1.- The Deuteronomy, which means second law, is the book of the Law (2 K 22,8.11), the book of the covenant (23,2), an invitation to live the covenant, keeping the law. Its remote origin is found amongst the mosaic traditions, which the refugee´s from the north carry to Jerusalem, when (about year 721) Samaria, Israel´s capital, surrenders. The primitive writing, central part of the present Deuteronomy (Dt 5-28), could be drafted by Hezekiah´s people (Pro 25,1), although it also could be later on. It is a meditation upon the infidelity that could have taken Israel to the debacle. The history of the manuscript is surprising: a dangerous text, clandestine, lost and, finally, found in the temple.
2.- In first place, let us see the historic context. The seventh century b. C. is running. The assyrian empire reaches its power summit. The kings Asaradon (680 – 669) and Asurbanipal (669 – 627) extend their dominion to Egypt. Judah´s king Manasseh (687 – 627), is a servant rendered to the empire´s will. The pagan practices have the official protection. Manasseh rebuilds the sanctuaries in the hills which Hezekiah had destroyed, he builds altars to other gods, he erects pillars, he kneels before all the stars of heaven, he sacrifices his son by fire, he practices soothsaying and magic, he shed innocent blood in Jerusalem. (2 K 21,3 – 16).
3.- The primitive writing follows the servitude treaties´ scheme. In first place, the sovereign presentation: I am Yahweh, your God (Dt 5,6); follow on, the contents of the covenant: the commandments of the Decalogue (Dt 5,7-21) and the secondary commandments, some of them clearly overcome by the Gospel (Mt 5,21-48; Jn 8, 1-11), like the laws of the retaliation (Dt 19,21), and of the war, the repudiation, the stoning in the case of fornication and adultery (Mt 22,21-22); finally, the blessings and maledictions, if the covenant is or is not observed (Dt 28).
4.- But, why the manuscript becomes dangerous? It really, questions some aspects of the monarchic system, like the hereditary succession: Then you have to appoint a king chosen by Yahweh from among your brothers (Dt 17, 15), It forbids the king a life of luxury and scandal (Dt 17, 16-17). The king must obey God´s commandments, like everybody: When he ascends the throne, let him copy for his use this Law (Dt 17,18).
5.- The importance of Jerusalem’s temple is diminished. The Lord presides from heaven; he does not dwell in man-made houses. In the temple is only his name: For he himself has already chosen a place among all the tribes to put his name there and dwell in it. There you will go and look for Yahweh (Dt 12,5). God´s Law in the heart is the only national temple.
6.- The manuscript also diminishes the Ark of the Covenant importance, visible symbol of God´s presence placed in the Most Holy Place (1 K 8,6). The ark is only a chest where the tables of the Law are kept. Moses says it: Coming down from the mountain I placed the tables in the ark, which I made, and there they are as Yahweh commanded me (Dt 10,5).
7.- According to the prophets, the manuscript also diminishes the possession of the promised land. The land is only a God´s gift and its possession can only be ensured by the fidelity to the commandments: When the Lord had led you to the land, which he promised to your fathers… do not forget Yahweh who took you out from Egypt (Dt 6, 10-12)
8.- Before a deeply divided society amongst rich and poor, like prophets Amos and Hosea denounce, the Law promotes a fraternal society, it defends the humble and the poor, the foreigner too, and often uses the word brother: Do not exploit the lowly and the poor daily-wage earner, whether he be one of your brothers or a foreigner… Remember that you were a slave in Egypt (Dt 24, 14-18).
9.- The word today often appears in the manuscript. Against the line of the ambient paganism, every believer’s generation must be witness of God´s action and must listen his word: Listen Israel, the commandments and precepts that I send you today (Dt 5,1). Like psalm 95 says: If today you hear his voice. Well then, in a given moment, we don´t know when, the manuscript disappears.
10.- With only eight years (2 K 22,1), Josiah succeeds his father Amon (642 – 640), who had been assassinated. Young king education coincides with the end of Asurbanipal kingdom. Egyptians, Babylonians, meds and escites are alert. Prophet Zephaniah (about 640- 630) announces the arrival of the Lord´s day, the end of the empire which believed himself the god of this world and which had been imposed to the people by ferocity and terror, the day in which will be visited those who say: Yahweh does not do good or evil. It is a day of wrath, anguish and distress; a day of destruction and devastation, of gloom and darkness, it is a day of dark clouds and fog when the trumpet sounds the call for battle (Zep 1,12-16).
