Biblical Parallels Index – Devarim 11/0

Biblical Parallels Index – Devarim 11

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

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.

Love of Hashem

The theme of loving Hashem appears repeatedly throughout Sefer Devarim.

Tools

• Makbilot Bamikra points out that Devarim 6:5 is one of seven times in Sefer Devarim that the commandment of loving Hashem is referenced. 

Articles

• See Making Love Last, by R. Dr. Jonathan Sacks, for analysis of why love between Hashem and man is discussed so many times in Sefer Devarim and how this relates to the legal content of the book. He notes that love is built upon and thrives through commitment, a series of behaviors which entail doing and sacrificing for the other. The vast legal framework and rituals discussed in Sefer Devarim guide one in how to stay committed, teaching which behaviors are necessary to sustain our love for Hashem.
• See also Ahavat Hashem for analysis of commentator's different understandings of what the command to love God comprises. Some suggest that we are commanded to feel an emotion, similar to the love felt between spouses. Others maintain that the directive refers to a cognitive process of coming to know God, while yet others highlight that fulfillment of the command entails a series of actions (observance of Hashem's commands).

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.