Deuteronomy 30

Deuteronomy 30

Deuteronomy 30:1 “When all these things happen to you– the empowerments and afflictions I have set before you– and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where Yahveh your God has driven you,

Deuteronomy 30:2 and you and your children return to Yahveh your God and obey him with all your heart and all your throat by doing everything I am commanding you today,

Deuteronomy 30:3 then he will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where Yahveh your God has scattered you.

Deuteronomy 30:4 Even if your exiles are at the end of the sky, Yahveh will gather you and bring you back from there.

Deuteronomy 30:5 Yahveh, your God, will bring you into the land your fathers took possession of, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than he did your fathers.

Deuteronomy 30:6 Yahveh, your God, will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will care about him with all your heart and all your throat so that you will live.

Deuteronomy 30:7 Yahveh, your God, will put all these oaths on your enemies who hate and persecute you.

Deuteronomy 30:8 Then you will again obey Yahveh and follow all his commands I am commanding you today.

Deuteronomy 30:9 Yahveh, your God, will make your prosperity survive in all the work of your hands, your offspring, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, Yahveh will again delight in your prosperity, as he delighted in that of your fathers,

Deuteronomy 30:10 when you obey Yahveh your God by watching his commands and prescriptions that are written in this book of the instruction and return to him with all your heart and all your throat.

Deuteronomy 30:11 “You see, this command that I command you today is certainly not too complicated or beyond your reach.

Deuteronomy 30:12 It is not in the sky, so you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to the sky, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’

Deuteronomy 30:13 And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’

Deuteronomy 30:14 But the message is very near you, in your mouth and your heart, so that you may follow it.

Deuteronomy 30:15 See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity.

Deuteronomy 30:16 You see, I am commanding you today to care about Yahveh your God, to walk in his ways, and to watch his commands, prescriptions, and rules, so that you may stay alive and multiply, and Yahveh your God may empower you in the land you are entering to take possession of.

Deuteronomy 30:17 But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow in worship to other gods and serve them,

Deuteronomy 30:18 I tell you today that you will certainly be destroyed and will not prolong your days in the land you are entering to take possession of across the Jordan.

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call sky and land as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, empowerment and affliction. Choose life so that you and your descendants may stay alive,

Deuteronomy 30:20 care about Yahveh, your God, obeying him, and staying faithful to him. Because he is your life, and he will prolong your days as you stay in the land, Yahveh swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Deuteronomy 30 quotes:

“Theologically, chapter 30 addresses the future anticipated at 4:25–31, and so provides further commentary on that statement. The future orientation of verses 1–10 points to a certain exile and dispersion of the Lord’s people, when all these blessings and curses … come upon you (in that order), after living in the Promised Land for some time. Therefore, the chapter addresses the issue of whether the covenant can continue, and on what basis. At the same time, it assumes that Israel will fail (28:1 – 29:28[ET]; cf. 31:24–29), but after exile and judgment, God’s mercy and covenant faithfulness will again prevail in restoring faithless Israel. If this happens, they should not lose hope (Jer. 24:1–10), for if they take the blessings and curses to heart (v. 1), and return to the Lord with all their heart and soul (vv. 2, 10), then the Lord will bring them back from captivity and restore their fortunes (vv. 3–5, 9). But in order to make this return to the Lord both possible and permanent in terms of obedience to all his commands (v. 8), the Lord himself will circumcise their hearts, as well as the hearts of their children, so that they might love him with all their heart and soul, and live (v. 6; anticipating Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 36:24–32). Then returning to the present Moab generation in verses 11–14, the future ideal of verses 6 and 8 is now put in more realistic terms relating to the accessibility of the law and the present possibility of obeying it. These verses constitute the rhetorical heart of the chapter, leading to the matter of an appropriate choice by Israel in verses 15–20: See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction (v. 15), concluding at verse 19: Now choose life … For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The final choice is between love of Yahweh and obedience to his promise and laws, leading to life (cf. 32:46–47), or following the gods of Canaan, leading to death (vv. 16–18; cf. Josh. 24:14–15).”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

