What Is the Structure of the Book of Deuteronomy?

Deuteronomy has three overlapping structures:

First it mirrors the form of ancient Near Eastern treaties, which highlights the book’s covenantal emphasis:

• Preamble (1:1-5)
• Historical Prologue: Covenant History (1:6–4:49)
• Stipulations (5–26)
• Blessings and Cursings (27–30)
• Witnesses (30:19; 31:19; 32:1-43)

Second, Deuteronomy is also organized in a chiastic structure, which pivots on the central body of legislation in chaps. 12–26.

• Historical Look Backward (chaps. 1–3)
  1. Exhortation to Keep the Covenant (chaps. 4–11)
     1. The Center: The Stipulations of the Covenant (chaps. 12–26)
  2. Ceremony to Memorialize the Covenant (chaps. 27–30)
• Prophetic Look Forward (chaps. 31–34)

Third, various superscriptions are used to introduce the different portions of the book, which serves the book’s internal organization as a teaching book:

• 1:1. “These are the words”— The Past (chaps. 1–4)
• 4:44. “This is the law”—The Ten Commandments (chap. 5)
• 6:1. “This is the commandment, the statues and the judgments”—Laws for the Present (chaps. 6–28)
• 29:1. “These are the words of the covenant”— The Future Covenant Renewal (chaps. 29–32)
• 33:1. “This is the blessing”—Blessing for the Future (chaps. 33–34)