Deuteronomy 27:11

"And Moses charged the people the same day, saying, These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are passed over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin. These shall stand upon mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. And the Levites shall answer, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice."

Moses here set up the procedure for that second ratification of the covenant that was scheduled to take place very early after Joshua succeeded to the leadership following Moses' death. The particular part of the ceremony in review here was that of the blessings and cursing, standard feature of all the suzerainty treaties of that period. Many scholars have commented on the appropriateness of the location of this great ratification ceremony in which a major portion of the host of Israel would participate. The natural amphitheater afforded by the favorable contour of the two mountains made it easy to hear voices for an incredibly long distance, and to help out, the Levites were commanded to speak in a certain way. The words in Deuteronomy 27:14 are, literally, "recite in a high-pitched voice!"[21]

Regarding the division of the tribes, six on Gerizim, and six on Ebal, Cook pointed out that, "Those on the mount of blessing were all sons of Jacob's legitimate wives; and those on the mount of cursing were the sons of the concubines, with the renegade Reuben (who for his incest lost his primogeniture, Genesis 49:41), and in order to make up the required six, Zebulun the youngest."[22]

The identification of these tribes, six with each mountain, has no suggestion in it that, "the six tribes on Ebal were under the curse. All twelve tribes had been favored by God with the gift of the land. The curses were against individuals who broke God's laws, not against tribes."[23]