The Decalogue in Deuteronomy

Abstract

The Decalogue’s iconic status within its history of reception, especially in the modern era, has made it a focal point of scholarly discussion. Its transmission in both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, as well as its relation to comparative material in the Pentateuch’s legal texts, has provided an ample field of inquiry for modern historical criticism. One of the main areas that has preoccupied scholars is the quest for its origin, which is the first focus in this chapter. The chapter then turns to some of the issues that specifically concern the Decalogue’s role within Deuteronomy, where it features as a portable monument to the covenant at Horeb. The prohibition against venerating “other gods” is unfolded in Deuteronomy 6-11, and several scholars have discussed the Decalogue’s relationship with the book’s collection of laws. In the late written chapter Deuteronomy 4, the Decalogue’s prohibition of images arrives at its theological culmination in the profession of monotheism. Moses’s prophecy that breaking the prohibition of idolatry would lead to exile invites reflection on the symbolism of the breaking and renewal of the stone tablets in Deuteronomistic historiography.