Biblical Parallels Index – Devarim 12/0

Biblical Parallels Index – Devarim 12

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Overview

This index is meant to help the reader explore Biblical parallels, be they two accounts of the same event or law, stories with similar motifs and themes, or units of text which are linguistically similar and perhaps alluding one to the other. The page includes links to tools that aid in comparison, primary sources that touch upon the parallels, and summaries of and links to articles which analyze them in depth.

Reward and Punishment

The theme of reward and punishment appears multiple times in Tanakh. It is most evident in Vayikra 26 and Devarim 28 which each contain a full list of blessings and curses, but many other individual verses, like those in our chapter, similarly promise recompense. The various verses open many questions regarding the workings of Divine retribution: Is it aimed at the individual or the collective? Do the blessings/curses refer to this world or the next? Are they miraculous or natural? Might they be limited to a specific time and place or are they relevant always and everywhere? 

Tools

• Use Makbilot BaMikra to find the many sections of the Torah that promise reward and punishment for following and disobeying the mitzvot.
• Use the advanced concordance to search for the phrase "לְמַעַן יִיטַב לָךְ". In what contexts is this blessing given?

Articles See Reward and Punishment for analysis several different approaches to Divine retribution which take into account the plethora of verses and try to reconcile differences between them. Some commentators assume that individuals do not receive true retribution in this world, getting their just desserts only in the next world, while others maintain that there is both individual and collective recompense already in this world.  A last approach suggests that Hashem's modes of providence have changed over time. Though immediate reward and punishment for both the collective and individual is manifest from the Biblical through First Temple periods, it diminished thereafter as Hashem's initial overt providence gradually became covert.