CEL. Deuteronomy 34
Douglas McC.L. Judisch
Verse 1a
And then Moses went up from the steppes of Moab to the Mountain
of Nebo, the top of the Pisgah, which is over against Jericho.
Verses 1b-3
And then the LORD made him see the totality of the land:
the Gilead unto Dan
and the totality of Naphtali
and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh
and the totality of the land of Judah
unto the Hinder Sea
and the Negev
and the Circle, the Cleft of Jericho,
the city of the palms, unto Zoar.
Verse 4
And then the LORD said to him:
"This is the land which I swore
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, so as to say:
'To thy seed shall I give it.'
I have made thee see with thine eyes,
but thither wilt thou not pass over."
Verse 5
And then there Moses, the servant of the LORD, died, in the land
of Moab, according to the mouth of the LORD.
Verse 6a
And then He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab in front of Beth-Peor.
Verse 6b
But no man has come to know his burial-place unto this day.
Verse 7a
Thus, Moses was a man of a hundred and twenty years at his death.
Verse 7b
His eye had not dimmed, nor had his freshness fled.
Verse 8
And then the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the steppes of Moab
thirty days, and then the days of the weeping of the mourning for
Moses were completed.
Verse 9a
But Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the Spirit of Wisdom, for
Moses had laid his hands upon him.
Verse 9b
And so the sons of Israel gave heed to him, and so they did
according to that which the LORD had commanded Moses.
Verses 10-12
But no prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses,
whom the LORD knew face to face,
for the totality of the signs and the wonders
which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt,
before pharaoh
and before the totality of his servants
and before the totality of his land,
and for the totality of his strong power
and for the totality of the great terror
which Moses wrought
before the eyes of the totality of Israel.
The reading from the Old Testament which is appointed to the
Festival of the Transfiguration in Series C of Lutheran Worship
consists in the whole twelve verses of Deuteronomy 34. (The
exegesis of these verses below is, assuredly, in no way designed
to promote the use in the main service of the week of any such
modern selection of gospels and epistles as those suggested in
Lutheran Worship. This exegete, on the contrary, would continue
to urge, on various grounds, fidelity to the pericopal tradition
inherited from the ancient church by the church of the
reformation and modified only slightly by the Blessed Reformer of
the Church, if one is speaking specifically of the gospels and
epistles to be read in the main (eucharistic) service of the
week. No comparable series of readings, on the other hand, from
the Old Testament was either handed down from the ancient church
or bestowed on us by the Blessed Reformer; nor, indeed, is there
such a program of readings from the New Testament to be used in
all the possible additional offices of any given week. In such
cases, therefore, even such a traditionalist as this exegete is
able, with consistency, to make use of any pericope drawn from
the region of Holy Scripture desired.)
***********
THE HISTORICAL AND LITERARY SETTING
The final chapter of the Pentateuch constitutes the sole
exception to the auctorial integrity of the Book of Deuteronomy
and, indeed, of the Pentateuch as a whole which this exegete has
defended elsewhere (especially in his Isagogical Notes on the
Pentateuch). For the Book of Deuteronomy is, in a general sense,
called, quite correctly, the Fifth Book of Moses. St. Moses, the
Prophet Primarius of the Old Testament, delivered orally the
various discourses which comprise chapters 1-33 and composed the
book as such, as well as including it in a final edition of the
Pentateuch, in Shebat (corresponding to late January and early
February) of the year 1406 B.C. For all the events in the first
thirty-three chapters took place between "the fortieth year, on
the first day of the eleventh month" (Deuteronomy 1:3) and at
least "thirty days" (34:8) before the seventh day of Nisan
(corresponding to parts of March and April), considering Joshua
1:11 and 4:19.
The place of the composition of the Book of Deuteronomy, as
the locale of the preaching of all the discourses within it, was
the plain of Moab across the River Jordan from Jericho (chapters
1: 1-5; 4:46; and 34: 1-8). The original audience, in a general
way, was the second generation of the nation of Israel, all of
whom (with two exceptions only) had been, if yet born, under the
age of twenty years at the time of the rebellion of Israel at
Kadesh-Barnea some thirty- and a half years previously (Numbers
14: 27-38). The occasion of the book (as of its oral precedents)
was the imminence of the entrance of Israel into Canaan, and,
among many additional historical circumstances of importance, the
one weighing most heavily on the minds of the original addressees
would surely have been the imminence, already assured, of the
death of the Prophet Moses himself.
The purpose of the Book of Deuteronomy, as already of the
discourses collected therein, was to prepare the people from whom
the Savior of the World was to come for the occupation of the
land in which she was to live as a distinct nation until His
coming. The theme, correspondingly, may be stated as follows:
God promised Israel political security and economic prosperity in
Palestine so long as she should prove faithful to Him (as the
true visible church of the age) and threatened to reject Israel
if she should prove unfaithful to Him.
The Book of Deuteronomy consists in seven discourses which
are tied together by small pieces of historical narrative. The
final chapter, however, stands as an appendix to the words of
Moses himself. It recounts as an actuality the aforesaid death
of Moses which is always looming so nigh at hand in the preceding
thirty-three chapters.
There have, to be sure, been those who have ascribed also
the final chapter of Deuteronomy to the hand of Moses as much as
all the preceding ones. In the first century, for example, both
Josephus and Philo of Alexandria assume such a position.
Josephus suggests, indeed, as the rationale of so unusual a
phenomenon the desire of God and Moses himself to preclude any
ascription to Moses of a bodily assumption into heaven (such as
did consummate the earthy lives of Enoch and Elijah).
