Introduction to Deuteronomy

When was the last time you read Deuteronomy? In all the times you've read it, have you ever figured out what Deuteronomy means? Well, I looked it up, and it doesn't seem to me that very many people have ever figured out the meaning of the word or it's real significance in the Bible.

Matthew Henry cites Greek interpreters who say that it signifies the second law, or a second edition of the law. Henry H. Halley (of Bible Handbook fame) essentially repeats this, saying that Deuteronomy means "Second Law," or "Repetition of the Law." John Brown, in his Dictionary of the Bible, tells us that the name of this fifth book of the Bible signifies the repetition of the law. Noah Webster, in the American Dictionary of the English Language, gives the definition as The second law, or second giving of the law by Moses ..."

That's it?

I think not; for, consider the ending, the o-n-o-m-y part of the word. You see it in words like astronomy, economy, taxonomy, and gastronomy. It is a suffix that conveys a dispensing or an allotment of things. Applied to the examples just given, it delineates a systems of rules, laws, or knowledge about a body of a particular field--the rules and laws and knowledge of economics, for example.

Well, what does that have to do with Deuter-o-n-o-m-y?

Simple! It's about the rules and laws and knowledge of the "Deuter" part of the word--which means ... two.

Observe:

• Deuce--the card with a "2" on it.
• Deuterogamist--one who marries the second time (Webster).

So, in Deuteronomy, we're confronted with things in pairs, side-by-side comparisons, two things happening at once, etc. We have, for example--

• "This side Jordon" and "the land of Canaan"; the wilderness and the land of promise.
• The two kings slain in the wilderness, Og, king of Bashan, and Sihon, king of Heshbon.
• Joshua and Caleb vs. the other ten spies.
• Joshua and Caleb, themselves.
• Their journey: from Egypt to Canaan.
• Those that would enter the land of Canaan and those that died in the wilderness.
• The inheritance on "this side Jordan," and the inheritance to be gotten in Canaan.
• Levi's inheritance vs. the inheritance of the other eleven tribes.
• Moses' rehearsal of why Lord was wroth with him, for smiting the rock twice.
• The setting up of judges, to judge between every man and his brother."
• Sinai and Pisgah.
• Milk and honey.
• Clean and unclean.
• Israel's distinction, as chosen of God, over and above the seven nations that inhabited the wilderness.
• The covenant (of works), or the agreement between God and man; as in "... All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live ..."

So, you see, there is a lot more going on in Deuteronomy than just a repetition of Exodus 20, when God gave the two tablets of stone to Moses on Mount Sinai.