How did Moses write Deuteronomy if that is the book in which he died?
Dr. Tony Mariot is a Freelance Research Writer Biblical Antiquity at University of Oxford
Deuteronomy Chapters 31–34: Joshua is installed as Moses’s successor, Moses delivers the law to the Levites and ascends Mount Nebo or Pisgah, where he dies and is buried by God.
Most of what is known about Moses from the Bible comes from the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
The majority of scholars consider the compilation of these books to go back to the Persian period, 538–332 BCE, but based on earlier written and oral traditions.
There is a wealth of stories and additional information about Moses in the Jewish apocrypha and in the genre of rabbinical exegesis known as Midrash, as well as in the primary works of the Jewish oral law, the Mishnah and the Talmud.
Moses is also given a number of names in Jewish tradition. The Midrash identifies Moses as one of seven biblical personalities who were called by various names.
Jekuthiel (by his mother), Heber (by his father), Jered (by Miriam), Avi Zanoah (by Aaron), Avi Gedor (by Kohath), Avi Soco (by his wet-nurse), Shemaiah ben Nethanel (by people of Israel).
Moses is also attributed the names Toviah (as a first name), and Levi (as a family name), Mechoqeiq (lawgiver) and Ehl Gav Ish (Numbers 12:3).
How could Moses have recorded the end of Deuteronomy if he had already died?
First of all, is it possible that the same God Who gave Moses supernatural revelation about what happened at the beginning of the Creation of the Universe (which no human being witnessed) also supernaturally revealed to Moses what would happen at (and after) his death?
God revealed a number of things to Moses about the future that he penned in the Pentateuch — from Israel’s future earthly kings (Genesis 36:31; Deuteronomy 17:14–15) to the coming of Jesus, the King of kings (Genesis 3:15; 12:1–3; 22:18; 49:10; Numbers 24:17; Deuteronomy 18:15–18).
If Moses could write accurately through inspiration about events that would happen hundreds of years after his death, could he not also write about his death? Certainly he could.
It also may be, however, that a Bible believer could reasonably and respectfully make the case that, though Moses wrote the Pentateuch, the last few sentences in Deuteronomy could have been written by another inspired writer (possibly Joshua).
Consider a possible modern-day parallel: What if a mother wrote a 200-page book titled “The Proper Sandwich,” but as she was finishing the final few sentences (after having already concluded her 10 main points) she suffered a stroke and died?
Could her husband and children publish the book and call her the author even though they actually completed the final 10 sentences of the book? Surely few, if any, would think that such actions on the part of the family would be unfair or dishonest.
However, if the mother was called the author but had not written any of the book, such attribution could legitimately be considered deceitful. Or, if she was called the author, but most of the material was written hundreds of years later, that, too, would be a false claim.
In short, the account of Moses’ death serves as no stumbling block to the Christian. Perhaps Moses recorded it by divine revelation prior to his death. Or, perhaps God used Joshua or someone else of his choosing to pen it by inspiration. Either way, one can still be confident that “the Book of the law of the Lord” was “given by Moses” (2 Chronicles 34:14).
