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Deuteronomy 33

Blessing upon the Tribes.^*

1This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before he died.^a

2^b He said:

The LORD came from Sinai

and dawned on his people from Seir;

he shone forth from Mount Paran.

With him were myriads of holy ones;

at his right hand advanced the gods.^*

3Indeed, lover of the peoples,

all the holy ones are at your side;

They follow at your heels,

carry out your decisions.

4Moses charged us with the law,

as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.^c

5A king arose^* in Jeshurun

when the chiefs of the people assembled,

and the tribes of Israel united.^d

6May Reuben live and not die out,^e

but let his numbers be few.

7Of Judah he said this:

Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah,

and bring him to his people.^*

His own hands defend his cause;

be a help against his foes.^f

8Of Levi he said:^g

Give to Levi your Thummim,

your Urim^* to your faithful one;

Him you tested at Massah,

contended against him at the waters of Meribah.^h

9^* He said of his father and mother,

“I have no regard for them”;

His brothers he would not acknowledge,

and his own children he did not recognize.

For they kept your words,

and your covenant they upheld.ⁱ

10^j They teach your ordinances to Jacob,

your law to Israel.

They bring incense to your nostrils,

and burnt offerings to your altar.

11Bless, LORD, his strength,

be pleased with the work of his hands.

Crush the loins of his adversaries

and of his foes, that they may not rise.

12Of Benjamin he said:

The beloved of the LORD,

he abides in safety beside him;

He shelters him all day long;

the beloved abides at his breast.^{* k}

13Of Joseph he said:^l

Blessed by the LORD is his land

with the best of heaven above

and of the abyss crouching beneath;

14With the best of the produce of the sun,

and the choicest yield of the months;

15With the finest gifts of the ancient mountains

and the best from the everlasting hills;

16With the best of the earth and its fullness,

and the favor of the one who dwells on Sinai.

Let these come upon the head of Joseph

and upon the brow of the prince among his brothers.^m

17His firstborn bull, majesty is his!

His horns are the horns of a wild ox;

With them he gores the peoples,

attacks the ends of the earth.

These are the myriads of Ephraim,

and these the thousands of Manasseh.

18Of Zebulun he said:ⁿ

Rejoice, Zebulun, in your expeditions,

exult, Issachar, in your tents!

19They invite peoples to the mountain

where they offer right sacrifices,

Because they suck up the abundance of the seas^*

and the hidden treasures of the sand.

20Of Gad he said:^o

Blessed be the one who has made Gad so vast!

He lies there like a lion;

he tears the arm, the head as well.

21He saw that the best should be his,

for there the commander’s portion was assigned;

he came at the head of the people.

He carried out the justice of the LORD

and his ordinances for Israel.^p

22Of Dan he said:

Dan is a lion’s cub,^q

that springs away from a viper!

23Of Naphtali he said:

Naphtali, abounding with favor,

filled with the blessing of the LORD,

take possession of the west and south.^r

24Of Asher he said:^s

Most blessed^* of sons be Asher!

May he be the favorite among his brothers,

and may he dip his foot in oil!

25May the bolts of your gates be iron and bronze;

may your strength endure through all your days!

26There is none like the God of Jeshurun,

who rides the heavens in his power,

who rides the clouds in his majesty;^t

27The God of old is a refuge;

a support are the arms of the Everlasting.

He drove the enemy out of your way

and he said, “Destroy!”^u

28Israel abides securely,

Jacob dwells apart,

In a land of grain and wine,

where the heavens drip with dew.^v

29Happy are you, Israel! Who is like you,

a people delivered by the LORD,

Your help and shield,

and the sword of your glory.

Your enemies cringe before you;

you stride upon their backs.^w

Deuteronomy 34

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo,^a the peak of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the LORD showed him all the land—Gilead, and as far as Dan,

2all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,^b

3the Negeb, the plain (the valley of Jericho, the City of Palms), and as far as Zoar.

4The LORD then said to him, This is the land^c about which I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, “I will give it to your descendants.” I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross over.

