NB : I suggest you read the text of these four chapters (see left) at least once through before you read this article. Then read through each section of the text again when they are explained in their individual sections in this article, and finally, read through the entire four chapters again when you have finished reading this article to make sure that the article does say what it claims the text to say.
Deut 1:6-4:43 is customarily thought of as Moses' first address given to GenB gathered on the plains of Moab, full of excitement now with the prospect of crossing the Jordan to begin their possession of the Promised Land for which they have looked forward to for years.
While v5 includes this as part of Moses' exposition of "the torah," or "law," little of such exposition actually takes place here. That, of course, is due to our narrow conception of what constitutes "law." The Hebrew word torah is, in fact, better translated as "instructions." Of that there is plenty here, as we shall see. What Moses does here is actually to take GenB on a tour back into the history of their journey (more accurately, their parents' journey, i.e., GenA's) since their departure from Mount Sinai some forty years previously. This account and review may be divided into three sections:
A. The Loss of the Past Generation, 1:6-2:1.
This section traces GenA's journey from Mount Horeb to Kadesh-Barnea, from whence they would have entered and conquered the Promised Land. Their failure to do so is now retold with unsparing blame on GenA's refusal to trust Yahweh, and serves to remind the new generation of Israelites that is now Moses's audience on the plains of Moab (GenB) of the serious consequences of distrust and disobedience.
B. The Gains of the Present Generation, 2:2-3:29.
The section divides into two broad thematic parts. In the first (2:2-31), Moses reminds GenB how Yahweh had prohibited her from taking any of the lands belonging to Edom, Moab and Ammon, through which they had to pass. Key to this retelling is the fact that each of these nations had taken possession of their lands by defeating the giants who had originally lived there. This serves to remind GenB of their parents' failure to possess the Promised Land because they (GenA) feared the giant Anakites that the spies had reported were living there. In the second part (2:32-3:29), Moses recalls GenB's recent conquest of Sihon and Og, and the subsequent division of the lands among the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh. Drawing from their experience of this success Moses stresses for his audience that Yahweh is indeed able to help them take the Promised Land that now lays just a river across from them.
C. The Call to Decision, 4:1-40.
It is easy—and it happens so often—for the sweetness of success to get into our heads, and we begin to think that we can make it the rest of the way on our own. Recognizing this temptation, and with these retrospectives in the background, Moses shifts his audience's attention, in the last section (4:1-40), to the future and calls them to decision—to resolve to fear Yahweh and to obey him—for that alone will guarantee their success and tenure in the land that they are about to possess.
Reading through the text of these four chapters you would have begun to notice a number of repetitions of familiar phrases and expressions. The purpose of these repetitions is not always clear in English translations. They become more evident in the Hebrew text, though they require a great deal of effort to translate into language for the lay-person. Click here to catch a glimpse of how they intersect with one another in the Hebrew text.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, rev., 2021