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Deuteronomy

About this book
Chapter 34

1 Then Moses ascended from the rift valley plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. The Lord showed him the whole land—Gilead⁠ to Dan, 2 and all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the distant sea, 3 the Negev, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of date palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’⁠ I have let you see it, but you will not cross over there.” 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.⁠ 8 The Israelites mourned for Moses in the rift valley plains of Moab for thirty days; then the days of mourning for Moses ended.⁠ 9 Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had placed his hands on him; and the Israelites listened to him and did just what the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 No prophet ever again arose in Israel like Moses,⁠ who knew the Lord face to face.⁠ 11 He did all the signs and wonders the Lord had sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, all his servants, and the whole land,⁠ 12 and he displayed great power and awesome might in view of all Israel.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 34:5 and Bava Batra 17a

Hebrew Bible · Rabbinic

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Summary

In Deuteronomy, Moses dies in Moab by the "mouth" of God. Rabbinic tradition in tractate Bava Batra, interprets this expression as Moses dying with a kiss, with God taking his soul rather than the Angel of Death.

Passages

Deuteronomy 34:5

Hebrew Bible
4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it, but you will not cross over there.” 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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Bava Batra 17a

Rabbinic · Babylonian Talmud
The Sages taught: There were six people over whom the Angel of Death had no sway in their demise, and they are: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as it is written with regard to them, respectively: “With everything,” “from everything,” “everything”; since they were blessed with everything they were certainly spared the anguish of the Angel of Death. Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, as it is written with regard to them that they died “by the mouth of the Lord” (Numbers 33:38; Deuteronomy 34:5), which indicates that they died with a kiss, and not at the hand of the Angel of Death. The Gemara asks: But with regard to Miriam it is not written: “By the mouth of the Lord.” Rabbi Elazar says: Miriam also died with a kiss, as this is learned through a verbal analogy between the word “there” mentioned in regard to Miriam: “And Miriam died there” (Numbers 20:1), and the word “there” mentioned in regard to Moses: “And Moses died there” (Deuteronomy 34:5). And for what reason is “by the mouth of the Lord” not stated with regard to her? It is unseemly to mention death by a kiss with regard to a woman. The Sages taught: There were seven people over whom the worm and the maggot had no sway, and they are: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Aaron and Miriam, and Benjamin, son of Jacob. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as it is written with regard to them, respectively: “With everything,” “from everything,” “everything.” Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, as it is written with regard to them: “By the mouth of the Lord”; Benjamin, son of Jacob, as it is written: “And to Benjamin he said: The beloved of the Lord, he shall dwell in safety by Him” (Deuteronomy 33:12). Even in death, he rests securely, unbothered by worms. And some say that even David is included, as it is written: “My flesh also dwells secure” (Psalms 16:9). The Gemara asks: And how does the other authority, who does not include David, explain this? The Gemara answers: He is asking for mercy, that his flesh should dwell secure and not be subject to worms and maggots, but his request was denied.
450–550 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Bava Batra

References

... In Jewish tradition, from the early to the late medieval period, union is accomplished not by marriage but by death, whether literal or mystical. In his book The Kiss of God: Spiritual and Mystical Death in Judaism, Michael Fishbane, describing a midrashic account of the death of Moses, writes: In one poignant scene, near the end, Moses’ soul refuses to leave his saintly body, perfected by the commandments and celibate since Sinai. But no creature born of woman can live forever, and God withdraws the soul by a kiss. Thus does Moses die “by the mouth of the Lord,” a death whose erotic overtones resound. Moving from Deuteronomy Rabbah to Canticles Rabbah, Fishbane continues: The kiss is thus the culmination of a spiritual quest, a rapture of the perfected soul into divine bliss. Several puns underscore the point. These too are found in the Midrash, where the verb yishaqeni, “let him kiss me,” is heard to hint at the soul’s purification and cleaving to God ...
Edmée Kingsmill, The Song of Songs and the Eros of God: A Study in Biblical Intertextuality (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 197–198.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Deuteronomy 34:5 and Bava Batra 17a

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