5So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the LORD, died^d as the LORD had said;

6and he was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; to this day no one knows the place of his burial.^e

7Moses was one hundred and twenty years old^f when he died, yet his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated.

8The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days, till they had completed the period of grief and mourning for Moses.

9Now Joshua, son of Nun,^g was filled with the spirit of wisdom, since Moses had laid his hands upon him; and so the Israelites gave him their obedience, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

10^h Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

11ⁱ in all the signs and wonders the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh and all his servants and against all his land,

12and all the great might and the awesome power that Moses displayed in the sight of all Israel.

1 Peter 3:1-12

Christian Spouses.

1^* Likewise, you wives should be subordinate to your husbands so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct

2when they observe your reverent and chaste behavior.^a

3Your adornment should not be an external one: braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or dressing in fine clothes,^b

4but rather the hidden character of the heart, expressed in the imperishable beauty of a gentle and calm disposition, which is precious in the sight of God.

5For this is also how the holy women who hoped in God once used to adorn themselves and were subordinate to their husbands;

6thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him “lord.” You are her children when you do what is good and fear no intimidation.

7^c Likewise, you husbands should live with your wives in understanding, showing honor to the weaker female sex, since we are joint heirs of the gift of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.^*

Christian Conduct.^*

8Finally, all of you, be of one mind, sympathetic, loving toward one another, compassionate, humble.

9Do not return evil for evil, or insult for insult; but, on the contrary, a blessing, because to this you were called, that you might inherit a blessing.^d

10For:

“Whoever would love life^e

and see good days

must keep the tongue from evil

and the lips from speaking deceit,

11must turn from evil and do good,

seek peace and follow after it.

12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

and his ears turned to their prayer,

but the face of the Lord is against evildoers.”

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The complete Book of Deuteronomy

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

The title of Deuteronomy in Hebrew is Debarim, “words,” from its opening phrase. The English title comes from the Septuagint of 17:18, deuteronomion, “copy of the law”; this title is appropriate because the book replicates much of the legal content of the previous books, serving as a “second law.” It brings to a close the five books of the Torah or Pentateuch with a retrospective account of Israel’s past—the exodus, the Sinai covenant, and the wilderness wanderings—and a look into Israel’s future as they stand poised to enter the land of Canaan and begin their life as a people there.

The book consists of three long addresses by Moses. Each of these contains narrative, law, and exhortation, in varying proportions. In an expansion of the first commandment of the decalogue (Ex 20:5–6; Dt 5:9–10), Moses tells the Israelites how to make a success of their life as a people once they are settled in the land. The choice presented to Israel is to love the Lord and keep his commandments, or to serve “other gods.” That choice will determine what kind of life they will make for themselves in the land. Whichever choice they make as a people carries consequences, which Deuteronomy terms “blessing” and “curse.” Thus the book can be seen as a kind of survival manual for Israel in their life as a people: how to live and what to avoid. This gives the book its hortatory style and tone of life-or-death urgency.

One defining concern of the book is centralization of worship. As Israel’s God is one (6:4–5), so its worship must be focused in one place, which the Lord “will choose from among your tribes”; there the Lord will “make his name dwell” (see note on 12:5). Thus the privileged status of the Jerusalem Temple is asserted; all other places and all other modes of worship of the God of Israel (the local shrines, the “high places,” “under every green tree”) are proscribed.

The book was probably composed over the course of three centuries, from the eighth century to the exile and beyond. It bears some relation to “the Book of the Law” discovered in the Jerusalem Temple around 622 B.C. during the reign of King Josiah (2 Kgs 22:8–13). It gives evidence of later editing: cf. the references to exile in 4:1–40; 28:63–68; 29:21–28; 30:1–10.

Over the book looms the disaster of 722/721, the fall of the Northern Kingdom, Israel. The detailed description of siege (28:49–57) especially echoes the fate the North suffered at the hands of the Assyrian invader. The book draws the minds of its intended readers back to a time before disastrous mistakes were made and their disastrous effects felt, and serves to explain the political and theological dynamics that led to the destruction of the North as well as to warn the surviving Southern Kingdom, Judah, to reform by keeping faith with Israel’s covenant Lord.

