Jensens survey of the old testament adam 79

II. BACKGROUND
A. TITLE

Our English title Deuteronomy is traced
back to the Greek Septuagint version of the
Old Testament, where the title was given as
Deuteronomion, meaning literally, “second
law.” This latter title came from the
Septuagint’s mistranslation of the phrase “a
copy of this law” (17:18) as to deuteronomion
touto, “this second law.” Actually, the book
of Deuteronomy does not present another,
or second, law, but repeats and ampli es the
basic laws which had been given to the
people on Mount Sinai.
B. AUTHOR AND DATE

Evidence for Mosaic authorship is
overwhelming. At speci c places in the text
he is expressly identi ed as the author.
(Read 1:1-6; 4:44-46; 29:1; 31:9, 24-26.)
Jewish and Samaritan tradition has assigned


the book to Moses. Jesus and New
Testament writers, who quote from
Deuteronomy more than from any other Old
Testament book (about eighty times, e.g.,
Rom 10:6-8; Heb 12:29; 13:5; Matt 4:4, 7,
10; 22:37-38), associate the book with the
Law. Internally, its message best ts the

times and ministry of Moses. “The words are
instinct with the warm solicitude of a great
leader for the people whose experiences he
had shared.”1
Chapter 34, which records Moses’ death,
was written by another person. Of this,
Gleason Archer writes, “The closing chapter
furnishes only that type of obituary which is
often appended to the nal work of great
men of letters.”2 Joshua, Moses’ friend and
successor, may have written the obituary.
As for the date of composition, Moses
probably wrote the book soon after he


delivered the addresses (1:3) and shortly
before his death (1405 B.C.).
C. SETTING

The
circumstances
under
which
Deuteronomy was written are clear. Israel
had reached the border of Canaan. Forty
years earlier the nation had been on the
border of the land, but because of unbelief
and disobedience the people were not
allowed to enter. This time they had to tarry
on the banks of the Jordan until they

learned this one lesson: They must obey
their God. God was willing and ready to
lead them on to victory and to give them the
delights of the land, on the condition that
they would bend their stubborn wills and
surrender entirely to Him. Moses, the
lawgiver, was about to leave them; so he
gathered his beloved people around him for
the last time and delivered his farewell


address—Deuteronomy. (This took place on
the plains of Moab. See Map G.)

His object in the address, and hence the
object of the book, was to impress upon
them the one lesson: obey.
D. COMPARISONS WITH LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS