Deuteronomy gets its name from the Septuagint's translation of 17:18, wherein the king is called to prepare "a copy of this law" literally in Greek deuteronomion touto (a second law). The book itself is organized into three addresses given by Moses to the people 1:1-4:43; 4:44-28:68; 29:1-30:20.

The conclusion of Deuteronomy, therefore, is rather theologically surprising. Instead of Moses, the great mouthpiece of God and motivator of Israel, triumphantly leading the people into their new life in the Promised Land, Moses is suddenly taken from the scene. The irony is severe: Moses, God's instrument of Israel's deliverance, dies without ever setting foot in the Promised Land.

In a salvation history as distinctive as Israel's, there are many surprising revelations and relationships. But the…