“At some future point, when disobedience brought on the curse of the covenant and the people were dispersed among foreign nations, there would come a turning point. The turning point would be followed by certain steps; the process described here was to influence in many ways the preaching of the prophets in subsequent generations. (a) You shall return to your senses (v. 1)—the people would remember that the circumstances in which they found themselves were not the result of “fate,” but an inevitable consequence of disobeying the covenant with the Lord, which resulted in the curse of the Lord. (b) Return to the Lord (v. 2)—once they knew the reason for the curse that had befallen them, the course of action would become clear. In repentance, they must return to the Lord of the Covenant, individually and as families.

(c) You shall listen to his voice (v. 2)—the repentance involved not only turning back from the evil past, but a new and wholehearted commitment of obedience to God’s voice, which was expressed for them in God’slaw and was written in a book (see v. 10). (d) Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes1 (v. 3)—the nature of exile would be such that repentance alone could not lead to freedom, for the people would be in foreign lands under foreign authorities. Having remembered, repented, and obeyed, then the people could look to God for his aid in restoring them to that previous position; only then could they expect to know once again his compassion (v, 3). God, acting in the course of human history (just as he had done in bringing his people out of Egypt), would regather his people from the places to which he had scattered them in judgment.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (pp. 363-364). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 30 links:

full repentance
his mission
in retrospect- a simple choice
in retrospect- the secretly disobedient
LET THE MISTREATED REJOICE
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, November 12, 2024
not the best news
regathered and returned
riches that please God
staying faithful to him
The one and only – Mark 12-28-30
the one and only
the promise – eternal life
The sky above – shamayim, the land beneath – erets


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 29

Deuteronomy 29

Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the words of the covenant Yahveh commanded Moses to establish with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.

Deuteronomy 29:2 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen with your own eyes everything Yahveh did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and his entire land.

Deuteronomy 29:3 You saw with your own eyes the great trials and those great signs and wonders.

Deuteronomy 29:4 Yet to this day, Yahveh has not given you a heart to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.

Deuteronomy 29:5 I led you forty years in the open country; your clothes and the sandals on your feet did not wear out;

Deuteronomy 29:6 you did not eat bread or drink wine or beer – so that you might know that I am Yahveh your God.

Deuteronomy 29:7 When you reached this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them.

Deuteronomy 29:8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

Deuteronomy 29:9 Therefore, watch the words of this covenant and follow them so that you will succeed in everything you do.

Deuteronomy 29:10 “All of you are standing today before Yahveh your God – your leaders, tribes, elders, officials, all the men of Israel,

Deuteronomy 29:11 your dependents, your wives, and the guests in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water –

Deuteronomy 29:12 so that you may enter into the covenant of Yahveh your God, which he is establishing with you today, so that you may enter into his oath[1]

Deuteronomy 29:13 and so that he may establish you today as his people and he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Deuteronomy 29:14 I am establishing this covenant and this oath not only with you,

Deuteronomy 29:15 but also with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of Yahveh our God and with those who are not here today.

Deuteronomy 29:16 “Indeed, you know how we stayed in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations where you traveled.

Deuteronomy 29:17 You saw their repulsive things[2] and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them.

Deuteronomy 29:18 Or else there may be a man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from Yahveh our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.

Deuteronomy 29:19 When someone hears the words of this oath, he may celebrate himself, and this is what he says: ‘I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.’ This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land.

Deuteronomy 29:20 Yahveh will not be willing to forgive him. Instead, his anger and jealousy will burn against that person, and every oath written in this scroll will descend on him. Yahveh will blot out his name under the sky,

Deuteronomy 29:21 And Yahveh will separate him from all the tribes of Israel for harm, according to all the oaths of the covenant written in this book of instruction.

Deuteronomy 29:22 “Future generations of your children who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant country will see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses Yahveh has inflicted on it.

Deuteronomy 29:23 All its land will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unplanted, producing nothing, with no plant growing on it, just like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahveh demolished in his fierce anger.

