TABLE OF CONTENTS Brief Explanation of the Resources Used in the “You Can Understand the Bible” Commentary Series........................................ i Brief Definitions of Hebrew Grammatical Forms Which Impact Exegesis........... iii Abbreviations Used in This Commentary.................................... ix A Word From the Author: How This Commentary Can Help You................. xi A Guide to Good Bible Reading: A Personal Search for Verifiable Truth .......... xiii Introduction to Deuteronomy ...........................................1 Deuteronomy 1 ......................................................8 Deuteronomy 2 .....................................................39 Deuteronomy 3 .....................................................52 Deuteronomy 4 .....................................................61 Deuteronomy 5 .....................................................83 Deuteronomy 6 .....................................................98 Deuteronomy 7 ....................................................107 Deuteronomy 8 ....................................................117 Deuteronomy 9 ....................................................125 Deuteronomy 10 ...................................................133 Deuteronomy 11 ...................................................140 Deuteronomy 12 ...................................................148 Deuteronomy 13 ...................................................158 Deuteronomy 14 ...................................................169 Deuteronomy 15 ...................................................179 Deuteronomy 16 ...................................................187 Deuteronomy 17 ...................................................195 Deuteronomy 18 ...................................................208 Deuteronomy 19 ...................................................218 Deuteronomy 20 ...................................................224 Deuteronomy 21 ...................................................229 Deuteronomy 22 ...................................................239 Deuteronomy 23 ...................................................247 Deuteronomy 24 ...................................................257 Deuteronomy 25 ...................................................267 Deuteronomy 26 ...................................................274 Deuteronomy 27 ...................................................280 Deuteronomy 28 ...................................................288 Deuteronomy 29 ...................................................305 Deuteronomy 30 ...................................................312 Deuteronomy 31 ...................................................319 Deuteronomy 32 ...................................................329 Deuteronomy 33 ...................................................352 Deuteronomy 34 ...................................................367 Appendix One: Introduction to Old Testament Prophecy .......................372 Appendix Two: Brief Historical Survey of the Powers of Mesopotamia ...........377 Appendix Three: Chart of the Entire Old Testament...........................384 Appendix Four: Statement of Faith ........................................387 SPECIAL TOPICS TABLE OF CONTENTS Israel (the Name), 1:1....................................................10 Location of Mt. Sinai, 1:2 ................................................12 Ancient Near Eastern Calendars, 1:3........................................12 Names for Deity, 1:3 ....................................................13 Date of the Exodus, 1:3 ..................................................17 Pre-Israelite Inhabitants of Palestine, 1:4 .....................................18 Thousand (Eleph), 1:15..................................................24 Righteousness, 1:16.....................................................25 Terms Used for Tall/Powerful Warriors or People Groups, 1:28 ..................31 Faith, 1:32 ............................................................32 The Age of Accountability, 1:39 ...........................................35 The Red Sea, 1:40 ......................................................35 The Wildernesses of the Exodus, 2:1 ........................................40 God Described as Human, 2:15............................................44 The Lord Hardened, 2:30.................................................48 The Heart, 2:30 ........................................................49 Cubit, 3:11............................................................56 Terms for God’s Revelation, 4:1...........................................62 Bob’s Evangelical Biases, 4:6.............................................65 Fire, 4:11 .............................................................67 Covenant, 4:13.........................................................68 Characteristics of Israel’s God, 4:32 ........................................73 Prophetic Models vs. Apostolic Models, 4:31 .................................79 Know, 4:31............................................................79 Forever, 4:40 ..........................................................80 Lovingkindness (Hesed), 5:10.............................................87 Holy, 5:12.............................................................89 Sabbath, 5:12..........................................................89 Peace and War, 5:17 ....................................................91 Glory, 5:24............................................................95 Ransom/Redeem, 7:8...................................................111 Possess the Land, 8:1...................................................118 Fatherhood of God, 8:5 .................................................120 YHWH’s Grace Acts to Israel, 9:4-6 .......................................127 Covenant Promises to the Patriarchs, 9:5 ...................................127 Later Additions to Deuteronomy, 10:6 .....................................135 YHWH’s Covenant Requirements of Israel, 10:12 ...........................137 Consequences of Idolatry, 11:16 ..........................................144 Israel’s Mandated Response to Canaanite Fertility Worship, 12:3 ................150 “The Name” of YHWH, 12:5 ............................................152 Molech, 12:31 ........................................................157 OT Prophecy, 13:1.....................................................159 Grieving Rites, 14:1....................................................170 The OT Food Laws, 14:3 ................................................172 Abomination, 14:3.....................................................172 Alcohol (fermentation) and Alcoholism (addiction), 14:26 ......................176 Passover, 16:1 ........................................................188 Mosaic Authorship of the Pentateuch, 17:14.................................200 Blameless, Guiltless, Innocence, Without Reproach,18:13 ......................214 The Death Penalty in Israel, 21:21.........................................235 Hang, 21:22 ..........................................................236 Curse, 21:23..........................................................237 Symbolic Numbers in Scripture, 23:2......................................249 Almsgiving, 24:13.....................................................262 Ancient Near Eastern Weights and Volumes, 25:13...........................270 Tithe in the Mosaic Legislation, 26:12 .....................................277 Amen, 27:15..........................................................284 Repentance in the OT, 30:1..............................................313 Feasts of Israel, 31:10 ..................................................322 Hebrew Poetry, Insights to chapter 32......................................330 Faith, Trust, Believe, 32:4...............................................335 The Demonic, 32:17....................................................340 Personal Evil, ........................................................341 Where Are the Dead?, 32:22.............................................343 Blessing, 33:1.........................................................353 Laying On of Hands, 34:9 ...............................................370 BRIEF EXPLANATIONS OF THE TECHNICAL RESOURCES USED IN THIS OLD TESTAMENT COMMENTARY SERIES A. Lexical There are several excellent lexicons available for ancient Hebrew. A. Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs. It is based on the German lexicon by William Gesenius. It is known by the abbreviation BDB. B. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, translated by M. E. J. Richardson. It is known by the abbreviation KB. C. A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by William L. Holladay and is based on the above German lexicon. D. A new five volume theological word study entitled The New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, edited by Willem A. Van Gemeren. It is known by the abbreviation NIDOTTE. Where there is significant lexical variety, I have shown several English translations (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, TEV, NJB) from both “word-for-word” and “dynamic equivalent” translations (cf. Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth, pp. 28-44). B. Grammatical The grammatical identification is usually based on John Joseph Owens’ Analytical Key to the Old Testament in four volumes.