Moses reading the Law to the Israelites, Karolingischer Buchmaler, ca. 840. British Museum
Understanding Deuteronomy on Its Own Terms
Deuteronomy, or Mishneh Torah, means “repetition of the law,” however, the author of Deuteronomy does not present the book as a repetition, but as the original revelation to Moses at Horeb, written down on the Plains of Moab.
Published: July 21, 2015
|
Last Updated: October 28, 2026
For another piece dealing with the issue of Deuteronomy’s independence and self-perception, see David Glatt-Gilad, “Deuteronomy: The First Torah,” TheTorah (2015).
Horeb is the name of the site of revelation in D and other parts of the Pentateuch, parallel to Sinai in other Pentateuchal sections. It is unknown if these were alternate names for the same location, as is typically assumed, or imagined to be two different locations. The D source in Deuteronomy never mentions Sinai.
That Deuteronomy also sees the wilderness period as having lasted 40 years can be seen in 2:14, 8:5, and 29:4.
Cf. LXX, Targum Onkelos and Targum Neofiti ad loc.
See D. Hoffmann, Deuteronomium (Berlin: Poppelauer, 1913) 12; Z. Ben Hayyim, “Observations on the Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon from the Samaritan Tradition,” inHebräische Wortforschung (ed. B. Hartmann et al.; SVT 16; Leiden: Brill, 1967) 23–24.
Ben Hayyim (ibid), argues that this meaning constitutes a semantic development from the noun באר “well,” to the activity of “digging” and thence through “engraving” to “writing.”
See, for example, the formulation in the David and Bathsheba narrative about the content of David’s death letter to Joab: ויכתֹב בספר לאמר. There are many others such examples, for instance 1Kings 21:9; 2Kings 10:1, 6; Jer 36:29; 2Chron 21:12.