Deuteronomy 29:24 All the nations will ask, ‘Why has Yahveh done this to this land? Why this intense outburst of anger?’

Deuteronomy 29:25 Then people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahveh, the God of their fathers, which he had established with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 29:26 They began to serve other gods, bowing in worship to gods they had not known – gods that Yahveh had not permitted them to worship.

Deuteronomy 29:27 Therefore Yahveh’s nose burned at this land, and he brought every affliction written in this book on it.

Deuteronomy 29:28 Yahveh uprooted them from their land in his anger, rage, and intense wrath and tossed them into another land where they are today.’

Deuteronomy 29:29 The hidden things belong to Yahveh our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children permanently, so that we may follow all the words of this instruction.


[1]אָלָה = oath. Deuteronomy 29:12, 14, 19, 20, 21; 30:7.

[2]שִׁקּוּץ = repulsive thing.

Deuteronomy 29 quotes:

“Chapter 29 draws attention to the terms and implications of Israel’s entering into the covenant that is sealed with a ‘curse’ (v. 12 [ET]), involving both present and future generations (vv. 11–15). The new element here is that all members of the community, from the leaders to menial servants, stand as individuals before the Lord (vv. 9–15), and are thus under the curse and wrath of God if the covenant is broken. The chapter especially recalls the standpoint of chapter 13 on apostasy and idolatry (v. 18 [ET]). This is then developed in terms of the person who might hear the words of the curse, and then invoke a blessing upon himself, thinking that he is safe from the curse, while continuing in his own stubborn and rebellious ways (cf. 27:15–26). Such a person is a root, whose bitter poison can bring ruin to the entire nation (v. 19 ET]). Earlier, this is attributed to the absence of ‘a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear’ to ‘this day’ (v. 4 [ET]). Such sin will never be forgiven within Israel. The wrath of the Lord (vv. 20–28 [ET]) will ‘burn’ against such a person, and ‘single’ him out for the full quota of curses contained in chapters 27 – 28 (v. 21 [ET]). In time this will lead to the land itself becoming an unproductive burning waste like Sodom and Gomorrah, prompting the nations to ask why this should be so. The answer will be that Israel abandoned the covenant of the Lord by worshipping other gods they did not know, gods he had not given them (vv. 22– 28; cf. 4:19; 28:64). As a result, the Lord’s anger will burn against the land, uprooting Israel and thrusting them into another land, as it is now. Finally, verse 29 [ET] flows into the following chapter, where the resolution to this failure is described.”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

“In the concluding charge, Moses returns first of all to dwell briefly on some of the themes already contained in the earlier discourses (vv. 1–8.1 The substance of the material presented here in summary form is a recollection of God’s acts in history, from the Exodus, through the testing period in the wilderness, and up to the arrival of the people on the plains of Moab. To the reader, the repetition may seem somewhat tedious at first sight, but the significance of the repetition appears in v. 3: the Lord has not granted you,2 up to this day, a mind3 to understand, and eyes to see, and ears to hear. With the perspective of time, the Israelites could learn to see God’s presence in their past experience, but it required insight and perception.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 356). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 29 links:

a burning waste
entering one covenant
extraordinary
faith and reality
in retrospect- the secretly disobedient
internal miracle
stubbornly faithful followers
swept away
time machine


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 28

Deuteronomy 28

Deuteronomy 28:1 “Now if you faithfully obey Yahveh your God and are careful to do all his commands I am commanding you today, Yahveh your God will put you far above all the nations of the land.

Deuteronomy 28:2 All these empowerments will come and overtake you because you obey Yahveh your God:

Deuteronomy 28:3 You will be empowered in the city and empowered in the country.

Deuteronomy 28:4 Your offspring will be empowered, and your land’s produce, and the offspring of your livestock, including the young of your herds and the newborn of your flocks.

Deuteronomy 28:5 Your basket and kneading bowl will be empowered.

Deuteronomy 28:6 You will be empowered when you come in and empowered when you go out.

