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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 KTU 1.16 VI:45 and Deuteronomy 10:18

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The Ugaritic Legend of Kirta and Deuteronomy present an ideal king who protects widows and orphans. In Kirta, Prince Yassib rebukes his father for ignoring this duty, and Deuteronomy applies it to God who “defends the fatherless and the widow.”

Passages

KTU 1.16 VI:45

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
and cries: "Listen, please, O Kirta the Noble! Listen, and incline (your) ear. For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You have let your hand fall into mischief. You used to judge the cause of the widow, to adjudicate the case of the wretched, to drive out those who prey upon the poor, to feed before you the orphan, behind your back the widow. Since you have become a brother of the bed of sickness, a companion of the bed of suffering, descend from the kingship— I will be king; in your authority I will sit."—And [K]irta the Noble answers:
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Deuteronomy 10:18

Hebrew Bible
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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

References

"... The protection of the widow and orphan is a virtue of the ideal sovereign or leader that is heralded in various literary genres ... It is a moral duty of the chief steward to which the downtrodden can appeal in Egypt (“The Peasant’s Lament”) and is listed among the duties of a good king in the Keret Epic of Ugarit. In the epilogue to his law code, Hammurabi declares that one of his achievements was to provide justice for the widow and the orphan. The key socioeconomic problem for orphans dealt with in Mesopotamian law codes spanning a millennium is the disposition of the inheritance. This legislation is, of course, to be coordinated with the guidelines regarding the rights of the widow upon the demise of her spouse. Since these societies were patrilineal (signifying that the estate was passed down through the male heirs), when the father died prematurely the legal system had to stipulate how and to whom the family’s property and goods were to be transmitted once the surviving children came of age. In the case of the death of the mother, what was at issue was the dowry with which she had entered into the marriage arrangement. Would this return to her father’s home, be kept by the husband or be bequeathed to her children? Many of these concerns also surface in the Old Testament ..."
T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2003), 619.

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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KTU 1.16 VI:45 and Deuteronomy 10:18

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