Barrick, The Authorship of Deuteronomy 34
ETS Annual Meeting, November 14-16, 2001
14
{yèit:pOMahºw tOðto)ífh-lfk:l 34.11
hêfwhºy
tOÙ&A(al
{éyÕfr:cim jerØe):B
hÛo(:rap:l
wyÙfdfbA(-lfk:lU
hêfqæzAxah dØfYah ülok:lU 34.12
hêe$om hØf&f( üre$A)
;l×")fr:&éy-lfK yÙ"ny"(:l
If Moses actually penned his own obituary, how should one understand verses 10-
12 with their adulatory tone?
The words of praise and adulation of Moses that complete this section (vv. 10-
12) have, with the previous reference to his death (vv. 5-8), convinced nearly
all thoughtful students that Moses himself could not have written this last part
of Deuteronomy.
What then do "thoughtful students" make of Moses writing about himself when he makes
the grandiose claim of having argued with God on Mount Sinai (Exod 32:11-13)? Or,
what about some sort of messianic complex that would allow Moses to pen the words of
Deuteronomy 18:15-18 which are not ameliorated by a modest use of the more objective
third person, but are in the first person ("a prophet like me," v. 15)?
interpreters start down the road that would deny Mosaic authorship to any appearance of
self-adulation, the result will be a fragmentation of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
65
Cf. Exod 33:11 (
{yinfP-le) {yinfP he$om-le) hwhy reBidºw) and Num 12:8 (OB-reBadA) heP-le) heP).
66
The coordination of the two definite nouns for miracles is a phraseology found only in Deuteronomy
(7:19; 29:2; 34:10).
67
Reminiscent of Exod 4:28 (
-lfK tÛ")ºw OÕxfl:$ rØe$A) hÙfwhºy yÛ"r:biD-lfK tÖ") }êorAh×a):l ühe$om dÜ"GáYáw
;Uh×fUic rÛe$A) tÙoto)fh).
68
The rest of the verse is so saturated with the irrefutable vocabulary familiar to Moses as both participant
and writer, that it does not need documentation other than to refer to Exodus 415.
69
hfqæzAxah dfYah lok is easily perceived in hfqæzAx dfy:B (Exod 3:19; 6:1 [2x]; 13:9; 32:11; Num 20:20;
Deut 4:34; 5:15; 6:21; 7:8; 9:26; 26:8.
hfqæzAxah dfYah is specified in Deut 7:19 right after the reference to
"the signs and the wonders" (cf. fn 66, above).
70
The same basic phraseology is employed in Deut 4:34 and 26:8 together with the basic phraseology of
hfqæzAx dfy (cf. fn 69, above) and t"pOmU tO) (cf. fn 66, above).
71
"The terms used in this final description of Moses' ministry are common in the narratives of the Exodus
and the desert journeys (see Exod 7:3; Num 14:11, 22; Deut 4:34; 6:22; 7:19; 11:3; 26:8; 29:3)" (Kalland,
"Deuteronomy," 3:235).
72
Merrill, Deuteronomy, 455.
73
Space does not permit a full response to those who apply this same self-adulatory argument to identify
Num 12:3 ("Moses was more humble/meek than any man on the face of the earth") as a redactor's insert.