There was, moreover, at least one of the ancient rabbis of
renown who asserted the Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy 34 as a
whole. The majority, however, of the primeval rabbis attributed
at least the final eight verses of Deuteronomy to Joshua the son
of Nun. A fascinating and quite telling argument in the rabbinic
refutation of the theory of Moses recording his own death is the
appeal to the differing liturgical traditions associated with
readings from Moses and from others, even though inspired, in the
synagogue. This difference in liturgical usage demonstrates,
indeed, an assumption of the worshipping community of Israel
descending from times lost in the mists of antiquity.
Clearly, then, we cannot in the case of Deuteronomy 34
adduce the references of our Lord and His apostles to the
writings of Moses to prove Mosaic authorship. It is, to be sure,
precisely such evidence which places the Mosaic composition of
all the preceding chapters of the Pentateuch beyond all shadow of
doubt, since the infallible teachers of the church were thereby
endorsing the common assumption of the audience whom they were
addressing. In this case, however, the majority of the original
audience of the Master and His apostles would not, in fact, have
understood the writings of Moses as including the account of his
death and burial.
There is, of course, no problem with Moses foreseeing his
death on Mount Nebo; he did, indeed, do so. Nor would there be
any complication in his predicting his special burial by God.
The difficulty with attributing the record of his death and
burial to Moses himself resides in the grammatical usage and
vocabulary of verses 1-9. For nine of the verbal forms in these
verses are, not perfects (which could then be taken as prophetic
perfects), but rather imperfects or breviates conjoined to a
previous clause in each case by a strong waw. In terms, then, of
significance, each of the seven such verbs in verses 1-8 is a
preterite of historical narrative following a waw of temporal
consequence (meaning "and then"), while each of the two in verse
9 is a narrative preterite following a waw of logical consequence
(meaning "and so"). An equally large obstruction in the way of
construing verse 6, in particular, as prophecy is the concluding
phrase which contains a demonstrative adjective of proximate
reference (zeh, meaning "this"): 'ad hayyom hazzeh ("unto this
day").
Evidently, then, as previously stated, Deuteronomy 34
constitutes an appendix to the work of Moses rather than his own.
Equally clearly, however, these words were inscribed by divine
inspiration as the conclusion to the Pentateuch immediately
following the completion of the month of mourning observed in
commemoration of Moses. For very specific reference is made to
the end of this month of mourning in verse 8: "And then the sons
of Israel wept for Moses in the deserts of Moab thirty days, and
then the days of the weeping of the mourning for Moses were
completed." During the course of this month men of Israel had
evidently searched the whole region of Mount Nebo but had found,
as expected, no trace of the body of Moses, as is reported in
verse 6.
The completion of this month of mourning occasioned the
command which God gave Joshua to begin preparations to cross the
River Jordan three days subsequently, as is recorded in the first
nine verses of the Book of Joshua. The preparations began on the
seventh day of Nisan since the crossing of the River Jordan took
place on the tenth day of Nisan (March-April), as appears from a
comparison of chapters 1:11 and 4:19 of Joshua. The wording,
however, of the divine mandate in verses 7-8 of the Book of
Joshua already assumes an inviolate edition of the Pentateuch to
which no addition or subtraction could henceforth be made: "Only
be strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do
according to all the law which Moses, My servant, commanded thee;
turn not from it to the right hand or the left, that thou mayest
prosper whithersoever thou goest. This Book of the Law shall not
depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and
night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is
written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and
then thou shalt have good success" (AV).
Deuteronomy 34 was, therefore, apparently appended to the
Pentateuch by divine inspiration in the first week of the month
of Nisan of 1406 B.C. There is no reason to deny the prevailing
tradition of the ancient Jews that the author of the concluding
verses of the Pentateuch was Joshua, the son of Nun. For Joshua
was filled with "the Spirit of Wisdom" according to verse 9 of
the appendix itself, and this claim was attested by many divine
proofs recorded in the Book of Joshua as well as by the prior
authorization of Moses cited in the same verse 9.
**********
EXEGETICAL AND CONTEXTUAL OUTLINE
The following outline emerges of the final twelve verses of
the Book of Deuteronomy (chapter 34):
I. His Final Actions on Earth (verses 1-3)
A. His Final Journey on Earth (verse 1a)
1. Its origination in the steppes of Moab (verse 1a1)
2. Its destination in Mount Nebo (verse 1a2)
a. Its identification (verse 1a2a)
b. Its location (verse 1a2b)
B. His Final Sight on Earth (verses 1b-3)
1. Its divine source (verse 1b1)
2. Its comprehensive scope (verses 1b2-3)
a. In a northern direction (verse 1b2)
b. In a northwestern direction (verse 2a1)
c. In a less northwestern direction (verse 2a2)
d. In a western direction (verse 2b)
e. In a southwestern direction (verse 3a)
f. In a western direction, more immediately below, from north to south (verse 3b)
C. His Final Word from God on Earth (verse 4)
a. The introduction (verse 4a1)
b. The word of God itself (verse 4a2-4b)
(1.) The manifestation of His benevolence
(a.) His benevolence to His people in general (verse 4a2)
(b.) His benevolence to His prophet in particular (verse 4b1)
(2.) The manifestation of His justice (verse 4b2)
II. His Demise (verses 5-9)
A. His Death (verse 5)
1. Its location (verse 5a)
2. Its basis (verse 5b)
B. His Burial (verse 6)
1. Its divine agency (verse 6a)
2. Its unknown location (verse 6b)
C. His Age and Physical Condition (verse 7)
1. His antiquity in years (verse 7a)
2. His youthfulness in physical condition (verse 7b)
D. His Commemoration (verse 8)
1. Its duration (verse 8a)
2. Its completion (verse 8b)
E. His Successor in Leadership (verse 9)
1. Its basis (verse 9a)
a. The divine source (verse 9a1)
b. The human agency (verse 9a2)
2. Its recognition by Israel (verse 9b)
a. In more general terms (verse 9b1)
b. In more specific terms (verse 9b2)
III. His Uniqueness (verses 10-12)
A. In Relation to God (verse 10)
1. In more general terms (verse 10a)
2. In more specific terms (verse 10b)
B. In Relation to the World (verse 11)
1. His miracles (verse 11a)
a. The nature and purpose of his miracles (verse 11a1)
b. The divine source of his miracles (verse 11a2)
2. His witnesses (verse 11b)
C. In Relation to His People (verse 12)
1. His miracles (verse 12a)
2. His witnesses (verse 12b)
In the division of verses in this outline into parts "a" and "b"
the line of demarcation is always the massoretic 'athnach,
excepting in the brief verses 3 and 5 which lack such an accent.
