Deuteronomy (Understanding the Bible Commentary | UBC)

by Christopher J. H. Wright

Publisher:

Baker

, 2012

Overview

Deuteronomy records Moses’ parting words to Israel’s new generation on the brink of the Promised Land. He recounts their history, sets before them God’s covenant and laws, and instructs them on being God’s people in the world. The author passionately explains this important theological book, with a particular eye toward implications for faithful life and witness in our own day.

Contents

Top Highlights

“The incontrovertible emphasis was that Yahweh (alone) was God in covenant relationship with Israel; that Yahweh had done what no other god had done or could do; that Yahweh was one, not many.” (Pages 96–97)

“But who, in this wonderful doxological definition, are the beneficiaries of Yahweh’s supreme lordship? The fatherless and the widow and … the alien! Nothing could be more characteristic of Israel’s ‘counter-cultural’ faith. The majestic monotheistic superlatives of verses 14 and 17 are harnessed, not to the glory and power of the wealthy and strong, but to the needs of the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable (cf. the same pattern in Isa. 40:28–31).” (Page 149)

“The list of possible ‘shapes’ that idols might take (vv. 16–19) is given in an order that precisely reverses the order of the creation narrative: human beings, land animals, birds, fish, the heavenly bodies. The point, probably being made deliberately through this literary feature, is that idolatry not only corrupts God’s redemptive achievement for God’s people (v. 20), but perverts and turns upside-down the whole created order.” (Page 51)

“Deuteronomy 10:12–22 is unquestionably one of the richest texts in the Hebrew Bible, exalted and poetic in its language, comprehensive and challenging in its message. It purposely tries to ‘boil down’ the whole theological and ethical content of the book into memorable phraseology, packed and pregnant, rich and resonant of all the surrounding preaching. Indeed, there are not many dimensions of ‘ot theology,’ that are not directly expressed or indirectly echoed in this mini-symphony of faith and life.” (Page 144)

Product Details

• Title: Deuteronomy
• Author: Christopher J. H. Wright
• Series: Understanding the Bible Commentary Series
• Publisher: Baker
• Print Publication Date: 2012
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Pages: 368
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. O.T. Deuteronomy › Commentaries
• ISBNs: 9781441251886, 9781565631717, 9780801048142, 144125188, 1565631714, 0801048141, 144125188X
• Resource ID: LLS:BAKERUBOT05DE
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2023-12-12T21:58:27Z

About Christopher J. H. Wright

Christopher J. H. Wright (PhD, Cambridge) is international ministries director of the Langham Partnership, providing literature, scholarships, and preaching training for pastors in Majority World churches and seminaries. He has written many books including commentaries on Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel, The Mission of God, Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, and Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament. An ordained priest in the Church of England, Chris spent five years teaching the Old Testament at Union Biblical Seminary in India, and thirteen years as academic dean and then principal of All Nations Christian College, an international training center for cross-cultural mission in England. He was chair of the Lausanne Theology Working Group from 2005-2011 and the chief architect of The Cape Town Commitment from the Third Lausanne Congress, 2010.