Deuteronomy
The third narrative, designated by the letter D, is found in our present Book of Deuteronomy. Like the other narratives, it appears to be written by several authors. Its distinctive characteristic is the body of laws that forms the book's main core. These laws are recorded in Chapters 12–26. Chapters 5–11 consist of an introduction to the laws. The remaining chapters are believed to be later additions to the original book, added in order that the entire book might be regarded as an integral part of a complete history that reaches from the time of Creation to the post-exilic period.
Although the introductory statements indicate that the words included in this part of the history were spoken by Moses, the contents of Deuteronomy tell a different story. Many, if not most, of the specific laws that are set forth are not appropriate to the time of Moses but rather are designed to deal with situations that did not arise until long after the era of Moses. For example, the story of the finding of a law book in the Temple, which is recorded in 2 Kings 22, is believed to be a reference to the Deuteronomic code of laws. If this story is correct, then the laws were formulated by disciples of the eighth-century B.C. prophets and were designed to correct those conditions that Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah had protested so vigorously. Especially prominent in this code is the law of the Central Sanctuary, which forbade the offering of sacrifices at any place other than the particular one designated for that purpose. Obviously, the authors had the Temple in Jerusalem in mind, but the naming of that place would have been inappropriate in a document attributed to Moses. Not until after the law book was discovered in the Temple during the reign of Josiah was this particular law either recognized or enforced.
