AUTHOR & ORIGIN OF DEUTERONOMY

Origin of Deuteronomy

The opening words of the book clearly asserts it to be "the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the desert east of the Jordan." 1:5 also informs us that the book is a record of the "expositions of the law" that Moses addressed to the Israelites on the eve of their conquest of the promised land as well as the eve of his death. The events may be presented graphically like this:

1) Sinai - Israel arrives at Sinai in the third month after their departure from Egypt (Exo 19:1). Here Israel met God in the fire but saw no form.

2) Leaves Sinai on 20th day of the 2nd month of the 2nd year for Kadesh Barnea (Num 10:11) for the 11-day journey to Kadesh Barnea.

3) Israelite scouts explores the land of Canaan but refuses to take the land for fear of the giants reported by the scouts. For their disobedience they are sentenced to 40 years of wandering, one year for each day of their exploration. God also promised that none of those who came out of Egypt as adults, except Caleb and Joshua will see the Promised Land (Num 14:26-35).

4) Israel spent 38 years wandering around in the wilderness until every one of GenA had died (Deut 2:14). During this time they passed by the countries of Edom, Moab (which also employed Balak to curse Israel) and Ammon. Here also Moses disobeyed the Lord and was banned from entering the Promised Land.

5) GenB conquers the lands belonging to Sihon and Og and the land is divided between the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh.

6) Moses expounds the torah to GenB, which later was edited to become Deuteronomy.

7) With his exposition over, Moses dies, and Israel is led by Joshua to cross the Jordan to conquer Canaan.

But Who Wrote the Book?

The book also informs us that Moses wrote down the laws, though how much of that actually took place in his lifetime remains uncertain (e.g., Deut 31:9-12):

So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests . . . and to all the elders of Israel. Then Moses commanded them: "At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. 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."

In a number of places we also read of Moses commanding the Israelites to write down what he had taught, e.g.:

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (6:6-9//11:20)

Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: "Keep all these commands that I give you today. When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you . . . And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster. Build there an altar . . . And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up." (27:1-8)

1. On Which Side of the Jordan was the Book Written?

In a number of places the book of Deuteronomy refers to events that occurred in the "territory east of the Jordan." In 3:8ff, e.g., the book recalls the conquest of "the territory east of the Jordan" that belonged to the two Amorite kings Sihon and Og. Similarly, in 4:41ff. the book reports Moses' setting aside of three cities of refuge "east of the Jordan." "East of the Jordan" captures the "sense" but is actually not a particularly accurate translation of the Hebrew expression b^e'eber hayyarden because the preposition b^e'eber is not direction-specific; the expression is better rendered "on the other side of the Jordan."1 This means that the book of Deuteronomy as we have it now was written "this side of," i.e., "west of" the Jordan. Since Moses died on Mount Nebo, which was "east of the Jordan," the book of Deuteronomy must have been "written up" in its present form by someone (the Narrator) west of the Jordan.

2. On the Death of Moses

The book of Deuteronomy ends with the account of Moses' death and burial in Moab (34:5). To assert that Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy and that God could easily have predicted to him the manner of his death and burial is to demand an unnessary miracle. The more reasonable thing is to admit that, whatever may have been Moses' role in the composition of the book of Deuteronomy, the present form of the book owes to someone else. Here the closing sentences of the book is also instructive (34:10-12):

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Not only do these sentences support the conviction that someone other than Moses was responsible for the book that we now possess, they also point to the fact that, when these sentences were composed, some time had already elapsed since the death of Moses so that the Narrator could point to and compare the line of intervening prophets with Moses and find Moses pre-eminent over them.

When was Deuteronomy Written Up?

How long, then, after the death of Moses was the book of Deuteronomy written up? To this question we have no certain answer. J. G. McConville suggests a number of reasons for pointing to a time not long after Israel's settlement in the land. "First, Deuteronomy shows no knowledge of the main institutions of Israel's political and religious life during the periods of the kings, namely the kings themselves and the Jerusalem temple . . . Secondly, Deuteronomy knows only a single, united Israel, and shows no acquaintance with the division of the nation into two kingdoms following the reign of Solomon, around 930 BC . . . Thirdly, the book warns again and again about the dangers of Canaanite religion (e.g., chs.7, 13)" which, though it posed a problem for Israel throughout their time in the land until the exile, was particularly serious in the early periods of Israel's tenune in the land. "Fourthly, certain laws make best sense in relation to imminent (or recent) occupation of the land," and fifthly, while "Deuteronomy shares the concerns of the prophets, namely, the need for heartfelt religion, and a love of justice and the rights of the poor . . . it is different from the prophetic books in the sense that it does not address particular occasions and individuals. It has much more the appearance of a programme for the future," so that it is more likely "that the prophets take their cue from Deuteronomy, as well as from other parts of Pentateuch."2

Summary Conclusion

From what we observe, we may conclude that soon after the death of Moses and the Israelite entry into the land of Canaan a Narrator/s gathered together what Moses had taught—what Moses had written and commanded to be written, and perhaps, with additional witness-accounts of Moses' teachings—and ordered them into the book that we now know as Deuteronomy. How much "editorial work" went into the shaping of the book until it became what the book now is is a question impossible to answer with any certainty, but that the book is essentially the work of Moses we need not doubt.

Preaching-Teaching Suggestion & Resource
Though we hope the above discussion has been useful in helping you to understand the context of Deuteronomy's origin better, it would be very unwise to tell your congregation everything that has been said above. For this reason and also because of time constrain, the PowerPoint presentation below will help you summarize the main essentials regarding the origin of the book of Deuteronomy. The presentation animates the five stages that Israel journeyed through to get to the point when Moses began his exposition that became the book of Deuteronomy:

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1. The exodus from Egypt to Mt Sinai where the law was first given (first click of the mouse).

2. The journey from Mt Sinai to Kadesh Barnea from which they were supposed to conquer the Promised Land (clicks 2 & 3).

3. The journey of the spies into the land and their refusal to go in because of their fear of the giants in the land (click 4)

4. The new journey that they now had to make for fourty years through the desert until they reached the other side of the Jordan passing by Edom, Moab and Ammon (click 5).

5. By then the entire generation of those who had come out of Egypt had died and a new generation of Israelites had taken over the leadership. Here they conquered the Amorite kings (click 6) and divided the lands among the two and a half tribes of Manasseh, Gad and Reuben (click 7). After this Moses expounds to this new generation of Israelites who would enter the Promise Land what it means to live as God's people in God's land, i.e., the book of Deuteronomy.

We strongly advise you rehearse the PowerPoint presentation a few times until you are familiar with it before you present it to your audience.

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©Alberith, 2019