Texts in Conversation
Deuteronomy 34 says that God himself buried Moses, an act found nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. This idea was removed in the Samaritan Pentateuch, which instead says “they buried him,” perhaps to remove a description of God acting like a human.
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Deuteronomy 34:6
Hebrew Bible
5 So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab as the Lord had said. 6 He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab near Beth Peor, but no one knows his exact burial place to this very day. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died, but his eye was not dull nor had his vitality departed.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Samaritan Deuteronomy 34:5
Samaritan Penteteuch
Samaritan
4 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 5 And they buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. 6 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
Date: 130-120 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... It is also possible that the completely unique motif in the Hebrew Bible of Moses’ burial by God himself (Deuteronomy 34:6), which was already corrected in the Samaritan Pentateuch (“they buried him” instead of “he buried him”), was directed by the perspective of this declaration. Here as well Moses maintains an intimate closeness to God that is without analogy. This process of the “theologization” of Moses is, if anything, to be understood as the attempt to provide the Torah (“Moses”) with an authoritative status. “Moses” is brought into close connection with God, so that the Torah will take on corresponding authority ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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