Deuteronomy 28:7 “Yahveh will cause the enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you in one direction but run away from you in seven directions.

Deuteronomy 28:8 Yahveh will command for you empowerment on your barns and on everything you do; he will empower you in the land Yahveh your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 28:9 Yahveh will establish you as his sacred people, as he swore to you, if you watch the commands of Yahveh your God and walk in his ways.

Deuteronomy 28:10 Then all the peoples of the land will see that you bear Yahveh’s name, and they will stand in awe of you.

Deuteronomy 28:11 Yahveh will make your prosperity survive[1] with offspring, the offspring of your livestock, and your land’s produce in the land Yahveh swore to your fathers to give you.

Deuteronomy 28:12 Yahveh will open for you his abundant storehouse, the sky, to give your land rain in its season and to empower all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.

Deuteronomy 28:13 Yahveh will make you the head and not the tail; you will only move upward and never downward if you listen to Yahveh, your God’s commands, which I am commanding you today, and are careful to follow them.

Deuteronomy 28:14 Do not turn aside to the right or the left from all the things I am commanding you today, and do not follow other gods to worship them.

Deuteronomy 28:15 “But if you disobey Yahveh your God by carefully following all his commands and prescriptions I am giving you today, all these afflictions will come and overtake you:

Deuteronomy 28:16 You will be afflicted with a curse in the city and afflicted with a curse in the country.

Deuteronomy 28:17 Your basket and kneading bowl will be afflicted with a curse.

Deuteronomy 28:18 Your offspring will be afflicted with a curse, and your land’s produce, the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks.

Deuteronomy 28:19 You will be afflicted with a curse when you come in and afflicted with a curse when you go out.

Deuteronomy 28:20 Yahveh will send against you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything you do until you are exterminated and quickly destroyed because of the wickedness of your actions in abandoning me.

Deuteronomy 28:21 Yahveh will make pestilence cling to you until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering to take possession of.

Deuteronomy 28:22 Yahveh will afflict you with wasting disease, fever, inflammation, burning heat, drought, blight, and mildew; these will pursue you until you are destroyed.

Deuteronomy 28:23 The sky above you will be bronze, and the land beneath you iron.

Deuteronomy 28:24 Yahveh will turn the rain of your land into falling dust; it will descend on you from the sky until you are exterminated.

Deuteronomy 28:25 Yahveh will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but run away from them in seven directions. You will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the land.

Deuteronomy 28:26 Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land, with no one to scare them away.

Deuteronomy 28:27 “Yahveh will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, tumors, a festering rash, and scabies, from which you cannot be cured.

Deuteronomy 28:28 Yahveh will afflict you with madness, blindness, and mental confusion,

Deuteronomy 28:29 so that at noon you will grope as a blind person gropes in the dark. You will not be successful in anything you do. You will certainly be exploited and robbed continually, and no one will help you.

Deuteronomy 28:30 You will become engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You will build a house but not stay in it. You will plant a vineyard but not enjoy its fruit.

Deuteronomy 28:31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away from you and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will help you.

Deuteronomy 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes grow weary looking for them every day. But you will be powerless to do anything.

Deuteronomy 28:33 A people you don’t know will eat your land’s produce and everything you have labored for. You will only be exploited and crushed continually.

Deuteronomy 28:34 You will be driven mad by what you see.

Deuteronomy 28:35 Yahveh will afflict you with painful and incurable boils on your knees and thighs– from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.

Deuteronomy 28:36 “Yahveh will bring you and your king that you have appointed to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone.

Deuteronomy 28:37 You will become an object of desolation, scorn, and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahveh will drive you.

Deuteronomy 28:38 “You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because locusts will devour it.

Deuteronomy 28:39 You will plant and cultivate vineyards but not drink the wine or gather the grapes because worms will eat them.

Deuteronomy 28:40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not moisten your skin with oil, because your olives will drop off.

Deuteronomy 28:41 You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours because they will be taken prisoner.

