Written by Moses in the plains of Moab. The writing was completed 1473 B.C.E. The time covered is two months in 1473 B.C.E.
Leaving Mount Horeb (1-8)
Chiefs and judges appointed (9-18)
Disobedience at Kadesh-barnea (19-46)
Israel’s refusal to enter the land (26-33)
Unsuccessful conquest of Canaan (41-46)
When the Israelites set out on what became a 40-year trek through a “fear-inspiring wilderness,” Jehovah did not give them specific details beforehand as to how he would direct, protect, and care for them. Still, he repeatedly demonstrated that they could trust in him and his instructions. Using a pillar of cloud by day and one of fire by night, Jehovah reminded the Israelites that he was backing them as he led them across that inhospitable terrain. (Deut. 1:19; Ex. 40:36-38) He also provided for their basic needs. “Their very garments did not wear out, and their feet themselves did not become swollen.” Indeed, “they lacked nothing.”—Neh. 9:19-21.
How can we all show that we appreciate the elder arrangement?—Heb 13:17; Jas 5:13-15
Wandering in the wilderness for 38 years (1-23)
Victory over King Sihon of Heshbon (24-37)
2:4-6, 9, 19, 24, 31-35; 3:1-6—Why did the Israelites annihilate some of the people who lived east of the Jordan but not others? Jehovah commanded Israel not to engage in strife with the sons of Esau. Why? Because they were the offspring of Jacob’s brother. The Israelites were not to molest or war against the Moabites and the Ammonites, for they were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot. However, the Amorite Kings Sihon and Og had no such claims to the land under their control. Hence, when Sihon refused to let the Israelites pass through and Og came to meet them in battle, Jehovah commanded the Israelites to demolish their cities, leaving no survivors. (from w20040915)
Victory over King Og of Bashan (1-7)
Division of the land east of the Jordan (8-20)
Joshua told not to be afraid (21, 22)
Moses not to enter the land (23-29)
A call to obedience (1-14)
Do not forget God’s acts (9)
Jehovah requires exclusive devotion (15-31)
No other God besides Jehovah (32-40)
Cities of refuge east of the Jordan (41-43)
Introduction to the Law (44-49)
Does the prohibition against making carved images mean that it is wrong to make representations of objects for artistic purposes? No. The prohibition here was against making images for worship—against ‘bowing down to idols and serving them.’ The Scriptures do not forbid carving sculptures or making paintings of objects for artistic purposes.—1 Kings 7:18, 25.
Many people are drawn to Jehovah’s organization when they see the fine conduct of those who live by God’s laws and principles.
Jehovah’s covenant at Horeb (1-5)
The Ten Commandments restated (6-22)
The people’s fear at Mount Sinai (23-33)
Jehovah sees beyond a person’s outward appearance. He sees what we really are inside, in our heart. (1 Sam. 16:7) No thought, no feeling, no action can be kept secret from him. He looks for and encourages the good in us. But he wants us to identify and control wrong thoughts before they become wrong actions.—2 Chron. 16:9; Matt. 5:27-30.
Love Jehovah with all your heart (1-9)
“Listen, O Israel” (4)
Parents to instruct children (6, 7)
Do not forget Jehovah (10-15)
Do not put Jehovah to the test (16-19)
Tell the next generation (20-25)
In addition to family worship, what are some occasions when you might help your children to develop love for Jehovah and his principles?
Seven nations to be destroyed (1-6)
Why Israel was chosen (7-11)
Obedience brings future success (12-26)
ASK YOURSELF, ‘How does the requirement to marry “only in the Lord” benefit me?’
Blessings from Jehovah reviewed (1-9)
“Not live by bread alone” (3)
Do not forget Jehovah (10-20)
Our prayer for daily bread should also remind us of our need for daily spiritual food. Although very hungry after a long fast, Jesus resisted Satan’s temptation to turn stones into bread, saying: “It is written, ‘Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.’” (Matthew 4:4) Jesus here quoted the prophet Moses, who told the Israelites: “[Jehovah] humbled you and let you go hungry and fed you with the manna, which neither you had known nor your fathers had known; in order to make you know that not by bread alone does man live but by every expression of Jehovah’s mouth does man live.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) The way in which Jehovah supplied the manna provided the Israelites not only with physical food but also with spiritual lessons. For one thing, they were to “pick up each his amount day for day.” If they gathered more than enough for the day, the remainder began to smell and breed worms. (Exodus 16:4, 20) Yet, this did not occur on the sixth day when they had to gather double the daily amount to cover their needs for the Sabbath. (Exodus 16:5, 23, 24) So the manna impressed upon their minds that they had to be obedient and that their lives depended not just on bread but on “every expression of Jehovah’s mouth.”
