Deuteronomy 34 - Introduction

The Death and Burial of Moses

Moses ascends Nebo and the Lord shows him the Land from Dan to Zoar promised to the Patriarchs, which he is not to enter (Deuteronomy 34:1-4). So he dies, and God buries him, in the land of Moab, no man knowing his grave (Deuteronomy 34:5 f.) his age 120 years, reached with unabated strength. He is mourned by Israel 30 days, and Joshua, whom he consecrated, succeeds him in the people's obedience (Deuteronomy 34:7-9). The Book closes with homage to his incomparable rank as a prophet (Deuteronomy 34:10-12). As the varied phraseology reveals, the passage is a compilation from the main sources of the Pent., each of which must have contained some account of the death of the great leader. For details see the notes. An exact analysis is hardly possible, but -the only uncertainty is in one or two places where the phraseology displays so little that is characteristic that it might have been used by any narrator" (Driver).