Deuteronomy: Canonizing Interpretation

Deuteronomy opens with an editorial description of where Moses and the Israelites were when he taught them the laws:

^{דברים א:ה} בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹאָב הוֹאִיל מֹשֶׁה בֵּאֵר אֶת הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת...

^{Deut 1:5} On the other side of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this Teaching…^[1]

This depiction of Moses expounding upon or clarifying the laws is in stark contrast to what we see in other Pentateuchal law collections, in which laws are generally introduced by “God said to Moses, tell the people…”, implying that Moses repeats the divine revelation word for word. In Deuteronomy, while the message derives overall from YHWH’s revelation, the words are those of Moses.^[2]

Horeb: A Wholly Aural Revelation

That divine words require interpretation goes hand in hand with the theology of Deuteronomy, which presents YHWH as a transcendent deity who always remains in the heavens and is not accessible for direct communication on earth with anyone other than Moses. Comparing the Sinai narrative from Exodus with the Horeb version in Deuteronomy highlights Deuteronomy’s perspective.

The J source in Exodus depicts YHWH physically descending upon the mountain:

^{שמות יט:יח} וְהַר סִינַי עָשַׁן כֻּלּוֹ מִפְּנֵי אֲשֶׁר יָרַד עָלָיו יְ־הוָה בָּאֵשׁ וַיַּעַל עֲשָׁנוֹ כְּעֶשֶׁן הַכִּבְשָׁן וַיֶּחֱרַד כָּל הָהָר מְאֹד... ^יט:כ וַיֵּרֶד יְ־הוָה עַל הַר סִינַי אֶל רֹאשׁ הָהָר וַיִּקְרָא יְ־הוָה לְמֹשֶׁה אֶל רֹאשׁ הָהָר וַיַּעַל מֹשֶׁה.

^{Exod 19:18} Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for YHWH had come down upon it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. ^19:20 YHWH came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and YHWH called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up.

Deuteronomy also states that YHWH spoke to the people from the fire upon Mount Horeb:

^{דברים ה:ד} פָּנִים בְּפָנִים דִּבֶּר יְ־הוָה עִמָּכֶם בָּהָר מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ.

^{Deut 5:4} Face to face YHWH spoke to you on the mountain out of the fire.

Nevertheless, Deuteronomy emphasizes that the people of Israel did not see YHWH upon the holy mountain but only heard the revelation,^[3] implying that it was only a disembodied divine voice that emerged from the fire:

^{דברים ד:יא} וַתִּקְרְבוּן וַתַּעַמְדוּן תַּחַת הָהָר וְהָהָר בֹּעֵר בָּאֵשׁ עַד לֵב הַשָּׁמַיִם חֹשֶׁךְ עָנָן וַעֲרָפֶל. ^ד:יב וַיְדַבֵּר יְ־הוָה אֲלֵיכֶם מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ קוֹל דְּבָרִים אַתֶּם שֹׁמְעִים וּתְמוּנָה אֵינְכֶם רֹאִים זוּלָתִי קוֹל.

^{Deut 4:11} You came forward and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was blazing with flames to the heart of the skies, dark with densest clouds. ^4:12 YHWH spoke to you out of the fire; you heard the sound of words but perceived no shape—nothing but a voice.

^ד:טו וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם מְאֹד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם כִּי לֹא רְאִיתֶם כָּל תְּמוּנָה בְּיוֹם דִּבֶּר יְ־הוָה אֲלֵיכֶם בְּחֹרֵב מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ.

^4:15 For your own sake, therefore, be most careful, since you saw no shape when YHWH your God spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire.

Moses speaks of YHWH’s voice again in the next chapter, emphasizing that the Israelite experience was restricted to the aural, not the visual.^[4] While sight is central to what we observe on the ground, according to Deuteronomy, our only access to the divine realm is through sounds; that is, words. And it is the divine words that Moses expounds upon throughout the book, clarifying their central importance.

The King Makes a Copy of Moses’ Torah

The centrality of the divine verbal revelation, as expounded upon by Moses, is highlighted in Deuteronomy’s command that the king himself has to write a special copy of this torah / teaching—some form of Deuteronomy^[5]—in his own hand and keep it with him:

^{דברים יז:יח} וְהָיָה כְשִׁבְתּוֹ עַל כִּסֵּא מַמְלַכְתּוֹ וְכָתַב לוֹ אֶת מִשְׁנֵה הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת עַל סֵפֶר מִלִּפְנֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים הַלְוִיִּם. ^יז:יט וְהָיְתָה עִמּוֹ וְקָרָא בוֹ כָּל יְמֵי חַיָּיו לְמַעַן יִלְמַד לְיִרְאָה אֶת יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהָיו לִשְׁמֹר אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת וְאֶת הַחֻקִּים הָאֵלֶּה לַעֲשֹׂתָם.

^{Deut 17:18} When he is seated on his royal throne, he shall have a copy of this torah written for him on a scroll by the Levitical priests. ^17:19 Let it remain with him and let him read in it all his life, so that he may learn to revere YHWH his God, to observe faithfully every word of this torah as well as these laws.

