The trust of this chapter is fairly straight-forward but it is one of the longer chanpters in the book and is also not one of the easier to read through especially for us moderns who—so moulded by our smart-phone culture—are opague to the custom of repetitions and compressed arguments. As we will note below, even scholars have difficulties with it. The chapter is so long without good reasons. Idolatry was one of the most serious temptations to the ancient Israelite, and its destructive venom and its only antidote—Yahweh and no other—is the theme that shapes every page of the Old Testament. Flushed with victories over Sihon and Og GenB had to be reminded of this most severe of the challenges they would face, and Moses is strenuous about its importance. To more easily follow the flow of Moses' appeal in this conclusion to his address, we re-structure this section in the following manner:
1. Call to Radical Discipleship, vv.1-14.
2. The Form of God, vv.9-20.
3. Moses' Denial from the Land, vv.21-22.
4. Warning against Idolatry, vv.23-31.
5. Yahweh and No Other, vv.32-40.
While serving as a conclusion to his first address, this section raises a number of fundamental themes about what it means to walk with Yahweh—loyalty to Yahweh and no other, the prohibition of idols, the threat of expurgation from the land, and the possibility of restoration—themes which Moses will raise again in the core of his exposition in the next address.
We suggest you read through the entire chapter at least twice before you continue with the comments below. Use the outline above to help you map out the terrain of the text as you read the chapter.
Here is a more detailed introduction to the chapter.
Moses has taken his audience through the events that had led them from Horeb to where they now stand, on the east bank of the River Jordan. He has reminded them of the terrible price their parents had had to pay for their refusal to trust in Yahweh (1:6-2:1). He has also recounted the immense possibility for victory that comes from obedience (2:2-3:29). Bringing his first address to a climatic conclusion he now turns their attention to the future and calls them to a whole-hearted devotion that alone can ensure their success in the land that they are now poised to possess. The peripatetic drama—conveyed through the plethora of verbs of locomotion—of the preceding two sections is now replaced by an appeal to reflection, internalisation, and decision. Here Israel is called to ponder on what she had "seen" (v.3, 9, 12, 15, 35, 36) and "heard" (v.10, 12, 33, 36), to "ask" and to draw conclusions from those enquiries (v.7, 8, 32, 33, 34), to "remember" and "not forget" (v.9, 10, 23), so that she may "know" (v.35, 39) and "be careful" (v.6, 9, 15, 23), "to observe" (v.1, 6, 40) what Moses was about to teach them.
The goal of this appeal to contemplation, however, is not a surreal yogic state of passivity called 'peace of mind' but a resolute decision to walk in all the ways of God. The need for this decision is urgent, as reflected in the repeated reminder of what has transpired or is needed to be done "today" (v.4, 8, 20, 26, & esp. 38, 39, 40). Israel's recognition of her situation and the resolutions she makes "today," however, carries serious implications for the future. And so repeatedly the shape of Israel's life in the Promised Land comes into view as she is reminded of the need to observe the law "in the land you are crossing over to possess" or "in the latter days" (v.1, 5, 14, 23, 25, 26, 30, 40), and that her commitment to obey is to be life-long (v.9, 10, 40). But such obedience is also lifegiving and life-enriching (v.1, 4, 6, 40, cf. v.26). Hence, Moses calls them to give thoughts to the future of their "children" and "children's children" and, thus, to the need to teach them the laws of Yahweh (v.9, 10, 25). Central also to this call to faithfulness is the emphasis given to acknowledging Yahweh as "God and no other" (v.3f., 35, 39) and the insistent warning against idol making and its consequences (v.12, 15ff., 25ff.). Implicit in all these is the fact that what Israel really needs, more than a detailed and expansive knowledge of the law, is the resolve of heart to stay faithful to Yahweh. The necessity and urgency of this commitment is articulated and moved forward in the following fashion:
A. Summon to Obedience, vv.1-2
B. Israel's witness to Yahweh's deeds, vv.3-4
C. Israel unique among the nations, vv.5-8
D. Warning against Idolatry, vv.9-20
E. Denial of Moses from the land, vv.21-22
D'. Warning against Idolatry, vv.23-31
C'. Israel unique among the nations, vv.32-34
B'. Israel's witness to Yahweh's deeds, vv.35-38.
A'. Summon to Obedience, vv.39-40
This section opens with a summons to Israel to obey the decrees that Moses was about to teach them (A), stressing its necessity for the immediate need for success in the coming conquest of the land (v1), and concludes on a similar call to obedience (A'), emphasizing its necessity for the longer term need for security and prosperity once they have settled in it (v.40). Vv.3-4 (B) briefly recalls the events at Baal Peor where Israel witnessed the fate of those who dared toy with worshipping other gods, while vv.35-38 (B') reminds Israel of the things she had witnessed so that she may know that there is no other god besides Yahweh. Vv.5-8 (C) augments this appeal to faithfulness by highlighting, by way of its two rhetorical questions, Israel's uniqueness among the nations. This is mirrored in vv.32-34 (C'), in which Israel is again asked to consider her uniqueness as the sole chosen people of God. Vv.9-20 (D) parallels vv.23-31 (D') in its admonition against turning to idolatry and thus provoking Yahweh to anger. Set between these warning, at the centre of the exhortation, vv.21-22 (E) Moses reminds Israel of Yahweh's anger with him and of his resulting denial from the land.
Here is the same view but looking at the actual text and the specific words repeated in the various sections:
"Hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. . . so that you may live . . . the land that Yahweh . . . is giving you," v.1.
"You saw what Yahweh did . . ." v.3.
"What nation is so great . . .? v.8.
"Be careful . . . lest you forget . . . in the land you are crossing to possess, . . . lest you become corrupt and make . . . an idol of any form," v.9, 14, & 16.
"I will not cross the Jordan . . the good land," v.21.
"For I will die in this land," v.22a.
"I will not cross the Jordan . . . the good land," v.22b.
"Be careful . . . lest you forget . . . become corrupt and make any kind of idol . . . you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing . . . to possess ," v.23 & 26.
"Has anything so great like this ever happened . . . ?" v.32.
"You were shown things so that you might know that Yahweh is God . . ." v.35.
"Keep his decrees and commands I am commanding you. . . so that you may live long in the land Yahweh . . . is giving you," v.40.
The simplicity of this envelope structure, however, is deceptive, and belies the fact that Deut.4 is a highly complex literary composition.1 Commentators, for example, do not agree on how to divide the chapter into its various sub-units; proposals range from six to as many as thirteen.2 Just how complex it is may be gauged, for example, from the way the various units noted in the chiastic structure above may be re-grouped to form larger and overlapping units. Thus, while vv.9-20 (D) is a clearly demarcated unit, part of it (vv.9-14) also knits in with vv.1-8 (A, B, C) to form a cohesive concentrically bound unit, so that vv.9-14 serves double duty.3
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2017