The characteristic and highly recognizable language and theology of Deuteronomy are seen in editorial comments structuring the works that follow it in the Hebrew canon, the Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Together with Deuteronomy, these present a history of Israel from Moses to the time of the Babylonian exile. Conventionally this great multivolume work is termed the Deuteronomistic History. The Book of Deuteronomy itself was also incorporated into the Torah as its fifth volume.

The book presents three discourses by Moses, as follows:

1. First Address (1:1–4:43)
2. Second Address (4:44–28:69)
   1. The Lord’s Covenant with Israel (4:44–11:32)
   2. The Deuteronomic Code (12:1–28:69)
3. Third Address (29:1–33:29)
4. The Death of Moses (34:1–12)

I. FIRST ADDRESS

The book of 1 Peter

THE FIRST LETTER OF PETER

This letter begins with an address by Peter to Christian communities located in five provinces of Asia Minor (1 Pt 1:1), including areas evangelized by Paul (Acts 16:6–7; 18:23). Christians there are encouraged to remain faithful to their standards of belief and conduct in spite of threats of persecution. Numerous allusions in the letter suggest that the churches addressed were largely of Gentile composition (1 Pt 1:14, 18; 2:9–10; 4:3–4), though considerable use is made of the Old Testament (1 Pt 1:24; 2:6–7, 9–10, 22; 3:10–12).

The contents following the address both inspire and admonish these “chosen sojourners” (1 Pt 1:1) who, in seeking to live as God’s people, feel an alienation from their previous religious roots and the society around them. Appeal is made to Christ’s resurrection and the future hope it provides (1 Pt 1:3–5) and to the experience of baptism as new birth (1 Pt 1:3, 23–25; 3:21). The suffering and death of Christ serve as both source of salvation and example (1 Pt 1:19; 2:21–25; 3:18). What Christians are in Christ, as a people who have received mercy and are to proclaim and live according to God’s call (1 Pt 2:9–10), is repeatedly spelled out for all sorts of situations in society (1 Pt 2:11–17), work (even as slaves, 1 Pt 2:18–20), the home (1 Pt 3:1–7), and general conduct (1 Pt 3:8–12; 4:1–11). But over all hangs the possibility of suffering as a Christian (1 Pt 3:13–17). In 1 Pt 4:12–19 persecution is described as already occurring, so that some have supposed the letter was addressed both to places where such a “trial by fire” was already present and to places where it might break out.

The letter constantly mingles moral exhortation (paraklēsis) with its catechetical summaries of mercies in Christ. Encouragement to fidelity in spite of suffering is based upon a vision of the meaning of Christian existence. The emphasis on baptism and allusions to various features of the baptismal liturgy suggest that the author has incorporated into his exposition numerous homiletic, credal, hymnic, and sacramental elements of the baptismal rite that had become traditional at an early date.

From Irenaeus in the late second century until modern times, Christian tradition regarded Peter the apostle as author of this document. Since he was martyred at Rome during the persecution of Nero between A.D. 64 and 67, it was supposed that the letter was written from Rome shortly before his death. This is supported by its reference to “Babylon” (1 Pt 5:13), a code name for Rome in the early church.

Some modern scholars, however, on the basis of a number of features that they consider incompatible with Petrine authenticity, regard the letter as the work of a later Christian writer. Such features include the cultivated Greek in which it is written, difficult to attribute to a Galilean fisherman, together with its use of the Greek Septuagint translation when citing the Old Testament; the similarity in both thought and expression to the Pauline literature; and the allusions to widespread persecution of Christians, which did not occur until at least the reign of Domitian (A.D. 81–96). In this view the letter would date from the end of the first century or even the beginning of the second, when there is evidence for persecution of Christians in Asia Minor (the letter of Pliny the Younger to Trajan, A.D. 111–12).