Deuteronomy 28:42 Buzzing insects will take possession of all your trees and your land’s produce.

Deuteronomy 28:43 The guest among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink lower and lower.

Deuteronomy 28:44 He will lend to you, but you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.

Deuteronomy 28:45 “All these afflictions will come, pursue, and overtake you until you are exterminated, since you disobeyed Yahveh your God and watch the commands and prescriptions he gave you.

Deuteronomy 28:46 These curses will be a sign and a wonder against you and your descendants permanently.

Deuteronomy 28:47 Because you didn’t serve Yahveh your God with joy and a cheerful heart, even though you had an abundance of everything,

Deuteronomy 28:48 you will serve your enemies Yahveh will send against you, in famine, thirst, nakedness, and a lack of everything. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until he has exterminated you.

Deuteronomy 28:49 Yahveh will bring a nation from far away, from the ends of the land, to swoop down on you like an eagle, a country whose language you won’t understand,

Deuteronomy 28:50 a ruthless nation, showing no respect for the old and not sparing the young.

Deuteronomy 28:51 They will eat the offspring of your livestock and your land’s produce until you are exterminated. They will leave you no grain, new wine, fresh oil, young of your herds, or newborn of your flocks until they cause you to be destroyed.

Deuteronomy 28:52 They will besiege you within all your city gates until the high and fortified walls that you trust in come down throughout your land. They will besiege you within all your city gates throughout the land Yahveh your God has given you.

Deuteronomy 28:53 “You will eat your offspring, the meat of your sons and daughters Yahveh your God has given you during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you.

Deuteronomy 28:54 The most sensitive and refined man among you will look grudgingly at his brother, the wife he embraces, and the survivors of his children,

Deuteronomy 28:55 refusing to share with any of them his children’s meat that he will eat because he has nothing left during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you in all your towns.

Deuteronomy 28:56 The most sensitive and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the land because of her refinement and sensitivity, will begrudge the husband she embraces, her son, and her daughter,

Deuteronomy 28:57 the afterbirth that comes out from between her legs and the children she bears, because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything else during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you within your city gates.

Deuteronomy 28:58 “If you are not careful to watch all the words of this instruction, which are written in this scroll, by fearing this glorious and awe-inspiring name – Yahveh, your God –

Deuteronomy 28:59 and Yahveh will bring overwhelming plagues on you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses.

Deuteronomy 28:60 He will afflict you again with all the diseases of Egypt, which you dreaded, and they will cling to you.

Deuteronomy 28:61 Yahveh will also afflict you with every sickness and plague not recorded in the book of this instruction until you are exterminated.

Deuteronomy 28:62 Though you were as numerous as the stars of the sky, you will be left with only a few people because you disobeyed Yahveh, your God.

Deuteronomy 28:63 Just as Yahveh was glad to cause you to prosper and to multiply you, so he will also be glad to cause you to be destroyed and to exterminate you. You will be ripped out of the land you are entering to take possession of.

Deuteronomy 28:64 Then Yahveh will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the land to the other, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.

Deuteronomy 28:65 You will find no peace among those nations, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot. There, Yahveh will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a lethargic throat.

Deuteronomy 28:66 Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be in dread night and day, never sure of survival.

Deuteronomy 28:67 In the morning, you will say, ‘If only it were evening! ‘ and in the evening, you will say, ‘If only it were morning! ‘– because of the dread you will have in your heart and because of what you will see.

Deuteronomy 28:68 Yahveh will take you back in ships to Egypt by a route that I said you would never see again. There, you will try to sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”


[1]יָתַר

Deuteronomy 28 quotes:

“The blessings (vv. 1–14) and curses (vv. 15–68) of chapter 28 follow the pattern of Ancient Near Eastern treaties in seeking to motivate loyalty and obedience in the subjects of the conquering king.