In verse 3 the rbhia' above hannegebh ("the Negev") takes the
place of the 'athnach, while in verse 5 the tiphchah beneath
mo'abh ("Moab") serves as substitute. In verse 1a the division
between parts 1 and 2 has been made at the pashta', above mo'abh,
and then within 1a2 at the first zaqeph qaton above nbho (as
opposed to the second one standing above happisgah ["Nebo" as
opposed to "the Pisgah"]). In the second half verse 1 the tebhir
beneath ha'aretz ("the land") serves as the dividing line between
parts 1 and 2, while in 2a the zaqeph qaton above naphtali
("Naphtali") fulfils this role in the more usual way. In verse
4a, again, the bifurcation between parts 1 and 2 occurs with the
rbhia' above 'elaw ("unto him"), while in verse 4b the zaqeph-qaton, above bh'enekha ("thine eyes"), serves this end. In the
first half of verse 9 the zaqeph-qaton draws, as commonly, the
line of demarcation, above chokhmah ("wisdom"), but in the second
half it comes already before the zaqeph-qaton with the pashta',
above yisra'el ("Israel"). In the first half of verse 11 the
rbhia' above whammophthim ("and wonders") serves as the dividing
line between parts 1 and 2.
**********
A LITERAL TRANSLATION AND COMMENTS
Verse 1a
And then Moses went up from the steppes of Moab to the Mountain
of Nebo, the top of the Pisgah, which is over against Jericho.
The word "steppes" in the translation above renders
'arbhoth, the plural construct of 'arabhah [BDB, 787a-b]. The
feminine noun denotes specifically hot areas which may be either
steppes or, by extension, bordering valleys or a combination of
the two. Its cognates include the word "Arab" used in reference
to the steppe-dwellers of the area which came to be called the
Arabian Desert [BDB, 787a]. The Arabah as a proper noun, or the
Wadi el-Arabah, designates even today the great depression which
extends from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqabah [H.G. Andersen,
I, 234a, in 233b-236a]. In the Old Testament, indeed, ha'arabah
can comprehend the whole great rift running south from the Sea of
Galilee through the Jordan Valley (embracing the Ghor, in modern
parlance) and the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqabah, as in
Deuteronomy 1:7 [BDB, 787b; Andersen, 233b, who asserts this
meaning as the basic significance of the noun in general and its
uniform significance with the article].
The phrase 'arbhoth-mo'abh ("the steppes of Moab"),
specifically, is used twelve times in the Old Testament, nine of
them in Numbers (22:1; 26:3, 63; 31:12; 33: 48-50; 35:1; 36:13)
[BDB, 555b]. Following the two occurrences in Deuteronomy 34
here (in verses 1 and 8), there remains only the one in the Book
of Joshua (13:32) [BDB, 555b]. The application of 'arbhoth in
these passages is clearly to the region immediately northeast of
the Dead Sea, between the River Jordan and the western slopes of
the Moabite tableland [J. Maxwell Miller, ABD, IV, 883a-883b, in
882a-893b; Andersen, 233b]. These particular steppes were
unusually well-watered and hence rich and desirable [R.K.
Harrison, 258a-258b, in 257b-266b].
The phrase "over against" in the translation above renders
the 'al-pney preceding and attached, indeed, in a construct chain
to yrecho ("Jericho"). The phrase consists, then, in the
preposition 'al and the construct of pnayim (meaning "face"), so
that "upon the face of" or "against the face of" would be an even
more literal rendition. The Hebrew and English Lexicon observes
that 'al-pney "has different meanings according to the different
senses of the noun" and the preposition concerned [BDB, 818b, in
815b-819a]. There is, therefore, no need to understand the
phrase as depicting Mount Nebo as standing directly opposite or
due east of the city of Jericho [BDB, 818b]. The essential idea
here is that Mount Nebo stood on the opposite side of the River
Jordan from Jericho but within sight of the first great city
confronting Israel upon her impending crossing of this line of
demarcation [comparing BDB, 818b-819a].
Verses 1b-3
And then the LORD made him see the totality of the land:
the Gilead unto Dan
and the totality of Naphtali
and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh
and the totality of the land of Judah
unto the Hinder Sea
and the Negev
and the Circle, the Cleft of Jericho,
the city of the palms, unto Zoar.
