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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 34:8 and LXX Deuteronomy 34:8

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

The Greek Septuagint translation of Deuteronomy 34 adds “on the Jordan across from Jericho,” connecting Moses’s death with other moments in the Torah and harmonizing Deuteronomy with the geography and narrative of the earlier books.

Passages

Deuteronomy 34:8

Hebrew Bible
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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

LXX Deuteronomy 34:8

Septuagint
7 And Moses was one hundred and twenty years old at his death; his eyes were not dimmed, nor were his natural powers destroyed. 8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in Arabah of Moab at Jordan near Jericho thirty days; and the days of the sad mourning for Moses were completed. 9 And Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of knowledge, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the children of Israel listened to him; and they did as the Lord commanded Moses.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Deuteronomy

References

"... In Deuteronomy 34:8, the Septuagint plus “on the Jordan across from Jericho” has parallels in Numbers 26:3, 63; 31:12; 33:48; and 36:13 and can be understood as an alignment with the stereotyped phrase “in the plains of Moab on the Jordan across from Jericho” in the final third of the book of Numbers. In this case, the LXX of Deuteronomy 34 reflects what could be called a “Pentateuch-oriented variant.” A similar “Pentateuch-oriented variant” is found in verse 9 in the Samaritan Pentateuch ..."
Stephen Germany, “The Attestation of the Book-Seam between Deuteronomy and Joshua in the Early Textual Witnesses,” in Book-Seams in the Hexateuch I: The Literary Transitions between the Books of Genesis/Exodus and Joshua/Judges, ed. Christoph Berner and Harald Samuel (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018), 103–120.

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 34:8 and LXX Deuteronomy 34:8

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