Devarim, Dvarim, or Debarim (, ) is the 44th weekly Torah portion (, ) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the first in the Book of Deuteronomy. It comprises Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22. The parashah recounts how Moses appointed chiefs, the episode of the Twelve Spies, encounters with the Edomites and Ammonites, the conquest of Sihon and Og, and the assignment of land to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh.
The parashah is made up of 5,972 Hebrew letters, 1,548 Hebrew words, 105 verses, and 197 lines in a Torah Scroll (, Sefer Torah). Jews generally read it in July or August. It is always read on Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath just before Tisha B'Av.
Readings In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or , aliyot. In the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Parashat Devarim has no "open portion" (, petuchah) divisions (roughly equivalent to paragraphs, often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter (peh)), and thus can be considered one whole unit. Parashat Devarim has five subdivisions, called "closed portions" (, setumah) (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter (samekh)). The first closed portion spans the first four readings, the fifth reading contains the next three closed portions, and the final closed portion spans the sixth and seventh readings.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, The Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy (Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2009), pages 2–25.
First reading—Deuteronomy 1:1–10 The first reading tells how, in the 40th year after the Exodus from Egypt, Moses addressed the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan River, recounting the instructions that God had given them.. When the Israelites were at Horeb—Mount Sinai—God told them that they had stayed there long enough, and it was time for them to make their way to the hill country of Canaan to take possession of the land that God swore to assign to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their heirs after them..
Then Moses told the Israelites that he could not bear the burden of their bickering alone, and thus directed them to pick leaders from each tribe who were wise, discerning, and experienced.. The first reading ends with Deuteronomy 1:10.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 6.
Second reading—Deuteronomy 1:11–21 In the second reading, Moses appointed the leaders as chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens.. Moses charged the magistrates to hear and decide disputes justly, treating alike Israelite and stranger, low and high.. Moses directed them to bring him any matter that was too difficult to decide..
The Israelites set out from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, and Moses told them that God had placed the land at their disposal and that they should not fear, but take the land.. The second reading ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 8.
Third reading—Deuteronomy 1:22–38 In the third reading, the Israelites had asked Moses to send men ahead to scout the land,. and he approved the plan, selecting 12 men, one from each tribe.. The scouts came to the wadi Eshcol, retrieved some of the fruit of the land, and reported that it was a good land.. But the Israelites flouted God's command and refused to go into the land, instead sulking in their tents about reports of people stronger and taller than they and large cities with sky-high walls.. Moses told them not to fear, as God would go before them and would fight for them, just as God did in Egypt and the wilderness.. When God heard the Israelites' complaint, God became angry and vowed that not one of the men of that evil generation would see the good land that God swore to their fathers, except Caleb, whom God would give the land on which he set foot, because he remained loyal to God.. Moses complained that because of the people, God was incensed with Moses too, and told him that he would not enter the land either.. God directed that Moses's attendant Joshua would enter the land and allot it to Israel.. The third reading ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 12.
Fourth reading—Deuteronomy 1:39–2:1 In the fourth reading, God continued that the little ones—whom the Israelites said would be carried off—would also enter and possess the land.. The Israelites replied that now they would go up and fight, just as God commanded them, but God told Moses to warn them not to, as God would not travel in their midst and they would be routed by their enemies.. Moses told them, but they would not listen, but flouted God's command and willfully marched into the hill country.. Then the Amorites who lived in those hills came out like so many bees and crushed the Israelites at Hormah in Seir..
The Israelites remained at Kadesh a long time, marched back into the wilderness by the way of the Sea of Reeds, and then skirted the hill country of Seir a long time.. The fourth reading ends here, with the end of the first closed portion (, setumah).See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 13.
Fifth reading—Deuteronomy 2:2–30 In the fifth reading, God then told Moses that they had been skirting that hill country long enough and should now turn north.. God instructed that the people would be passing through the territory of their kinsmen, the descendants of Esau in Seir, and that the Israelites should be very careful not to provoke them and should purchase what food and water they ate and drank, for God would not give the Israelites any of their land.. So the Israelites moved on, away from the descendants of Esau, and marched on in the direction of the wilderness of Moab.. The second closed portion (, setumah) ends in the middle of Deuteronomy 2:8.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 15.