Deuteronomy mandates a similar requirement for the average Israelite, who must meditate upon the words of the teaching day and night:

^{דברים ו:ו} וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם עַל לְבָבֶךָ. ^ו:ז וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ.

^{Deut 6:6} Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. ^6:7 Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.

They must even write them down and place them in key spots:

^ו:ח וּקְשַׁרְתָּם לְאוֹת עַל יָדֶךָ וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ. ^ו:ט וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל מְזוּזֹת בֵּיתֶךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ.

^6:8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; ^6:9 inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The words of Torah stay the same, but their interpretation serve as an ongoing divine revelation. This only works if the society envisioned is intimately aware of these words, and, as Deuteronomy emphasizes elsewhere, specifically these words.

Not to Add or Subtract From Moses’ Words

The central importance of hewing to Moses’ exact words is emphasized in the introduction to Deuteronomy’s law collection, where he warns the people that they must obey only these laws as formulated:

^{דברים ד:ב} לֹא תֹסִפוּ עַל הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם וְלֹא תִגְרְעוּ מִמֶּנּוּ לִשְׁמֹר אֶת מִצְוֺת יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם.

^{Deut 4:2} You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away, but keep the commandments of YHWH your God that I enjoin upon you.

This same warning comes again in the law collection itself, in between the prohibition to worship in the Canaanite fashion, and the prohibition to listen to the words of a prophet who preaches the worshipping of other gods:

^{דברים יג:א} אֵת כָּל הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם אֹתוֹ תִשְׁמְרוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת לֹא תֹסֵף עָלָיו וְלֹא תִגְרַע מִמֶּנּוּ.

^{Deut 13:1} Be careful to observe only that which I set upon you: neither add to it nor take away from it.

These statements, unique to the Book of Deuteronomy, assume that people will be familiar with this collection of laws and that they will adhere to them exactly, which fits with the king copying them down and Israelites writing them on their doorposts. But these statements are also in some tension with the opening depiction, that Deuteronomy does not contain a word-for-word copy of the divine revelation but that the words are filtered through Moses, who is expounding upon and interpreting God’s word.

Yet Deuteronomy Reinterprets Older Texts

The image of Deuteronomy expounding upon or even recasting God’s word takes on new meaning when we think of it in terms of how this works relates to other parts of the Pentateuch, which, in canonical form, are presented first. The Greek LXX (Septuagint) translation of the phrase מִשְׁנֵה הַתּוֹרָה (mishneh hatorah) in the law of the king (quoted above) renders it not as “a copy of this teaching,” but as δευτερονόμιον (Deuteronomium) “the law a second time,” which is also the Greek name for the book. In the medieval period, mishneh hatorah in the sense of “a repetition of the Torah” became a synonym for Deuteronomy in Jewish commentaries as well.^[6]

While not the simple meaning of the verse, this use of the term points to a real aspect of Deuteronomy’s law collection, namely, that it overlaps with much of the law found earlier in the Torah in a different form. Indeed, many of the laws in the Deuteronomic law collection are reframings of laws in the earlier Covenant Collection (Exod 21:1–23:19):^[7]

Hebrew Slave— The Covenant Collection (Exod 21:1–11) requires a master to free his male, Hebrew enslaved man after six years, unless the enslaved man wishes to stay. And he is to marry an enslaved Hebrew girl to himself or his son. The same basic rule appears in Deuteronomy (15:12–18), which reinterprets the law by:

• Softening the language of acquisition from active “acquire” to passive “is sold to you”;
• Including the same provisions for enslaved females;
• Requiring that the freed person be given means for a fresh start;
• Bringing up God’s salvific acts.^[8]

Festivals—The Covenant Collection has three festivals in which the Israelites are to appear before YHWH (Exod 23:14–17), which many scholars interpret as referring to local altars. Deuteronomy (16:1–12) also has three pilgrimage festivals, but the names of two of these festivals have changed, and they are supposed to go to “the place which YHWH will choose,” a reference to the one legitimate Temple, given Deuteronomy’s new concept of centralized worship.^[9]

Maiden— The Covenant Collection (Exod 22:15–16) requires a man who seduces an unbetrothed virgin to marry her or, if her father refuses him, to pay the brideprice. Deuteronomy (22:28–29) adjusts the case to rape, requires a set payment to the father while saying nothing about his having a veto option, and prohibits the man from ever divorcing her.^[10]

Scholars debate the exact relationship between these two texts: Was Deuteronomy meant to supplant the prior legislation of the Covenant Collection or is the Deuteronomic text meant to supplement it by offering it a new interpretation?^[11] For our purposes, what is most important is that we find Deuteronomy clearly engaging with a prior text,^[12] presenting the biʾur—clarification, explanation—of the older laws that Moses, as the assigned speaker, is pronouncing to be final and authoritative.

Ezra-Nehemiah Reinterprets Deuteronomy’s Hakhel

Despite Deuteronomy’s insistence that only it can serve as Israel’s law—that what Moses says here augments earlier revelation and supersedes any alternative interpretation—the book itself has been interpreted and combined with other texts to form the Pentateuch, essentially continuing the process of biʾur. This is reflected in later tradition’s interpretation of Deuteronomy’s ceremony of the reading of the law.

