While the Book of the Covenant seems to provide structure to
a simple, semi-sedentary agricultural village society, the Deuteronomic code
speaks to a more complex society and economy of city states, monarchical
government, social class divisions, and external pressures from neighboring
peoples.
At the same time, Deuteronomy builds on earlier traditions
from the period of the conquest of Canaan and the tribal confederacy. We see
this earlier influence most clearly in Deuteronomy's emphasis on the necessity
of standardized ritual worship in a single sanctuary, the centrality of
covenant and the renewal of the covenant, the negative regard for the
institution of the monarchy, and the repeated appeal to the "holy
war" tradition.
These early themes are remolded – updated and expanded to
changing social and economic realities – by Deuteronomy's new emphasis on an
absolute centralization of the sanctuary (with the attendant destruction of all
local shrines and the end of family-based worship), the "name
theology" which moves away from the primitive notion of the sanctuary as
God's dwelling place, the fleshing-out of the concept of the election of
Israel, and updating of laws beyond property rights to social justice concerns
(care for the widows, the orphaned, and the immigrant) – themes first found in
Hebrew literature in the pages of the Deuteronomic code.
Refer to the linked document below to compare the relatively
primitive legislation of the Book of the Covenant and the clear extension and
updating of early principles in the Deuteronomic code.
Download The Book of the Covenant and Deuteronomic Code Parallels.
Download The Book of the Covenant and Deuteronomic Code Parallels.
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