Deuteronomy

Introduction

The name “Deuteronomy” comes from the words deutero (“second”) and nomos (“law”). After the 40 year Wilderness Wandering (Deut. 1:3), Moses repeats the Law to the second generation, so this is a good title for the book. Historically, however, the title came from the Greek translation of the OT (the Septuagint or LXX), which rendered Deuteronomy 17:18 as “a copy of this law” with “a repetition of this law.” Jewish readers title this book by its first words (“These are the words”) or by Deuteronomy 17:18 (“a copy of this law”).

Authorship of Deuteronomy

The question of the authorship of Deuteronomy is really bound up with the greater authorship of the Pentateuch as a while, which we have treated elsewhere (see “Authorship of the Pentateuch”). However, in regard to Deuteronomy in particular, the book itself claims to have been written by Moses (Deut. 31:9, 22, 24, 30), Jesus attributed Deuteronomy to Moses (Mt. 19:7; Mk. 7:10; Lk. 20:28), and various OT authors did the same (Judg. 3:4; 1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 14:6; Ezra 3:2; Neh. 1:7; Ps. 103:7; Dan. 9:11; Mal. 4:4). Norman Geisler writes, “Deuteronomy is the book of the Law most quoted in the New Testament, being cited over eighty times.”

Why does Deuteronomy repeat the law?

This might seem redundant to us, but we need to remember that most of the original audience had never heard the Law given from Moses, because 40 years had passed since its initial revelation at Mount Sinai. This would have been an important refresher for the people. Norman Geisler writes, “This book was written to the new generation, those under twenty years of age when they came out of Egypt. This second giving of the law was a renewal of the covenant that God had made with their fathers. This new generation received God’s charge to inherit their promised blessings.” Other ancient literature follows this pattern. For instance, Homer’s Odyssey “gives a summary restatement of the action of the Iliad in direct discourse, as told by famous participants in the Trojan War.”

Moses had reached the end of his term. Deuteronomy is the last month of Moses’ life. He couldn’t go into the Promised Land—even though they were really close to entering it. So, he realized that his life was soon going to end (Deut. 4:22). It is of interest to note that Moses never makes it into the Promised Land until he is seen with Jesus (Mt. 17:3)!