15So I turned and went down from the mountain, while the mountain was ablaze; the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16Then I saw that you had indeed sinned against the LORD your God, by casting for yourselves an image of a calf; you had been quick to turn from the way that the LORD had commanded you. 17So I took hold of the two tablets and flung them from my two hands, smashing them before your eyes. 18Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin you had committed, provoking the LORD by doing what was evil in his sight. 19For I was afraid that the anger that the LORD bore against you was so fierce that he would destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time also. 20The LORD was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him, but I interceded also on behalf of Aaron at that same time. 21Then I took the sinful thing you had made, the calf, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly, until it was reduced to dust; and I threw the dust of it into the stream that runs down the mountain.
22At Taberah also, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, you provoked the LORD to wrath. 23And when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, “Go up and occupy the land that I have given you,” you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God, neither trusting him nor obeying him. 24You have been rebellious against the LORD as long as he hasa known you.
25Throughout the forty days and forty nights that I lay prostrate before the LORD when the LORD intended to destroy you, 26I prayed to the LORD and said, “Lord GOD, do not destroy the people who are your very own possession, whom you redeemed in your greatness, whom you brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; pay no attention to the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin, 28otherwise the land from which you have brought us might say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to let them die in the wilderness.’ 29For they are the people of your very own possession, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”
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a Sam Gk: MT I have
9.1–10.11 This section offers a preemptive challenge to national self-righteousness and triumphalism by reviewing Israel’s history of rebelliousness during the wilderness era.
9.1–7 Introduction (resuming the conquest theme of 7.17–26).
9.1–2 A new generation of Israelites must face the threats that undid its predecessor. See 1.28, 41–45; 2.10–11; Num 13.28.
9.3 A reply to the preceding adage: the Lord, leading as a devouring fire (see 4.24), will defeat the formidable enemy on Israel’s behalf (cf. 31.3–6). Quickly. See notes on 6.19; 7.22.
9.4–5 Were the issue to be litigated (cf. 25.1), Israel could not gain title to its homeland on grounds of its own “innocence,” righteousness, or “integrity,” uprightness of…heart (cf. Pss 32.11; 97.11). The Lord is evicting the nations because of their “guilt,” wickedness (see 20.18; Gen 15.16; Lev 18.24; 2 Kings 17.8; 21.2); the land only passes to Israel in fulfillment of the divine promise to the patriarchs (see note on 1.8).
9.6 Stubborn, or “stiff-necked,” indicates an obstinate refusal to heed orders (cf. also 9.13; 10.16; 31.27; Ex 32.9; 33.3; 34.9; Isa 48.4; Jer 17.23; 19.15).
9.7 From…Egypt. Cf. Ex 14.10–14; 15.22–26; Jer 7.25–26; 2 Kings 21.15.
9.8–24 Rebellions of the wilderness era.
9.8–9 The apostasy at Horeb, passed over in Moses’ earlier reviews (chs. 1, 4–5), is now introduced as the paradigm case of Israel’s unfaithfulness.
9.9 Tablets of the covenant. See notes on 4.13–14; 5.22; cf. Ex 24.12. Forty days…nights is a leitmotif; see also 9.11, 18, 25; 10.10; 1 Kings 19.8; Jon 3.4.
9.10 Cf. Ex 31.18. The day of the assembly, when the full convocation heard the Lord speak (also 10.4; 18.16); see note on 5.22.
9.12–14 Your people whom you have brought. Israel, already in violation of the chief commandment (5.6–10), was disclaimed by the Lord, who proposed to start over with Moses; see Ex 32.7–10 (cf. Num 14.12).
9.15–17 The metallic calf, whether meant to represent the Lord or some other deity, made the case prima facie against Israel for breach of covenant (cf. Ex 32.1–8; 1 Kings 12.28–30; Ps 106.19–22; Hos 8.4–6; 10.5–6; 13.1–2). Moses signaled annulment of the treaty by smashing the tablets.
9.18–19 Prostrate, the posture of supplication (cf. Num 16.22). As before and that time also suppose this to be Moses’ second successful intercession in the affair (cf. vv. 25–29; Ex 32.11–14, 30–34).
9.20 The account in Ex 32.1–6, 21–25, 35 recognizes Aaron ’s guilt but says nothing about special pleading on his behalf.
9.21 Cf. Ex 32.20; see note on 7.25–26.
9.22–24 Other incidents are tersely noted by toponyms to establish a pattern of rebelliousness (cf. 31.27): Taberah (Num 11.1–3); Massah (see Deut 6.16); Kibroth-hattaavah (Num 11.31–34; 33.16); and Kadesh-barnea (see 1.19–33).
