Deuteronomy Assignment

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Cindy Pereyra
The Pentateuch
Dr. Luther
5 May 2014
Deuteronomy Study Assignment
1. Read Deuteronomy 16:18-20.
a. Describe the requirements of judges in Israel based on this passage.
In this passage, the requirements of judges in Israel are shown. The people are told to appoint judges and officers for themselves in all the towns that the Lord is giving to them according to their tribes. These judges are to judge the people righteously. This justice should be ultimate and should not be changed or distorted. The judges are also to not take bribes from anyone or be partial. This they should do because bribing shows perversion of the righteousness which should not be something that characterizes the judges. The main objective of these judges should be to only pursue justice in order to be able to “live and possess the land which the Lord” is giving them (NASB Deut. 16:20). This all shows that the main requirement for the judges is to judge the people, and judge them wisely and righteously without being sinful or corrupt.
b. Look up “bribe” in a concordance (or online at biblegateway.org) and discuss at least three other references to bribes in the OT and what is said about them in context.
The word “bribe” is shown throughout the Old Testament several times. In Exodus 23, while miscellaneous laws are given to the people, in verse 8 the following law is given: “You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just” (NASB Exodus 23:8). In this passage, “bribe” is referred to as something corrupt, as something that harms the just. In 1 Samuel 8, after Samuel appoints his sons as judges over Israel, his sons do not walk in his ways, but instead “turned aside afte...

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...e prophesied became true.
d. Who else is called a prophet or prophetess in the Pentateuch (use concordance or biblegateway.org)?
In the Pentateuch, Aaron and Miriam are the only two other individuals who are called prophet and prophetess. In Exodus 7:1, the Lord says to Moses that Aaron would be his prophet and would help him talk to Pharaoh in order to ask him to let the Israelites go. In Exodus 15:20, Miriam, Aaron’s sister, is also looked upon as a prophetess. When the people were crossing the Red Sea, Miriam leads all the women with timbrels and with dancing while she praised the Lord for what he had done. Another place where someone is quickly referred to as a prophet is in Genesis 20:7, when Abram is given this title by God, but it does not seem to be as relevant as the previous latter instances where Aaron and Miriam are given these titles.

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