Other scholars believe, however, that these objections can be met by appeal to use of a secretary, Silvanus, mentioned in 1 Pt 5:12. Such secretaries often gave literary expression to the author’s thoughts in their own style and language. The persecutions may refer to local harassment rather than to systematic repression by the state. Hence there is nothing in the document incompatible with Petrine authorship in the 60s.

Still other scholars take a middle position. The many literary contacts with the Pauline literature, James, and 1 John suggest a common fund of traditional formulations rather than direct dependence upon Paul. Such liturgical and catechetical traditions must have been very ancient and in some cases of Palestinian origin.

Yet it is unlikely that Peter addressed a letter to the Gentile churches of Asia Minor while Paul was still alive. This suggests a period after the death of the two apostles, perhaps A.D. 70–90. The author would be a disciple of Peter in Rome, representing a Petrine group that served as a bridge between the Palestinian origins of Christianity and its flowering in the Gentile world. The problem addressed would not be official persecution but the difficulty of living the Christian life in a hostile, secular environment that espoused different values and subjected the Christian minority to ridicule and oppression.

The principal divisions of the First Letter of Peter are the following:

1. Address (1:1–2)
2. The Gift and Call of God in Baptism (1:3–2:10)
3. The Christian in a Hostile World (2:11–4:11)
4. Advice to the Persecuted (4:12–5:11)
5. Conclusion (5:12–14)

I. Address

It is in the nature of faith to recognize the reality of what is not yet seen and is the object of hope, and the saints of the Old Testament give striking example of that faith (Heb 11:1–40). The perseverance to which the author exhorts the readers is shown forth in the earthly life of Jesus. Despite the afflictions of his ministry and the supreme trial of his suffering and death, he remained confident of the triumph that God would bring him (Heb 12:1–3). The difficulties of human life have meaning when they are accepted as God’s discipline (Heb 12:4–13), and if Christians persevere in fidelity to the word in which they have believed, they are assured of possessing forever the unshakable kingdom of God (Heb 12:14–29).

The letter concludes with specific moral commandments (Heb 13:1–17), in the course of which the author recalls again his central theme of the sacrifice of Jesus and the courage needed to associate oneself with it in faith (Heb 13:9–16).

As early as the end of the second century, the church of Alexandria in Egypt accepted Hebrews as a letter of Paul, and that became the view commonly held in the East. Pauline authorship was contested in the West into the fourth century, but then accepted. In the sixteenth century, doubts about that position were again raised, and the modern consensus is that the letter was not written by Paul. There is, however, no widespread agreement on any of the other suggested authors, e.g., Barnabas, Apollos, or Prisc(ill)a and Aquila. The document itself has no statement about its author.

Among the reasons why Pauline authorship has been abandoned are the great difference of vocabulary and style between Hebrews and Paul’s letters, the alternation of doctrinal teaching with moral exhortation, the different manner of citing the Old Testament, and the resemblance between the thought of Hebrews and that of Alexandrian Judaism. The Greek of the letter is in many ways the best in the New Testament.

Since the letter of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, written about A.D. 96, most probably cites Hebrews, the upper limit for the date of composition is reasonably certain. While the letter’s references in the present tense to the Old Testament sacrificial worship do not necessarily show that temple worship was still going on, many older commentators and a growing number of recent ones favor the view that it was and that the author wrote before the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. In that case, the argument of the letter is more easily explained as directed toward Jewish Christians rather than those of Gentile origin, and the persecutions they have suffered in the past (cf. Heb 10:32–34) may have been connected with the disturbances that preceded the expulsion of the Jews from Rome in A.D. 49 under the emperor Claudius. These were probably caused by disputes between Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and those who did not.

The principal divisions of the Letter to the Hebrews are the following:

1. Introduction (1:1–4)
2. The Son Higher than the Angels (1:5–2:18)
3. Jesus, Faithful and Compassionate High Priest (3:1–5:10)
4. Jesus’ Eternal Priesthood and Eternal Sacrifice (5:11–10:39)
5. Examples, Discipline, Disobedience (11:1–12:29)
6. Final Exhortation, Blessing, Greetings (13:1–25)