joshua must see that the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are fulfilled by dividing up the land that God will give them among the 12 tribes of Israel. Moses reminds Joshua that God will go before him and he need never be afraid or discouraged.

As we move ahead to chapter 34, the final chapter of Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch, we finally come to the death of Moses. Moses climbs, alone, to the top of a high mountain, so that he can see the Promised Land from his vantage point. His eyes sweep across the expanse of the land in a counter-clockwise direction. God reminds him that this is the land he promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but that Moses could never possess himself.

In verses 5-8, Moses dies and is buried by God in a valley in Moab (the exact location is unknown by the author of the text). Why would Moses’s body not be buried by another person? Scholars have speculated that God was preventing the Israelites from carrying Moses’s body into the Promised Land, which they surely would have done if they had known where he died. Therefore, God handled the death and burial of Moses Himself.

Note that Moses is called, in verse 5, the “servant of the Lord,” even though his sin prevented him from entering the Promised Land. Moses was denied the inheritance of the land, but he was still God’s servant. His sin did not completely separate him from God. God may punish his children, but He does not disown them.

In verse 9, the torch of leadership is officially passed to Joshua because Moses had duly anointed Joshua, with God’s approval, as his successor. The text indicates that the people of Israel respected the anointing of Joshua.

Verses 10-12 provide the literary epitaph for Moses. The author of this section, probably writing decades, if not hundreds of years later, states that there never was another prophet like Moses, whom God knew “face to face.” The incredible signs and wonders surrounding the Exodus from Egypt are incomparable to the feats of any previous or subsequent prophets of Israel.

Peter Craigie, in The Book of Deuteronomy (New International Commentary on the Old Testament), concludes:

Thus the unique aspect of Moses’ prophetic ministry is to be found in the role he played in a unique and vitally important event in Israel’s history. That unique event, emerging from the Exodus and the forming of the covenant at Sinai, was the formation of the kingdom of God in the nascent, theocratic state of Israel, in which the Lord was King (Exod. 15:18; Deut. 33:5). The event began with the great liberation from Egypt and it was sealed by the new commitment at Sinai. Consequently, however distinguished a subsequent prophet in Israel might be, his ministry would be within the community of God’s people; the work of the prophet Moses, however, was instrumental, under God, in the formation of that community.

How Did People in the Old Testament Please God?

Moses states in verse 25 of Deuteronomy 6, “And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.” A casual reading of this verse might lead you to believe that all the Israelites had to do was follow the rules laid out in the Law and God would consider them to be righteous before Him. Is this interpretation correct?

No. It is always dangerous to read any Bible verse out of context. At the beginning of chapter 6, Moses makes clear that the Israelites are to “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Jesus later affirms this as the greatest command.) Moses also repeats the command to “fear God” three times in chapter 6 alone.

Loving and fearing God cannot only consist of following the commands in the Law. Loving and fearing God at least consist of 1) trusting God, 2) believing what God says about Himself, and 3) having faith in His promises. We already know from Gen 15:6 that Abraham believed God, and God counted his belief as righteousness. There was no Law when Abraham was alive.

Therefore, a person who ritualistically follows the Law without loving God, without fearing God, without believing God, is not in any way pleasing God. So how should we interpret Deut 6:25? Eugene Merrill, in Deuteronomy: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (The New American Commentary), offers this summary:

Then in strongly evangelical terms Moses equated faithful compliance with the covenant to righteousness (v. 25). The word used here is ṣĕdāqâ, the very one applied to Abraham as a result of his having believed in the Lord (Gen 15:6). Later Judaism wrongly concluded that covenant keeping was the basis for righteousness rather than an expression of faithful devotion. But true covenant keeping in the final analysis is a matter of faith, not merely of works and ritual. Thus the central feature of the covenant stipulations is their providing a vehicle by which genuine saving faith might be displayed (cf. Deut 24:13; Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17; 4:1–5; Gal 3:6–7).

God provided the Law as a means for the Israelites to enact their love for and faith in God. Without love and faith, keeping the Law counted for nothing.

Commentary on Deuteronomy 6 (Love the Lord your God)

In chapter 5 of Deuteronomy, Moses reviewed again with Israel the Ten Commandments. After this review, chapter 6 begins with Moses reminding the Israelites why they must follow the Law given to them by God, through Moses. It is “so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.” In addition, it is “so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.”

It is impossible for the Israelites to enjoy long life and to prosper in the Promised Land if they do not follow the commands of God. There is no successful way forward for this new nation without loving obedience to their God.

Verses 4-9 are known to Jews as the Shema. These verses contain the fundamental truth of Jewish religion and the fundamental duties based on that truth. Observant Jews still recite these verses at least twice a day.

The fundamental truth is found in verse 4: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Peter C. Craigie, in The Book of Deuteronomy (New International Commentary on the Old Testament), explains the implications of this important verse:

The Israelites had already discovered the practical implications when they celebrated the Exodus in song: ‘Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?’ (Exod. 15:11), a rhetorical question inviting a negative response—there were no gods like the Lord! In the Exodus, the Israelites had discovered the uniqueness of their God and that the Egyptian ‘gods’ could do nothing to stop the Lord’s people leaving Egypt. It was because they had experienced the living presence of their God in history that the Israelites could call the Lord our God. Thus the oneness and reality of the Lord were practical knowledge to the people.

But there were also theological implications and the context of this verse indicates its source as a direct revelation from God (v. 1). The word expresses not only the uniqueness but also the unity of God. As one God (or the ‘Unique’), when he spoke there was no other to contradict; when he promised, there was no other to revoke that promise; when he warned, there was no other to provide refuge from that warning. He was not merely first among the gods, as Baal in the Canaanite pantheon, Amon-Re in Egypt, or Marduk in Babylon; he was the one and only God and as such he was omnipotent. It was this all-powerful Unique God who imposed on Israel the charge to love him, thereby revealing another aspect of his character.

In verse 5 we find the fundamental duty of every Jew and Christian: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” In essence, this verse instructs us to love God with all of our being, with every part of us. Jesus referred to this verse as the greatest command.

Verses 6-9 command the Israelites to keep the Law on their mind at all times and to teach their children everything in the Law. Even though verse 8 was meant figuratively, some Jews, up to present day, have taken these verses literally and have actually tied small boxes containing Bible verses around their foreheads and forearms during particular religious holidays.

Verses 10-12 remind the children of Israel that all of the good things they will receive in the Promised Land will be given to them by God, not earned by Israel. The houses, cities, wells, and vineyards – everything – that they will take from the Canaanites, will be because of God’s promises to their forefathers. An interesting implication of these verses is that the Israelites, for the most part, are not to destroy the property of the Canaanites, but only drive the people out of the land.

In verses 13-19, God again reminds the Israelites that they are to only worship Him alone. If they do worship other gods, His anger “will burn against [them], and he will destroy [them] from the face of the land.” They are not to test the Lord, which means they are not to doubt His promises to them.  If they keep His commands, their enemies will be driven away and they will inherit the land they were promised.

If an Israelite father is ever asked by his child why Israel must keep the commandments of God, he is to answer:

We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders—great and terrible—upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.

In summary, God saved Israel from slavery, delivered them to a new land, and provided them instructions (the Law) on to maintain a proper relationship with Him. As long as their relationship with God was first priority, they would prosper.