9.25–10.11 Restoration of the covenant.
9.25–29 Moses’ intercessory prayer boldly responded to the Lord’s disowning of and threats against Israel in vv. 12–14 (cf. Ex 32.11–14).
9.26 Your very own possession; lit. “your people and your possession” (also v. 29; cf. 4.20); i.e., the people belong not to Moses (9.12), but to the Lord, who redeemed them from slavery in Egypt (see 7.8).
9.27–28 Despite Israel’s obstinacy (9.13–14) there are reasons for divine restraint: the merit of the ancestors (cf. 7.8) and the Lord’s own reputation (cf. 32.26–27; Num 14.13–16; Josh 7.7–9; Ps 115.1–2).
DEUTERONOMY 10
The Second Pair of Tablets
1At that time the LORD said to me, “Carve out two tablets of stone like the former ones, and come up to me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood. 2I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which you smashed, and you shall put them in the ark.” 3So I made an ark of acacia wood, cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4Then he wrote on the tablets the same words as before, the ten commandmentsa that the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them to me. 5So I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark that I had made; and there they are, as the LORD commanded me.
6(The Israelites journeyed from Beeroth-bene-jaakanb to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; his son Eleazar succeeded him as priest. 7From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with flowing streams. 8At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day. 9Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance with his kindred; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God promised him.)
10I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. And once again the LORD listened to me. The LORD was unwilling to destroy you. 11The LORD said to me, “Get up, go on your journey at the head of the people, that they may go in and occupy the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them.”
The Essence of the Law
12So now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13and to keep the commandments of the LORD your Godc and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. 14Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the LORD your God, the earth with all that is in it, 15yet the LORD set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today. 16Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer. 17For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not
partial and takes no bribe, 18who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. 19You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20You shall fear the LORD your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. 21He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen. 22Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in heaven.
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a Heb the ten words
b Or the wells of the Bene-jaakan
c Q Ms Gk Syr: MT lacks your God
10.1–5 The covenant was reconstituted on its original terms (the Decalogue, vv. 2, 4) when a duplicate set of tablets was inscribed by the Lord and transmitted to Israel through Moses (cf. 4.13; 5.22; Ex 34.1–4, 27–29).
10.1 In the tradition represented here, the ark was a wooden “chest” (cf. Gen 50.26, “coffin” 2 Kings 12.9–10) built by Moses for the specific purpose of transporting the stone tablets of the covenant (cf. 10.8; 31.9, 24–26; 1 Kings 8.9 with various views in, e.g., Ex 25.10–22; 37.1–9; Num 10.35–36; 1 Sam 4.3–11; Ps 132.8).
10.6–7 Segments of a wilderness itinerary (with another version in Num 33.31–33) frame a notice on Aaron’s death (cf. Deut 32.50) and the succession of his son Eleazar to priestly leadership (cf. Num 3.1–4, 32; 20.22–29; 26.63–64; 24.33).
10.8–9 Another supplement reports the commissioning of the tribe of Levi to perform ritual service. For their duties and prebends, see notes on 18.1–8; 21.5; 33.8–11 (cf. Ex 32.25–29; Num 6.23–27; 8.5–26).
10.10–11 The review ends at the point where Moses’ memoirs begin in 1.6 (cf. Ex 33.1).
10.12–12.1 In this finale to Moses’ preliminary instruction, primary themes of the preceding sections (5.1–6.3; 6.4–8.20; 9.1–10.11) are rhetorically highlighted, with particular emphasis on love of the Lord as the measure of covenantal obedience (cf. 5.10; 6.5; 7.9; 10.12; 11.1, 13, 22).
10.12–22 The Lord’s requirements epitomized.
10.12–13 So now. See note on 4.1. The question and answer scheme suggests liturgical usage (cf. Pss 15; 24.3–5, 8, 10; Mic 6.8); here the terms of response are thoroughly Deuteronomic (e.g., 5.29–33; 6.2, 13, 24; 8.6; 11.13, 22).
10.14–15 Heaven of heavens, or “the highest heaven” (cf. 1 Kings 8.27; Neh 9.6; Ps 148.4). Set his heart…chose. See 7.6–8; 14.2; cf. Ex 19.5–6.
10.16 Circumcise…the foreskin of your heart, a call to conversion that identifies recalcitrant human minds or individual wills as the barrier to knowing and doing what the Lord requires (cf. 30.6; Lev 26.41; Jer 4.4; 6.10; 9.26; Ezek 44.7, 9).
10.17–18 Both the hymnic titles (cf. Ex 15.3, 11; Ps 47.2; Dan 2.47) and the social agenda of resolute justice (cf. 1.16–17; 16.19; Pss 68.5–6; 99.1–5; 146.5–9) are prerogatives of the Lord’s universal suzerainty.