The toponym "Nebo" occurs in the Hebrew Bible as both
mountain and town in Transjordan. The town of Transjordanian
Nebo, which clearly lay in the shadow of the mountain,
approximated, therefore, the penultimate campsite of Israel in
the wilderness, according to the Itinerary of the Wandering in
Numbers 33 (verse 47). Then, following the conquest of the
Amorite kingdoms of Heshbon and Bashan, Nebo was allocated to the
Reubenites in accordance with Numbers 32 (verses 3 and 38, in
contextu 33-48) and 1 Chronicles 5 (verse 8) [Arthur J. Ferch,
"Nebo (Place)," ABD, IV, 1056a, in 1056a-b; Michele Piccirillo,
"Nebo, Mount (Place)," ABD, IV, 1057a, in 1056b-1058b].
According, however, to the Moabite Stone, the town passed into
the possession of Moab in the days of King Mesha [Ferch, 1056a;
Piccirillo, 1057a]. Nebo is, in consequence, treated as a
Moabite city by the prophets Isaiah (in 15:2) and Jeremiah (48: 1
and 22). The site is identified by the majority of modern
scholars with Khirbet-el-Mekhayyat, located about two miles
southeast of the peak of Mount Nebo called Ras Siyagha and about
one and a quarter miles southwest of the highest peak of the
mountain, Jebel en-Neba [Ferch, 1056a; Piccirillo, 1058a]. It
thus lies about five miles south of the site of ancient capital
of Heshbon, in the region, at least, of the location of the town
of Nebo according to Eusebius and Jerome [Ferch, 1056a].
The foregoing description of the location of the town of
Nebo assumes the modern identification of Mount Nebo itself with
Jebel en-Neba and its connected peaks. Within Holy Scripture the
mountain appears only here, in verse 1, and previously in
Deuteronomy 32, where the language of verse 49 overlaps with the
description here: "this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which
is in the land of Moab, which is over against Jericho" [JV].
Some scholars, to be sure, find the identification unsatisfactory
by virtue of the position of Jericho to the northeast of Jebel
en-Neba rather than due east across the Jordan [R.L. Alden, ZPEB,
297a-b; Keil, 214 and 514].
This objection, however, can be countered relatively easily.
For, firstly, the phrase 'al-pney yrecho ("over against Jericho")
does not, as already stated, actually require such an
interpretation. Jericho, secondly, would still have been the
closest city visible across the Jordan from this eminence. The
texts, thirdly, may be construed as speaking of the land of Moab,
or the Abarim therein, and the Pisgah as a whole as being
opposite Jericho, rather than Nebo in particular. For, although
some think of Pisgah as synonymous or more specific than Nebo,
the opposite follows from the connection of Nebo with "the top of
the Pisgah" (literally, "the head of the Pisgah"), using the same
phrase which is employed already without the specification of
Nebo in Numbers 21 (verse 20) and Deuteronomy 3 (verse 27).
The name "Pisgah" is always definite and occurs in eight
passages of the Hebrew Bible which are all concentrated in
Deuteronomy and the two books on either side [BDB, 820a]. On
four of these occasions, the two in Numbers (21:20 and 23:14) and
two of the four in Deuteronomy (3:27 and here in 34:1), "the
Pisgah" is the absolute noun in the construct chain ro'sh-happisgah ("the top of Pisgah") [BDB, 820a]. On the remaining
two occasions in Deuteronomy (3:17 and 4:49) and the two in
Joshua (12:3 and 13:20) the same name appears as the absolute
noun in the construct chain 'ashdoth-happisgah (meaning "the
slopes of the Pisgah") [BDB, 820a]. We see thereby that ro'sh-happisgah is no specific reference to the highest summit of the
range, but rather terminology distinguishing its heights from its
slopes.
The Pisgah, then, as can be seen from the passages cited,
was the name applied to the northern section of the Abarim, which
constituted the whole range of the Moabite mountains running
along the eastern side of the Dead Sea [pace BDB, 720b and
820a]. The more general extension of the Abarim appears both
from the Itinerary of the Wandering in Numbers 33 (verses 47-48)
and also from the first mention of the place of the forthcoming
death of Moses in Numbers 27 (verse 12). The only occasion in
which the Abarim surface in the TaNaK outside Numbers and
Deuteronomy is Jeremiah 22, where the prophet places them in a
mountainous sequence which begins with Lebanon in the north and
continues with Bashan in between and concludes with the Abarim in
the south (verse 20) [C.F. Pfeiffer, ZPEB, I, 6a]. The Abarim,
then, buttress the high plateau and northern tableland of Moab
and then slope off into its steppes, the portion running opposite
Jericho and beyond being the Pisgah [Keil, 214; comparing, on the
topography of Moab, J. Maxwell Miller, ABD, IV, 882b-883b, in
882a-893b, and R.K. Harrison, ZPEB, IV, 257b-258b, in 257b-266b].
Nebo, even if some miles to the south of Jericho, still belongs
to both the Abarim of Moab and, more specifically, the Pisgah
[Keil, 514].
Mount Nebo, then, we may regard, on the basis of the
evidence now available, as an eminence nearly opposite the
northern end of the Dead Sea. Its highest peak rises some four
thousand feet above the Dead Sea and so some 2700 feet above sea
level [R.L. Alden, ZPEB, 297a-b]. A saddle joins the extremity
of Jebel en-Neba to the aforesaid Ras Siyagha, which has been
venerated by pilgrims since ancient times as the place of the
death of Moses [Alden, 297b]. This prominence was, therefore,
the site in the Byzantine Era of both a basilica and a monastery
[Piccirillo, 1057a-1058a].
