Deuteronomy 27 - Summary

Historical setting

The people of Israel stand at the Jordan River, about to enter Canaan after forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Moses, their leader and lawgiver, is near the end of his life and is giving final instructions to a new generation who will possess the land. The crossing of the Jordan represents the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham centuries earlier. The two mountains mentioned, Gerizim and Ebal, are located in the central hill country of Canaan, near what would become Shechem, in the territory later held by the tribe of Joseph. This ceremony is meant to formalize the people's entry into their inheritance and their covenant obligation to obey God's law.

Life and customs

Writing on stones was a standard way to preserve important information permanently in the ancient world, where papyrus decayed and oral tradition could be forgotten or distorted. Plaister (plaster) made the inscriptions visible and legible from a distance. An altar built without iron tools reflects a widespread Near Eastern custom that metal implements, being instruments of war and death, were unsuitable for sacred purposes. The ritual of dividing tribes on two mountains to speak blessings and curses was a solemn form of public covenant renewal, binding the people through witness and corporate response. When the people answered "Amen" to each curse, they publicly accepted the consequences for violations, much as a vassal would acknowledge a treaty's terms in the ancient world. The twelve curses target hidden sins as well as public ones, suggesting that God's law governed both secret conduct and public behavior.

What the text says

Moses and the elders command the people to keep all the commandments (verse 1). On the day they cross Jordan, they are to set up large stones, plaster them, and write the law upon them (verses 2, 4, 8). This is to happen after they enter the land God is giving them, a land that "floweth with milk and honey" (verse 3). They are also to build an altar of whole stones at Mount Ebal, using no iron tool in its construction (verses 4, 5). On this altar they are to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings, and eat and rejoice before the Lord (verses 6, 7). Moses and the Levitical priests address Israel, noting that they have this day become God's people and must obey his voice and commandments (verses 9, 10). Six tribes, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin, are to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless (verse 12). Six tribes, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali, are to stand on Mount Ebal to curse (verse 13). The Levites speak curses with a loud voice against those who make idols secretly (verse 15), dishonor parents (verse 16), move boundary markers (verse 17), mislead the blind (verse 18), pervert justice for strangers, orphans, and widows (verse 19), commit sexual sins including those with a stepmother, animals, sisters, or a mother-in-law (verses 20, 21, 22, 23), strike a neighbor in secret (verse 24), take payment to kill an innocent (verse 25), and fail to uphold all the law's words (verse 26). After each curse, all the people respond "Amen."

Takeaways

• Israel's entry into the promised land is sealed by a public ceremony in which the law is written on stone and the people collectively accept both blessing and curse.
• The twelve curses emphasize that violation of the covenant brings judgment, and they address both hidden sins and visible ones.
• The people's repeated "Amen" makes them responsible witnesses to and participants in the covenant obligation.