Deuteronomy 14, Dietary Laws

We continue to explore the impact of the first three commandments, of being fully devoted to YHWH.

Deuteronomy 14:1-2, Forbidden Canaanite rituals

You are the children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.

Part of being the People of YHWH is avoiding some Canaanite worship traditions. Apparently cutting oneself during ecstatic worship was one such tradition (see I Kings 18:25-29 for an example) and another was shaving one's forehead as a way of assuaging the spirits of the dead.

Deuteronomy 14:3-8, Unclean mammals

Do not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,  the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. 

You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. However, of those that chew the cud or that have a divided hoof you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the hyrax. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. The pig is also unclean; although it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.

The NIV footnotes claim, "The precise identification of some of the birds and animals in this chapter is uncertain" and later suggests that the "hyrax" is possibly a "rock badger".

This passage on clean and unclean animals overlaps somewhat with Leviticus 11. From the viewpoint of our modern culture, these dietary laws appear strange and arbitrary. Among commentators, there appears to be no agreed upon explanation for these rules. Currid, in his commentary on Deuteronomy, lists some suggested explanations for the distinctions between "clean" and "unclean" animals.  No one answer seems to explain all of the divisions. I will list four of the possibilities suggested by Currid, beginning with the explanations I find most convincing. 

1. The unclean animals were part of various cultic practices in Canaan and around the region.
2. The unclean animals are related, in some way, to other issues of cleanliness in the Torah, such as anything dealing with death or reproduction.
3. The divisions are symbolic: clean animals represented completion and unclean animals were incomplete in some way.
4. The dietary distinction are for hygienic reasons; unclean animals will make the people sick or carry diseases.

It is likely that the real reasons involved combinations of these.  I will say more in a Sunday essay (see the upcoming blog post of May 3, 2026.)

Deuteronomy 14:9-20, Unclean fish and birds

Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.

You may eat any clean bird. But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, the black kite, any kind of falcon, any kind of raven, the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat. All flying insects are unclean to you; do not eat them. But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.

On Day 5 of Creation, YHWH created the animals that live in the water or sky. Here we have distinctions between clean and unclean for these animals.

Deuteronomy 14:6-19 is almost identitical to Leviticus 11:3-20.

Deuteronomy 14:21, Carrion

Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people holy to the LORD your God. 

Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

Don't eat carrion. This restriction is naturally linked to death and blood.

The last sentence may be related to another Canaanite cultic practice. (I also see a symbolic statement -- boiling a young goat in the milk of the nanny that birthed her seems unusually cruel.)

Deuteronomy 14:22-23, Tithe

Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always.

We now seem to have moved into decrees related to the fourth commandment, regarding the Sabbath and related concepts.

Deuteronomy 14:24-26, Giving from a distance

But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.

If one cannot give grain, new wine, oil, animals from the flock, because the sanctuary is too far away, then one can exchange the tithe for silver and give that instead.

Deuteronomy 14:27-29, Taking care of the Levites

And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own. At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

The tribe of Levi, those responsible for overseeing the sacrifices, are to be taken care of by the other tribes. This too is part of worship.

Some Random Thoughts 

The clean/unclean dietary categories are difficult to understand and do not easily translate into our modern culture's distinction of various animal species. Much of this chapter instructs Israel to be different from the pagan cultures around them, but how the dietary laws fit in to this is unclear. As I say in the blog post on the dietary laws,

"For the modern Christian, who does not live in the ancient Near East culture 

of three thousand years ago, the dietary laws are not, by themselves, in effect."  

So I am comfortable leaving this mystery unsolved....  :-)

First published May 2, 2023; updated May 1, 2026

Deuteronomy 13, Violating the Third Commandment

Here we look at the third commandment of the Ten Commandments. What does it mean to take God's name "in vain"? Any type of spiritual deceit in the name of YHWH is tasking His name in vain.

Deuteronomy 12:32, "Don't add or subtract!s\]"

See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.

