Theme: Choosing life by loving God

Exegetical Note
The blessing and curse (vv. 16-18) and the invoking of witnesses (v. 19) are standard parts of ancient near-Eastern covenants, of which Deuteronomy 19-20 is a good example. The covenant in question here is not the Sinaitic one, but one initiated at Moab (perhaps a renewal of the earlier one) just before the Israelites entered into the promised land. The choice offered is clear-cut (life and blessing versus death and evil) and immediate ("today"), and hinges on obedience to and love of…