Mount Nebo is bounded on the north by Wadi Ayoun Mousa and
on the south by Wadi Afrit which flow down in a westerly way into
the River Jordan [Piccirillo, 1057a]. The highest peak, as
intimated previously, soars to 835 meters, while Ras Siyagha to
the north, reaches 710 meters [Piccirillo, 1057b-1058a]. The
mountain provides "a natural balcony" affording "a dramatic view"
of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, the Judean Desert from
Tekoa to Jerusalem, and, in a northerly direction, the mountains
of Samaria [Piccirillo, 1057b].
The Prophet Moses, certainly, enjoyed a panoramic view from
Mount Nebo in all directions of the compass. The phrase "the
land" in the translation above renders ha'aretz in the original
text and refers to the whole of the territory which the Lord was
now giving to Israel to occupy. This land in general is then
divided into the several parts distinguished in the six ensuing
phrases which are equally indented in the translation:
(1.) The Lord firstly directed the gaze of Moses to the
north. The Gilead was the territory on the eastern side of
the River Jordan which had already been wrested from the
Amorite kingdoms of Heshbon in the south and Bashan in the
north. Moses had, indeed, already allocated the land of
Gilead to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe
of Manasseh. The Dan which was seen by Moses on this
occasion was not the city of Laish, which would later, to be
sure, become the primary "Dan" of Israel. Laish, however,
lay nigh to the central source of the River Jordan (Judges
18:27) and so outside the borders of Gilead, nor did it
receive the name "Dan" until it was captures by the Danites
in the Period of the Judges. The Dan espied by Moses was
the one ensconced in northern Gilead which lay evidently on
the Transjordanian Highway followed by the raiding kings of
Mesopotamia who were overtaken there by Abraham, according
to Genesis 14 (verse 24).
(2.) Moses turned now in a counter-clockwise way to see the
several regions of Canaan on the western side of the River
Jordan which he had been forbidden to cross. He faced
firstly in a northwesterly direction to see "the totality of
Naphtali" (kol-naphtali), which is to say the whole northern
region in which the tribe of Naphtali was to receive its
inheritance. This term, then, would include everything
which subsequently came to be called the Galilee.
(3.) Moses continued to rotate in counter-clockwise fashion
so as now to behold the central area of Canaan which was one
day to be called Samaria. It is here denominated "the land
of Ephraim and Manasseh" because these tribes derived from
Joseph were to receive the lion's share of the territory
involved.
(4.) Moses, continuing his rotation, now looked westward
and then in a southwesterly direction to take in the
territory which was to be allocated to Judah. The "Hinder
Sea" (hayyam ha'acharon) or "Western Sea" is the
Mediterranean, as clearly appears from the boundaries of the
Israelite Empire drawn in Deuteronomy 11:24, "from the
wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates,
even to the Western Sea" (NKJV) [Keil, 514]. The hayyam
ha'acharon stands in opposition to hayyam haqqadmoni, "the
Frontal Sea" or "Eastern Sea" which we usually call today the
Dead Sea [BDB, 30a, in 30a-31b]. For the Semites, in
speaking of the quarters of the compass, naturally began
facing eastward in the direction of the rising sun [BDB,
30a].
(5.) Completing his leftward semicircle, Moses now peered
in a more southerly than westerly direction to see the
Negev. Deriving from a root having to do with dryness, the
noun negebh refers to the dry country south of Judah, as
appears from Numbers 13:17 [BDB, 616a, 616a-b; Keil, 514].
Although in modern usage the Negev extends all the way south
to the Gulf of Aqaba, in Classical Hebrew the boundaries,
though indefinite, were less comprehensive [Steven A. Rosen,
ABD, IV, 1061b, in 1061b-1064b (1061b-1068b)]. In the TaNaK
the "Negev" ordinarily includes only the territory from the
hills south of Hebron to Kadesh-Barnea [BDB, 616a, in 616a-616b; A. Negev, ZPEB, IV, 402a-404a; Itzhaq Beit-Arieh, ABD,
IV, 1064a, in 1064b-1066b (1061b-1068b)].
(6.) The Lord, finally, directed the gaze of Moses more directly below his eerie to the great geological rift through which the River Jordan flows past the city of Jericho into the Dead Sea.
(a.) The word "cleft" in the translation above renders the construct of biq'ah, as opposed to gai in verse 6, even though both words are translated "valley" in the majority of English Bibles. The feminine noun biq'ah, deriving from the verb bq' (meaning "cleave, break open") [BDB, 131b-132a], designates, in the first instance, a "cleft" even if then applied to a valley-plain of some breadth [BDB, 132b]. The reference here, specifically, is to the colossal cleavage of the earth which includes both the Ghor, through which the River Jordan flows, and the Dead Sea, into which the river empties [H.G. Andersen, I, 234a, in 233b-236a]. In geological terms, the Ghor and Arabah with the Dead Sea in between them comprise but one section of the "enormous fault in the crust of the earth which extends from norther Syria southward between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains, through the Red Sea" to the southeastern coast of Africa [Andersen, 235a].
