What is Deuteronomy?
Deuteronomy is the last book of the Pentateuch in the Bible.
What is the Pentateuch?
The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible.
Who wrote these books?
These books were written by Moses under the oversight of the Holy Spirit.
What does the word Deuteronomy even mean?
This is a Greek word consisting of the word deuteros which means "second" and nomos which means "law".
Why did Moses write this book?
There is no explicit statement of purpose in the book. From the contents of the book, we assume that Moses meant it to be a repetition and restatement of the laws and instructions given to him by God. In our own terms, we might call the book of Deuteronomy a more popular restatement of God's laws given in the previous books of the Pentateuch. Harrison calls Deuteronomy "an Everyman’s Torah." Harrison, Introduction, 637. Ryrie says the book's theme is "Remember." Ryrie, Concise Guide to the Bible, 73. Gray writes that a secondary name for Deuteronomy might be "The book of review." Synthetic Bible Studies.
To whom and for whom was this book written?
This book would have been written to the second generation of Israel; the first generation would have perished in the desert as God had promised. (Num 14:30) This means that the people to whom Moses was speaking would not have experienced the exodus out of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, or the giving of the law at Mount Sinai.