God told Moses not to harass or provoke the Moabites, for God would not give the Israelites any of their land, having assigned it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.. The Israelites spent 38 years traveling from Kadesh-barnea until they crossed the wadi Zered, and the whole generation of warriors perished from the camp, as God had sworn.. Deuteronomy 2:16 concludes the third closed portion (, setumah).See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 17.
Then God told Moses that the Israelites would be passing close to the Ammonites, but the Israelites should not harass or start a fight with them, for God would not give the Israelites any part of the Ammonites' land, having assigned it as a possession to the descendants of Lot..
God instructed the Israelites to set out across the wadi Arnon, to attack Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and begin to occupy his land.. Moses sent messengers to King Sihon with an offer of peace, asking for passage through his country, promising to keep strictly to the highway, turning neither to the right nor the left, and offering to purchase what food and water they would eat and drink.. But King Sihon refused to let the Israelites pass through, because God had stiffened his will and hardened his heart in order to deliver him to the Israelites.. The fifth reading ends here, with the end of the fourth closed portion (, setumah).See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, pages 19–20.
Sixth reading—Deuteronomy 2:31–3:14 In the sixth reading, Sihon and his men took the field against the Israelites at Jahaz, but God delivered him to the Israelites, and the Israelites defeated him, captured and doomed all his towns, leaving no survivor, retaining as booty only the cattle and the spoil.. From Aroer on the edge of the Arnon valley to Gilead, not a town was too mighty for the Israelites; God delivered everything to them..
The Israelites made their way up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan and his men took the field against them at Edrei, but God told Moses not to fear, as God would deliver Og, his men, and his country to the Israelites to conquer as they had conquered Sihon.. So God delivered King Og of Bashan, his men, and his 60 towns into the Israelites' hands, and they left no survivor.. Og was so big that his iron bedstead was nine cubits long and four cubits wide..
Moses assigned land to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh.. The sixth reading ends with Deuteronomy 3:14.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 23.
Seventh reading—Deuteronomy 3:15–22 In the seventh reading, Moses defined the borders of the settlement east of the Jordan, and charged the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh that even though they had already received their land, they needed to serve as shock-troops at the head of their Israelite kinsmen, leaving only their wives, children, and livestock in the towns that Moses had assigned to them until God had granted the Israelites their land west of the Jordan..
Moses charged Joshua not to fear the kingdoms west of the Jordan, for God would battle for him and would do to all those kingdoms just as God had done to Sihon and Og.. The maftir () reading concludes the parashah with Deuteronomy 3:20–22, and Deuteronomy 3:22 concludes the fifth closed portion (, setumah).See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, pages 24–25.
Readings according to the triennial cycle Jews who read the Torah according to the triennial cycle read the parashah according to the following schedule:See, e.g., Richard Eisenberg, "A Complete Triennial Cycle for Reading the Torah," in Proceedings of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement: 1986–1990 (New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2001), pages 383–418.
Year 1Year 2Year 32023, 2026, 2029 . . .2024, 2027, 2030 . . .2025, 2028, 2031 . . .Reading1:1–2:12:2–302:31–3:2211:1–32:2–52:31–3421:4–72:6–122:35–3731:8–102:13–163:1–341:11–212:17–193:4–751:22–282:20–223:8–1161:29–382:23–253:12–1471:39–2:12:26–303:15–22Maftir1:39–2:12:28–303:20–22
Ancient parallels The parashah has parallels in these ancient sources:
Deuteronomy chapter 1 Moshe Weinfeld noted that the instructions by Moses to the magistrates in Deuteronomy 1:16–17 were like those given by a 13th-century BCE Hittite king to commanders of his border guards. The Hittite king instructed: "If anyone brings a lawsuit . . . the commander shall judge it properly . . . if the case is too big [= difficult] he shall send it to the king. He should not decide it in favor of a superior . . . nobody should take bribes. . . . Do whatever is right."Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1–11 (New York: Anchor Bible, 1991), volume 5, pages 140–41 (citing von Schuler 1957, pages 36ff).
In Deuteronomy 1:28, the spies reported that the Canaanites were taller than they were. A 13th century BCE Egyptian text told that Bedouin in Canaan were 4 or 5 cubits (6 or 7½ feet) from nose to foot."Papyrus Anastasi I: A Satirical Letter," in Edward F. Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990), pages 107–08.
Deuteronomy chapter 2