Why Israel was given the land (1-6)
Israel provokes Jehovah four times (7-29)
The golden calf (7-14)
Moses intercedes (15-21, 25-29)
Three more provocations (22)
(Anʹa·kim) [Those of (Belonging to) Anak].
A race of people of extraordinary size who inhabited the mountainous regions of Canaan as well as some coastal areas, particularly in the S thereof. At one time three prominent men of the Anakim, that is, Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, resided at Hebron. (Nu 13:22) It was here that the 12 Hebrew spies first saw the Anakim, and 10 of the spies subsequently gave a frightening report of the experience, alleging that these men were descendants of the pre-Flood Nephilim and that, by comparison with them, the Hebrews were like “grasshoppers.” (Nu 13:28-33; De 1:28) Their great stature caused them to be used as a standard of comparison in describing even the giantlike men of the Emim and the Rephaim. Their strength apparently produced the proverbial saying: “Who can make a firm stand before the sons of Anak?”—De 2:10, 11, 20, 21; 9:1-3.
Two tablets remade (1-11)
What Jehovah requires (12-22)
Fear and love Jehovah (12)
Jehovah does not force us to obey him. Rather, he wants us to love and obey him “from the heart.” (Ro 6:17) Those who choose to serve Jehovah enjoy the best way of life.
You have seen Jehovah’s greatness (1-7)
The Promised Land (8-12)
Rewards for obedience (13-17)
God’s words to be impressed on hearts (18-25)
“A blessing and a curse” (26-32)
In harmony with instructions given by Moses, the tribes of Israel assembled at Mounts Gerizim and Ebal under Joshua’s direction shortly after their conquest of Ai. There the people heard the reading of the blessings they would receive if they obeyed Jehovah and the maledictions that awaited them if they disobeyed him. The tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin stood in front of Mount Gerizim. The Levites and the ark of the covenant were situated in the valley, and the other six tribes stood in front of Mount Ebal. (De 11:29, 30; 27:11-13; Jos 8:28-35) Apparently, the tribes stationed in front of Mount Gerizim responded to the blessings read in their direction, whereas the other tribes responded to the curses read in the direction of Mount Ebal. While it has been suggested that the blessings were read toward Mount Gerizim because of its greater beauty and fertility in contrast with rocky, largely barren Mount Ebal, the Bible does not furnish any information on this matter. The Law was read aloud “in front of all the congregation of Israel, together with the women and the little ones and the alien residents who walked in their midst.” (Jos 8:35) This vast throng could hear the words from positions in front of either mountain. This was probably due, at least in part, to the excellent acoustics of the area.—See EBAL, MOUNT.
Worship at the place God chooses (1-14)
Allowed to eat meat but not blood (15-28)
Do not be entrapped by other gods (29-32)
from workbook July–August 2021
Jehovah wants his people to worship him whole-souled, to reject all false worship, and to be united.
How to treat apostates (1-18)
Inappropriate displays of mourning (1, 2)
Clean and unclean foods (3-21)
A tenth for Jehovah (22-29)
This directive of the Mosaic Law, which appears three times in the Bible, can help us appreciate Jehovah’s sense of propriety, his compassion, and his tenderness. It also highlights his abhorrence of false worship.—Exodus 34:26; Deuteronomy 14:21.
To boil a young goat or other animal in its mother’s milk would be contrary to Jehovah’s natural arrangement of things. God provided the mother’s milk to nourish the kid and help it grow. Cooking the kid in the milk of its own mother would, in the words of one scholar, display “a contempt of the relation which God has established and sanctified between parent and young.”
Further, some suggest that boiling a kid in its mother’s milk may have been a pagan ritual performed to produce rain. If that was the case, the prohibition would have served to protect the Israelites from the senseless and heartless religious practices of the nations surrounding them. The Mosaic Law specifically forbade the Israelites to walk in the statutes of those nations.—Leviticus 20:23.
Finally, we see in this particular law Jehovah’s tender compassion. Actually, the Law contained a number of similar injunctions against cruelty to animals and safeguards against working contrary to the natural order of things. For instance, the Law included commands that prohibited sacrificing an animal unless it had been with its mother for at least seven days, slaughtering both an animal and its offspring on the same day, and taking from a nest both a mother and her eggs or offspring.—Leviticus 22:27, 28; Deuteronomy 22:6, 7.
Clearly, the Law was not just a complex set of commands and prohibitions. Among other things, its principles help instill in us an elevated moral sensibility that truly reflects Jehovah’s marvelous qualities.—Psalm 19:7-11.
Debt canceled every seventh year (1-6)
Assisting the poor (7-11)
Release of slaves every seventh year (12-18)
An awl through a slave’s ear (16, 17)
Firstborn animals sanctified (19-23)
from workbook July–August 2021
ASK YOURSELF, ‘In what practical ways can I show concern for Christians in need?’
