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Samaritan Deuteronomy

Samaritan Penteteuch

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Chapter 34

1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And Shema showed him all the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, and to the western sea. 2 This verse is excluded. 3 This verse is excluded. 4 And Shema said to him: “This is the land which I swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross there.”

5 So Moses the servant of Shema died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Shema. 6 And he buried him in Giyya in the land of Moab,⁠ opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 And Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim, nor had his vitality faded.

8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plain of Moab for thirty days. Then the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses ended. 9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hand on him. And the children of Israel obeyed him, and did as Shema commanded Moses.

10 And no prophet like Moses has arisen in Israel since then, whom Shema knew face to face, 11 in all the signs and the wonders, which Shema sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, 12 and in all the mighty hand, and in all the great vision, which Moses performed in the eyes of all Israel.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 34:6 and Samaritan Deuteronomy 34:6

Hebrew Bible · Samaritan

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Summary

In Deuteronomy, Moses is buried in a valley in Moab, and no one knows where his grave is. The Samaritan Pentateuch interprets the word for the valley as a place name, Giyya, which puts Moses in a specific place rather than an unnamed valley.

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

Samaritan Deuteronomy 34:6

Samaritan · Samaritan Penteteuch
5 So Moses the servant of Shema died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Shema. 6 And he buried him in Giyya in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 And Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim, nor had his vitality faded.
130–120 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Samaritan Deuteronomy

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 ..."
Konrad Schmid, Is There Theology in the Hebrew Bible?, CSHB 4 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015), 95.

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 Samaritan Deuteronomy 34:6

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