In Deuteronomy, before he dies, Moses writes down his long exhortation and gives it to the Levitical priests to place with the ark:

^{דברים לא:ט} וַיִּכְתֹּב מֹשֶׁה אֶת הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת וַיִּתְּנָהּ אֶל הַכֹּהֲנִים בְּנֵי לֵוִי הַנֹּשְׂאִים אֶת אֲרוֹן בְּרִית יְ־הוָה וְאֶל כָּל זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

^{Deut 31:9} Moses wrote down this Teaching and gave it to the priests, sons of Levi, who carried the Ark of YHWH’s Covenant, and to all the elders of Israel.

Moses then commands the Levitical priests that they are required to read this entire torah/teaching to the Israelites every seven years:

^לא:י וַיְצַו מֹשֶׁה אוֹתָם לֵאמֹר מִקֵּץ שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים... ^לא:יא ...תִּקְרָא אֶת הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת נֶגֶד כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאָזְנֵיהֶם.

^31:10 And Moses instructed them as follows: Every seventh year… ^31:11 you shall read this teaching aloud in the presence of all Israel.^[13]

Moses goes on to emphasize that this refers to all Israelites, including women, children, and even foreigners who are sojourning among them:

^{דברים לא:יב} הַקְהֵל אֶת הָעָם הָאֲנָשִׁים וְהַנָּשִׁים וְהַטַּף וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ לְמַעַן יִשְׁמְעוּ וּלְמַעַן יִלְמְדוּ וְיָרְאוּ אֶת יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְשָׁמְרוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת.

^{Deut 31:12} Gather the people—men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities—that they may hear and so learn to revere YHWH your God and to observe faithfully every word of this teaching.

Such a public reading is recorded in the book of Ezra-Nehemiah, in which Ezra the Scribe reads to the people in Jerusalem, at their own request:

^{נחמיה ח:א} וַיֵּאָסְפוּ כָל הָעָם כְּאִישׁ אֶחָד אֶל הָרְחוֹב אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵי שַׁעַר הַמָּיִם וַיֹּאמְרוּ לְעֶזְרָא הַסֹּפֵר לְהָבִיא אֶת סֵפֶר תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְ־הוָה אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל. ^ח:ב וַיָּבִיא עֶזְרָא הַכֹּהֵן אֶת הַתּוֹרָה לִפְנֵי הַקָּהָל מֵאִישׁ וְעַד אִשָּׁה וְכֹל מֵבִין לִשְׁמֹעַ בְּיוֹם אֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי. ^ח:ג וַיִּקְרָא בוֹ לִפְנֵי הָרְחוֹב אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵי שַׁעַר הַמַּיִם מִן הָאוֹר עַד מַחֲצִית הַיּוֹם נֶגֶד הָאֲנָשִׁים וְהַנָּשִׁים וְהַמְּבִינִים וְאָזְנֵי כָל הָעָם אֶל סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה.

^{Neh 8:1} The entire people assembled as one in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the scroll of the Teaching of Moses with which YHWH had charged Israel. ^8:2 On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Teaching before the congregation, men and women and all who could listen with understanding. ^8:3 He read from it, facing the square before the Water Gate, from the first light until midday, to the men and the women and those who could understand; the ears of all the people were given to the scroll of the Teaching.

In this case, Ezra is reading not just Deuteronomy but apparently the whole Pentateuch, as is evident from the reference in the story to the building a sukkah, a law that appears only in Leviticus.^[14] While Deuteronomy warns not to add to the teaching, here the Deuteronomic laws are tucked into a larger book, which is itself called the teaching/Torah. Deuteronomy’s law demanding that the Torah be read once every seven-years serves as the inspiration for the ritual described in Nehemiah 8.^[15]

Ezra’s Explanatory Additions

After describing the scene, the passage explains that the Torah was made understood to the people through translation and, ostensibly, explanatory additions or rephrasings:

^{נחמיה ח:ח} וַיִּקְרְאוּ בַסֵּפֶר בְּתוֹרַת הָאֱלֹהִים מְפֹרָשׁ וְשׂוֹם שֶׂכֶל וַיָּבִינוּ בַּמִּקְרָא.

^{Neh 8:8} They read from the scroll of the Torah of God, translating it and giving the sense; so that they understood the reading.”

Michael Fishbane of the University of Chicago has argued that the final terms of the verse are references to established exegetical practices that involved clear intonation of the text along with clarifications and interpretations.[16] Whether this is fully accurate or not, it is clear that the text is not only read aloud, but also presented to the community with the intervention of experts. With this text, we come to the first Torah service. The scroll is opened before the community, there are liturgical statements, and then the text is read aloud. (Neh 8:1-8)

Here, as the Levites and other teachers offer explanations, Ezra-Nehemiah is modifying Deuteronomy just as Deuteronomy modified its sources.[17] Thus, we find the roots of Torah study birthed in Deuteronomy and executed in Nehemiah, establishing some of the most core practices of Jewish life, public reading of the Torah and communal study of its words.