Book of Deuteronomy in the context of "Deuteronomistic history"

Mount Sinai (Hebrew: הַר סִינַי‬‎, Har Sīnay) is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to the Hebrew prophet Moses by God, according to the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. In the Book of Deuteronomy, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Horeb. "Sinai" and "Horeb" are generally considered by biblical scholars to refer to the same place. Mount Sinai is considered one of the most sacred locations by the three major Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The exact geographical position of Mount Sinai described in the Hebrew Bible remains disputed. The high point of the dispute was in the mid-19th century. Biblical texts describe the theophany at Mount Sinai, in terms which a minority of scholars, following Charles Beke (1873), have suggested may literally describe the mountain as a volcano.

The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, romanized: Yəṣīʾat Mīṣrayīm, lit. 'Departure from Egypt') is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four of the five books of the Pentateuch (specifically, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). The narrative of the Exodus describes a history of Egyptian bondage of the Israelites followed by their exodus from Egypt through a passage in the Red Sea, in pursuit of the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses.

The story of the Exodus is central in Judaism. It is recounted daily in Jewish prayers and celebrated in festivals such as Passover. Early Christians saw the Exodus as a typological prefiguration of resurrection and salvation by Jesus. The Exodus is also recounted in the Quran as part of the extensive referencing of the life of Moses, a major prophet in Islam. The narrative has also resonated with various groups in more recent centuries, such as among African Americans striving for freedom and civil rights, and in liberation theology.

The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew: עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים‎, romanized: ʿĂśéreṯ had-Dəḇārîm, lit. 'The Ten Words'), or the Decalogue (from Latin decalogus, from Ancient Greek δεκάλογος, dekálogos, lit. 'ten words'), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by God to Moses. The text of the Ten Commandments appears in three markedly distinct versions in the Hebrew Bible: at Exodus 20:1–17, Deuteronomy 5:6–21, and the "Ritual Decalogue" of Exodus 34:11–26.

The biblical narrative describes how God revealed the Ten Commandments to the Israelites at Mount Sinai amidst thunder and fire, gave Moses two stone tablets inscribed with the law, which he later broke in anger after witnessing the worship of a golden calf, and then received a second set of tablets to be placed in the Ark of the Covenant. Scholars have proposed a range of dates and contexts for the origins of the Decalogue. Interpretations of its content vary widely, reflecting debates over its legal, political, and theological development, its relation to ancient treaty forms, and differing views on authorship and emphasis on ritual versus ethics.

Mount Horeb (/ˈhɔːrɛb/; Hebrew: הַר חֹרֵב Har Ḥōrēḇ; Greek in the Septuagint: Χωρήβ, Chōrēb; Latin in the Vulgate: Horeb) is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God, according to the Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible. It is described in two places (the Book of Exodus and the Books of Kings) as הַר הָאֱלֹהִים the "Mountain of Elohim". The mountain is also called the Mountain of YHWH.

In other biblical passages, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Sinai. Although most scholars consider Sinai and Horeb to have been different names for the same place, there is a minority body of opinion that they may have been different locations.

Mosaic authorship is the Judeo-Christian tradition that the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, were dictated by God to Moses. The tradition probably began with the legalistic code of the Book of Deuteronomy and was then gradually extended until Moses, as the central character, came to be regarded not just as the mediator of law but as author of both laws and narrative.

The books of the Torah do not name any author, as authorship was not considered important by the society that produced them, and it was only after Jews came into intense contact with author-centric Hellenistic culture in the late Second Temple period that the rabbis began to find authors for their scriptures. By the 1st century CE, it was already common practice to refer to the five as the "Law of Moses", but the first unequivocal expression of the idea that this meant authorship appears in the Babylonian Talmud, an encyclopedia of Jewish tradition and scholarship composed between 200 and 500 CE. There, the rabbis noticed and addressed such issues as how Moses had received the divine revelation, how it was curated and transmitted to later generations, and how difficult passages such as the last verses of Deuteronomy, which describe his death, were to be explained. This culminated in the 8th of Maimonides' 13 Principles of Faith, establishing belief in Mosaic authorship as an article of Jewish belief.

Kadesh or Qadesh or Cades (Biblical Hebrew: קָדֵשׁ, from the root קדש‎ "holy") is a place-name that occurs several times in the Hebrew Bible, describing a site or sites located south of, or at the southern border of, Canaan and the Kingdom of Judah in the kingdom of Israel. Many modern academics hold that it was a single site, located at the modern Tel el-Qudeirat, while some academics and rabbinical authorities hold that there were two locations named Kadesh. A related term, either synonymous with Kadesh or referring to one of the two sites, is Kadesh (or Qadesh) Barnea. Various etymologies for Barnea have been proposed, including 'desert of wanderings,' but none have produced widespread agreement.

The Bible mentions Kadesh and/or Kadesh Barnea in a number of episodes, making it an important site (or sites) in narratives concerning Israelite origins. Kadesh was the chief site of encampment for the Israelites during their wandering in the Zin Desert (Deuteronomy 1:46), as well as the place from which the Israelite spies were sent to Canaan (Numbers 13:1–26). The first failed attempt to capture Canaan was made from Kadesh (Numbers 14:40–45). Moses struck a rock (rather than speaking to it as the Lord commanded) that brought forth water at Kadesh (Numbers 20:11). Miriam (Numbers 20:1) and Aaron (Numbers 20:22–29) both died and were buried near a place named Kadesh. Moses sent envoys to the King of Edom from Kadesh (Numbers 20:14), asking for permission to let the Israelites use the King's Highway passing through his territory, which the Edomite king denied.

According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (שֵׁבֶט יְהוּדָה‎, Shevet Yehudah) was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was one of the tribes to take its place in Judea, occupying its southern part. Jesse and his sons, including King David, belonged to this tribe.

Judah played a central role in the Deuteronomistic history, which encompasses the books of Deuteronomy through II Kings. After the death of King Solomon, the Tribe of Judah, the Tribe of Benjamin, the Tribe of Dan, and the Levites formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah, with Jerusalem and Hebron as its capital. The kingdom lasted until its conquest by Babylon in c. 586 BCE.