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Deuteronomy

About this book
Chapter 5

1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them! 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 He did not make this covenant with our ancestors but with us, we who are here today, all of us living now.⁠ 4 The Lord spoke face to face with you at the mountain, from the middle of the fire.⁠ 5 (I was standing between the Lord and you at that time to reveal the Lord’s message to you, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain.) He said: 6 “I am the Lord your God—he who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery. 7 “You must not have any other gods besides me.⁠ 8 “You must not make for yourself an image of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath.⁠ 9 You must not worship or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject me,⁠ 10 but I show covenant faithfulness to the thousands who choose me and keep my commandments. 11 “You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes, for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way. 12 “Be careful to observe the Sabbath day just as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 You are to work and do all your tasks in six days, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. On that day you must not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your donkey, any other animal, or the resident foreigner who lives with you, so that your male and female slaves, like yourself, may have rest.⁠ 15 Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.⁠ 16 “Honor your father and your mother just as the Lord your God has commanded you to do, so that your days may be extended and that it may go well with you in the land that he is about to give you.⁠ 17 “You must not murder. 18 “You must not commit adultery. 19 “You must not steal. 20 “You must not offer false testimony against another.⁠ 21 You must not desire another man’s wife, nor should you crave his house, his field, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything else he owns.”⁠ 22 The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said. Then he inscribed the words on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 23 Then, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was ablaze, all your tribal leaders and elders approached me. 24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory, and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living. 25 But now, why should we die, because this intense fire will consume us? If we keep hearing the voice of the Lord our God we will die! 26 Who is there from the entire human race who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived? 27 You go near so that you can hear everything the Lord our God is saying and then you can tell us whatever he says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.” 28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you—they have spoken well. 29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey all my commandments⁠ in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever. 30 Go and tell them, ‘Return to your tents!’ 31 But as for you, remain here with me so I can declare to you all the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that you are to teach them, so that they can carry them out in the land I am about to give them.” 32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left!⁠ 33 Walk just as he has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land you are going to possess.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 5:7 and The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon §5

Hebrew Bible · Ancient Near East, Assyrian

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Summary

Deuteronomy 5 requires that Israel have no other gods, covenant language that is based on ancient Near Eastern traditions, including the treaties of Esarhaddon, which similarly requires that his servants have no other kings or lords.

Passages

Deuteronomy 5:7

Hebrew Bible
5 (I was standing between the Lord and you at that time to reveal the Lord’s message to you, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain.) He said: 6 “I am the Lord your God—he who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery. 7 “You must not have any other gods besides me. 8 “You must not make for yourself an image of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath. 9 You must not worship or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject me,
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon §5

Ancient Near East, Assyrian · Esarhaddon's Succession Treaty (SAA 2 6)
62 You shall protect Assurbanipal, the great crown prince designate, whom Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, has presented and ordered for you, and on behalf of whom he has confirmed and concluded (this) treaty with you; you shall not sin against him, nor bring your hand against him with evil intent, nor revolt or do anything to him which is not good and proper; 69 you shall not oust him from the kingship of Assyria by helping one of his brothers, elder or younger, to seize the throne of Assyria in his stead, nor set any other king or any other lord over you, nor swear an oath to any other king or any other lord. 73 If you hear any improper, unsuitable or unseemly word concerning the exercise of kingship which is unseemly and evil against Assurbanipal, the great crown prince designate, either from the mouth of his brothers, his uncles, his cousins, his family (var. his people), members of his father's line; or from the mouth of magnates and governors, or from the mouth of the bearded and the eunuchs, or from the mouth of the scholars or from the mouth of any human being at all, you shall not conceal it but come and report it to Assurbanipal, the great crown prince designate.
672 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon

References

"... A prominent feature of attempts to ground the deuteronomic text in a historical context over the last half century has been the observation of certain affinities between Deuteronomy and ancient Near Eastern vassal treaties and loyalty oaths. More specifically, it has been suggested that the book of Deuteronomy, in some more or less original form, constituted a subversive appropriation of Neo-Assyrian imperial ideology in favor of a Yahwistic theocentricity: a text deliberately designed to undermine the authority of the Assyrian king by planting YHWH in his stead. The prevalence of this assertion has its roots in the widespread recognition of similarities between elements of Deuteronomy, especially chapters 13 and 28, and Assyrian vassal treaties and loyalty oaths, with a particular focus on the Succession Treaty of Esarhaddon ..."
C. L. Crouch, Israel and the Assyrians: Deuteronomy, the Succession Treaty of Esarhaddon, and the Nature of Subversion, ANEM 8 (Atlanta: SBL, 2014), 1.

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Deuteronomy 5:7 and The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon §5

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