The text of Deuteronomy has a concentric (chiastic) structure:
A The Outer Frame: A Look Backward (c1-3)
B The Inner Frame: The Great Exhortation (c4-11)
C The Central Core: The Stipulations of the Covenant (c 12-26)
B* The Inner Frame: The Covenant Ceremony (c27-30)
A* The Outer Frame: A Look Forward (c31-34)
The Outer Frames A repeats the essential narrative of Numbers where Moses is forbidden to enter the promise land and A* picks it up and concludes with Joshua's appointment , Moses' song, his blessings, and his death)
The Inner Frame B calls Israel to absolute devotion to God and concludes with the announcement that God is setting before them "a blessing and a curse" (11:26). B* picks up at this point by offering the content of the curses and blessings. (Taken from How to Read the Bible Book by Book)
At the end of Numbers, Israel is "on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho" (Nu 36:33) and at the end of Deuteronomy, the people are still there (Dt 34:8) waiting to cross the Jordan (see Jos 1:2). All that has happened is the transition from the ministry of Moses as God's spokesman and official representative to that of Joshua in his place (Dt 34:9; see Jos 1:1-2). But Moses' final acts as the Lord's appointed servant for dealing with Israel are so momentous that Deuteronomy's account of them marks the conclusion to the Pentateuch, while the book of Joshua, which narrates the initial fulfillment of the promises made to the patriarchs and the conclusion to the mission on which Moses had been sent (see Nu 17:15-23; Jos 21:43-45), serves as the introduction to the Former Prophets.
What do you learn from Deuteronomy?
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