With a title adapted from Deuteronomy 6:24, For Our Good Always is a collection of twenty-five essays from evangelical scholars on the message of Deuteronomy and its influence on Christian Scripture. No other book colors the tapestry of biblical thought quite like Deuteronomy. It synthesized the theology of the Pentateuch, provided Israel with a constitution for guiding their covenant relationship with Yahweh in the promised land, and served as a primary lens through which later biblical authors interpreted Israel’s covenant history. Recent advances in scholarship on Deuteronomy and developments in biblical interpretation are raising fresh questions and opening new paths for exploration. This collection of studies wrestles with Deuteronomy from historical, literary, theological, and canonical perspectives and offers new questions, presents original discoveries, and makes innovative proposals. Most of the essays are targeted toward scholars or seminary students who have a working knowledge of Hebrew. Some essays, however, are readable by all students of the Word, including DeRouchie’s second contribution titled “Making the Ten Count: Reflections on the Lasting Message of the Decalogue.”
The Table of Contents:
Contributors (ix); Foreword – Peter J. Gentry (xi–xiii); Preface (xv–xix); The Publications of Daniel I. Block: Overview and Bibliography – Charlie Trimm (xxi–xxxii); Tributes from the Block Family (xxxiii–xxxvi)
Part 1: The Message of Deuteronomy
- Deuteronomy and Ancient Hebrew History Writing in Light of Ancient Chronicles and Treaties – Alan Millard (3–15)
- “Because of the Wickedness of These Nations” (Deut 9:4–5): The Canaanites––Ethical or Not? – Richard S. Hess (17–37)
- Admonitory Examples in Hittite and Biblical Legal Contexts – Harry A. Hoffner Jr. (39–60)
- “These Are the Words Moses Spoke”: Implied Audience and a Case for Pre-Monarchic Dating of Deuteronomy – Peter T. Vogt (61–80)
- Laws and Ethical Ideals in Deuteronomy – Gordon J. Wenham (81–92)
- Counting the Ten: An Investigation into the Numbering of the Decalogue – Jason S. DeRouchie (93–125)
- “Keep These Words in Your Heart” (Deut 6:6): A Spirituality of Torah in the Context of the Shema – J. Gordon McConville (127–44)
- The Rhetoric of Theophany: The Imaginative Depiction of Horeb in Deuteronomy 9–10 – Jerry Hwang (145–64)
- For Your Good Always: Restraining the Rights of the Victor for the Well-being of the Vulnerable (Deut 21:10–14) – Rebekah Josberger (165–87)
- Deuteronomy’s Theology of Exile – Kenneth J. Turner (189–220)
Part 2: The Influence of Deuteronomy
- The Impact of Deuteronomy on the Books of the Deuteronomistic History – Michael A. Grisanti (223–49)
- Deuteronomy and Isaiah – H. G. M. Williamson (251–68)
- The Enduring Word of the Lord in Deuteronomy and Jeremiah 36 – Michael Graves (269–86)
- Deuteronomy and Ezekiel’s Theology of Exile – Jason Gile (287–306)
- The “Revealed Things”: Deuteronomy and the Epistemology of Job – Christopher B. Ansberry (307–25)
- “Fear God and Keep His Commandments” (Eccl 12:13): An Examination of Some Intertextual Relationships between Deuteronomy and Ecclesiastes – Richard Schultz (327–43)
- The Influence of Deuteronomy on Intercessory Prayers in Ezra and Nehemiah – Gary V. Smith (345–64)
- Testing God’s Son: Deuteronomy and Luke 4:1–13 – Grant R. Osborne (365–87)
- Paul’s Reading of Deuteronomy: Law and Grace – Douglas Moo (389–412)
Part 3: The Lasting Significance of Deuteronomy
- Making the Ten Count: Reflections on the Lasting Message of the Decalogue – Jason S. DeRouchie (415–40)
- Welcoming the Stranger: Toward a Theology of Immigration in Deuteronomy – M. Daniel Carroll R. (441–61)
- Sermonizing in Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, and the 21st Century – Elmer A. Martens (463–84)
- The Prophet Who Is Like and Greater Than Moses: A Sermon on Deuteronomy 18:15–22 – Daniel L. Akin (485–93)
- Stealing Souls: Human Trafficking and Deuteronomy 24:7 – Myrto Theocharous (495–509)
- The Book of the Torah as a Gospel of Grace: A Synthesis of Daniel I. Block’s Biblical Theology of Deuteronomy – Thomas H. McClendon Jr. (511–33)
Indexes of Authors, Scripture, Ancient Sources
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The volume is offered in honor of Daniel I. Block, DeRouchie’s doctoral father, on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Few Old Testament scholars have worked so ably, carefully, and intentionally to help the church and the academy grasp the message of Deuteronomy. See most recently Block’s Deuteronomy in Zondervan’s NIVAC series and his two volumes of collected essays titled How I Love Your Torah, O LORD! Studies in the Book of Deuteronomy and The Gospel according to Moses: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Book of Deuteronomy, both published by Cascade. Block’s own studies always exhibit an admirable balance of exegetical rigor, literary and theological awareness, and pastoral care, and for well over a decade he has, like the priest-scribe Ezra, devoted himself to the study, practice, and teaching of the deuteronomic torah (Ezra 7:10), helping and urging others to hear the life-giving gospel of Moses in Deuteronomy.
The international group of specialists that contributed to this volume consists of Daniel Block’s colleagues, friends, and former students. Many of these do not bear the same theological convictions or apply the same hermeneutical approach as DeRouchie. Nevertheless, it is the hope of all contributors that these studies will in various ways supplement Daniel Block’s work, serving the church and the academy and honoring the God of Israel, now manifest in the divine, crucified, and resurrected Messiah Jesus.
