If Moses wrote the Torah (1st 5 books of the Bible) How can he describe his own death and keep writing?

Question

Deuteronomy 34:5

"And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said."

I accept the FACT this is just a few lines away from the END of the Torah.


Also, why is it in 3rd person then? I would not write a book and say "then David did this..."

It would be correct to say "then I did this"

Thoughts?

Answer 1

There are several instances when the Torah seems to fall out of step with Mosaic authorship, when it really doesn't. The most logical answer is Moses wrote the Torah, and after his death a few literary updates were made. Nothing that changed the history just place names, and side comments.
For example:
Genesis 11:28, 31 refer to "Ur of the Chaledees" which did not come into existance until 100 years later.
Genesis 14:14 Referes to the place called DAN, however it wasn't called DAN until after moses. It was orginally called Laish.
Genesis 12:3 is the statement about Moses' humility. Obvisoulsy if we believe that Moses wrote the book, and we see his character through it then we know he didn't write that. Someone added that after his death...
and that brings us to Deut. 34. It only makes sense that someone would tack on the ending to his life...after he died.

Answer 2

The traditional Jewish view is that G-d gave the Torah to Moses and Moses merely copied it down. But of course, we must always remember that Moses had lived for many years in Egypt, and had benefited from the sophisticated culture he experienced there. So some Jews, who don't believe that the Torah is literally the word of G-d, instead think Moses was indeed the 'real' author. That said, it seems fairly logical to conclude that Moses did not write ALL of the Torah; there are two or three distinct writing styles and 'voices'. One point often raised as 'proof' that Moses was not the author is that in the Torah the death of Moses is discussed, and also events that happened AFTER he died. Religious Jews will counter this by saying that as Moses was a great prophet, he could foresee events in the future. But the fact is: we just don't know! My own personal view: Moses DID write some, even most of the Torah. He was the most educated and the most intellectually sophisticated one there. Another key point: if the Torah was not given by G-d to Moses, how did the huge gathering of Israelites all hear the voice of G-d? This national revelation is a key 'event' in Jewish history. Sorry this is not a definitive answer. The Torah can be read and understood on many different levels; indeed, Jewish traditional belief says that 'everything' can be found in the Torah. So maybe the answer to this is in there - IF we only know where and how to look for it :) Hope that helps a bit to address your post :)

Answer 3

If you accept the fact that it is just a few lines away from the end of the Torah, then you should be able to accept the fact that one of Moses' followers finished off the book for him after his death.

Using the third person is a common way of story telling, especially when clarity over the ages becomes an issue. I believe that the writers of the Bible knew that their texts would be read and scrutinized throughout the ages here on earth. You can look at the four Gospels and see the same theme... with the writers referring to themselves in the third person for the sake of clarity.

Answer 4

Ever hear of Ghost writing?

Moses isn't the only guy whose body of work expanded trememdously after his death. Look at Robert E. Howard, who wrote nearly two thirds of the Conan novels over a period of about 30 years after his death in the early 1930's.

It just makes sense that when you don't have to worry about keeping body and soul together, you can get a lot more done.

It just goes to show that death ain't that big a deal. And isn't that what Religion is really about?

Answer 5

It is believed that Joshua took over the writing and finished it for Moses. Also, the books don't HAVE to be all by Moses. For example, the book of Judges is about people judging Israel but was not written by the judges themselves.

Answer 6

Well, theoretically, he could have done so if what he wrote was dictated by God, and it was therefore a prophecy.

However, Moses did not write all of the material in the Torah. It was written by several people over time.

Answer 7

I think in my own little personal opinion that the part of the bible where moses ask God let me see your Glory and God says you can not see my face because no man can look upon it and live but has him hide in the mountain. And the bible says that he saw the back wher God has already been I think it was then that he saw everything and wrote about it.

Answer 8

lol beacause the torah was the word of God...Then God sent down jesus(PBUH) with the gospel and confirmed the torah and then god sent down the gospel to jesus(PBUH) as Gods Word...and then the seal of prophets followed muhammed(PBUH) and to him was given the quran...the Book and Guide for mankind until the Hour has begun..

Reason why its 3rd person because man has changed it like they have changed the gospel...The Quran Is the only PURE word of God Now...im not saying you wont find still some of the words of god in the bible or torah but they have been changed and the fact they have been changed they are not Gods words anymore...The Quran has never been changed will never be cahanged and can never been changed...God challenged anyone to write a chapter like the quran 1400 years ago till now no one has completed that challenge because god told us they cannot do it...he will protect it to judgement day

peace

Answer 9

Continued by Joshua

Answer 10

This is why Jewish people only belive in the old testament, and my mother used to always tell me that Jesus was Jewish.Funny, brother's name was David, and most of my kids have bible names, must run in the fam.