Introduction to Israel’s Covenantal Constitution: The Decalogue · Here opens Moses’ second discourse (chs. 5–26), the central section of the whole book. It is subdivided into two main parts. Chapters 5–11 are a broad exhortation to covenant loyalty and obedience, following up and amplifying the theocratic and covenantal challenge set forth in chapter 4. Chapters 12–26, with their subheading in 12:1, are more detailed legislation, much of which renews, expands, and sometimes modifies laws already given in more basic form in the Book of the Covenant (Exod. 21–23).

Chapters 5–11 are concerned with orientation, ethos, commitment, and loyalty and not initially with the specific legal details. Deuteronomy recognizes that law in itself is not enough for a wholesome society. There is a need for a f…