Currid argues that this final verse of chapter 12 is really an introduction to the material of chapter 13 and the Masoretic text agrees. This reminder is part of a transition from regulations that flow out of the Second Commandment to decrees that reflect the Third Commandment.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5, False prophets

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them,"  you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.

That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.

Those who "preach rebellion" against YHWH, using claims of dreams or prophets, are violating the third commandment.

Deuteronomy 13:6-11, Even your own family

If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. 

Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

All evil enticement to idolatry, even if it arises within one's own family, was to be treated harshly.

Deuteronomy 13:12-15, A town in rebellion

If you hear it said about one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you to live in that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known), then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock.

It is possible that an entire town might be in rebellion. If so, the town must be destroyed.

Currid's commentary says that the Hebrew phrase translated "wicked men" is literally "sons of Belial". The term "Belial" is used again in Deuteronomy 15:9 for wickedness. Ancient Hebrew saw Belial as a personification of wickedness and worthlessness.

Deuteronomy 13:16-18, Devastation

Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt. None of those condemned things shall be found in your hands, so that the LORD will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers, because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.

In the new Promised Land, a town in rebellion against YHWH is to be destroyed.  The future land is to be fully committed to YHWH.

The Hebrew word translated "ruin" here is tel (תֵּל.) The modern word "tell" has taken the meaning, in archaeology, of a mound of debris left over from a city.

Some Random Thoughts 

Although the wording of the Third Commandment never explicitly appears in this chapter, it is clear that this chapter is about profaning the name God. The first three Commandments, make it clear that God is to be worshiped and honored consistently, every day, through throughout the nation.

Over time, the concept of "profaning God's name" has been culturally narrowed and watered down. The Third Commandment is often viewed as prohibiting the use of God's name as some type of exclamation. But the Third Commandment, the prohibiting of taking the name of God in vain, was much broader. It included identifying God with useless things or even evil things which He should not be associated with. The people of Israel were identified as the people of God's Name and they were not to be associated with idolatry or injustice ... or any wickedness.

First published May 1, 2023; updated April 30, 2026

Deuteronomy 12, A Special Place of Sacrifice

Moses lectures on the Law, focusing on the principles in the first three of the Ten Commandments.

Deuteronomy 12:1-3, Break down their altars, sacred stones and poles

These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land. 

Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.

Moses expands on the "no graven images" portion of the Ten Commandments. The ancient Near East culture worshiped a variety of idols, symbols placed in various high places or sacred groves. The worship of the Canaanite goddess Asherah involved tree and poles. (Asherah poles were apparently carvings representing the goddess Asherah.) The Israelites were to destroy these idols wherever they found them.

Deuteronomy 12:4-7, A special place

You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.  But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

YHWH is different than the other gods so do not worship even YHWH in the same form as they do. The Israelites will eventually have a special place to worship YHWH.

Deuteronomy 12:8-14, Cross the Jordan and look for a dwelling for YHWH

You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit, since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. 

Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name—there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord. And there rejoice before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns who have no allotment or inheritance of their own. 

Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please. Offer them only at the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you.

This passage reiterates the need to eventually have a special dwelling for YHWH. The Israelites are not to be like the Canaanites, sacrificing to their gods here and there but are instead to have one special tabernacle for Him.  In Joshua 18:1 the Israelites will set up that tabernacle at Shiloh. Eventually, centuries later, the tabernacle will be in Jerusalem, and Solomon will build a temple there.

Deuteronomy 12:15-19, You may eat meat but not the blood

Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer, according to the blessing the Lord your God gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it. 

But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. 

You must not eat in your own towns the tithe of your grain and new wine and olive oil, or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts. Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns—and you are to rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to. 

Be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.

There are special sacrificial offerings of food and ordinary consumption of food. Ordinary food can be eaten anywhere. But with all food, if the eaten food is meat, they are to remember that the "life" of an animal is in the blood and the meat (whether ordinary or sacrificial) must be first drained of blood.

The Levite tribe is special; it is the tribe of priests. The Levites will not be given land; instead they are to concentrate on priestly duties.

