Deuteronomy 6:1

This great chapter treats the question of The First Commandment, that people should love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. Significantly, it was to the Book of Deuteronomy that the Son of God Himself turned for the material with which he frustrated and defeated the prince of evil on the occasion of the Saviour's temptation (Matthew 4). It was to this very chapter that Jesus turned for the word that confounded and defeated the sophistry of the Pharisees on the occasion of their captious question, "Which is the great commandment in the law?" (Matthew 22:34). This is an appropriate place, therefore, to note how frequently Christ, the apostles, and the writers of the N.T. quoted directly from Deuteronomy.

As a matter of fact, the Cross-Reference Bible (ASV) has exactly 182 N.T. references to Deuteronomy listed in the marginal columns,[1] and there are many others not included in these, among which are a number of the following 52 references listed because they are generally known:

<MONO><SIZE=2>DEUTERONOMY: NEW TESTAMENT:

Wresting judgment forbidden John 7:24; James 2:1 (Deuteronomy 1:16,17)

Not to add to ... or take from (Deuteronomy 4:2) Matthew 5:18; Revelation 22:18,19

Nearness to God (Deuteronomy 4:7) James 4:8

God a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24; 9:3) Hebrews 12:29

Covenant with the fathers (Deuteronomy 5:3) Hebrews 8:9

The Sinai experience (Deuteronomy 5:12; 4:22) Hebrews 12:18-21

Sabbath of the Lord (Deuteronomy 5:14) Hebrews 4:4ff

Honor thy father and mother (Deuteronomy 5:16) Ephesians 6:2,3; Colossians 3:20

Decalogue Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:17-21) Romans 13:8-10; 19:18-20

God is invisible (Deuteronomy 5:26) Hebrews 11:27

Moses receives the Law (Deuteronomy 5:31) Galatians 3:19

The Great Commandment (Deuteronomy 6:5) Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:28-34

*Fearing and serving God (Deuteronomy 6:13) Matthew 4:10; Luke 4:12

*Making a test of God forbidden (Deuteronomy 6:16) Luke 4:4; Matthew 4:7

God's love (Deuteronomy 7:7,8) 1 John 4:10

God keeps His covenants (Deuteronomy 7:18; 29:14) Luke 1:55; Hebrews 8:7,8; 11:11

*Live not by bread alone (Deuteronomy 8:3) Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4

Israel's frequent rebellions (Deuteronomy 9:7,24) Acts 7:51

Eye for an eye (Deuteronomy 9:21) Matthew 5:38

Circumcision of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16) Romans 2:28,29; Colossians 2:11

Early and latter rains (Deuteronomy 6:11:14) James 5:7

Belial (Deuteronomy 6:13:13) 2 Corinthians 6:15

Special people (Deuteronomy 14:2) 1 Peter 2:9

The poor with you always (Deuteronomy 15:11) Matthew 26:11

Pentecost (Deuteronomy 16:9) Acts 2:1

Proportionate giving (Deuteronomy 16:10) 1 Corinthians 16:2

Laws regarding witnessing (Deuteronomy 17:6) Matthew 28:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1

Levites had no inheritance (Deuteronomy 18:1) 1 Corinthians 9:13

The Prophet like unto Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15ff) John 1:45; 6:14; Acts 3:22

Body not left on tree overnight (Deuteronomy 21:6) John 19:31

Washing hands freed of guilt (Deuteronomy 21:6) Matthew 27:24

On being worthy of death (Deuteronomy 21:22) Acts 23:29; 25:11,25; 26:31

Curse upon the hanged person (Deuteronomy 21:23) Galatians 3:13

Not to yoke ox and ass together (Deuteronomy 22:10) 2 Corinthians 6:14

Both adulterous partners to die (Deuteronomy 22:22) John 8:4

Laws on marriage (Deuteronomy 22:30; 25:5) Matthew 22:24; 1 Corinthians 5:14

On plucking ears of grain (Deuteronomy 23:25) Matthew 12:11; Mark 2:23

On divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1) Matthew 19:3ff; 1 Corinthians 7:12-16

Not to oppress strangers (Deuteronomy 24:14) James 5:4

Beaten with stripes (Deuteronomy 25:2,3) Matthew 10:17; Luke 12:48

Forty stripes (Deuteronomy 25:3) 2 Corinthians 11:24

Muzzle not ox treading out grain (Deuteronomy 25:4) 1 Corinthians 9:9; 1 Timothy 5:18

On Levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5) Matthew 22:24

On doing all the Law (Deuteronomy 27:26) Galatians 3:10

Hardening of Israel (Deuteronomy 29:3,4) Romans 11:8; Acts 28:26ff

Root of gall and wormwood (Deuteronomy 29:18) Hebrews 12:15

God's Word is near you (Deuteronomy 30:11-14) Romans 10:6-8

Perverse and crooked generation (Deuteronomy 32:5) Matthew 17:17; Philippians 2:15; Acts 2:40

Vengeance belongs to God (Deuteronomy 32:25) Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30

Sodom and Gomorrah (Deuteronomy 32:32) Matthew 11:24

God's vengeance on His enemies (Deuteronomy 32:43) Revelation 6:10MONO>

It is especially important that the quotations marked by an asterisk (*) were made by Jesus Christ himself in his temptation when he encountered and defeated the prince of evil. No thoughtful person can believe that Jesus' sole reliance upon the Book of Deuteronomy in that dreadful hour could indicate anything other than the absolute dependability, authority, and integrity of the Book of Deuteronomy!

"Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it; that thou mightest fear Jehovah thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as Jehovah the God of thy fathers, hath promised unto thee, in a land flowing with milk and honey."

Deuteronomy 5 presented the Decalogue; "Deuteronomy 6 is a dissertation on the first and great commandment."[2] "The words statutes and ordinances in Deuteronomy 6:1 are explanatory of and in apposition to commandment."[3] What we have in this chapter is "actually turning the thought in the first two commandments of the Decalogue from negative to positive form."[4]

"Milk and honey ..." This remarkable description of the land of Canaan has puzzled scholars for many years, but it has been discovered recently that this was a stock expression used throughout the Middle East in the literary patterns of Egypt and the Ugaritic texts.[5] The significance of this is that the expression is a trademark of the 14th and 15th centuries B.C., making this expression wherever it occurs (and this is frequently) an effective denial that Deuteronomy originated in any other times than those of Moses.