Verse 5. In our version are these words: 'And he was King in Jeshurun.' The Douay reads, 'He shall be king with the most right.' The Breeches Bible has it—'Then he was amongst the righteous people as king.'
Simeon is altogether forgotten in this chapter. Although it is headed 'The blessings of the twelve tribes,' only eleven are mentioned.
Chapter xxxiv., vv. 1 to 4, identifies the land which God swore he would give (but which he did not give) to the Jews for ever.
Verse 2. Which was the 'sea' mentioned here; it would have required good powers of vision to have seen the Mediterranean.
The following is from the pen of Dr. Giles:— 'As it is impossible for a writer to relate his own death, those who maintain that the Pentateuch is the work of Moses, make an exception in favour of the last chapter. Dr. Gray has the following remarks upon this subject:—
'"The account of the death and burial of Moses, and some other seemingly posthumous particulars described in this chapter, have been reduced to prove that it could not have been written by Moses; and, in all probability, these circumstances may have been inserted by Joshua, to complete the history of this illustrious prophet; or were afterwards added by Samuel, or some prophet who succeeded him. They were admitted by Ezra as authentic, and we have no reason to question the fidelity of the account."
'This language is authoritative and dictatorial. Truth, when questioned, comes out purer and brighter for the ideal through which it has passed: whereas error is scorched and withered by the touch of criticism. The chapter before us is admitted by all not to have been written by Moses. Why, then, was it ever attached to the Book of Moses, without some strong mark, to denote that it was only an appendix? It cannot be allowed that Joshua, Samuel, or Ezra, could connive at such a deception. There is internal evidence that neither Joshua nor Samuel made this addition to the Pentateuch; for the word Nabi, rendered in English prophet, indicates an age later than that of Samuel. We learn from the 1st Book of Samuel, chap, ix., v. 9, which was written after Samuel's death, that he who
'Is now called a prophet was before time a seer.
'If, therefore, the xxxiv. chapter of Deuteronomy had been written before, or in the time of Samuel, Moses would have been designated as a seer [in Hebrew, Roech], and not Nabi, a prophet. This exculpates both Joshua and Samuel from having added to the Book of Moses without mark of such addition. There are also other indications in the same chapter that Joshua could not have written it; for he would hardly have written of himself that Joshua the son of Nun was "full of the spirit of wisdom;" neither would he have said, "There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses;" for there was no other prophet to whom Moses could be compared except Joshua himself. The word since implies that many years had passed since the death of Moses, and that many prophets had arisen, none of whom could be placed in comparison with him who led them out of Egypt. Moreover, the words, "no man knoweth of his sepulchre"—i.e., the sepulchre of Moses—"unto this day," are another proof that the chapter was not added by Joshua, for they imply that a considerable space of time had elapsed, during which the sepulchre of Moses remained unknown. As Joshua died only twenty-five years after Moses, these words coming from his mouth would lose half their force, and would, probably, also convey an untruth; for we cannot believe that the great Hebrew legislator was buried clandestinely; or that Joshua, the next in command, and almost his equal, could be ignorant where his body was laid.' The Book we have last examined professes in part to be a repetition by Moses, of various events mentioned in the previous Books; but as there are omissions of former statements, and additions of statements, before left unnoticed, as well as positive disagreements between some portions of the various texts, we are placed in the position of being compelled to deem one or the other as less worthy of our credence. This is at the best an embarrassing position; but our embarrassment is increased when we are gravely assured that both statements are from the pen of the same writer. We are tempted to doubt whether in an age when writing was a task of great difficulty (both from the inferiority of the materials then used, and the general ignorance of the people), any man would be likely to indulge in such long repetitions as those here found, and our inquietude is nowise allayed by the additional assurance that the Book is a revelation from God, especially when we read the list of terrible curses threatened in his name, but we feel that it is impossible a revelation from a loving God could include the directions for wholesale slaughterings of the human family, such as contained in this Book; or that an immutable God could have revealed that he had repented or changed his mind towards his people. There is no feature connected with the Book of Deuteronomy which enables us to place it in a better position than the four 'Books previously examined; its historical and educational character stands on the same basis. In quitting the Pentateuch, I must ask several questions of my readers. 1st. Are you satisfied that Moses is not its author? I have cone with you carefully through every verse, and nowhere have we round anything which should induce us to regard Moses as the author of the first four books; with regard to a portion of the fifth Book, it is possible that a few scattered phrases may lead some to conclude that Moses might have been its author. But this supposition is dissipated when we ascertain that whatever books of the law the Jews possessed, were burnt either prior to, or during their captivity under the Persians. (See 2 Esdras, chap, xiv., v. 21.) 'For thy law is burnt, therefore no man knoweth the things that are done of thee, or the works that shall be done.' I submit, therefore, that there is no evidence whatever to support the hypothesis that Moses is the author of the Pentateuch; against the proposition the evidence assumes a very strong character.
There are numerous verses which I have specially noticed, which it is utterly impossible Moses could have written, as they relate to events which transpired after his death; and there are other passages which are very unlikely to have been the product of his pen, from the mode of reference to himself.