Passover; Festival of Unleavened Bread (1-8)
Festival of Weeks (9-12)
Festival of Booths (13-17)
Appointing judges (18-20)
Forbidden objects of worship (21, 22)
from workbook July–August 2021
Elders must be careful to follow these principles when rendering judgment in the congregation.
Sacrifices to be without defect (1)
Handling matters of apostasy (2-7)
Difficult judgment matters (8-13)
Guidelines for a future king (14-20)
King to write a copy of the Law (18)
Under the Law, for the penalty of cutting off to be carried out, evidence had to be established at the mouth of at least two witnesses. (De 19:15) These witnesses were required to be the first to stone the guilty one. (De 17:7) This would demonstrate their zeal for God’s law and the purity of the congregation of Israel and would also be a deterrent to false, careless, or hasty testimony.
Share of priests and Levites (1-8)
Occult practices forbidden (9-14)
A prophet like Moses (15-19)
How to identify false prophets (20-22)
Bloodguilt and cities of refuge (1-13)
Boundary markers not to be moved (14)
Witnesses in court (15-21)
Two or three witnesses required (15)
from workbook July–August 2021
ASK YOURSELF, ‘What are some ways to demonstrate that I have Jehovah’s viewpoint of life?’
Rules for warfare (1-20)
Exemptions from military service (5-9)
Unsolved murders (1-9)
Marrying captive women (10-14)
Right of the firstborn (15-17)
A stubborn son (18-21)
A man hung on a stake accursed (22, 23)
The local court was situated at the gate of a city. (De 16:18; 21:19; 22:15, 24; 25:7; Ru 4:1) By “gate” is meant the open space inside the city near the gate. The gates were places where the Law was read to the congregated people and where ordinances were proclaimed. (Ne 8:1-3) At the gate it was easy to acquire witnesses to a civil matter, such as property sales, and so forth, as most persons would go in and out of the gate during the day. Also, the publicity that would be afforded any trial at the gate would tend to influence the judges toward care and justice in the trial proceedings and in their decisions. Evidently there was a place provided near the gate where the judges could comfortably preside. (Job 29:7) Samuel traveled in a circuit of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah and “judged Israel at all these places,” as well as at Ramah, where his house was located.—1Sa 7:16, 17.
Respect for neighbors’ animals (1-4)
Wearing garments of the opposite sex (5)
Kindness to animals (6, 7)
Parapet for the roof (8)
Improper mixtures (9-11)
Tassels on clothing (12)
Laws on sexual violations (13-30)
from workbook July–August 2021
The way we treat animals is important to Jehovah. We must not be cruel to animals or kill them just for sport.—Pr 12:10.
Those ineligible for God’s congregation (1-8)
Cleanliness of the camp (9-14)
Fugitive slaves (15, 16)
Prostitution forbidden (17, 18)
Interest and vows (19-23)
What passersby are allowed to eat (24, 25)
Debt, Debtor A debt refers to that which is owed, an obligation to pay or render something. In ancient Israel, debts were incurred primarily because of financial reverses. For an Israelite to become a debtor was a misfortune; the borrower, in effect, became the lender’s servant. (Pr 22:7) God’s people were therefore commanded to be generous and unselfish in lending to needy fellow Israelites, not seeking to profit from their adversity by charging them interest. (Ex 22:25; De 15:7, 8; Ps 37:26; 112:5) But foreigners could be required to pay interest. (De 23:20) Jewish commentators understand this provision to apply to business loans, not to cases of need. Ordinarily foreigners were in Israel only temporarily, often as merchants, and could reasonably be expected to pay interest, especially since they would also be lending to others on interest.
Marriage and divorce (1-5)
Respect for life (6-9)
Showing concern for the poor (10-18)
Rules on gleaning (19-22)
Certificate of Divorce. It should not be concluded from the later abuses that the original Mosaic divorce concession made it easy for an Israelite husband to divorce his wife. In order to do so, he had to take formal steps. It was necessary to write a document, to “write out a certificate of divorce for her.” The divorcing husband had to “put it in her hand and dismiss her from his house.” (De 24:1) While the Scriptures do not provide additional details on this procedure, this legal step apparently involved consultation with duly authorized men, who might first endeavor to effect a reconciliation. The time involved in preparing the certificate and legally implementing the divorce would afford the divorcing husband opportunity to reconsider his decision. There would have to be a basis for the divorce, and when the regulation was properly applied, this would logically serve as a deterrent to rash action in obtaining divorces. Then, too, the wife’s rights and interests were thus protected. The Scriptures do not disclose the contents of the “certificate of divorce.”
from workbook July–August 2021
ASK YOURSELF, ‘How can I show consideration and respect for women in my family and congregation?’
