Va'Etchanan (Part 2) - Deut 3:23-7:11

Preliminary

In the previous post, I explained how the beginning of this parashah had finished the recap portion from the previous parashah. I then stopped because there is something significant that takes place in verses 4:23-31 that deserves it's own explanation. It's a segment of text that appears to be a later insert, and if not a later insert, then a fragment from another text from the same late period.

Let's look at a portion of the text without those verses:

21. Yahweh became angry with me because of you (plural), and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and not come to the good Land that Yahweh, your God, is giving to you as an inheritance.

22 For I will die in this land. I am not crossing the Jordan. But you are crossing and you shall possess this good land.

[insert]

32. So inquire now regarding the early days that preceded you, from that day when Yahweh created man on the land, and from one end of heaven to the other end of heaven. Has there ever been like this great thing or anything like it been heard?

In short, this text is talking about the miracle of a people who came out of the fires (metaphor) of Egypt (3:20) and were about to accept their inheritance, a land that Yahweh had promised them.

The insert after verse 22 suddenly goes off on a tangent, telling the people that Yahweh hates idolatry, and they will succumb to it in a few generations, they will lose their land and be cast among other nations, but they will seek Yahweh with all of their heart, He will remember His covenant with them and return them.

When Was it Written?

Verses 23-31 are not part of a prophecy, but of a reminiscence.

As I have already noted, we see that the Book of Deuteronomy is a late text based on the following verses:

• 1:1 - Written in Israel after Moses, who never went there, had died.
• 34:10 - Written in Israel, after the end of the period of the Prophets.
• 4:20 - Written during the Iron Age
• etc.

It's apparent that whoever wrote this text lived long after all of the events in the book had finished. And it is easy to fulfill a prophecy when you write the prophecy after the fact.

Except, it isn't a prophecy in that there is no condition given, such as "IF you serve idols, then...", but rather, "You WILL serve idols, and...", which emphasizes that there is no choice, because to choose otherwise would make this a false prophecy, if it were a prophecy at all.

Supplementary Approach

There are those who hold that chapter 4 consists of one author as a series of stitched together fragments. For chapter 4, the breakdown is verses 1-4, 5-8, 9-14, 15-22, 23-31, 32-40, and 41-49.

Other's who embrace the "documentation hypothesis" hold that there was more than one Book of Deuteronomy, and that at a later date, an editor joined the different texts.

Still others hold what is called the "supplementary approach" within Biblical Criticism, which is that there was a single author of the chapter, but over a period of time additional segments were inserted by other contributors (scribes), and that approach uses the same breakdown of verse number groupings.

(For a review of each of these approaches, see "Deuteronomy 4 and the Literary Criticism of Deuteronomy" A. D. H. Mayes - Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Published in the "Journal of Biblical Literature", 100/1, 1981)

The Supplementary Approach is a position that appears to be very strong, based on the structure of the texts as a whole (or rather, in their parts).

So we have a fragment that may or may not have been part of the original, but is certainly a deviation from the flow.

But there's a key component to this that many people miss.

Who is Missing?

Remember that this insert speaks of the Jews will seek Yahweh with all their heart while in exile, that He will not forget them, for His is compassionate, and they will return to Him and He will not forget His covenant to the patriarchs.

But like the rest of the Pentateuch, there is no mention of a Messiah, but only of Yahweh.

Could it be that the author of this insert was writing during a period when the idea of a redeeming Messiah was not even considered? Or if this was after the Babylonian exile, as it appears, was the view of Cyrus non-Messianic and the Messianic link to him was created solely in the Book of Isaiah?

It is very possible, and it seems quite plausible.

Conclusion

Chapter 4 of Deuteronomy consists of 7 different sections, and these sections likely have expanded from a smaller number to their current number of 7 over a period of time. It is a later written text that was written centuries after the supposed events took place, and there is good reason to state that, at least verses 23-31, portions or all of it were written after the end of the Babylonian exile.

The fact that our 23-31 fragment contains a promise of a return of the Jews from exile when they will seek Yahweh with all of their heart, but no mention of a Messiah, provides a lot of food for thought concerning the time-frame as well as the historical view of redemption being solely Yahweh and none other.

This text was certainly never written by someone in the Bronze Age 3500 years ago. Of that we are quite certain.