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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 34:6 and Testament of Moses 11:8

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Testaments

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Summary

In Deuteronomy 34, Moses is buried in a place no one knows. The Testament of Moses tries to explain why, when Joshua asks before Moses dies what place could hold his body and answers that the whole world is his grave.

Passages

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. 8 The Israelites mourned for Moses in the rift valley plains of Moab for thirty days; then the days of mourning for Moses ended.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Testament of Moses 11:8

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Assumption of Moses
'Why do you comfort me, (my) lord Moses? And how shall I be comforted in regard to the bitter word which you have spoken which has gone out from your mouth, which is full of tears and lamentation, in that you depart from this people? (But now) what place shall receive you? Or what shall be the sign that marks (your) sepulcher? Or who shall dare to move your body from there as that of a mere man from place to place? For all men when they die have according to their age their sepulchers on earth; but your sepulcher is from the rising to the setting sun, and from the south to the confines of the north: all the world is your sepulcher.
20–50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Moses

References

“... In As. Mos. 11:1-19, Joshua is described as reacting to Moses' prophecy in despair (11:1-4). In a long list of questions he expresses his fear of a future without Moses. This passage forms an expansion of the basic pattern of the testament genre. In most other examples of the genre, the testator delivers his speech uninterruptedly and dies. A statement concerning his death may be followed by a note on the bereaved lamenting the deceased or taking care of his funeral. [...] The questions Joshua asks can be divided into three sections. In the first set of questions (11:5-8), the problem of Moses' burial is addressed: no human being, it is said, is worthy of burying Moses, and no memorial matching Moses' glory can be made. This problem emerges from the biblical passage on Moses' burial site, which is said to be unknown (Deut. 34:6), and was probably addressed in the ending of As. Mos., which in all likelihood related the burial of Moses by angels (see the commentary on the lost ending). ...”
Johannes Tromp, The Assumption of Moses: A Critical Edition with Commentary (Leiden: Brill, 1993), 241.

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 34:6 and Testament of Moses 11:8

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