The Book of the Covenant. As we begin reading the fifth and final book of the Torah,

I'd like to discuss three questions. First, why does the book of Devarim have the structure

it does, a mix of history, law, recollection, and anticipation? The sages knew that Devarium

had a clear structure. Elsewhere in the Torah, some rabbis used the principle

of Smi Chuta Parjjjjot, that we can learn something from the fact that passage Y occurs immediately

after passage X. However, others didn't, because there's a rule ain't muqdam or mochah by Torah, meaning

the Torah doesn't always follow a strict chronological sequence,

so we cannot always attach significance to the fact that the passages are in the order they are.

However, everyone agrees that there is precise order and structure in the book of Dvarim.

But what is that order? Second, the rabbis

originally called Devarim Mishnet Torah, a second law. Hence the Latin named Deuteronomy, which means

the second law. But in what sense is Devarium a second law? Some of the laws Moses states in the book have appeared before. Others haven't. Is it a repetition of the laws Moses received at Sinai in the tent of meeting? Or is it something new? What exactly is the meaning of Mishnah Torah third? What is the book doing here? It represents the speeches Moses delivered in the last month

of his life to the generation who would cross the Jordan and enter the promised land. Why is it

included in the Torah at all? If the Torah is a history book, then we should proceed directly

from the end of Bermidba, the arrival of the Israelites at the bank of the

river Jordan, to the book of Joshua when they crossed the river and began their conquest of the land.

If the Terry is a book of law, then DeVarim should just be a collection of laws

without all the historical reminiscence and prophecy it contains.

So what kind of book is Devarim and what is its significance to the Torah Zahol?

A number of relatively recent archaeological discoveries have, however, thrown new light on all these questions.

They're the engraved records of ancient treaties between neighboring powers.

Among them are they steely of the vultures, commemorating the victory of Aonatum,

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