11.- Year 629 king Josiah promotes a political and religious reform. It pretends to liberate Judah and Israel, to erase any track of assyrian submission, to overcome the idolatry and the pagan cults. High Priest Hilkiah assumes the temple purification task. He suppresses the cult to other gods and demolishes the temple rooms dedicated to the prostitution (2 K 23,4.7).
12.- In this context, in the year 626, the prophet Jeremiah receives the Lord´s word: See, today I give you authority over nations and over kingdoms to uproot and pull down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant (Jer 1,10), they will fight against you and shall not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue you (Jer 1,19). Jeremiah is born the year 626 in Anatot, at the north of Jerusalem, in the Benjamin´s tribe. The prophet actively collaborates with the reform that is underway.
13.- In the year 622, while the temple renovation work is underway, the lost manuscript is found. The High Priest Hilkiah tells to Shaphan, king´s secretary: I found in the temple the book of the Law (2 K 22,8). Shaphan reads the book and he shows it to the king. The king convenes Hilkiah, Shaphan and other counsellors, who decide to consult God, by means of prophetess Huldah, and they receive this answer: I shall bring evil upon this place and upon its inhabitants, according to the words of the book (2K 23, 1-3).
14.- The book brings a big commotion. It is not David, it is Moses the one who speaks and who announces the evil that will come over due to the infidelity to the covenant. In Jerusalem, mosaic traditions are dead letter: The monarchy has cornered and forgotten them. Nevertheless, the manuscript indicates the way that the necessary reform should follow. The king goes up to the Lord´s house; he reads all the words of the book and all the people confirm the covenant (2 K 23, 1 – 3).
15.- The king takes over the Pasch celebration too, and issues this order: Celebrate the pasch in the Lord´s, your God, honour following what is written down in the covenant´s book. Really, such a Pasch had not been celebrated from the days of the Judges (2 K 23, 21-22). Besides, the reform promoters undertake a new task. They look for sources, oral and written, allowing to recuperate the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings.
16.- Nineveh, the assyrian capital, surrenders in the year 612, due to the pressure of Babylonians, meds and escites. Its falling down is terrible. In the kingdom of Judah, the nationalists believe they are before the gates of a glorious epoch and consider that the temple, like the nation, is untouchable. Nevertheless, hypocrisy and ritualism prosper. The renovation is superficial and deceivable. Jeremiah, deceived, separates from the official reform and announces a new covenant, inscribed in the heart (Jer 31,31-34). In the year 609, Egypt, seeing Babylon’s promotion, supports the assyrian king willing to reconquer the city of Harem to make it the capital. Egyptians troops cross Palestine. Josiah opposes to this and he is dead in the confrontation that takes place in the north (near Megiddo)
17.- At the beginning of Jehoiachin´s reign, Jeremiah proclaims his denounce against the temple, which had become a bandits´ cave: But you trust in deceptive and useless words. You steal, kill, take the wife of your neighbour, swear falsely, worship Baal and follow foreign goods what are not yours. And then you come and stand before me in this temple that houses my Name and say: Now we are saved! Is this house on which rests my Name a cave of thieves? I have seen this myself! (Jer 7, 8 – 11). Jeremiah’s book sees light about year 605, when the prophet sends the first roll to king Jehoiachin. The king throws it in the fire. (Jer 36,23). Then Jeremiah prepares other roll that includes the words appearing in the first one and other words added (Jer 36,32). Generally speaking, business run in a wrong way. Nevertheless, the purchase of a field (Jer 32) is a signal of confidence in the future.
18.- In the year 605, Nabucodonosor, Babylon’s heir prince, smashes the Egyptian army in Carchemis, by the river Eufrates, and that same year he succeeds his father. The year 597 he conquers Jerusalem. He does not destroy the city, but king Joachim and part of the people is deported to Babylon (2 K 24, 10 – 16). In 586, Babylonian army takes again Jerusalem, sets the temple and the city in fire, and produces a new deportation (2 K 25, 1-21). All this initiates the exile period.
* Dialogue over the lost manuscript:
- It proclaims God´s commandment before the ambient paganism
- It invites to accept God´s action and to listen his word today
- It questions the monarchic succession and the actual life
- It diminishes the importance of the temple, the covenant´s ark, the field possession
- It promotes a fraternal society, accepting the foreigner
- It contains laws overcome by the Gospel
- The reform is superficial and misleading
- Misleading words are used to steal, kill, commit adultery
- ¿Is the Bible another book lost and found in the temple?