Editing Book of Deuteronomy (section)

===Covenant===
The core of Deuteronomy is the [[Covenant (biblical)|covenant]] that binds Yahweh and Israel by oaths of fidelity and obedience.<ref>Breuggemann, p.53</ref> God will give Israel blessings of the land, fertility, and prosperity so long as Israel is faithful to God's teaching; disobedience will lead to curses and punishment.<ref>Laffey, p.337</ref> But, according to the Deuteronomists, Israel's prime sin is lack of faith, [[apostasy]]: contrary to the first and fundamental commandment ("Thou shalt have no other gods before me") the people have entered into relations with other gods.<ref>Phillips, p.8</ref>

Dillard and Longman in their ''Introduction to the Old Testament'' stress the living nature of the covenant between Yahweh and Israel as a nation:  The people of Israel are addressed by Moses as a unity, and their allegiance to the covenant is not one of obeisance, but comes out of a pre-existing relationship between God and Israel, established with Abraham and attested to by the Exodus event, so that the laws of Deuteronomy set the nation of Israel apart, signaling the unique [[Predestination|status]] of the Jewish nation.<ref>Dillard & Longman, p.102.</ref> 

The land is God's gift to Israel, and many of the laws, festivals and instructions in Deuteronomy are given in the light of Israel's occupation of the land. Dillard and Longman note that "In 131 of the 167 times the verb "give" occurs in the book, the subject of the action is Yahweh."<ref>Dillard & Longman, p.117.</ref> Deuteronomy makes the Torah the ultimate authority for Israel, one to which even the king is subject.<ref>Vogt, p.31</ref>