Deuteronomy 12:20-25, Instructions if far from temple

When the LORD your God has enlarged your territory as he promised you, and you crave meat and say, "I would like some meat," then you may eat as much of it as you want.

   

If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put his Name is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want. Eat them as you would gazelle or deer. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat.

But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.

Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD.
 

The people may eat meat, even if far from sacrifices. But again, there is an emphasis on the blood of the animal.

Deuteronomy 12:26-28, Consecrated things

But take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give, and go to the place the LORD will choose.

Present your burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD your God, both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the LORD your God, but you may eat the meat.

Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.

If one is close to a designated place of sacrifice then that is good and they may sacrifice. But they must follow the instructions about the blood.

Deuteronomy 12:29-31, Warning, again, about the "snare" of other inhabitants

The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same."

You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

Once again, there are warnings about the idolatry of the natives of the land.

Deuteronomy 12:32, "Don't add or subtract!s\]"

See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.

Currid says that the Masoretic text has this final verse of chapter 12 as the first verse of chapter 13. This reminder is part of a transition from regulations that flow out of the second commandment to decrees that reflect the third commandment.

First published April 29, 2023; updated April 29, 2026

Deuteronomy 11, Blessing and Curse

Moses wraps up the concepts that revolve around the first great commandment, to love and obey YHWH.

Deuteronomy 11:1, Love the Lord

Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always. 

This first verse summarizes the recent chapters and provides a transition into the next passage.

Deuteronomy 11:2-7, Mighty hand and outstretched arm

Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm; the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country; what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. 

It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. 

But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.

Moses's audience did not experience Egypt but heard about it. Their children (either those alive now, or those to come) will not have experienced Egypt either and so must be told about it. As we remember Egypt, the attributes of a Pharaoh, with a "might hand and outstretched arm" are used to describe only YHWH.

The rebellion of Dathan and Abiram is told in Numbers 16.

Deuteronomy 11:8-12, You are entering a better land!

Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your forefathers to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

This promised land is much better than Egypt!  It drinks rain from heaven! 

Deuteronomy 11:13-15, Rain promised, for the grain, new wine and oil

So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today--to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul-- then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

Again, one sees images of Eden. If the Israelites obey and honor God, if they worship and love Him, they will see a land much closer to Eden, a land with abundant crops and beauty. The autumn and spring rains here are literally the "early" and "late" rains, that is, the rains at the beginning and end of the harvest season. In a dry land like Canaan, rain was always a gift.

Deuteronomy 11:16-17, But you will be enticed

Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the LORD's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you.

There will always be inhabitants who want to entice the Israelites into idol worship.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21, The Shema reviewed

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
 

This repeats the instructions of Deuteronomy 6:6-9, forming an inclusio (set of bookends) to this set of teaching on putting YHWH first in all things. If the Israelites will put YHWH first, they will have bounty as long as the earth lasts.

Deuteronomy 11:22-25, "I will drive out the nations!"

If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow--to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him--then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the western sea. No man will be able to stand against you. The LORD your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.

The conquest of the promised land will take time, but should be extensive.

Deuteronomy 11:26-30, Blessing and curse

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse--the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

When the LORD your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses. As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, west of the road, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh, in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.

Each statement of blessing includes its opposite. With a blessing for obedience and faithfulness comes a curse for infidelity and idolatry. These two choices are to be represented by a covenant renewal ceremony on the two mountains Gerizim and Ebal. Those two mountains are on opposite sides of the ancient city of Shechem.

The "great trees of Moreh" hark back to Abram's first steps in Canaan in Genesis 12:6. 

Deuteronomy 11:31-32, Take possession and obey

You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you. When you have taken it over and are living there, be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

The conquest of the promised land will take time, but should be extensive. The last few verses echo Deuteronomy 6:1-2 and summarize the material in chapters 6 through 11.

First published April 28, 2023; updated April 28, 2026

Deuteronomy 10, Renewal

Moses recounts the events of Sinai, including the renewal of the covenant.  Previously, in anger, Moses had broken the two tablets containing the covenant.