But within the Pentateuch, the unity and concept of blessing and curse drives the narrative from Genesis (the fivefold blessing given to Abraham at 12:1–3, reversing the fivefold curse of Gen. 3 – 11); the blessing of Jacob (Gen. 49:1–33); Leviticus 26:1–13 (blessings); Leviticus 26:14–46 (curses); and Deuteronomy 27 – 28, 32 – 33.91 Therefore, the assumption behind the blessings and curses within the Pentateuch is the sovereignty of Yahweh (monotheism) in all the affairs of life. This especially relates to the Lord’s covenant with Abraham and his progeny to give them a land (Gen. 12:1–3). But in order to possess this promise in all its fullness, Israel must replicate Abraham’s obedience to all of the Lord’s commands (cf. Gen. 26:5; Deut. 28:1, 15, 58). The main sin that will undo this blessing and incur Yahweh’s curses will be Israel’s proclivity to go after other gods and serve them (28:14). Within chapter 28, the curses are four times longer than the blessings (cf. Lev. 26:14–46; three times longer than the blessings), which initially may have served the purpose of motivating obedience to the laws of chapters 5 – 28 (cf. 29:19–21). But it may also suggest that Israel will fail in its attempt to keep the demands of the covenant (cf. 31:14–29). Even though the curses will inevitably follow the blessings (30:1), God’s grace will also prevail in the possibility of Israel’s return to the Lord (30:1–10), suggesting that the curses were not always logical or irreversible in their desired and rhetorical effects. Finally, the terms of the covenant (28:69 [MT]; 29:1 [ET]) from chapters 5 – 28 were to be understood as a new embodiment or renewal of the Horeb covenant, and not its replacement.”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

“The conclusion to the specific stipulations (26:16–19) was followed in the address by instructions relating to the future renewal of the covenant in the vicinity of Shechem, after the initial stages of the conquest. In that future renewal ceremony, blessings and curses would be declared to the people (27:11–26). Now the focus in the address of Moses returns to the present moment, and in ch. 28 the substance of the address is an exhortation based upon the blessings and curses pronounced during the renewal of the covenant on the plains of Moab.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 335). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 28 links:

a godforsaken condition
a responsible people
a sign and a wonder
bearing his name
better homes and gardens
doubt and dread
exploitation and crushing
exterminate!
futility
glad to
he’d be glad to
heads or tails?
holy terrors
in retrospect- health and prosperity
in retrospect- what if?
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, June 14, 2023
missing variable
oppression and domination
prosperous instead of predators
stipulations
The sky above – shamayim, the land beneath – erets
trapped in a lifestyle
trapped in Ebal
within the contest


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 27

Deuteronomy 27

Deuteronomy 27:1 Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, and they said, “Watch every command I am giving you today.

Deuteronomy 27:2 When you cross the Jordan into the land Yahveh your God is giving you, set up large stones and cover them with plaster.

Deuteronomy 27:3 Write all the words of this instruction on the stones after you cross to enter the land Yahveh your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahveh, the God of your fathers, has promised you.

Deuteronomy 27:4 When you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to cover them with plaster.

Deuteronomy 27:5 Build an altar of stones there to Yahveh your God – do not use any iron tool on them.

Deuteronomy 27:6 Use uncut stones to build the altar of Yahveh, your God, and offer ascending offerings to Yahveh, your God, on it.

Deuteronomy 27:7 There you are to sacrifice offerings for healthy relationships,[1] eat, and enjoy the face of Yahveh, your God.

Deuteronomy 27:8 Write clearly all the words of this instruction on the plastered stones.”

Deuteronomy 27:9 Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, and this is what they said: “Be silent, Israel, and listen! This day, you have become the people of Yahveh, your God.

Deuteronomy 27:10 Obey Yahveh your God and follow his commands and prescriptions I am giving you today.”

