Deuteronomy 31:9–13

Deuteronomy 31:9–13: Reading of the law commanded

Synopsis

In this passage, Moses writes down all of the laws that the LORD has handed down, and gives this written copy to the priests.

He commands them to read this law to the people every seven years, during the Feast of Tabernacles.

Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. (verses 12–13)

Thoughts

I don’t really have much to say about this passage; it’s pretty straightforward. (I’m sure I’ve typed that sentence, or similar words, a dozen times by now in this blog.) But this is one more place in the Old Testament where the LORD commands the Israelites to pass down His commandments to their children. And it makes perfect sense: If you don’t teach the next generation the laws, how can you expect them to follow them? For that matter, this might be one of the reasons the Israelites did abandon God, later on in their history; perhaps they hadn’t been doing a good job of teaching subsequent generations about these laws.