Deuteronomy 10:1-2, Chisel two tablets

At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark.”

The two tablets (probably two copies of the Law) are to be stored in the ark of the covenant.

Deuteronomy 10:3-5, YHWH rewrites the tablets

So I made the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. 

Then I came back down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made, as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now.

YHWH rewrites the tablets and the two copies are placed in the ark. This material repeats the earlier story in Exodus 34: 1-4, with the additional statement that Moses made an ark to hold the two tablets.

According to Currid, the Septuagint translates "acacia wood" as "wood not subject to decay" (an interlinear translation of the Septuagint for this chapter is here.) Currid continues (p. 200) his analysis of this verse by saying, "This [translation by the Septuagint] is a theologically determined translation, in which the authors [of the Septuagint] understand the ark to be a permanent repository for a permanent document."

Deuteronomy 10:6-9, Levites to carry the ark

(The Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest. 

From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water. 

At 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 and to pronounce blessings in his name, as they still do today. That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as the Lord your God told them.)

This parenthetical material digresses from the description of the ark to explain that after the death of Aaron, the Levites were designated to carry the ark.

Deuteronomy 10:10-11, Forty days and nights, again

Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you. 

“Go,” the Lord said to me, “and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”

The covenant is restarted. The people are to once again head for Canaan. It is they, not Moses, who will eventually possess the land.

Deuteronomy 10:12-19, "Israel, fear the Lord your God"

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,  and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today.

Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

This is a praise passage, a psalm. YHWH is the defender of the vulnerable, the fatherless, the widow, the alien. The people of YHWH are to also care for the vulnerable.

Deuteronomy 10:20-22, Numerous as the stars

Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name.

He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

YHWH has demonstrated His plans by taking the seventy of the Israel clan in Genesis 46:26-27 and making them into a mighty people! Because of YHWH, the people of Israel will be praised by other nations.

First published April 27, 2023; updated April 27, 2026

Review of John Currid's Commentary on Deuteronomy

I have previously found the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy to be a bit tedious and certainly confusing. What is the purpose of all the decrees that fill out the middle half of the book? Why is this book necessary, after the (tedious) decrees of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers?

John Currid argues, in his commentary, that the book of Deuteronomy follows the ancient Near East pattern of a treaty between a king and his subjects. From this viewpoint, the book fleshes out the contractual details of both the king (YHWH) and His nation (Israel.) 

The middle material (chapters 12-26) then expands on the simple decrees of the Ten Commandments. As we work through the middle chapters, Currid suggests the connections with the various commandments. For example, the Fifth Commandment, on honoring one's parents, leads to decrees related to other leadership structures, whether to priests, prophets or kings. The Sixth Commandment, regarding murder, is consistent with a number of decrees related to manslaughter, accidental death or unsolved murder. A series of decrees on sexual behavior and abuse are naturally connected to the Seventh Commandment, regarding adultery. The Eighth Commandment, regarding theft, leads to a variety of decrees on other ways one might cheat a neighbor, without stealing material objects. Some decrees, regarding taking care of the property of a neighbor represent positive versions of the command to not covet. In a few places some of the decrees in the middle chapters seem be abruptly tangential and the connection to one of the Ten Commandments is not clear. (Currid admits this when it occurs.)

As bookends to the middle sixteen chapters, the first chapters of Deuteronomy form a prelude in which Moses summarizes the history of the Exodus from Egypt. The last chapters provide a conclusion in which Moses gives final guidelines, appoints Joshua as his successor, provides a hymn of praise, and then looks into the Promised Land from Mount Nebo, where he then dies.

Currid places the Biblical text within his commentary, so that one need not flip back and forth between a Bible and his remarks. I especially appreciate a commentary that provides the text for me, so that I can read it easily, without a second book (or my iPhone) on my knee.  The text provided is translated from the Hebrew by Currid himself and allows him (as in similar translations by Robert Alter) to suggest alternate readings to unclear phrases. 

