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IV. New Testament Usage of The Old Testament

It is important to note the impact of Deuteronomy on the NT. The United Bible Society's Greek New Testament lists 195 citations or quotations from Deuteronomy in the NT. This number is exceeded only by quotes or citations from Psalms, Isaiah, Genesis, and Exodus, in that order. Deuteronomy is quoted often in writings of Qumran and in the other Jewish literature of the intertestamental period (c. 350-0 b.c.) The first great commandment given by Jesus comes from Dt 6:5, which calls for a relationship of love to Yahweh. Three times Jesus quotes Deuteronomy when resisting the Devil (Mt 4:1-11; Dt 6:13, 16; 8:3). By doing so, Jesus may be affirming Deuteronomy as the word of God par excellence in the OT and still perfectly valid under the new covenant. He and Moses agreed that God's foremost command is to “seek first God's [Yahweh's] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Israel did not do so; but the perfect Son of God, the Head of the second Israel, did. Thus he inherited the kingdom and was the first to enter that land and its blessings, but only, like Moses, after absorbing the curses of the covenant on behalf of others (cf. 1:37; 3:26; 32:51).