(b.) The word "circle" in the translation above renders kikkar in the original text, as opposed to 'arbhoth in verse 1, despite the use of "plain" (only changing the number) to translate both in various English Bibles. The feminine noun kikkar denominates something "round" whether a district or a loaf of bread or a weight of metal [BDB, 503a]. Eleven of the thirteen applications of the word in its geographic sense are to "the round (or oval)" of the Jordan Valley, the remaining two, in Nehemiah (3:22 and 12:28), naming a district of Jerusalem [BDB, 503a]. The oval shape results from a broadening of the Jordan Valley about five miles south of its midpoint to reach about twelve miles across at Jericho and then a gradual narrowing again to a width of some six miles before the River Jordan reaches the Dead Sea [Andersen, 234a-b]. Watered by streams of some size, the land of the region is very fertile, as appears already from Genesis 13:10. Pliny, much later, noted the growth of forty-nine kinds of figs as one proof of the fertility of the area [Andersen, 234b].
(c.) A note of related import is the description of Jericho here as "the city of the palms" by virtue of the tropical vegetation of the vicinity, as is reiterated in the Book of Judges (1:16 and 3:43) and 2 Chronicles (28:15).
(d.) The town of Zoar lay at the southern end of the Dead
Sea, being the only one of the five "Cities of the Plain" to
have escaped the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, as is
recorded in Genesis 19 (verses 18-30).
By means, then, of this panoramic vista Moses was enabled to see
the whole of the new homeland which God was bestowing upon
Israel, including the land of Canaan, across the River Jordan,
whither Moses himself would be unable to proceed. The prophet
could, therefore, rejoice in the goal soon to be attained by his
people toward which he had led them so far and so long by the
empowering grace of God.
C.F. Keil speaks of the natural powers of vision being
enhanced in Moses to a miraculous degree to allow him such a view
of the new homeland of Israel [Kiel, 514]. There is no miracle
necessary, however, to enable someone of his undiminished ocular
force to descry objects at the distance described from the top of
Mount Nebo. On a clear day one would be able to see even beyond
the northern bounds drawn here all the way to Mount Hermon
[Alden, 297a]. The one problem is that the central mountain
range of Canaan on which Jerusalem sits blocks the Mediterranean
Sea from ordinary view [Alden, 297a]. The suggestion that Moses
saw the Mediterranean in a vision is unsatisfactory, considering
the emphasis in Deuteronomy 34 on the actual use and strength of
his eyes (in both verses 4 and 7). A reference to the Dead Sea
instead of the Mediterranean is unlikely in both semantic and
contextual terms, and the supposition of a mirage is more
objectionable than any of the preceding ideas [Alden, 297a].
The only solution, in the end, is to take note of the hiphil form
of the r'h (meaning "see") in verse 1b. The Word of God records,
not that Moses "saw" the things then listed, but that "the LORD
made him see" all these things. The Eternal Self-Existing One
was quite as capable of enabling the eyes of Moses to pierce
through the central ridge of Canaan as He was of creating eyes
and mountains and sea in the first place.
Verse 4
And then the LORD said to him:
"This is the land which I swore
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, so as to say:
'To thy seed shall I give it.'
I have made thee see with thine eyes,
but thither wilt thou not pass over."
Again and again does God give the patriarchs the promise
cited here in the course of the patriarchal narratives of the
Book of Genesis (12-50), beginning with verse 7 of chapter 12:
"And the LORD appeared unto Abram and said, 'Unto thy seed will I
give this land.'" The plan of God was that in a land of its own
Israel should be prepared, in separation from others, to be the
people from whom the Savior of All Nations should come and which
should then take the news of His coming to all others in the
world.
The reason why Moses, as well as his brother Aaron, was to
be barred from entering Canaan has been reiterated as recently as
Deuteronomy 32: "And the LORD spake unto Moses ...: Get thee up
... and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered
unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother died in Mount Hor and was
gathered unto his people; because ye trespassed against Me among
the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh in the
wilderness of Zin, because ye sanctified Me not in the midst of
the children of Israel" (verses 48-52). This rationale had
already been enunciated in Numbers 20, when, at Kadesh, Moses, in
angry self-assertion, had struck the rock to which God had told
him merely to speak so as to bring forth the waters of Meribah
(verses 1-13). It was then that the Lord had told Moses and
Aaron: "Because ye believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of
the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this
congregation into the land which I have given them" (verse 12).
This sentence was then repeated in Numbers 27 (verses 12-14)
and declared irrevocable in Deuteronomy 3 (verses 23-27). In
this case, of course, as in the lives of all Christians, a
distinction must be made between the temporal and eternal
consequences of sin. Moses, repenting of his sin, was obviously
fully forgiven. That the temporal consequences of his sin, at
the same time, still remained even in the case of Moses is a
stern warning against any presumption on the forgiving goodness
of the All-Holy God.
Verse 5
And then there Moses, the servant of the LORD, died, in the land
of Moab, according to the mouth of the LORD.
The phrase "according to" in the translation above renders
the preposition 'al. The fancy of certain rabbis in taking 'al
as "upon" and so imagining Moses as dying "by a kiss of the Lord"
contravenes the natural understanding of the phrase [Kiel, 514].
The idea is, rather, that Moses now died "on the basis of" words
which "the mouth of the LORD" had already spoken to him and,
indeed, through him to Israel. Verses 12-13 of Numbers 27 first
connected the death of Moses with the mountains of Moab in a way
which was given more detail in Deuteronomy 3:27. Most specific,
however, and most recently heard from the mouth of the Lord had
been verses 48-52 of Deuteronomy 32, wherein Moses had recorded
again both the divine command to ascend Mount Nebo and the divine
rationale.
