Deuteronomy

An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture

Eugene H. Merrill

• Publisher: Holman Reference
• Year: 1994
• Print ISBN: 9780805401042
• eBook ISBN: 9781433675522
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY is for the minister or Bible student who wants to understand and expound the Scriptures. Notable features include:* commentary based on THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION;* the NIV text printed in the body of the commentary;* sound scholarly methodology that reflects capable research in the original languages;* interpretation that emphasizes the theological unity of each book and of Scripture as a whole;* readable and applicable exposition.

I. THE COVENANT SETTING (1:1-5)

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¹These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the desert east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. ²(It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)

³In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them. ⁴This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.

⁵East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying:

The content of this introductory section provides the geographical and historical setting for the covenant message Moses is about to deliver to the tribes of Israel. In line with form-critical analysis of the Book of Deuteronomy as a covenant renewal text of the sovereign-vassal type, however, it could be described as the Preamble, the term commonly applied in secular examples of this kind of covenant.¹ As such, its purpose is to introduce the occasion for the covenant, the parties involved, and any other information necessary to identify the document and the peculiarities of its composition. These are precisely the elements that appear in this section.

1:1 Moses, the covenant mediator, was the spokesman here. His role as such is clear from the fact that he spoke “to all Israel” (v. 1) “all that the LORD had commanded him” (v. 3). That is, he provided the prophetic linkage between the initiator of the covenant (i.e., Yahweh) and all its demands and the recipient of that gracious overture, Moses' own people Israel. This, of course, was much in line with his function as revealed elsewhere in Scripture (see Num 12:6-8; Deut 18:18; 34:10-12; 1 Kgs 8:53; 2 Kgs 18:6; 23:25; Luke 16:29,31; 24:27; Heb 9:19).

The covenant text itself is described here by the technical term “words” (d

b

rîm), a term pervasively used in Deuteronomy in this sense (1:18; 4:2; 6:6; 11:18; 30:14) as well as in a more limited way to speak of individual regulations (12:28; 15:15; 24:18,22) or of the Decalogue as a whole (4:10,13,36; 5:5,22; 9:10; 10:2,4).² That is, although Moses obviously was speaking words to the assembly, they were words that constituted the covenant document as a whole and in its parts. This does not preclude the fact, of course, that not all of Deuteronomy is a covenant text in the strict sense. There are words in addition to those that properly are part of the standard text of the covenant instrument. That Moses intended “words” in the more restricted sense is clear, however, from his own interpretive gloss in v. 5: “Moses began to expound this law” (tôrâ). “Law” here and “words” in v. 1 are thus synonymous terms.³

Moses' audience, “all Israel,” is not to be taken literally as though the entire population of the nation was assembled in one place and at one time to hear his address. Given a postexodus population of over 600,000 men of twenty years and older (Num 26:51; cf. 26:4), the nation as a whole must be numbered in the several of millions. Moses therefore was speaking to representatives of “all Israel,” probably the elders (cf. Num 11:16-30; Deut 27:1; 31:9,28), though obviously the message was intended for all and would become accessible to all when it finally was committed to writing.⁴

In establishing the setting, the historian focused first on the geographical arena in which the message of covenant renewal took place. It was “in the desert east of the Jordan” (v. 1)⁵ in what is now the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. More particularly it is the Arabah, a word for desert that usually refers to the section of the Great Rift Valley between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Elath (or Aqabah) but occasionally to the Jordan River valley itself.⁶ Here the section immediately north of the Dead Sea is in view, for elsewhere the place of assembly is designated as “the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho” (Num 35:1; 36:13).⁷

The following elaboration is extremely difficult to reconstruct. The place of gathering is said to be “opposite Suph,” and, moreover, “between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.” Only Paran and Hazeroth can be identified with certainty, the former being the great desert between Mount Sinai and Kadesh Barnea and the latter a stopping place for Israel in the southern part of Paran (Num 11:35; 12:16).⁸ This being the case, they hardly could have been the place where Moses spoke the covenant address, for that clearly took place in Moab (v. 5), opposite Jericho.

The best solution might be to take the words “opposite Suph” and following as a way of describing the Arabah itself. That is, the Arabah in mind is that which extends from lower Paran northward to the plains of Moab. The identification of Suph is problematic.⁹ But inasmuch as the Red Sea in general appears to have been known as Yam Sûph (“sea of reeds,” Exod 10:19; 13:18; 15:4,22; Deut 11:4) and even its eastern branch, the Gulf of Elath, was so designated (Num 21:4; 14:25; Deut 1:40; 2:1; 1 Kgs 9:26), “opposite” (môl) Suph (or “in front of” or “towards”) means only “adjacent to the sea.”¹⁰ That is, the Arabah extended loosely from Paran northward and parallel to the Gulf of Elath. Tophel,¹¹ Laban,¹² Hazeroth,¹³ and Dizahab¹⁴ would be places along the route of the Israelite itinerary from Sinai to Moab, way stations in or alongside the Arabah.

1:2 This interpretation gains strong support in the following declaration that “it takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road” (v. 2). Rather than being merely parenthetical (as in NIV), this statement further identifies the Arabah route as none other than the “Mount Seir road” that connects Horeb with Kadesh Barnea.¹⁵ “Horeb” is the name for Mount Sinai favored by Deuteronomy, occurring nine times as compared to a single instance of “Sinai” (Deut 33:2, a poetic section). Sinai, however, is the usual name in Exodus (thirteen times versus three for Horeb) and Numbers (twelve times and none, respectively). Mount Seir is simply a way of describing the entire land of Seir or Edom.¹⁶ The reason for pointing out that the distance from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea is an eleven-day journey (ca. 140 miles) is no doubt to give some idea of the ruggedness of that terrain and of the difficulties Israel had experienced in reaching the present place and moment of covenant renewal. On the other hand, eleven days would contrast sharply with the forty years of wandering necessitated by Israel's wilderness rebellion (Num 14:34).

1:3 The narrator turns next to the chronological aspect of the setting. It is the fortieth year (obviously with reference to the exodus; cf. Num 33:38) or about 1406 B.C. (see Introduction, p. 23). The first day of the eleventh month (Shebat in the later Hebrew calendar) would correspond to a date in January/February in the Gregorian calendar.¹⁷ Since the conquest of Canaan under Joshua commenced at Passover (Josh 5:10) in the first month of the religious calendar, Moses' address, death, and succession all took place in two months or so.

1:4–5 More specifically, the conclave in Moab took place after Israel, under Moses, had successfully engaged two enemy kings in battle: Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, and Og of Bashan, whose capital was Ashtaroth. Both campaigns are described more fully in Num 21 and in Deut 2:26–3:22.¹⁸ The Amorites, whose roots are found in upper Mesopotamia and Syria (ancient Amurru), appear to have migrated to Palestine at ca. 2200–18...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Editors
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Editors' Preface
• Author's Preface
• Abbreviations
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Selected Subject Index
• Person Index
• Selected Scripture Index