Flogging regulated (1-3)
Do not muzzle a threshing bull (4)
Brother-in-law marriage (5-10)
Improper grabbing in fights (11, 12)
Honest weights and measures (13-16)
Amalekites to be destroyed (17-19)
Offering the firstfruits (1-11)
A second tithe (12-15)
Israel, a special property to Jehovah (16-19)
The Law to be written on stones (1-10)
At Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim (11-14)
The curses recited (15-26)
Jehovah’s law prohibited the moving back of boundary marks. (De 19:14; see also Pr 22:28.) In fact, cursed was the one moving back “the boundary mark of his fellowman.” (De 27:17) Since landholders generally were dependent upon the produce of their plots of ground, moving back a boundary mark would mean depriving another person of some of his means of sustenance. Doing this was equivalent to theft and was so viewed in ancient times. (Job 24:2) But there were unscrupulous persons who were guilty of such abuses, and princes of Judah in Hosea’s time were likened to those moving back a boundary.—Ho 5:10.
Blessings for obedience (1-14)
Curses for disobedience (15-68)
from workbook July–August 2021
Jehovah’s obedient servants enjoy his abundant blessings right now and will soon be overtaken by his promised future blessings.
Covenant with Israel at Moab (1-13)
Warning against disobedience (14-29)
Things concealed, things revealed (29)
Jehovah, through his servants, spoke of the stubborn, disobedient Israelites as having ‘uncircumcised ears.’ (Jer 6:10; Ac 7:51) They are as though stopped up with something that impedes hearing. They are ears that have not been opened by Jehovah, who gives ears of understanding and obedience to those who seek him but allows the spiritual hearing of the disobedient ones to become dulled. (De 29:4; Ro 11:8) The apostle Paul foretold a time when some professing to be Christians would apostatize from the true faith, not wanting to hear the truth of God’s Word, but desiring to have their ears “tickled” by things pleasing to them, and would therefore listen to false teachers. (2Ti 4:3, 4; 1Ti 4:1) Also, one’s ears may “tingle” because of hearing startling news, especially news of calamity.—1Sa 3:11; 2Ki 21:12; Jer 19:3.
Returning to Jehovah (1-10)
Jehovah’s commands not too difficult (11-14)
Choosing between life and death (15-20)
from workbook July–August 2021
Serving Jehovah is not too difficult if we rely on him for direction and strength.
Moses about to die (1-8)
Public reading of the Law (9-13)
Joshua appointed (14, 15)
Israel’s rebelliousness foretold (16-30)
A song to teach Israel (19, 22, 30)
Young ones should sit with the grown-ups at congregation meetings and endeavor to listen and to learn.
Song of Moses (1-47)
Jehovah, the Rock (4)
Israel forgets its Rock (18)
“Vengeance is mine” (35)
“Be glad, you nations, with his people” (43)
Moses to die on Mount Nebo (48-52)
32:4. All of Jehovah’s activities are perfect in that he expresses his attributes of justice, wisdom, love, and power in perfect balance.
from workbook July–August 2021
Where can you find good illustrations to use in your teaching?
Moses blesses the tribes (1-29)
Jehovah’s “everlasting arms” (27)
33:1-29—Why was Simeon not specifically mentioned in the blessing with which Moses blessed the sons of Israel? This was because Simeon as well as Levi had acted “harshly,” and their anger was “cruel.” (Genesis 34:13-31; 49:5-7) Their inheritance was not quite the same as that of the other tribes. Levi received 48 cities, and Simeon’s portion was within Judah’s territory. (Joshua 19:9; 21:41, 42) Hence, Moses did not specifically bless Simeon. However, Simeon’s blessing was included in the general blessing to Israel.
from workbook September–October 2021
Jehovah’s everlasting arms support us during various trials. This includes when we are sick or depressed, face grief, or make mistakes but repent.
Jehovah shows Moses the land (1-4)
Death of Moses (5-12)
Moses was 120 years of age at the time of his death. Testifying to his natural strength, the Bible comments: “His eye had not grown dim, and his vital strength had not fled.” He was buried by Jehovah in a location never since discovered. (De 34:5-7) Likely, this was to prevent the Israelites from being ensnared into false worship by making a shrine of his grave. Evidently the Devil desired to use Moses’ body for some such purpose, for Jude, the Christian disciple and half brother of Jesus Christ, writes: “When Michael the archangel had a difference with the Devil and was disputing about Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a judgment against him in abusive terms, but said: ‘May Jehovah rebuke you.’” (Jude 9) Before crossing over into Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, Israel observed a 30-day mourning period for Moses.—De 34:8.