Deuteronomy

Meanings

1. The fifth of the Books of Moses in the Old Testament of the Bible, the fifth book in the Torah.

Etymology

From the name which the book bears in the Septuagint (Ancient Greek Δευτερονόμιον (Deuteronómion), from δεύτερος (deúteros, “second”) + νόμος (nómos, “law”) + -ιον (-ion), and in the Vulgate Latin Deuteronomium). This is based upon the erroneous Septuagint rendering of משנה התורה הזאת (mishneh ha-torah ha-zot) (17:18), which grammatically can mean only "a repetition [that is, a copy] of this law," but which is rendered by the Septuagint τὸ Δευτερονόμιον τοῦτο (tò Deuteronómion toûto), as though the expression meant "this repetition of the law."