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Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 6B: Deuteronomy 21:10–34:12 is unavailable, but you can change that!

For centuries the book of Deuteronomy has been studied as a compilation of three sermons followed by three appendices. In his penetrating new study of this fifth book of the Pentateuch, Duane Christensen argues that “Deuteronomy is best explained as a didactic poem, composed to be recited publicly to music in ancient Israel within a liturgical setting.” Christensen calls readers to understand...

experience. This was the form in which the Torah was “published,” even though a copy was written down and entrusted to the Levites for transmission to subsequent generations (31:9). The oral “publication” of the Torah continued long after the death of Moses, as the text of Josh 1:8 bears witness: “Let not this book of the Torah depart out of your mouth; but recite it day and night, so that you may observe faithfully all that is written in it” (author’s translation). It should be noted, however, that
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