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Deuteronomy

About this book
Chapter 10

1 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. 2 I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.” 3 So I made an ark of acacia wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 4 The Lord then wrote on the tablets the same words, the Ten Commandments, which he had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he gave them to me. 5 Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets into the ark I had made—they are still there, just as the Lord commanded me. 6 During those days the Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became priest in his place. 7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a place of flowing streams. 8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi⁠ to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings in his name, as they do to this very day. 9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance among his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him. 10 As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, 40 days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you. 11 Then he said to me, “Get up, set out leading the people so they may go and possess the land I promised to give to their ancestors.” 12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, to obey all his commandments, to love him, to serve him with all your mind and being,⁠ 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving you today for your own good? 14 The heavens—indeed the highest heavens—belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 15 However, only to your ancestors did he show his loving favor, and he chose you, their descendants, from all peoples—as is apparent today. 16 Therefore, circumcise your hearts and stop being so stubborn!⁠ 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords,⁠ the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe,⁠ 18 who justly treats the orphan and widow,⁠ and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing.⁠ 19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him, and take oaths only in his name.⁠ 21 He is the one you should praise; he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you⁠ that you have seen. 22 When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 10:17 and Jubilees 40:8

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions

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Summary

Deuteronomy describes God as the perfect judge, showing no partiality and taking no bribe. Jubilees gives those same qualities to Joseph, describing him as a governor of Egypt in the language the Torah uses for God.

Passages

Deuteronomy 10:17

Hebrew Bible
16 Therefore, circumcise your hearts and stop being so stubborn! 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 18 who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Jubilees 40:8

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
7 And he clothed him with fine linen clothes, and he put a gold chain upon his neck, and (a herald) proclaimed before him ' 'El 'El wa 'Abirer,' and placed a ring on his hand and made him ruler over all his house, and exalted him, and said to him: 'Only on the throne shall I be greater than you.' 8 And Joseph ruled over all the land of Egypt, and all the princes of Pharaoh, and all his servants, and all who did the king's business loved him, for he walked in uprightness, for he was without pride and arrogance, and he showed no favoritism, and did not accept bribes, but he judged in uprightness all the people of the land. 9 And the land of Egypt was at peace before Pharaoh because of Joseph, for the Lord was with him, and gave him favor and mercy for all his generations before all those who knew him and those who heard concerning him, and Pharaoh's kingdom was well ordered, and there was no Satan and no evil person (in it).
170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

References

... Besides the parallels Berger and Endres noticed, there are important ones in the descriptions of God himself as righteous judge. The qualities practiced by Joseph as ideal ruler match those exercised by God as he weighs human actions... Abraham described the Lord in similar terms in his testament to Isaac: ‘For he is the living God. He is more holy, faithful, and just than anyone. With him there is no favoritism nor does he accept bribes because he is a just God and one who exercises judgment against all who transgress his commands and despise his covenant’ (21:4...). And the angel tells Moses after the Reuben–Bilhah episode that no one was to act in this way ‘because the Lord our God, who shows no favoritism and takes no bribe, is the judge’ (33:18). It causes little wonder, then, that Joseph proved to be an astonishingly adept governor if he imitated the character and practices of the deity. ...
James C. VanderKam, Jubilees 1: A Commentary on the Book of Jubilees Chapters 1–21 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2018), 1029.
... found at other places: Jubilees 5:16 (‘He is not one who shows favoritism nor one who accepts a bribe, if he says he will execute judgment against each person. If a person gave everything on earth he would not show favoritism nor would he accept (it) from him because he is the righteous judge’); 33:18 (‘because the Lord our God, who shows no favoritism and accepts no bribes, is the judge’). For the same expression, see also Jubilees 40:8 (‘He [Joseph] was not arrogant, proud, or partial, nor did he accept bribes because he was ruling all the people of the land in a just way’). ...
Jacques T. A. G. M. van Ruiten, Abraham in the Book of Jubilees: The Rewriting of Genesis 11:26–25:10 in the Book of Jubilees 11:14–23:8, JSJSup 161 (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 294.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Deuteronomy 10:17 and Jubilees 40:8

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