The Book of Deuteronomy

Precis #1

Andrea/Overfield, "Establishing a Covenant with a Chosen People"

Moses, "THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY"

"THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY" is written when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt, where they were slaves, and into the new "Promised Land", (between 1279-1213 B.C.E). The Israelites had just spent many years crossing and wandering in a vast dessert (forty years). As they begin to get closer, their leader Moses believes that he will not make it the entire way to the Promised Land. He gives a final speech to his people from God (YHWH) that outlines a covenant between YHWH and the people of Israel.

In the covenant between YHWH and the people of Israel, specific rules or requests from YHWH are outlined and generous promises to the Israelites for following these rules. In summary, Moses, the leader of the people, reminds them how he helped YHWH lead them out of Egypt, where they were Slaves, into freedom. After the were free from slavery the people were free to roam and make their way to the wonderful land that YHWH had promised them. He commands the people that there is only one god and that they should worship and love only that one god because they made it to where they are because of YHWE. He goes on to say that those who love and follow the one God shall be rewarded, and that those who choose to follow any other god will experience the negative consequences of doing so. Moses also states the importance of conquering any of the people in the new lands who do not comply with the rules of YHWE and who worship any other god. The text also serves as a moral code or law for the people of Israel. It covers such topics as honoring family, treating people with respect, how to be ethical, and how to be good to your fellow human beings.

The genre of the text is both religious and law. The text is part of the old testament of the bible, which is the primary religious document of the Jewish and later the Christian faiths. It was also considered the word of god and therefore law by the early people of Israel. The text was written by Moses. This tells us that he has become very close to YHWE to have gained access to these commandments. It also tells us that Moses feels very strongly attached to what happens to his people. He spent