If Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, how can the last of Deuteronomy describe his burial?

Question

I have always wondered this. Certainly no one, even one as great as Moses, could describe his own funeral, could he?

Answer 1

But Catholic tradition does not necessarily maintain that Moses wrote every letter of the Pentateuch as it is to-day, and that the work has come down to us in an absolutely unchanged form. This rigid view of the Mosaic authorship began to develop in the eighteenth century, and practically gained the upper hand in the nineteenth. The arbitrary treatment of Scripture on the part of Protestants, and the succession of the various destructive systems advanced by Biblical criticism, caused this change of front in the Catholic camp. In the sixteenth century Card. Bellarmine, who may be considered as a reliable exponent of Catholic tradition, expressed the opinion that Esdras had collected, readjusted, and corrected the scattered parts of the Pentateuch, and had even added the parts necessary for the completion of the Pentateuchal history (De verbo Dei, II, I; cf. III, iv). The views of Genebrard, Pereira, Bonfrere, a Lapide, Masius, Jansenius, and of other notable Biblicists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are equally elastic with regard to the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. Not that they agree with the contentions of our modern Biblical criticism; but they show that to-day's Pentateuchal problems were not wholly unknown to Catholic scholars, and that the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch as determined by the Biblical Commission is no concession forced on the Church by unbelieving Bible students

Answer 2

Some evidence offered to support biblical redaction is that the ending of Deuteronomy (Chapter 34) records Moses' death though it was not Moses who wrote it; the arrangement of the Psalms into five sections is the work of a compiler; and that the Book of Chronicles state they are based on prior writings (1 Chron. 9:1; 27:24; 29:29; 2 Chron. 9:29; 13:22; 6:11; 20:34; 25:26; 27:7; 28:26; 32:32; 33:19; 35:27; 36:8).3 There are other alleged evidences but these will suffice.
Though there are accounts of biblical writers arranging or commenting on events, this does not discount the authenticity or reliability of the biblical documents. It is commonly accepted in conservative scholarly circles that Joshua probably wrote the ending of Deuteronomy. This does not invalidate the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. Likewise, simply arranging material, such as the Psalms, into categories does not affect its inspiration, authenticity, or reliability at all. And, citing other sources for factual reference likewise, in no way reduces the inspiration of the book of Chronicles, or the Bible as a whole. The inspired writer simply used other books, which were not inspired though accurate, in his compilation of the biblical record.
Another twist in redaction criticism is the proposition that there were inspired redactors. That is, those people who compiled and commented on biblical passages were themselves inspired. But, this contradicts the doctrine that the original writings were inspired. After all, if the original writings were inspired, there would be no need for altering the text. It further implies that what is said in scripture is not trustworthy. The gospels, for example, would not then really contain Jesus' words but only the words of redactors who wanted to embellish and/or modify "myth stories" into what was apparently more spiritual and inspirational. With this, deception is implied since the biblical documents claim authenticity and accuracy.
Though it is not within the scope of this paper, redaction criticism is refuted by the evidence of the reliability of the historic documents (dealt with in Textual Criticism), the fact that the prophecies were indeed made and fulfilled, and that the Bible is archeologically accurate. Due to the science of Textual Criticism, the original texts of the Bible can be reconstructed with a great deal of accuracy, their prophetic nature verified, and their inspiration maintained.

Answer 3

This being the fifth roll, or volume, of the Pentateuch, the writer must have been the same as for the preceding four books, namely, Moses. The opening statement identifies Deuteronomy as “the words that Moses spoke to all Israel,” and later expressions, such as “Moses wrote this law” and “Moses wrote this song,” clearly prove his writership. His name appears nearly 40 times in the book, usually as authority for the statements made. The first person, referring to Moses, is used predominantly throughout. The closing verses were added after Moses’ death, most likely by Joshua or by Eleazar the high priest.—1:1; 31:9, 22,

Answer 4

I was told in my Introduction to the Old Testament course that I took (in a state run University, none the less!) that it was common in ancient times for a prominent student of a famous philosopher to append the last book written by his teacher to include an obituary of his teacher. The ancient Greeks, for example, did something similar.

It is commonly assumed that the prophet Joshua (or some later bibical scribe or prophet) wrote the ending of Deuteronomy.

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...Some evidence offered to support biblical redaction is that the ending of Deuteronomy (Chapter 34) records Moses' death though it was not Moses who wrote it; the arrangement of the Psalms into five sections is the work of a compiler; and that the Book of Chronicles state they are based on prior writings (1 Chron. 9:1; 27:24; 29:29; 2 Chron. 9:29; 13:22; 6:11; 20:34; 25:26; 27:7; 28:26; 32:32; 33:19; 35:27; 36:8).3 There are other alleged evidences but these will suffice.

Though there are accounts of biblical writers arranging or commenting on events, this does not discount the authenticity or reliability of the biblical documents. It is commonly accepted in conservative scholarly circles that Joshua probably wrote the ending of Deuteronomy. This does not invalidate the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. Likewise, simply arranging material, such as the Psalms, into categories does not affect its inspiration, authenticity, or reliability at all. And, citing other sources for factual reference likewise, in no way reduces the inspiration of the book of Chronicles, or the Bible as a whole. The inspired writer simply used other books, which were not inspired though accurate, in his compilation of the biblical record....

Answer 5

This is a great Question, and in Judaism, the classical commentators have asked it and come up with two different answers.

According to the Talmud, Moses wrote the verses in tears. Everyone accepts this, but differ on an interpretation.

SOme of the commentators say that it meens he wrote it crying the whole time because he was prophesying his own death. Others say something interesting by taking the Talmud literally. They say he wrote the part about his own death with his tears instead of with ink. When he died, Joshua son of Nun filled in the part on the parchment marked with tears with regular ink.

Answer 6

According to the talmud (aka gemora), in tracate 'baba batra' (litterally 'the last gate'), page 14, there's an entire discussion on who wrote what in the bible (old testament of course). It mentions that Moses wrote all of his book (ie the pentateuch, the Torah, the first 5 books), except for the last 8 sentences, which describe his death. They were written by Joshua. When I say "written", I mean that g-d told him word for word, letter by letter, exactly what to write. Therefore, g-d actually wrote it, using Joshua as his pen. In a way.

Answer 7

That's what most people thought, but the Old Testament was written by many different writers like the New Testament. First stories were orally passed down from generation then someone finally wrote them down collectively over many many years.

Answer 8

jk: No one can describe their own funeral ... no human - ever, except one being given prophetic insight by God because God is not human; therefore, God arbitrarily decides what is going to go into His Book. Jesus Christ had His life from birth to death, to life again, foretold to those living in the past, present and the future !!!
Moses had nothing on Him !!!

Answer 9

Moses did not write the whole Torah. First the author is G-d second there where a few hands on the quill. Moses, Aaron, Joshua for example.

Answer 10

Moses didn't write the commandments. Althought the aurthor is unknown, Deuteronomy wasn't written by Moses.