Introduction to Deuteronomy

I'm tempted to skip this book and move on, but I will resist. Perhaps I will find it more interesting than anticipated.

Before we begin, let's read the Wikipedia article on Deuteronomy. Here we see that scholars believe the books has roots in the 8th century B. C.E., but was added to and adapted over the time the Jews were in exile. The text attributes itself to Moses but that is highly unlikely.  It is an awkward book that  unnecessarily repeats much of what has already been stated, and doesn't seem to fit properly between Numbers and Joshua. Nevertheless, it has many passages with wording that has become iconic in the Hebrew and christian religions.