Verse 6
And then He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab in front
of Beth-Peor; but no man has come to know his burial-place unto
this day.
The Lord Himself is clearly the subject of the verb of the
masculine singular of the qal imperfect of qbr attached to a
strong waw of temporal consequence. The septuagintal translators
erred, therefore, in rendering wayyiqbor 'otho as ethapsan auton
("they buried him") [Keil, 515]. The third person of verbs, may,
to be sure, be construed in contextu as impersonal and hence
equivalent to a passive or the impersonal "they" of colloquial
English. The context here, however, so far from leaving us
without a corresponding subject, places its divine identity
beyond doubt by means of the ensuing clause: "but no man has come
to know his burial-place unto this day."
The phrase "valley" in the translation above renders gai (a
variation of gai'), as opposed to the biq'ah of verse 3, despite
the rendition of both words in the same way in various English
Bibles [BDB, 161a-b]. The valley in which the Lord buried Moses,
then, was clearly not the great rift of the Jordan Valley. The
pointing, nevertheless, of the prepositional prefix beth with
pathach, thus making the noun definite, indicates a particular
valley which was already well known to the original readers. The
reference, therefore, is presumably to the very steppes on which
Israel was currently encamped, whereon also Moses had just
delivered all the discourses comprising the Book of Deuteronomy.
For he himself refers to this area twice in his First
Deuteronomic Discourse as "the valley in front of Beth-Peor"
(3:29 and 4:46). Unlike the Hebrew and English Lexicon [BDB,
161a], to be sure, C.F. Keil distinguishes this area from the
valley mentioned in Numbers 21:20, which he construes as "the
valley in the field of Moab upon the top of Pisgah" and then
identifies as the burial-place of Moses [Keil, 148 and 515]. A
more probable understanding, however, of the syntax in Numbers
21, in view of the itinerary of Israel which Moses is there
describing, would be "the valley in the field of Moab by the top
of Pisgah" [similarly to R.L. Alden, ZPEB, IV, 800a-b].
As the death of Moses showed, by way of example, the Lord's
terrible hatred of sin and the impartiality of His justice, so
the divine burial of Moses showed his special status with God
and, indeed, also His complete forgiveness of his sins. This
remission of all the prophet's sins likewise appears from the
rejection of the claims of Satan recorded in the Epistle of Jude.
So far from being a "Jewish theologoumenon" misrepresented by
C.F. Keil [Keil, 516], Jude 9 provides valuable lessons on
several counts.
His burial by God Himself, certainly, places Moses on the
same level of exaltation as Enoch and Elijah, who were assumed
bodily into heaven, as may also be inferred from the appearance
of Moses as well as Elijah at the transfiguration of Jesus [Keil,
515]. The concurrence, however, of C.F. Keil with Kurtz in a
belief in the preservation of the prophet's body from corruption
and then its assumption into heaven is quite unwarranted [Keil,
515-516].
None, certainly, of the accounts of the Transfiguration of
our Lord imply the presence of the actual body of Moses. Verses
3-4 of Matthew 17 literally describe thus the appearance
respectively of the Lord Himself and of Moses and Elijah to the
three apostles present on the Mount of Transfiguration (R.C.H.
Lenski, I, 654-657, excepting capitalization):
And lo, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah in company
with Him, speaking together. Peter, responding, said to
Jesus: "Lord, it is excellent that we are here. If Thou art
willing, I will make them three booths here, for Thee one,
for Moses one, for Elijah one."
The verb optomai, which is predicated of Moses and Elijah in
Matthew 17:3 in the form ophthe, signifies "be seen" and hence
"appear" to others. It is likewise used elsewhere, not only of
bodies, but also of bodiless beings who are taking visible forms
of a more or less characteristic nature. The verb is predicated,
for example, of angels who are commissioned with messages to
those on earth in Luke 1:11 and 22:43, as also of the pre-incarnate Lord in Acts 7 (verses 2, 30, and 35). The same
principle, indeed, applies to the visions in which the Macedonian
appeared to St. Paul (Acts 16:9) and the woman and the dragon
appeared to St. John (Revelation 12: 1 and 3). The appearance of
Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration and the ensuing
discussion with the Lord Jesus indicated the complete accord of
His forthcoming death with the prophecies of the Old Testament,
the imminence of this death having surfaced as a concern as
recently as 16:21 and again proving a concern as soon afterwards
as 17:22.
Verses 4-5 of Mark 9, while saying substantially the same
thing as Matthew 17, does so in somewhat differing syntax (NASB,
excepting the form of the singular of the second person):
Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were
talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus,
"Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; ... let us make three
tabernacles here, one for Thee and one for Moses and one for
Elijah.
Here, quite interestingly, St. Mark places Elijah before Moses
and connects "Elijah" with "Moses" by means of the preposition sun
rather than the conjunction kai used by Matthew and Luke.
Elijah, certainly, was appearing in his glorified body with Moses
in a visible form symbolizing his spiritual glory.
Verses 30-33 of Luke 9, again, while reiterating the
substance of the preceding evangelists, adds several details of
value (NASB, excepting the form of the singular of the second
person):
And behold, two men were talking with Him, and they were
Moses and Elijah, who appearing in glory, were speaking of
His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep;
but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the
two men standing with Him. And it came about, as these were
parting from Him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good
for us to be here; ... let us make three tabernacles, one
for Thee and one for Moses and one for Elijah...