Deuteronomy 27:11 On that day, Moses commanded the people, and this is what he said:

Deuteronomy 27:12 “When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes will stand on Mount Gerizim to empower the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Deuteronomy 27:13 And these tribes will stand on Mount Ebal to deliver the affliction: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

Deuteronomy 27:14 The Levites will answer in a loud voice to every Israelite:

Deuteronomy 27:15 ‘The person who makes a carved idol or cast image, which is repulsive to Yahveh, the work of a craftsman, and places it in secret is afflicted with a curse.’[2] And all the people will answer, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:16 ‘The one who dishonors his father or mother is afflicted with a curse.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:17 ‘The one who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker is afflicted with a curse.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:18 ‘The one who leads a blind person astray on the road is afflicted with a curse.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:19 ‘The one who denies justice to a guest, a fatherless child, or a widow is afflicted with a curse.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:20 ‘The one who has sex with his father’s wife is afflicted with a curse, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen! ‘

Deuteronomy 27:21 ‘The one who has sex with any animal is afflicted with a curse.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:22 ‘The one who has sex with his sister, whether his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter is afflicted with a curse.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:23 ‘The one who has sex with his mother-in-law is afflicted with a curse.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:24 ‘The one who secretly kills his neighbor is afflicted with a curse.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:25 ‘The one who accepts a “gift” to kill an innocent throat is afflicted with a curse.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:26 ‘Anyone who does not put the words of this instruction into practice is afflicted with a curse.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’


[1]שֶׁלֶם = offering for healthy relationships.

[2]אָרָר = afflict with a curse. Deuteronomy 27:15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26; 28:16, 17, 18, 19.

Deuteronomy 27 quotes:

“Chapter 27 makes an important literary and theological connection with 11:26–32 in terms of Mounts Gerizim and Ebal and the associated blessings and curses, as well as commitment to the covenant laws. As such, these passages provide a frame for the laws in chapters 12 – 26, establishing a final link between Horeb, Moab and Shechem on the basis of today (27:1, 10–11; cf. 5:1). However, chapter 27 locates the altar and the inscription of the laws upon the mountain of curse, Mount Ebal, which must be replicated when Israel crosses the Jordan (27:1–8; cf. Josh. 8:30–35). Both the elders (27:1) and the Levitical priests (27:9) witness this event, and will ensure the future of the law. Even though Moses announces both blessings and curses (27:11–13), only twelve curses are recited by the priestly Levites (27:14–26; cf. 29:17–28).This appears to be a deliberate literary and theological ploy, providing a fitting conclusion to the laws already given, and focusing especially on secret aspects of breaking the law. Furthermore, these laws remind Israel (symbolized by the twelve curses) that they stand under the curse as far as covenant and law are concerned.”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

“The specific details concerning the continuity of leadership in the covenant community are stated in chs. 29–30, but in ch. 27 the general principle is given, namely, that in the future there would have to be a further renewal of obedience and commitment to God’s law, which had just been declared and expounded (chs. 12–26).”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 327). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 27 links:

an altar of stones
appreciating parents
caring for lives
determining deviancy
duty to the disabled
final affliction
getting away with it
illegitimate relationships
in retrospect- dos and don’ts
our end of the contract
respecting the contract
secret idols
shut up and listen up
Spring up, Oh Well
stipulations
supporting the marginalized
victimless crime


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 26

Deuteronomy 26

Deuteronomy 26:1 “When you enter the land Yahveh your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and stay in it,

Deuteronomy 26:2 take some of the first of all the land’s produce that you harvest from the land Yahveh your God is giving you and place it in a basket. Then go to the place where Yahveh, your God, chooses to have his name dwell.

Deuteronomy 26:3 When you come before the priest who is serving at that time, say to him, ‘Today I declare to Yahveh your God that I have entered the land Yahveh swore to our fathers to give us.’

Deuteronomy 26:4 “Then the priest will take the basket from you and place it before the altar of Yahveh your God.

Deuteronomy 26:5 You are to answer by saying in the presence of Yahveh your God: My father was a lost Aramean. He went down to Egypt with a few people and was there as a guest. There, he became a great, powerful, and populous nation.

Deuteronomy 26:6 But the Egyptians mistreated and humiliated us and forced us to do hard labor.

