Barrick, The Authorship of Deuteronomy 34
ETS Annual Meeting, November 14-16, 2001
7
hðfwhºy rem)íoYáw 34.4
wyèfl")
üjeróf)fh t)Üoz
yiT:(aB:$én rØe$A)
{ífhfr:ba):lö
qÜfx:céy:l
üboqA(áy:l×U
rêom)"l
!yØityi):reh
!yêeny"(:b
;r×obA(at )Ûol hfMÙf$ºw
Verses 1-4 are so involved with the personal experience of Moses that no one
would dare to claim that he was incapable of writing them. Some, however, would argue
that there are elements in these verses that were outside the realm of Moses' knowledge.
For example, how could he have known that Judah's territory would extend to the
Mediterranean (v. 2)? Then there is the physical impossibility of being able to see Dan
from Mount Nebo (v. 1). How could the account be taken literally? Some commentators
take the description of what Moses saw as hyperbole "and must be taken as including
points filled in by the imagination, as well as those actually visible to the eye."
Yet another question assails the reader: could Moses know where the tribal
territories would be? Those boundaries were not described in detail until after the
conquest (Josh 1319). Because of questions like these, some commentators declare that
31
Exod 4:11 is the only other occurrence of
wyfl") hwhy rem)íoYáw with Moses as the antecedent of the
pronominal suffix.
hwhy wyfl") rem)íoYáw is employed in Exod 4:2 and 19:24.
32
jeróf)fh t)oz as a noun clause followed by a relative clause occurs also in Num 34:13.
33
yiT:(aB:$én re$A) jeróf)fh is phraseology already utilized in Exod 33:1; Num 14:23; Deut 10:11; 31:21,
23. Two variations occur:
yiT:(aB:$én re$A) hfbO=ah jeróf)fh (Deut 1:35) and yiT:(aB:$én re$A) hfmfdA)fh
(Num 32:11; Deut 31:20). In addition, the indirect objects (
boqA(áy:l×U qfx:céy:l {fhfr:ba):l) follow in Exod
33:1 (cf., also, Num 32:11 with
hfmfdA)fh instead of jeróf)fh). The full phraseology is found only in the
Pentateuch.
34
Exod 33:1 includes this exact phraseology in addition to that discussed in footnote 33, above.
35
!yeny"(:b !yityi):reh is a hapax phainomenon in the Hebrew Bible. There are no other occurrences of
Hiphil of
h)r followed by }iya(:B. However, the phraseology in connection with the next clause of Deut
34:4 is quite reminiscent of Deut 3:27 (
rÙobA(at )ol-yiK !yeny"(:b h"):rU).
36
robA(at )ol is also recorded as a divine prohibition to Moses crossing the Jordan into the land of
promise in Deut 3:27 (see fn 35, above) and 31:2.
37
Driver, Deuteronomy, 420.