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 Deu·ter·on·o·my /ˌdutəˈrɑnəmi ||ˌdju-/
 申命記

 Deu·ter·on·o·my n.  Bibl. The fifth book of the Pentateuch, containing the second giving of the law by Moses.
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 Deuteronomy
      n : the fifth book of the Old Testament; contains a second
          statement of Mosaic Law [syn: Book of Deuteronomy]

 Deuteronomy
    In all the Hebrew manuscripts the Pentateuch (q.v.) forms one
    roll or volume divided into larger and smaller sections called
    _parshioth_ and _sedarim_. It is not easy to say when it was
    divided into five books. This was probably first done by the
    Greek translators of the book, whom the Vulgate follows. The
    fifth of these books was called by the Greeks Deuteronomion,
    i.e., the second law, hence our name Deuteronomy, or a second
    statement of the laws already promulgated. The Jews designated
    the book by the two first Hebrew words that occur, _'Elle
    haddabharim_, i.e., "These are the words." They divided it into
    eleven _parshioth_. In the English Bible it contains thirty-four
    chapters.
      It consists chiefly of three discourses delivered by Moses a
    short time before his death. They were spoken to all Israel in
    the plains of Moab, in the eleventh month of the last year of
    their wanderings.
      The first discourse (1-4:40) recapitulates the chief events of
    the last forty years in the wilderness, with earnest
    exhortations to obedience to the divine ordinances, and warnings
    against the danger of forsaking the God of their fathers.
      The seond discourse (5-26:19) is in effect the body of the
    whole book. The first address is introductory to it. It contains
    practically a recapitulation of the law already given by God at
    Mount Sinai, together with many admonitions and injunctions as
    to the course of conduct they were to follow when they were
    settled in Canaan.
      The concluding discourse (ch. 27-30) relates almost wholly to
    the solemn sanctions of the law, the blessings to the obedient,
    and the curse that would fall on the rebellious. He solemnly
    adjures them to adhere faithfully to the covenant God had made
    with them, and so secure for themselves and their posterity the
    promised blessings.
      These addresses to the people are followed by what may be
    called three appendices, namely (1), a song which God had
    commanded Moses to write (32:1-47); (2) the blessings he
    pronounced on the separate tribes (ch. 33); and (3) the story of
    his death (32:48-52) and burial (ch. 34), written by some other
    hand, probably that of Joshua.
      These farewell addresses of Moses to the tribes of Israel he
    had so long led in the wilderness "glow in each line with the
    emotions of a great leader recounting to his contemporaries the
    marvellous story of their common experience. The enthusiasm they
    kindle, even to-day, though obscured by translation, reveals
    their matchless adaptation to the circumstances under which they
    were first spoken. Confidence for the future is evoked by
    remembrance of the past. The same God who had done mighty works
    for the tribes since the Exodus would cover their head in the
    day of battle with the nations of Palestine, soon to be invaded.
    Their great lawgiver stands before us, vigorous in his hoary
    age, stern in his abhorrence of evil, earnest in his zeal for
    God, but mellowed in all relations to earth by his nearness to
    heaven. The commanding wisdom of his enactments, the dignity of
    his position as the founder of the nation and the first of
    prophets, enforce his utterances. But he touches our deepest
    emotions by the human tenderness that breathes in all his words.
    Standing on the verge of life, he speaks as a father giving his
    parting counsels to those he loves; willing to depart and be
    with God he has served so well, but fondly lengthening out his
    last farewell to the dear ones of earth. No book can compare
    with Deuteronomy in its mingled sublimity and tenderness."
    Geikie, Hours, etc.
      The whole style and method of this book, its tone and its
    peculiarities of conception and expression, show that it must
    have come from one hand. That the author was none other than
    Moses is established by the following considerations: (1.) The
    uniform tradition both of the Jewish and the Christian Church
    down to recent times. (2.) The book professes to have been
    written by Moses (1:1; 29:1; 31:1, 9-11, etc.), and was
    obviously intended to be accepted as his work. (3.) The
    incontrovertible testimony of our Lord and his apostles (Matt.
    19:7, 8; Mark 10:3, 4; John 5:46, 47; Acts 3:22; 7:37; Rom.
    10:19) establishes the same conclusion. (4.) The frequent
    references to it in the later books of the canon (Josh. 8:31; 1
    Kings 2:9; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chr. 23:18; 25:4; 34:14; Ezra 3:2;
    7:6; Neh. 8:1; Dan. 9:11, 13) prove its antiquity; and (5) the
    archaisms found in it are in harmony with the age in which Moses
    lived. (6.) Its style and allusions are also strikingly
    consistent with the circumstances and position of Moses and of
    the people at that time.
      This body of positive evidence cannot be set aside by the
    conjectures and reasonings of modern critics, who contended that
    the book was somewhat like a forgery, introduced among the Jews
    some seven or eight centuries after the Exodus.

 Deuteronomy, repetition of the law