The Socioeconomic World of Deuteronomy

The question of the social location(s) of the book of Deuteronomy remains critical to the academic discussion of the book. The thesis of this chapter is that the economic features embedded in the book have much to contribute to the discussion. Toward this end, this chapter surveys the archaeologically reconstructed economies of Israel in the Iron Age and the Persian period, identifying diagnostic features of each in rural and urban areas, and juxtaposes those features to the contents of Urdeuteronomium (defined as Deut 4:44–27:26). There is particular attention to issues involving currency. The objective is to further refine the Sitz im Leben from which the book emerges.

Deuteronomy and Islam

This chapter explains the role Deuteronomy has played within Islam, and it suggests some ways Deuteronomy might be put in conversation with the Qur’an. After a brief overview of the Islamic view of the Bible, several passages in Deuteronomy that have been frequently cited by Muslims for apologetic purposes are discussed (18:15, 18; 33:2). There are no direct biblical quotations in the Qur’an, but it contains a possible citation (5:27) that likely also serves an apologetic purpose. It has been suggested that the Qur’an presents Islam as a “deuteronomistically-inflected” religion, particularly in its presentation of the history of prophecy. This idea is extended to explore points of contact between the Qur’an and Deuteronomy regarding how each views God.

Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch

This diachronic study of Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch begins in the seventh century and extends to the fourth century, or the late Persian period. It explores four distinct phases of textualization, during which existing blocks of Deuteronomic tradition were developed further and integrated with other materials. The inflection point came when Deuteronomic and Priestly texts were merged, first as a Hexateuch and shortly thereafter as a literary collection of five books with a distinctive theology as well as claims to authority. Scholars describe this final stage of textualization as the Pentateuchal Redaction, with its focus the last chapter of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy

Biblical scholars typically consider genre as part of their analysis of a biblical text. The literary genre of Deuteronomy is most commonly compared to either a treaty covenant or to a law code. Deuteronomy contains clear parallels to the treaty structure preserved in Hittite and neo-Assyrian traditions. At the same time, the central place of the Deuteronomic Code (12:1–26:19) suggests that Deuteronomy is a law code. Deuteronomy shares characteristics in common with other genres, such as exhortation, and traditions, such as wisdom. The defining characteristic of Deuteronomy is appropriation and reinterpretation of earlier compositions and forms.

Disability in Deuteronomy and its Reception

The chapter begins with a section offering highlights from a history of interpretation about Deuteronomy and disability. Especially prevalent among earlier interpretations is the association of disability with exclusion: exclusion from the community, from the tent of meeting, or from the priesthood. The second section maps out an overview of major works that include the study of disability and Deuteronomy. Scholars point out that infertility was considered a disability in ancient times. They also discuss how idols are represented as humans with disabilities while YHWH is portrayed as someone without disabilities. People who violate the covenant can be punished with disabilities. In the third section, the chapter explores how the conversation about disability and Deuteronomy is trending.

Moses and a Prophet Like Moses in Deuteronomy

This chapter critically examines the literary figure of Moses in Deuteronomy, particularly the book’s directive that Mosaic prophecy have an ongoing place in Israel (18:15–22). It begins by examining Moses as Deuteronomy’s distinctive persona, YHWH’s covenant mediator able to present a veritable divine voice to the reader. It then turns to Deuteronomy’s vision of leadership in an ideal Israel, including official prophetic leadership. Deuteronomy promises a Mosaic prophet for each new generation, a prophet who will stand among YHWH’s heavenly confidants and directly hear YWHW’s will for communication to Israel. It surveys the employment of the Mosaic paradigm in the Tetrateuch (Gen, Exod, Lev, Num), in the Former Prophets (Josh, Judg, 1-2 Sam, 1-2 Kgs) or Deuteronomistic History (Deut, Josh, Judg, 1-2 Sam, 1-2 Kgs), and in the Latter Prophets (Isa, Jer, Ezek, Hos, Joel, Amos, Obad, Jonah, Mic, Nah, Hab, Zeph, Hag, Zech, and Mal). Biblical figures of special interest include Deborah, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Huldah, Jeremiah, and Malachi. Taken together, the evidence examined shows that the core elements of Mosaic prophecy predate Deuteronomy and are amply attested in the pre-exilic prophets, mostly in those prophets oriented on the Sinai covenant.

Deuteronomy in African American Christianity

Africans in America have been interpreting Deuteronomy since kidnapped Africans first reached Jamestown in 1619. This chapter recovers precritical or pastoral interpretations of Deuteronomy by people from Africa and the African diaspora. This interpretation of their freedom narratives explores the language of Deuteronomy. Already in the 1990s, black theology understood the importance of these once-named “slave narratives” and precritical biblical interpretation and theology, but now even mainstream biblical criticism recognizes their importance. The use of Deuteronomy in the Harlem Renaissance by Zora Neale Hurston and in the civil rights movement by Martin Luther King Jr. picks up more on its narrative plot rather than its poetics. Recent readings by Harold V. Bennett and my own work focus on the historical and close reading of the Hebrew text.

Women in Deuteronomy

The integrity of the family unit, with its focus on patriarchal succession and genealogical continuity, was paramount in all strata of the Hebrew Bible. Despite acute fears of the seductive dangers of women, this did not prevent Deuteronomy maximizing a man’s acceptable sexual relationships, to include taking foreign captives as wives—in defiance of its integral prohibition of intermarriage. Nor did its laws mitigate the abuse of women, whose exclusion from “the congregation of the Lord,” restricted their participation to hearing Deuteronomy’s public recitation.

Priests, Levites, and Levitical Priests in Deuteronomy

The presentation of the priests, Levites, and levitical priests in Deuteronomy is one of the most intractable problems in a complex and much discussed biblical book. This chapter reviews some of the most important scholarship on the issue and demonstrates why attempts to solve the problem by appeal to texts elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible is problematic and highly speculative. However, attempts to resolve the problems through synchronic readings of Deuteronomy or by assimilating Deuteronomy’s portrayal to the priestly literature overlook important textual details. The most satisfactory solutions recognize the complex development of the book of Deuteronomy and the limits of our knowledge about the early history of the Levites.

Deuteronomy, Hosea, and the Theory of Northern Origins

Deuteronomy appears to share numerous thematic and phraseological connections with the book of Hosea from the eighth century bce. Investigation of these connections during the early twentieth century settled upon a scholarly consensus, which has broken down in more recent work. Related to this question is the possibility of northern origins of Deuteronomy—as a whole, or more likely, in an early proto-Deuteronomy legal core. This chapter surveys the history of the investigation leading up to the current impasse and offers a reexamination of the problem from the standpoint of one passage in Hosea.