Deuteronomy Summary

For the most part, the book of Deuteronomy is one long speech by Moses, to the Israelites, before his death. (I was tempted to call it his “swan song,” but that would imply that the speech is a performance, and I don’t think of Moses as “performing” in this book.) Much of the book/speech is spent reminding the nation of Israel of events that have taken part since they left Egypt, or reminding them of laws that were handed down in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.

As you’ll remember from Numbers 20, Moses and Aaron sinned before the LORD, and were therefore forbidden from entering the Promised Land. I had a memory, when I started blogging through Deuteronomy, that Moses had numerous passages where he blamed the Israelites for this, but having gone through it again, he spends much less time blaming them than I thought he did.

You may be wondering where the name “Deuteronomy” came from. What does it mean? Is it a Hebrew term of some kind? (This was my assumption.) I looked it up, so if you’re interested, see the bottom of this post for a bit of history. (I put it at the bottom, under the list of links, because I figured that most people probably wouldn’t care…)

Deuteronomy 1:1–8: Moses begins his speech Deuteronomy 1:9–18: The Appointment of Leaders Deuteronomy 1:19–25: Spies Sent Out Deuteronomy 1:26–46: The Israelites refuse to enter the Promised Land Deuteronomy 2: The Israelites approach the Promised Land Deuteronomy 3:1–11: The Israelites Defeat Og Deuteronomy 3:12–20: The “Transjordan” tribes Deuteronomy 3:21–29: Moses Forbidden to Cross the Jordan Deuteronomy 4:1–14: Moses begins recounting the law Deuteronomy 4:15–31: Moses warns against idolatry Deuteronomy 4:32–40: God is the Only God Deuteronomy 4:41–49: Cities of Refuge, and the Law Deuteronomy 5: The 10 Commandments Deuteronomy 6: Love the LORD Your God Deuteronomy 7: Drive out the nations, and don’t be ensnared by them Deuteronomy 8: Do Not Forget the LORD Deuteronomy 9:1–6: God didn’t choose Israel because of the Israelites’ righteousness Deuteronomy 9:7–29: The Israelites are not righteous Deuteronomy 10:1–11: New stone tablets Deuteronomy 10:12–22: Fear the LORD Deuteronomy 11: Love and Obey the LORD Deuteronomy 12: One Place of Worship Deuteronomy 13: Worshipping other gods forbidden Deuteronomy 14:1–21: Food, and worship Deuteronomy 14:22–29: Tithes Deuteronomy 15:1–11: Cancelling debts Deuteronomy 15:12–18: Freeing [Israelite] servants Deuteronomy 15:19–23: The Firstborn Animals Deuteronomy 16:1–8: Passover Deuteronomy 16:9–12: Feast of Weeks Deuteronomy 16:13–17: Feast of Tabernacles Deuteronomy 16:18–20: Judges Deuteronomy 16:21–17:7: Worshipping Other Gods Deuteronomy 17:8–13: Difficult cases of law

Deuteronomy 17:14–20: Rules for an Israelite king Deuteronomy 18:1–8: Rules for Levites Deuteronomy 18:9–13: Detestable Practices Deuteronomy 18:14–22: Prophets Deuteronomy 19:1–14: Cities of Refuge Deuteronomy 19:15–21: Witnesses Deuteronomy 20: Rules for going to war Deuteronomy 21:1–9: Atonement for an Unsolved Murder Deuteronomy 21:10–14: Rules for marrying a captured woman Deuteronomy 21:15–17: The Right of the Firstborn Deuteronomy 21:18–21: A Rebellious Son Deuteronomy 21:22–22:12: Various Laws Deuteronomy 22:13–30: Marriage Violations Deuteronomy 23:1–8: Exclusion from the “Assembly” Deuteronomy 23:9–14: Preventing uncleanness from entering the camp Deuteronomy 23:15–25:19: Miscellaneous Laws Deuteronomy 26:1–15: Firstfruits and Tithes Deuteronomy 26:16–19: Follow the LORD’s Commands Deuteronomy 27:1–8: The Altar on Mount Ebal Deuteronomy 27:9–26: Curses From Mount Ebal Deuteronomy 28:1–14: Blessings for Obedience Deuteronomy 28:15–68: Curses for Disobedience Deuteronomy 29: Renewal of the Covenant Deuteronomy 30:1–10: Forgiveness Deuteronomy 30:11–20: The choice is yours… Deuteronomy 31:1–8: Joshua to Succeed Moses Deuteronomy 31:9–13: Reading of the law commanded Deuteronomy 31:14–29: Israel’s rebellion predicted—again! Deuteronomy 31:30–32:47: Moses’ Song Deuteronomy 32:48–52: Instructions for Moses’ death Deuteronomy 33: Moses’ last words Deuteronomy 34: Moses dies

The Name “Deuteronomy”

It turns out that the title “Deuteronomy” comes from a mistranslation; it’s from verse 17:18: “When he [the king] takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites” (emphasis added). I’ll quote the Jewish Encyclopedia explanation of what happened:

The English appellation is derived from the name which the book bears in the Septuagint (Δευτερουόμιου) and in the Vulgate (Deuteronomium); and this is based upon the erroneous Septuagint rendering of “mishnch ha-torah ha-zot” (xvii. 18), which grammatically can mean only “a repetition [that is, a copy] of this law,” but which is rendered by the Septuagint τὸ Δευτερουόμιου τοῦτο, as though the expression meant “this repetition of the law.” While, however, the name is thus a mistranslation, it is not inappropriate; for the book does include, by the side of much new matter, a repetition or reformulation of a large part of the laws found in the non-priestly sections (known as “JE”) of Exodus.

(If you’re not familiar with the term “Septuagint,” you can look it up using Google’s definition feature. It’s basically the Greek translation of the Old Testament that would have been used in Jesus’ time, and is still used a lot by Bible translators and scholars today.)

If you wish, you can also see the Wikipedia page on Deuteronomy, which also describes where the title came from. I’m not sure if it agrees with the Jewish Encyclopedia…