Structure – Sefer Devarim/0

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Structural Analysis – Sefer Devarim
"Moshe's Farewell Addresses"

Boundaries of the Book

  • Names – The name "אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים", which is derived from the opening words of the book,1 dates back to antiquity.2  Rabbinic sources refer to the book as משנה תורה, referring to the book's review of earlier history and law.  This name is already found in Devarim itself and in Sefer Yehoshua, though from context it is difficult to know what book/s or chapters the title encompasses.
  • Themes – Sefer Devarim is distinct from previous books of the Torah in that it is consists almost entirely of Moshe's various speeches before his death. Though it reviews several previous stories, it contains very little new narrative, and concentrates on Moshe's reinforcing the nation's relationship with Hashem and preparing them for their future in the Land of Israel.
  • Setting – In contrast to Sefer Bemidbar, whose events occur in multiple sites throughout the wilderness, all of Sefer Devarim takes place in a single location, Arvot Moav.
  • Timing – While most of the earlier books of the Torah3 span many years (from the thousands of years of Sefer Bereshit to the almost 4 decades of Sefer Bemidbar), the vast majority of Sefer Devarim4 transpires over a period of at most 5 weeks.5
  • Characters – The main characters of Sefer Devarim, like of Sefer Shemot and Bemidbar, are Moshe and the nation.6 However, while the Children of Israel are active characters in these earlier books, they are mainly passive in Sefer Devarim.
  • Speaker and genre – Sefer Devarim is unique in Torah in being written almost entirely in first person, from the perspective of Moshe. This reflects its distinct genre: a series of farewell addresses.
  • Law and narrative – Though Sefer Devarim contains both narrative and legal material, similar to both Sefer Shemot and Bemidbar, the proportions of each subject are reversed. While the other books focus on narrative, Devarim is mainly legal in nature.