10.19 You shall also love. Israel is to imitate the Lord’s zeal for egalitarian justice (cf. 24.17–22; Ex 22.21–24; 23.6–9; Lev 19.33–34; also Isa 61.1–9).
10.21 Your praise, the one to whom you give praise (cf. Ps 109.1; Jer 17.14).
10.22 Seventy persons. See Gen 46.8–27; Ex 1.5; cf. Deut 1.10.
DEUTERONOMY 11
Rewards for Obedience
1You shall love the LORD your God, therefore, and keep his charge, his decrees, his ordinances, and his commandments always. 2Remember today that it was not your children (who have not known or seen the discipline of the LORD your God), but it is you who must acknowledge his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, 3his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all his land; 4what he did to the Egyptian army, to their horses and chariots, how he made the water of the Red Seaa flow over them as they pursued you, so that the LORD has destroyed them to this day; 5what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place; 6and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab son of Reuben, how in the midst of all Israel the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households, their tents, and every living being in their company; 7for it is your own eyes that have seen every great deed that the LORD did.
8Keep, then, this entire commandment that I am commanding you today, so that you may have strength to go in and occupy the land that you are crossing over to occupy, 9and so that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your ancestors to give them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10For the land that you are about to enter to occupy is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sow your seed and irrigate by foot like a vegetable garden. 11But the land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky, 12a land that the LORD your God looks after. The eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
13If you will only heed his every commandmentb that I am commanding you today—loving the LORD your God, and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul—14then hec will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil; 15and hed will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill. 16Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and worshiping them, 17for then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain and the land will yield no fruit; then you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you.
18You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an embleme on your forehead. 19Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 20Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
22If you will diligently observe this entire commandment that I am commanding you, loving the LORD your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, 23then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and mightier than yourselves. 24Every place on which you set foot shall be yours; your territory shall extend from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the Western Sea. 25No one will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you on all the land on which you set foot, as he promised you.
26See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today; 28and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn from the way that I am commanding you today, to follow other gods that you have not known.
29When the LORD your God has brought you into the land that you are entering to occupy, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30As you know, they are beyond the Jordan, some distance to the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oakf of Moreh.
31When you cross the Jordan to go in to occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and when you occupy it and live in it, 32you must diligently observe all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today.
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a Or Sea of Reeds
b Compare Gk: Heb my commandments
c Sam Gk Vg: MT I
d Sam Gk Vg: MT I
e Or as a frontlet
f Gk Syr: Compare Gen 12.6; Heb oaks or terebinths
11.1–17 The Lord’s providential care.
11.1 Keep his charge, perform loyal service as prescribed (cf. Gen 26.5; Lev 8.35; Josh 22.3; 1 Kings 2.3).
11.2 By discipline is meant here lessons learned through normative experience of the Lord’s sovereign presence (cf. 4.9, 33–39; 5.29; 8.5), i.e., the creedal lore that each generation must assimilate and faithfully transmit to the next (cf. 6.20–25).
11.3–4 The emphasis here on the Lord’s victory at the Red Sea is singular among the book’s witnesses to the exodus (cf. 6.21–22; 7.18–19; 26.8; 29.2–3; 34.11; Josh 24.5–7; Ps 106.7–12).
11.6 In the expansive version of Num 16 (usually ascribed to the Priestly tradition; see Introduction to Genesis), the insurrectionist party of the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram is subordinated to the ecclesial revolt led by the Levite Korah, who is unmentioned here (cf. Ps 106.16–18).
11.8–9 Echoes 5.32–6.3.
11.10–12 While Egypt’s agricultural productivity (cf. Gen 13.10; 41.53–57; Num 11.5) is based on irrigation, exploiting the regularity of the Nile, Canaan’s prosperity requires seasonal rains that attest the Lord’s special care.
11.13–15 Rainfall in autumn and spring (the early rain and the later rain; see Jer 3.3; 5.24; Job 29.23) and the fertility it creates are divine blessings, granted to reward performance of covenantal duties (cf. 7.12–14; 28.12; Lev 26.4–5; Isa 30.23–24; Jer 14.21–22).
11.16 On the danger of entrapment in idolatry (seduced), see 7.1–6; 13.1–15.
11.17 Shut up the heavens, to withhold rain (cf. 28.23–24; Gen 7.11; Lev 26.19; 1 Kings 8.35–36; Job 38.25–27).
11.18–12.1 Transition to the Mosaic legislation.
11.18–21 Rhetorical echoes of 6.6–9; 6.1–3 recall attention to the chief aim of the address.
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