The Art of Deuteronomy

In this video we look at the art of the whole book of Deuteronomy.

Support the Channel: https://www.patreon.com/thebibleisart
Website: https://www.thebibleisart.com
Email: thisdivineart@gmail.com
Twitter: @johnbhiggins

| How to Learn to Read the Bible as Literary Art |
Reading Biblical Narrative: An Introductory Guide (https://amzn.to/30LzaRa)
Narrative Art in the Bible (https://amzn.to/30RVGIb)
The Art of Biblical Narrative (https://amzn.to/3aDrIfk)
Old Testament Narrative: A Guide to Interpretation (https://amzn.to/38rcE2C)
The Poetics of Biblical Narrative (https://amzn.to/2Gh4cqE)

| Literary Structure |
Literary Structure of the Old Testament (https://amzn.to/30Jdm8X)
Style And Structure In Biblical Hebrew Narrative (https://amzn.to/2RDTTlQ)

| Genesis |
Creation: The Story of Beginnings - Grossman (https://amzn.to/2GlPwq9)
Abram to Abraham: A Literary Analysis of the Abraham Narrative - Grossman (https://amzn.to/2v7id7Z)
Narrative Art in Genesis - Fokkelman (https://amzn.to/2ulmd4t)
A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Part I) - Cassuto (https://amzn.to/2NOAhdt)
A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Part II) - Cassuto (https://amzn.to/2Gcuk6d)
Genesis: A Commentary - Waltke (https://amzn.to/2vaBvt7)
The Gospel of Genesis: Studies in Protology and Eschatology - Gage (https://amzn.to/2RGjRFo)
Abraham and All the Families of the Earth: A Commentary on the Book of Genesis 12-50 - Janzen (https://amzn.to/2TVyCqJ)
Genesis 1-15, Volume 1 - Wenham (https://amzn.to/2TQnYRO)
Genesis 16-50, Volume 2 - Wenham (https://amzn.to/3aDY21J)

| Transcription |
The book of Deuteronomy is confusing for many. And this is because it seems to repeat a lot of the history of Israel that has already happened as well as many of the laws. I mean there’s another copy of the Ten Commandments and the title of the book itself means “second law”. But there are important differences between the first occurrence of these stories and laws and the second. And when you understand the differences, you’ll understand the art and genius of Deuteronomy.

First, by the time we get to Deuteronomy, Moses has lived, breathed, and applied God’s law for 40 years, wandering, leading his people in the wilderness. God’s words have become Moses’ bones. It’s like the difference between being so fluent that you can understand poetry, shades of connotations and subtle allusions and being a beginner, having to look up every word. That’s the difference between the first time we read those laws and the laws here in Deuteronomy.

So far from being a simple repetition of the law, Deuteronomy is a master’s exposition of a lifetime of living and loving the law. It’s the wisdom, the depth of the law.

Second, Deuteronomy is the final speeches of Moses. And this is significant because up to this point in the Bible it is by far the longest direct speech from a character. The last large section that was one characters’ extended speech was the book of Leviticus. Leviticus is almost entirely God’s direct speech. So there’s a shift from God speaking to man, Moses speaking.

The last time the laws were listed it was God speaking them in Exodus and Leviticus. The second time they're repeated or explained here, it is a man, Moses explaining them.

There’s been a progression, from God doing all the explaining to Moses. God is growing his people up. You see God taught our forefathers, then they teach their children, and the children teach their children and so on. And with each passing on of God’s word, the understanding of his word gets deeper and richer. And we see the first deep passing on here.

Deuteronomy is designed in three major speeches with an introduction and conclusion.

In the first section Moses retells Israel’s history, but only part of it. And there’s an important principle here. Whenever there is a seeming repetition in the Bible, pay attention to the details, the specific words the author uses, what he chooses to include and exclude from the story, because all those details will clue you in to the real meaning of the repetition.

Here, Moses doesn’t review Abraham or Adam, Joseph or the Exodus. He starts from the end of the time at Mt Sinai and brings it up to the present time for the readers, Israel on the plains of Moab, right outside the land of Canaan, ready to go in.

But even out of all that time he covers in his retelling he focuses on two things: the story of the spies spying out the land, and the relationship between the Israelites and other people’s like the Moabites and the Ammonites.