Deuteronomy 26:7 So we called out to Yahveh, the God of our fathers, and Yahveh heard our cry and saw our misery, hardship, and oppression.

Deuteronomy 26:8 Then Yahveh brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with terrifying power, and with signs and wonders.

Deuteronomy 26:9 He led us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 26:10 Notice I have now brought the first of the land’s produce that you, Lord, have given me. You will then place the container before Yahveh, your God, and bow down to him.

Deuteronomy 26:11 You, the Levites, and the guests among you will enjoy all the good things Yahveh, your God, has given you and your household.

Deuteronomy 26:12 “When you have finished paying all the tenth of your produce in the third year, the year of the tenth, you are to give it to the Levites, guests, fatherless children and widows, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.

Deuteronomy 26:13 Then you will say in the presence of Yahveh your God: I have taken the consecrated portion out of my house; I have also given it to the Levites, guests, fatherless children, and widows, according to all the commands you commanded me. I have not violated or forgotten your commands.

Deuteronomy 26:14 I have not eaten any of it while in mourning, or removed any of it while contaminated, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed Yahveh, my God; I have done all you commanded me.

Deuteronomy 26:15 Look down from your holy dwelling, from the sky, and empower your people Israel and the land you have given us as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 26:16 “Yahveh your God is commanding you this day to do these prescriptions and rules. Do them carefully with all your heart and all your throat.

Deuteronomy 26:17 Today you have affirmed that Yahveh is your God and that you will walk in his ways, watch his prescriptions, commands, and rules, and obey him.

Deuteronomy 26:18 And today Yahveh has affirmed that you are his possession as he promised you, that you are to watch all his commands,

Deuteronomy 26:19 that he will elevate you to praise, fame, and glory above all the nations he has made, and that you will be a sacred people to Yahveh your God as he promised.”

Deuteronomy 26 quotes:

“The key to understanding chapter 26 is its position in Deuteronomy (McConville 2002: 384). Within the structure of the book, with its resemblance to both treaty and law code, it rounds off the long section of laws. But in a treaty-like manner, and also in a pattern similar to that of the Book of the Covenant (Exod. 20:22 – 23:19; cf. 24:7), the section from chapter 12 to 26 begins with worship, and ends with worship at the chosen place with the bringing of firstfruits, thus fulfilling the command in 12:5–7, 11–13. But only here in Deuteronomy do we hear the voice of the loyal worshipper in terms of a liturgical-style credo before Yahweh at the sanctuary. This credo rehearses Israel’s pain, oppression, homelessness and slave status in Egypt, resulting in Yahweh hearing their cry and finally bringing them into a place where they may live safely and securely (v. 9). However, this brings with it the responsibility of drawing the homeless within their midst into a place of celebration and belonging (v. 11), which is also related to the third-year tithe (v. 12). This tithe (called the sacred portion) must not be absorbed into the ever-present cult of the dead (v. 14), but must be faithfully dispensed to the ‘living’ and marginalized of Israel (v. 13). The passage concludes with a command to carefully keep the decrees and laws (v. 16), forming a bracket with 11:32 – 12:1, followed by words of covenant ratification (vv. 17–19) in which Yahweh exists as ‘God for Israel’, and Israel exists as ‘people for him’.”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

“Whereas the main substance of the specific stipulations (Deut. 12–26) anticipates the continuing future life of Israel in the promised land, the legislation contained in 26:1–15 relates to two particular ceremonies which were to be held as soon as Israel had taken possession of the land and begun its new (agricultural) style of life. In this sense, 26:1–15 follows naturally from 25:17–19, which also refers to particular action to be taken once the land had been possessed; it precedes naturally the legislation of 27:1–26, in which the particular renewal of the covenant in the vicinity of Shechem is commanded, to be undertaken after the crossing of the Jordan and the initial stages of the conquest.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 319). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 26 links:

a sacred people
declaration of obedience
generational gratitude
in retrospect- gifts of rejoicing
leftovers
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, June 11, 2021
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, June 13, 2023
The sky above – shamayim, the land beneath – erets


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.