St. Luke, for one thing, states explicitly the appearance of both
Moses and Elijah in the "glory" which is already clearly implied
by the evangelists who preceded him, as would only be appropriate
to saints who were otherwise continually worshipping the Lord in
His kingdom of glory. More importantly, however, St. Luke
mentions the subject of the conversation which Moses and Elijah
were having with the Lord Jesus, which again emphasizes the
complete harmony between the death of the Messiah and the
proclamation of the prophets (including, of course, Moses as the
prophet primarius of the Old Testament), who had long foretold
His coming into the world and His going forth therefrom. For
Moses recorded in his books, not only the messianic predictions
of others from the protoevangelium to the oracles of Balaam, but
also his own prophecy of the Supreme Prophet in Deuteronomy 18
(verses 15-19).
Verse 7a
Thus, Moses was a man [son] of a hundred and twenty years at his
death.
Moses himself had referred to his age as a hundred and
twenty years in chapter 31:2. Forty years had he spent as a
prince in Egypt and forty years as a shepherd in the Sinai. Now
he had dedicated his final forty years, as the spokesman of God,
to the leadership of His people.
Verse 7b
His eye had not dimmed, nor had his freshness fled.
The phrase "his freshness" in the translation above renders
leach with a pronominal suffix of the masculine singular of the
third person, with he serving as the vowel-letter, instead of the
usual waw, to indicate a long cholem. The noun is clearly related
to the adjective lach, which describes things as "moist" or
"fresh" six times in the Old Testament, including twice in the
Pentateuch (in Genesis 30:37 and Numbers 6:3) [BDB, 535a]. The
noun leach, therefore, evidently means "freshness" of some kind
[BDB, 535a]. The reference here is presumably to the good health
and physical powers of Moses, as are demonstrated by his climbing
of Mount Nebo, even as his pristine visual powers are
demonstrated by his ability to see to the distances already
described.
Verse 8
And then the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the steppes of Moab
thirty days, and then the days of the weeping of the mourning for
Moses were completed.
The period of mourning was the same as it was at the death
of Aaron, according to Numbers 20:29. During this month people
had evidently attempted to find the body of Moses to no avail.
The mourning had then to come to an end by virtue of the need to
press forward to the goal to which Moses had led his people so
nigh. This goal was, of course, the occupation of the land which
God had promised to Israel through the patriarchs and through
Moses himself and which Moses had then seen from Mount Nebo
before dying.
Verse 9
But Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the Spirit of Wisdom, for
Moses had laid his hands upon him; and so the sons of Israel gave
heed to him, and so they did according to that which the LORD had
commanded Moses.
The ordination of Joshua to the leadership of Israel had
taken place in connection with the first reiteration of the
necessity of Moses dying before the entrance of Israel into
Canaan. The divine directions in response to the prayers of
Moses and the inauguration itself are recorded in verses 15-23 of
Numbers 27. Recurring references are then made back to the
ordination of Joshua in the remaining chapters of the Pentateuch.
Then an additional inauguration is commanded and effected in
Deuteronomy 31 (verses 1-23). Joshua, finally, was associated
with Moses in the recitation of the Song of Moses in the hearing
of all Israel (Deuteronomy 32:44).
Verses 10-12
But no prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses,
whom the LORD knew face to face,
for the totality of the signs and the wonders
which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt,
before pharaoh
and before the totality of his servants
and before the totality of his land,
and for the totality of his strong power
and for the totality of the great terror
which Moses wrought
before the eyes of the totality of Israel.
The characterization of Moses as the prophet "whom the LORD
knew face to face" ascribes to him a more intimate relationship
with God than any others, revealing Himself more fully than even
to all others called to be His spokesmen. This description,
then, harks backs to Numbers 12 (verses 6-8) where God spoke of
Moses in this way [JV]:
Hear ye now My words:
If there be a prophet among you,
I, the LORD, in his vision
make Myself known unto him;
in his dream do I speak with him.
Not so with My servant Moses;
In all Mine house is he faithful.
Mouth to mouth do I speak with him,
Yea, as something seen and not in dark sayings;
Yea, the form of the LORD beholdeth he.
The prepositional lamedh prefixed to the kol which begins
Deuteronomy 34:11 and to the two occurrences of kol in verse 12
should not be construed as an exhaustive definition of the
distinctiveness of Moses. The contents of verses 11 and 12 do no
more than provide exemplary expressions of the special
relationship of God with Moses. The phrase "his ... power" in
the translation above renders hayyadh in the original text. The
noun yadh (literally "hand") is often used as a figure of power;
and the definite article, in this exegete's opinion, frequently
indicates personal possession or relationship (meaning "his" or
"my" or the like, depending on the context).
Although Joshua was invested with extraordinary powers by the Holy Spirit, his status in mediatorial terms could not compare with the place of Moses. Nor could the standing of any other figure in the whole history of the Old Testament, whether Samuel or David or Elijah. To find anyone again with whom the Lord would have as close a relationship as with Moses, the prime prophet of Old Testament, His people would have to await the Lord Himself. To find anyone again who could speak with as much authority as Moses, the prime prophet of the Old Testament, His people would have to await the Supreme Prophet whom Moses had predicted in Deuteronomy 18 (verses 15-19). When Moses there urged his people to "hear" the Prophet to Come above all others (18:15), he was, of course, speaking of the Messiah of whom God the Father said on the Mount of Transfiguration: "Hear ye Him!" (Matthew 17:5).