I have one very small pet peeve -- and yes, no one will support me on this ... that's OK... -- but I hate being told what spiritual insight I should get out of a Bible passage. When I work through a Bible passage using a commentary, I want to read the passage, read the commentary and then think about the material on my own. But Currid follows each passage & commentary with an Application section, a section that describes the spiritual blessing he gets from that material. I admit that if there is any place one should be guided to an application, it is in the book of Deuteronomy (!) but, still, I don't like being told what to believe and so I generally skimmed or skipped those sections. Most readers will enjoy them; most readers will appreciate Currid's deep insight and knowledge of Old Testament Hebrew.

This is a seriously good book -- I recommend it to anyone with a (nerdy) desire to carefully read through the ancient Old Testament book of Deuteronomy! 

First published May 7, 2023; updated April 26, 2026

Deuteronomy 9, Idolatry, Grumbling, Wandering

Moses recounts his time on Mount Sinai.

Deuteronomy 9:1-3, Tall, strong? No problem!

Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?” 

But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

Those Anakites are tall and strong!  But the Israelites are told, "Don't worry about that!  You will conquer them quickly!" YHWH is described as a devouring fire who will overwhelm and destroy their enemies.

Currid suggests a certain Hebrew wordplay in the choice of the word kana (כָּנַע), translated "subdue them," as it begins with the same three consonants as the word "Canaan (כִּנַעַן)." The Israelites will kana the people of Canaan.

Deuteronomy 9:4-6, But don't get cocky

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” 

No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

It is not the righteousness of the Israelites that makes them strong. It is YHWH – and the wickedness of their enemies.

Deuteronomy 9:7-10, Remember your rebellion and learn!

Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 

At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you. When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water. 

The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.

The Israelites' miraculous success in the desert of Sinai had so quickly turned aside into idolatry.  Moses then fasted for 40 days and nights, even without water, apparently because of the rebellion going on down below the mountain.

This speech is probably being given "here" on the plains of Moab, near Beth-Peor.

Deuteronomy 9:11-14, Two tablets written

At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 

Then the Lord told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

After the forty days and nights, the two stone tablets were written. Moses recounts YHWH's anger and willingness to start over.

Deuteronomy 9:15-17, Broken tablets

So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.
   

When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.

So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

Moses recounts his own anger at the idolatry. This chapter recounts the events of Exodus 32.

Deuteronomy 9:18-21, The golden calf revisited

Then once again I fell prostrate before the LORD for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the LORD's sight and so provoking him to anger.

I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the LORD listened to me.

And the LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.
 

Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.

Moses returned to the mountain to plead for mercy and forgiveness. The ground dust is thrown into a stream.  (In Exodus 32:20, it is said that Moses forced the people to drink the water.) Moses also intervenes for the high priest, his brother, Aaron. This intervention by Moses is recalled later in Psalm 106:23.

Deuteronomy 9:22-24, Taberah, Massah, Kibroth Hattaavah

You also made the LORD angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah.

And when the LORD sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, "Go up and take possession of the land I have given you." But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You did not trust him or obey him.

You have been rebellious against the LORD ever since I have known you.

And yet the stubbornness and sinfulness of the people of Moses continues, at every turn. We have hear a litany of examples. Numbers 11 describes a series of "grumblings" by the Israelites against YHWH.  Those grumblings occur at Taberah and Kibroth Hattaavah (verses 3 and 34.)  The event at Massah is described in Numbers 20. The turnaround at Kadesh Barnea is described in Numbers 13.

Deuteronomy 9:25-29, Overlook their stubbornness

I lay prostrate before the LORD those forty days and forty nights because the LORD had said he would destroy you.

I prayed to the LORD and said, "O Sovereign LORD, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, `Because the LORD was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the desert.'

 

But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm."

Moses continues to plead to YHWH, admitting the stubbornness of his people, but pleading for mercy. As described in Exodus 33, Moses remind YHWH that His reputation is attached to the success of the people He called out of Egypt.

First published April 26, 2023; updated April 25, 2026