NEW COLLEGEVILLE BIBLE COMMENTARY: DEUTERONOMY - 9780814628409

New Collegeville Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy (Volume 6) by J. Edward Owens, OSsT, is a 112-page paperback commentary on Deuteronomy. This book looks back on the Exodus and reminds Israel that the Lord formed them, brought them out of Egypt, and gave them the Promised Land. Owens traces its key themes, among them land, love, memory, the Ten Commandments, and the Shema, and shows why Deuteronomy underlies so much of the rest of the Old and New Testaments. It is suited to individuals and Bible study groups who want a clear guide to this foundational book of instruction.

Owens organizes the commentary around the motifs that give Deuteronomy its character. These include the theology of God's love, the call to remember rather than forget, the meaning of time, retribution, the Divine Name, the Lord as warrior, and the Shema, Israel's great confession of faith that begins "Hear, O Israel." Through Israel's story, he presents Deuteronomy as a reminder that God's people are a community, called to keep the Lord's love always in memory. A Trinitarian priest and former seminary professor of biblical studies, Owens also wrote the series' volume on Leviticus.

Use & care: Suited to reading alongside Deuteronomy in personal study or a parish Bible study, and as background for the Ten Commandments in catechesis. Open the paperback gently rather than folding the cover back, and store it upright on a shelf.