Torah
דְּבָרִים
Deuteronomy
One long speech on the far side of the river, by a man who will not cross it.
What is in it
Almost the whole book is Moses speaking, retelling the journey and restating the law with differences from the earlier books that are worth reading closely rather than smoothing over. The ten commandments appear again, and the Sabbath is given a different reason.
It ends with him seeing the land from a mountain and dying outside it, which is the shape the whole Torah closes on.
If you read one chapter
Deuteronomy 6
The Shema, and the instruction to teach it walking, sitting, lying down and rising.
Passages worth knowing
- Deuteronomy 5The ten commandments restated, with a different reason for the Sabbath.
- Deuteronomy 6:4 to 9The Shema.
- Deuteronomy 15:1 to 11Debt release every seven years, and the poor who will not cease.
- Deuteronomy 16:16The three pilgrimage feasts.
- Deuteronomy 34The view from Nebo, and the unmarked grave.
Questions to sit with
- 01
Compare Deuteronomy 5:15 with Exodus 20:11. Why change the reason for the same command?
- 02
Chapter 15 says there will be no poor, and then says the poor will never cease. Which is it?