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Deuteronomy 34 narrates Moses’ death, burial, and the mourning that follows. Philo explains how Moses could write this account by having him predict his own death while still alive, describing it as though it had already happened.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 34:5
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.
Philo, On the Life of Moses 2.291
Classical
290 These things, therefore, are wonderful; and most wonderful of all is the end of his sacred writings, which is to the whole book of the law what the head is to an animal. 291 For when he was on the point of being taken away and was standing, as it were, at the very starting-line, ready to fly away and complete his journey to heaven, he was once more inspired and filled with the Holy Spirit, and while still alive he prophesied admirably what would happen to him after his death: that is, he related how he died when he was not yet dead, and how he was buried with no one present to know his tomb, because in fact he was entombed not by mortal hands but by immortal powers, so that he was not laid in the tomb of his ancestors, having received a special grace which no man ever saw; and he told further how the whole nation mourned him with tears for a whole month, showing their private and public sorrow for his unspeakable benevolence towards each individual and towards the whole host together, and for the wisdom with which he had ruled them. 292 Such was the life and such the death of Moses, king, lawgiver, high priest and prophet, as recorded in the sacred scriptures.
Date: 40 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... Mos 2,288-291 tells that Moses' twofold nature of soul and body was re
solved by God into a single unity, v o u s . When he was being exalted the
divine spirit fell upon him and he prophesied his own end [...] This is only an explanation of why the
Pentateuch, attributed to Moses, contains an account of Moses' death. The
parallel story in Virt. 72-79 does not add much to the material, but QG
1,86 gives a more detailed account of Moses' destiny. Generally death is
not the end for worthy and holy men; it is a translation and approach to
another place. Moses, however, was a special case: ...”
* 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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