Three-level Reading Guide for Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic History
Instructions: Check the items that you
find in the assigned texts in Deuteronomy, Judges, and Kings, either explicitly
for part I or implicitly for part II. Write the number of the verse(s) where you
find the statement or idea. To complete part III, you will need to connect
material from this text with knowledge you have gained earlier in the semester.
Level
1: Literal. Check the items
that represent some of the important details explicitly stated in these texts.
_____1.
Deuteronomy begins with Moses speaking to the Israelites in the
wilderness before they
enter Canaan.
_____2. The Book of Deuteronomy
calls the mountain on which the Ten Commandments were given Mt. Horeb.
_____3. The Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy claim that there is only one God.
_____4. According to Deuteronomy, Israelites are to rest on the Sabbath because
God rested on the
seventh day of creation.
_____5. According to Deuteronomy,
Yahweh will choose one place for his name to dwell and the
Israelites should worship only there.
_____6. According to Deuteronomy,
Israel should not have a king.
_____7. Moses makes a second
covenant with the Israelites in Moab.
_____8. Deuteronomy says that when
devastation comes on the land, nations will realize that the
disaster is caused by Israel’s failure to observe the covenant
commandments.
_____9. According to Judges, when
the Israelites worshipped other gods, Yahweh became angry and
sold them into the power of their enemies.
Level
2: Interpretive: Several of the statements below represent what the texts
means. Check those that you think are reasonable inferences based on what the
text says. Be prepared to support your answers by citing parts of the text.
_____1.
According to Deuteronomy, God will forgive the people for their
unfaithfulness if they
return to the covenant and keep the commandments.
_____2. Deuteronomy’s writers
think that the Judeans should only worship in Jerusalem.
_____3. According to Deuteronomy
the Levites do not need a nahala because they will be given
sacrifices.
_____4. Deuteronomy makes claims of
monotheism.
_____5. Deuteronomy claims that the
fortunes of the people are directly related to their faithfulness
to the covenant commandments.
_____6. According to the writers of
kings, the northern kingdom of Israel continued to be unfaithful
to Yahweh because they followed the ‘sin of
Jeroboam’ and worshipped at Bethel.
Level
3: Applied: To apply what you read means to take information and ideas
from what you have read and connect them to what you already know. If you think
the statements below are supported by statements in section I or II and by your
own previous experience or study, place a check in the blank provided. Be sure
you have good reasons to justify your answer.
_____1.
Moses foresees the establishment of Jerusalem as the religious capital of
Israel.
_____2. Recognizing whether or not
a prophet is a true prophet is a matter of hindsight.
_____3. Deuteronomy shares with
Jeremiah an emphasis on justice as care for the widow, orphan,
and alien.
_____4. The writers of Deuteronomy
believe that the exile was a direct result of Israel/Judah’s
breaking of the Mosaic covenant.
_____5. The writers of Deuteronomy
do not think there is any hope of restoration for the exiles.
_____6. The writers of Deuteronomy,
Judges, and Kings share similar views of the unfaithfulness of
Israel and its consequences.
_____7. The writers of Deuteronomy,
Judges, and Kings reflect a southern perspective.
_____8. Monotheism is a belief
that becomes important for ancient Judahites around the time of the Exile.
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