Moses' second address is the longest of the three recorded in the book; at 21 chapters, it makes up nearly three-quarters of the book. It is composed utilizing a broad range of genres, from historical retrospectives to apodictic injunctions ("Do not/You shall not . . ."), casuistic provisions ("If/when . . . then you shall . . ."), to warnings, rebukes, and exhortations. As has been noted earlier, it is difficult to imagine how all the materials found in its extant form here in the book could have been delivered in a single address. It seems obvious that the material has been highly edited by the narrator. From a literary perspective, the present narrative is a carefully crafted but also highly complex composition. Within this composition, the covenant instructions found in Chaps.12-26 form the largest block of material but the arrangement of the instructions within the block remains an enigma, and all attempts to explain it has so far proven unsatisfactory.

The first impression on reading the address suggests that it is composed of three main sections:

This is, indeed, how it is represented in most commentaries. A closer examination, however, shows that the address is structured along lines that are more elaborate. Jeffrey Tigay, for example, has suggested the following chiastic structure for the address.1

C. "Take care to observe all the laws and rules that I have set before you today. These are the laws and rules that you must carefully observe . . ., 11:32-12:1

C'. "The Lord your God commands you this day to observe these laws and rules; take care to observe them . . ." 26:16

Understandably, the laws enunciated in Chaps.12-26 make up the most visibly obvious part of the speech. Our analysis of the large number of close vocabular correspondences between the various parts of the address, however, suggests another chiastic possibility that shifts the focus away from the laws:2

	INWARD MOVEMENT	OUTWARD MOVEMENT
A - A'. Yahweh's Covenant with Israel	5:2 "Yahweh our God made a covenant with us at Horeb	29:1 "These are the terms of the covenant Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb
B - B'. The Law	5:2 5:6-21 The Law (Decalogue)	12-26 The Law (Exposition)
C - C'. Call to Walk in the Way of Yahweh	5:32-33 & 6:2 "So be careful to do . . . walk in all the way that Yahweh your God has commanded . . . so that you . . . may fear Yahweh"	11:22, 25 "If you are careful to observe . . . to walk in all his ways . . . Yahweh will put the . . . fear of you on the whole land"
D - D'. Teach the Children Every Way and Everywhere	6:6-9 "These commandments . . . 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"	11:18-21 "Fix these words of mine on your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to 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. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."
E - E'. Do No Follow Other Gods	6:14-15 (7:4) "Do not follow other gods . . . for Yahweh your God is jealous . . . his anger will burn against you and he will destroy you from the face of the land	11:16-17 "Be careful, or you will . . . worship other gods . . . then Yahweh's anger will burn against you . . . and you will perish from the good land
F - F'. Blessings in the Land	7:12-13 "If you . . . are careful to follow them, then Yahweh . . . will keep his covenant of love with you . . . he will love you and . . . bless . . . your grains, new wine and oil . . ."	11:13-14 "If you . . . faithfully obey . . . to love Yahweh . . . you may gather your grains, new wine and oil . . ."
G - G'. Israel's Witness of Yahweh's Mighty Acts in Egypt	7:18-19 "Remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the . . . signs . . . the mighty hand and outstretched arm . . .	11:2-3 & 7 "Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw . . . the discipline of the Lord, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm, the signs he performed in Egypt . . . to Pharaoh and to his whole country . . . it was your eyes that saw all these great things that Yahweh has done."
H - H'. A Land with Streams of Water	8:7 "For Yahweh your God is bringing you into a good [√tb] land, a land with streams of water, with springs flowing in the valley and hills.	10:7 "From there they travelled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah [√tb], a land with streams of water"
I - I'. The Gift of the Law	9:10 "the Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly."	10:4 "the Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me."
J - J'. Israel a Corrupt through Redeemed People	9:12 "Then the Lord told me, "Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt (√shcht)"	9:26 "I prayed to the Lord and said, 'O Sovereign the Lord, do not destroy (√shcht) your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand."
K - K'. Israel's Sin of the Golden Calf	9:15-16 "I turned and went down the mountain . . . I saw that you have sinned . . . you had made a calf."	9:21 "I took that sinful thing, the calf you had made . . . I crushed it . . . and threw the dust into a stream that went down the mountain."
L - L'. the Lord's Anger and Moses' Mediation	9:19 ". . . he was angry enough with you to destroy you, but again (gam) the Lord listened to me."	9:20 "the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too (gam)."

Note: 29:1 (28:69 in the Hebrew Bible), with 29:2a, actually serve as the third editorial remark and properly belongs to a section of its own. But, as often in Deuteronomy, a deliberate overlab seems to to have been made so as to serve as a transition to Moses's third address reported in 29:2b-30:20.

This analysis shifts the focus from the law as its center to the sin of Israel with the golden calf and Moses's role in pleading for Yahweh's grace in assuaging His anger with Israel. This overarching concentric structure has a number of interesting implications for our reading of Deuteronomy.

Firstly, the correspondence between 8:7 and 10:7 provides an interesting insight into the location of Deut.10:6-7, two verses that are often seen as "a secondary interpolation . . . inserted into the text rather clumsily."3 The use of exactly the same expression, "a land of streams of water" in both 8:7 and 10:7—and only here in the Old Testament—suggests that the placement of these two verses is very likely deliberate. Additionally, the place-name "Jotbathah" in 10:7 is derived from the same root as the adjective "good" (tob) in 8:7. While a clear explanation of their juxtaposition may not yet be convincingly made, this observation summons us to greater attention to the text in its present context, instead of dismissing them as mere intrusive interpolations, as is often the habit of commentators.

