Hearing the Gospel According to Moses: A Commentary on Deuteronomy (Volume 1)

For renowned Old Testament scholar Dr. Daniel Block, Deuteronomy is the “Gospel according to Moses.” Moses’ farewell pastoral addresses call God’s people to remember his grace in salvation, covenant relationship with him, and his revelation of a way of blessing in a lost world. Deuteronomy is to the Old Testament what John’s Gospel and Paul’s letter to the Romans are to the New, laying the theological foundation for our entire Scriptures.  

What is the Gospel of Moses? How did Moses communicate that Gospel? How did he lay the foundation for the New Testament? How are Moses’ teachings for ancient Israel relevant for New Testament Christians? 

Based on a lifetime of research and ministry, by discussing the literary features of each passage and exegeting the text verse by verse, this three-volume commentary offers readers a profound grasp of the Gospel according to Moses in Deuteronomy and its relevance for today. 

 

Recommendations

This is a masterpiece. Daniel Block, one of the great First Testament scholars of our time, has managed to combine thorough historical, exegetical, and theological research with clarity of explanation in this massive commentary on Deuteronomy. He highlights its Gospel message; that is, along with his previous gracious deliverance from slavery in Egypt, the Lord (YHWH) God also issued guidance to Israel for living out his grace to them in the Promised Land. This is what Moses' speeches in Deuteronomy are all about. He spoke as God's shepherd for his special chosen people.

Block offers a fresh new translation of Deuteronomy and clear introductions to each unit as the context for his detailed verse-by-verse explanation of its meaning. He deals openly and directly with difficulties along the way. The core of his argument is that Deuteronomy is not legislation so much as a call to covenant faithfulness in the lives of the Israelites. At the end of his remarks on each unit, he includes a section on its canonical and theological significance.

Richard E. Averbeck
Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Semitic Languages
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

 

Daniel Block is one of the premiere biblical scholars in our day. His academic excellence and scholarly precision is well known by all. And yet, he also handles the inspired text with the touch of the pastor's heart. His goal is to instruct the mind as well as care for the heart. This work on Deuteronomy, the first of a three-volume set, is simply stellar from beginning to end. Scholars, students, pastors and teachers will all be greatly aided in their study by this work. I cannot commend it highly enough. It will become a standard in the field.

Daniel L. Akin
President
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

 

In this masterpiece, Daniel Block has given us the full fruit of his many years of work on the book of Deuteronomy. No preacher, teacher, or scholar can afford to be without this detailed study which unfolds how Deuteronomy is uniquely important for encountering the living God revealed in the pages of the First Testament. In addition, Inspirata's simultaneous release of this commentary in English and Chinese brings the best scholarship on one of the most important biblical books to the two most widely used languages across the globe.

Jerry Hwang
Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Old Testament
School of Theology, Singapore Bible College

 

Dr. Block is an eminent interpreter of the Old Testament, and this work will continue to enhance that reputation. Here by means of detailed exegesis and wide-ranging knowledge Dr. Block opens up the riches of this biblical book that the New Testament writers considered to be so important. He shows why the teaching of Deuteronomy is not the antithesis to grace that many have considered it to be. Rather, he enables the reader to see how its teaching is essential for a full-orbed understanding of the gospel message. Highly recommended.

John Oswalt
Visiting Distinguished Professor of Old Testament
Asbury Seminary

 

Few commentators are able to examine an ancient biblical text with such depth and precision.

Daniel Block's expertise in biblical exegesis and in the study of the ancient Near East enable him to draw from a plethora of texts from Israel's neighboring cultures and transport the reader to the life and concerns of the time where God's covenant with Israel began.

At the same time, through his careful attention to the rhetorical structure of Deuteronomy, he invites us to experience the "feeling" of the words and the emphases of the speaker so that his message is heard just as clearly today.

This first volume, as well as the subsequent ones, are essential to anyone seeking to understand how God spoke through the book of Deuteronomy, a book that may be understood to be the backbone of much of the First, as well as the New Testament.

Myrto Theocharous
Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament
Greek Bible College

 

Dr. Daniel Block's Hearing the Gospel According to Moses: A Commentary on Deuteronomy is a masterwork by a master scholar and a marvelous churchman. Students of both the Old and New Testaments will want to engage Dr. Block's careful and faithful reading of Scripture. But for preachers, this volume is a "must have"; grab a copy, read it closely, and benefit from a lifetime of study! A fitting tribute to a fantastic career in service of the academy and church—I can't recommend it highly enough!

Todd Wilson
Cofounder & President
The Center For Pastor Theologians

 

About the Author

Daniel I. Block (PhD, University of Liverpool) is the Gunther H. Knoedler Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL. He is the author of more than 120 scholarly papers and many popular articles on biblical texts and topics. His published books include The Book of Ezekiel (2 volumes, NICOT, 1997, 1998), Judges and Ruth (NAC, 1999), Deuteronomy (NIVAC, 2012), For the Glory of God: Recovering a Biblical Theology of Worship (2014), Ruth: The King is Coming (ZECOT, 2015), and Covenant: The Framework of God’s Grand Plan of Redemption (2021).