Deuteronomy 1–11

Weinfeld’s commentary remains one of the landmark scholarly treatments of Deuteronomy and is particularly important for its ancient Near Eastern, legal, political, scribal, and wisdom backgrounds. His comparison of Deuteronomic covenant language with treaties and loyalty oaths, including the significance of “love” as covenant loyalty, profoundly influenced subsequent scholarship, while his discussions of scribal culture, wisdom influence, law, centralization, and Deuteronomy’s relationship to earlier Pentateuchal traditions continue to generate valuable exegetical insights. Some elements of his historical reconstruction, including aspects of his account of secularization and the Deuteronomic school, have been substantially debated and qualified by later scholarship, but the individual observations remain extraordinarily fertile. A genuinely foundational commentary and an easy 5/5 for Deuteronomy 1–11; its only significant limitation is that it does not cover the remainder of the book.

I also really appreciate Moshe Weinfeld’s, Anchor Bible Commentary on Deuteronomy 1-11. Full of formative argumentation and an outstanding translation (unfortunately chapters 12-34 never happened). [Full Review]

An authority on Deuteronomic studies comments on the text. [Full Review]