Secondly, the correspondence between 9:12 and 9:26 is also revealing. Chap.9 (equalled only by Chap.28) contains more occurrences of verbs denoting destruction than any other chapter in the book of Deuteronomy. These verbs—nine times—are derived from four root-words. Of these shcht is found only in these two verses in this chapter.4 This suggests strongly that the creative symmetry of this and other similar chiastic frames elsewhere in the book of Deuteronomy is native to the text, rather than the result of fortuitous coincidences, or the result of an artificial conceptual grid imposed on the text by our reading.5

Thirdly, the speech opens with an assertion about the making of the covenant at Horeb (5:2) and concludes with a similar assertion about the making of the covenant in Moab in addition to the one established at Horeb (29:1). These assertions mark the two ends of a spiritual-pedagogical tour de force on living life with the Lord as lord. GenB hears not only what were the terms of the Horeb covenant and, partly, how their parents had responded to them (Chaps.5-11), they also hear an extended exposition of those covenant stipulations (Chaps.12-26), a warning of the dire consequences of disobedience as well as the promise of blessing for faithfulness (Chaps.27-28). In this way the speech serves to shape the minds and hearts of the people for life with the Lord and to prepare them to say yes to covenant faithfulness in the land he would give them.

Fourthly, this concentric structure has the effect of shifting the focus away from the law. The bulk of Chaps.9-10, constituting the core of the structure, is a rehearsal of Israel's recalcitrance, with the reiteration of Israel's sin with the golden calf at Sinai, and Moses' mediation on her behalf in its aftermath, taking up the larger part of the recounting. By bracketing this account with the covenant stipulations (the Decalogue in Chap 5 and the covenant stipulations in Chaps 12-26) instead of the other way around, this address stresses that the greater need of Israel is not a detailed and comprehensive knowledge of the terms of the covenant, but an inner disposition of vigilance that recognizes her inherently rebellious propensity and her need for and dependence upon divine grace. This is the heart of the Deuteronomic gospel. That this is the case is also evident in the framework that overlays the chiastic movement of the text we have noted above:

1A. Israel at the Mountain (Horeb), 5:1-5,

1B. The Law (Decalogue), 5:6-21,

1A'. Israel at the Mountain (Horeb), 5:22-33,

2A. Call to Obedience & to Teach the Word to the Children, 6:1-9

2Ba. First Portrait of Life in the Land (The Land as Cause to Fear Yahweh), c:10-25,

2Bb. Second Portrait of Life in the Land (The Cherem Commandment), 7:1-26,

2Bc. Third Portrait of Life in the Land (The Danger of Forgetting Yahweh), 8:1-20,

2Bd. Fourth Portrait of Life in the Land (The Danger of Self-Righteousness and Reminder of Israel's Rebellious Nature), 19:1-11:17,

a. Israel in the land, 9:1-3,

b. The Danger of Presumptuous Self-Righteousness, 9:7-10:11,

c. Israel's Rebellion at Horeb, 9:7-10:11,

b'. What Yahweh Requires, 10:12-11:9,

a'. Israel in the Land, 11:10-17,

2A'. Call to Obedience & to Teach the Word to the Children, 11:18-25,

3A. Israel at the Mountain (Gerizim & Ebal), 11:26-32,

3B. The Law (Exposition), 12-26,

3A'. Israel at the Mountain (Gerizim & Ebal), 27:1-26,

4. Crown: Covenant Affirmation with the Reading of the Promises of Curses and Blessings, 28:1-29:1.

The address, viewed thus in broad strokes, is set upon three mountain experiences, the first and second recalled from Israel's past, and the last set in the future. The first (5:1-33) looks back to Horeb and serves to introduce the subject of the Lord's covenant with Israel, as well as reiterate Moses' role and authority as its mediator. The Decalogue as the embodiment of that covenant is now reiterated. The second (6:1-11:25), though at first not obvious, also harks back to Horeb, and is composted of four portraits of life in the land (suggestive of the 3+1 pattern). In the first portrait, the land is viewed as a cause to fear the Lord (6:10-25). In the second portrait Israel is commanded to execute the cherem, the command to annihilate the inhabitants of the land (7:1-26). The third (8:1-20) depicts life in the land as a danger to forget the Lord. The danger of presumptuous self-righteousness is raised in the fourth portrait (9:1-11:17). Here—at the chiastic centre of the Second Address—Moses recalls Israel's rebellion at Horeb as evidence that they have no room for such presumptions. Here the mountain is viewed as epitomic of Israel's rebelliousness. Bracketing these portraits of the land we find the outer set of twin calls to obedience and to teach the Word to their children (2A & 2A'). This hortatory excursion leads to the third mountain experience— one that is set in a future covenant affirmation ceremony in which Israel declares her accountability for their covenant faithfulness by declaring the blessings (for faithfulness) and the curses (for disobedience) on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal (11:26-32 & 27:1-26). Within this framework of accountability Israel hears Moses' exposition of the covenant stipulations (Chaps.12-26). Shifting from the mountain of revelation to the mountain of rebellion and, finally, to the mountain of accountability, Moses brings his address to a dramatic conclusion—that serves essentially also as an act of covenant affirmation—with an expansive declaration of the blessings and curses that would follow depending on how Israel behaved (28:1-29:1).

While forming a clearly demarcated unit, Moses' second address is also enveloped within a series of outer brackets that weaves it into the larger salvation history canvas of the book, but to this we shall return later.6

For the convenience of handling the material in the Second Address, we divide it—along the lines of the three mountain encounters—into the following sections:

Introduction - Moses' Second Address, 5:1-29:1

Introduction -
Moses' Second Address,
5:1-29:1