The first three chapters of Deuteronomy retell the approach of the Israelites to the River Jordan after rambling forty years across a "vast and dreadful desert, a thirsty and waterless land with its venomous snakes and scorpions" (8:15). The story was first told in the Book of Numbers. Deuteronomy's replay with minor variations is an attempt to build new storeys on the foundation of Exodus and Numbers.
Repetition plagues the opening chapters of Deuteronomy (e.g., 6:8, 11:18; 6:9, 11:20; 12:15-18, 12:20-27) probably due to insertions made by many editors down through the centuries.
The fourth chapter of Deuteronomy delivers an elegant sermon on idolatry. However Moses' long-winded speech in the desert east of the Jordan is unrealistic for the speaker is a hundred and twenty years old and the audience ("all Israel") numbers six hundred thousand men besides women and children.
The fifth chapter reiterates the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:4-22, Exodus 20:1-17). The pace is relaxed, the prose ornate.
Verse 5:14 imparts the humane purpose of the Sabbath, "so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do," parting with the alibi of Exodus 20:11, "the Lord rested on the seventh day."
Verse 5:21 ranks coveting a neighbour's wife first in a list of five prohibited items whereas Exodus 20:17 ranks it second. The modification abets the thesis that Deuteronomy was written after Exodus and that Exodus was written by David's court because the king famously coveted a neighbour's wife (2 Samuel 11:2-4).
Verse 5:22 refutes Exodus 20:18-22 for here Moses says, "and he [the Lord] added nothing more," uncoupling the commandments of God from the commandments of men which would follow. Verses 9:10-11 confirm that the commandments inscribed on the two stone tablets were God's sole prescription for his covenant with the Israelites.
The seventh chapter of Deuteronomy exhorts the Israelites to exterminate the seven nations of the Promised Land: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (7:1-5). The ninth chapter will append the Anakites (9:2) implying that it belongs to a latter version of Deuteronomy.
The tenth chapter of Deuteronomy digresses from the Book of Exodus. After the people's apostasy Moses ascends Mount Sinai to speak with the Lord a second time. In Exodus 34:10-27 the Lord makes a covenant with him and immediately hands down a few rules proper to the domain of the thirty-four councils postulated on Chapter 4, "Leviticus". In Deuteronomy 10:4-5 the Lord simply rewrites the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets and abstains from imparting council regulations.
Verse 11:24 certifies that Deuteronomy was written during or sometime after the monarchy of Solomon because the verse tries to persuade the reader that Moses prophesied the breadth of Solomon's kingdom (1 Kings 4:20, 2 Chronicles 9:26).
Aside for the thoughtful reader
The Book of Mormon employs the same device to impart that Nephi son of Lehi saw in a vision ca. 600 B.C. the British colonization of the U.S.A.,
12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land. 13 And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters. 14 And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten. 15 And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people before they were slain.(1 Nephi 13:12-15)
Deuteronomy 12:11-19 clarify a regulation of the seventeenth council. It was lawful after all to slaughter animals in any town and to eat as much meat as wanted, but the tithes of grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of herds and flocks and the freewill offerings had to be eaten at the Temple to help feed the Levites. Reading between the lines, many Israelites resented the Levites' authority.
The thirteenth chapter of Deuteronomy prescribes the death sentence for attempting to persuade others away from the new religion. No pity or show of mercy toward even one's own brother, son, daughter, wife or closest friend was deemed licit (13:6-10). "Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again" (13:11).
This Grand Inquisitor's stance plus Israel's multiple returns to idolatry after David passed away demonstrates that his new religion was so unpopular it had to be stamped on people's minds through the use of state terror and unsparing intimidation.
The fourteenth chapter starts to report many decisions of Levite councils. Unfortunately here there is no partition, so the result is clutter. Some council resolutions reflect the savage tenor of the times (20:10-14, 21:10-13, 22:23-24, 25:11-12). Others are surprisingly benign (20:1-8, 21:14, 22:1-4, 23:15-16, 23:19-20, 24:5-6, 24:10-15, 24:17-22, 25:4, 25:15-16). A few are superfluous (22:8, 22:10, 23:12-14).
Verses 14:3-20 reiterate the classification of clean and unclean food set forth by the tenth council albeit with two departures. The tenth council ruled that locusts were "clean" food, but Deuteronomy 14:19 states that "all flying insects that swarm are unclean." The tenth council ruled that lizards and rats were "unclean" food, but Deuteronomy 14:3-20 forgo.
Verse 15:4 states that no one in the land will be poor if the Lord's commands are obeyed fully. Withal verse 15:11 states that there will always be poor people in the land. Yet another token of multiple versions.
Verses 15:21-22 and 17:1 recall the twenty-fourth council.
Verses 17:2-7 punish idolatry with stoning to death at the city gate on the word of two accusers. This scandalous loophole may have been used to blackmail or press false charges against a vulnerable third party (e.g., a wealthy widow).
Verses 17:12-13 stipulate the death sentence for contempt of court or for contemning a ministering Levite. This harsh law reiterates again that David's novel state religion was very unpopular.
Verse 17:14 reproduces the ploy of verse 11:24 and has Moses anticipate 1 Samuel 8:4-5.
Aside for the thoughtful reader
The Book of Mormon uses the same device to foretell the discovery by Prophet Joseph Smith of the inscribed metal plates on Hill Cumorah, and the witness of three men to that effect,
Wherefore, at that day when the book shall be delivered unto the man of whom I have spoken, the book shall be hid from the eyes of the world, that the eyes of none shall behold it save it be that three witnesses shall behold it, by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein.(2 Nephi 27:12)
Deuteronomy 17:16-17 were necessarily written after the monarchy of Solomon for he acquired a great number of horses (1 Kings 4:26) took many wives (1 Kings 11:3) and accumulated large amounts of silver and gold (1 Kings 10:14, 10:27).
Verses 18:3-5 recall the eighth council.
Verse 22:5 banning cross-dressing pops up between a block of verses dealing with stray or invalid livestock and another dealing with birds in the nest. This odd placement reveals that the verse was inserted hurriedly, reluctantly or contemptuously.
Adultery merits a double death sentence (22:22). Obviously this law passed long after David's monarchy.
Verses 22:23-29 hint that rape was common.
Verse 23:1 pertains to the twenty-second council.
Verses 23:19-20 refer to the thirty-third council.
Verses 23:21-23 become intelligible minding the thirty-fourth council.
Verses 24:8-9 concern the twelfth and thirteenth councils.
The twenty-sixth chapter sets down the ritual for offering first fruits at the Temple. A donor standing before the altar had to recite a standard abstract of the books of Genesis and Exodus (Deuteronomy 26:5-10).
Verses 34:1-6 relate the elusive death and supernatural burial of Moses in an unknown grave. The implausible ending reaffirms that Moses is the fictitious hero of a three-part saga known to us as the books of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.