Entering the Land of Israel: Blessings and Curses
PARASHAT KI TAVO (“when you enter”) is concerned mostly with the Israelites’ entrance into the Promised Land. There they must offer first fruits and tithes, according to the ceremonies outlined in 26:1–15; and there most of the laws in Deuteronomy 12–26 will take effect. These laws, outlined in the prior Torah portions and concluded here (26:16–19; 28:69), aim to regulate society when Israel settles in Canaan. Using language familiar from other parts of Deuteronomy, this parashah emphasizes that Israel should obey God’s commandments faithfully, with all their heart and soul. Since the covenant between God and Israel establishes mutually binding obligations for both parties, God’s commitments also are reaffirmed: the promise to make Israel a treasured, holy people. This parashah is directed to a dual audience: first, to Moses’ imagined audience in Moab, the Israelites who listen to his words as he prepares them to enter the land of Canaan; and second, to the audience addressed by the authors of this part of Deuteronomy, who composed their work during the exile (586–538 B. C.E.) or even later, after the return from exile.
The parashah also details the ceremonies that the Israelites are to perform once they enter the land, as a way to reaffirm the covenant (27:1–26). As in the ancient Near Eastern treaties upon which Deuteronomy is modeled, the reiteration of the covenant concludes with a list of blessings for those who uphold it—and curses for those who do not (28:1–68). The last part of the parashah (29:1–8) begins Moses’ final address to the people. He recounts the wondrous deeds that God performed on behalf of the people, the experiences that form the foundation of the covenantal relationship and that provide the inspiration for Israel to walk in God’s ways.
The laws in the first part of this parashah mention women only as widows, who are counted among the underprivileged (26:12; 27:19), and as objects of impermissible sexual relations (27:20, 22–23). However, matters of gender take on more importance in the blessings and curses at the end of the covenant stipulations. Human fertility becomes a national issue that is linked to the fertility of livestock and the land, all of which are promised blessings if Israel obeys God’s commands (28:4, 11, 18). In the subsequent section, one curse concerns a man who makes the arrangements to marry a woman, build a house, and plant a vineyard—all symbols of establishing a new family unit and household—but who will lose these things to another man before he has enjoyed their benefits (28:30–32). The horrors of siege, conquest, and exile—signaling the ultimate breakdown and destruction of Israel’s society—affect women and men alike. Both sons and daughters will be taken into exile (28:32, 41); and in the famine of the siege, both women and men will become cannibals who horde their “food” from their loved ones (28:54–57). Such graphic curses depict what will transpire if Israel fails to obey God’s commandments. Hence, in its strongest rhetoric, Deuteronomy urges its audience to follow the laws that form the heart of this book.
—Adele Berlin
Outline—
I. CEREMONIES FOR FIRST FRUITS AND TITHES (26:1–15)
A. First fruits (vv. 1–11)
B. Tithes (vv. 12–15)
II. CONCLUSION TO THE LAWS
Obligations for Israel and God (26:16–19)
III. CEREMONIES UPON ENTERING THE LAND (27:1–26)
A. Erection of inscribed stones and a stone altar at Mount Ebal (vv. 1–8)
B. Call to obey the covenant at Moab (vv. 9–10)
C. Proclamation of blessings and curses at Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal (vv. 11–26)
IV. CONSEQUENCES OF OBEYING OR DISOBEYING THE COVENANT (28:1–68)
A. The blessings (vv. 1–14)
B. The curses (vv. 15–68)
V. CONCLUDING STATEMENT TO THE COVENANT (28:69)
VI. COMMENCEMENT OF MOSES’ LAST SPEECH (29:1–8)