II. Structure, Meaning, And Significance of Deuteronomy
The research of literary critics into the form and structure of biblical books during the past thirty years has been fruitful for the study of Deuteronomy. Many ancient covenants have been unearthed and examined in detail. The basic structure of these covenants (called “suzerain-vassal treaties”) is reflected to some degree in the design of Deuteronomy. However, the book is more than a suzerain-vassal treaty; it seeks above all to establish relationships based on an appeal to love, not on the power politics of the ancient Near East. Thus it is a relational document more than a legal document.
At least four major areas of concern are fused here: (1) the theological, (2) the literary, (3) the historical, and (4) the canonical.
A. Theological
The biblical writers first and foremost reported the activity of Yahweh in human history and in divine history. Their uniqueness lies in this role as Israel’s historians and theologians. Deuteronomy is thoroughly theological. Through Moses, the mediator of the covenant, Yahweh offers his kingdom to the people of Israel. The heart of Moses' message is “Seek first the kingdom of Yahweh and his righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you.” This points clearly to the message that the new covenant Mediator, Jesus Christ, would later deliver to the Jews of his day. In and through Moses, the kingdom of Yahweh comes to the people of Israel; the kingdom becomes a potential reality. God encounters his people in his words/deeds.
One of the theological burdens of Deuteronomy, then, is to present to Israel the essence of the kingdom in God’s covenant words which reflect his loving, gracious, merciful character. They call Israel to commitment to him. The literary structure, the historical narrative, and the selection of words are geared to achieve this theological impact upon Israel and all subsequent readers of the book.
The “people of God” is a major theological theme here. Yahweh calls Israel to be his unique ethical-religious nation. They can be that people if they follow the covenant that Yahweh is offering to them. Faithfulness to the covenant will enable them to rise to that ethical-religious imitation of God for which humankind was created. They are Yahweh’s people by choosing his covenant; they are not his by necessity or by their own nature. Wesleyan scholarship affirms this vital relational truth. The purpose of Yahweh’s covenant was to create a holy fellowship. The Israelites' obedience to the demands of the covenant was an expression of loving fellowship between God and his people (5:10; 7:9; 10:12; 11:1, 13, 22; 13:3; 19:9; 30:16, 20). This was the chief command and goal of the Mosaic covenant (6:4-9).
After a comprehensive review of the last one hundred years of research into the significance of covenant for OT theology, Ernest W. Nicholson observed:
The concept of a covenant between Yahweh and Israel is, in terms of “cash value,” the concept that religion is based, not on natural or ontological equivalence between the divine realm and the human, but on choice: God’s choice of his people and their “choice” of him, that is, their free decision to be obedient and faithful to him. Thus understood, “covenant” is the central expression of the distinctive faith of Israel as “the people of Yahweh,” the children of God by adoption and free decision rather than by nature or necessity (pp. 215-16).
Martin Noth has helped us realize that the key to understanding law in OT theology is that law is meaningful only within covenant. Yahweh’s gracious covenant relationship with Israel was established before he gave the law. A clear understanding of the theology of covenant in Deuteronomy begins with recognizing that the covenant exists because Yahweh loves Israel and has freely chosen her (4:37; 7:6-8). He desires, therefore, that his people imitate him by loving and choosing him. So Israel is not ultimately defined by law, but by her free choice of Yahweh out of a motive of love. Nor did Israel’s possession of the land ultimately define the nation either, for they are declared to be Yahweh’s people before they conquer the land. (For further discussion of covenant and the people of God in OT theology see Goldingay, 44-96; 134-66.)
The OT and the NT covenants have the same goal, although only the new covenant fully realizes that goal. But the difference between the two is described already in the old covenant: only under the new covenant could God’s people realize the experience of the circumcised heart, which was the true essence of the old covenant (10:16; 30:6). In the new covenant, God’s desire under the old covenant (5:29) became a reality (30:6; Jer 31:31-34; cf. Dt 5:29). Both covenants demand entrance into God’s kingdom through loving God supremely and loving people selflessly. Other major theological motifs will be noted below and in the commentary.
B. Literary
Deuteronomy is given to us in a language, style, and literary form that conveys its message with persuasion and power. God aided the inspired writers as they chose the best literary style and form for his purpose. He aided in the use of the appropriate poetics to drive home his theological-historical messages (cf. Sternberg, Poetics, 1986).
The word most descriptive of the book is found in 1:5. Deuteronomy is torah. Torah includes story, history, teaching, instruction, law, Yahweh’s words. Torah is both theological and historical, both relational and legal, both prophecy and history. These elements are fused in Deuteronomy so closely that they are inseparable. The book must be read as one dynamic, living message. It is not primarily legal material, but haggadah (story) with law imbedded in it. God incarnates himself in it among his people.
C. Historical
Deuteronomy has been described by Gerhard von Rad, the greatest OT theologian of this century, as having an “atmosphere of the timeless.” Indeed, the message of Deuteronomy intersects people of all cultures and ages. It is intimately and effectively addressed to the past, present, and future. Its central message breaks cultural barriers. The incarnational nature of Deuteronomy—i.e., the fact that God speaks within the narrative to a culturally bound people—is precisely the element that makes it timeless and able to speak to all times and cultures. Thus the “atmosphere of the historical and the cultural” is evident in Deuteronomy.
In biblical thought, history cannot be separated from theology nor, therefore, from ethics. From the creation, history is conceived as the interaction between God’s word and his created order. The historical and theological combine to present an authoritative and normative guide—to Israel then and to God’s people for all future time.
D. Canonical
The canonical aspect of Deuteronomy refers to the unique way in which the book has come to us in the form in which we now have it. The canonical concern indicates the book’s placement and function in the Pentateuch and the following history of Israel. This commentary will deal with the final canonical shape of Deuteronomy and with its present placement within the Scriptures of the OT.