Deuteronomy 1 2 3a 3b 4 5 6 7a 7b 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16a 16b 17 18 19 20 21a 21b 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29a 29b 30 31 32 33 34
34:1 VA YA'AL MOSHEH MEY ARVOT MO-AV EL HAR NEVO ROSH HA PISGAH ASHER AL PENEY YERECHO VA YAREYHU YHVH ET KOL HA ARETS ET HA GIL'AD AD DAN
וַיַּעַל מֹשֶׁה מֵעַרְבֹת מוֹאָב אֶל הַר נְבוֹ רֹאשׁ הַפִּסְגָּה אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי יְרֵחוֹ וַיַּרְאֵהוּ יְהוָה אֶת כָּל הָאָרֶץ אֶת הַגִּלְעָד עַד דָּן
BN (BibleNet translation): And Mosheh went up from the plains of Mo-Av to Mount Nevo, to the summit of the mountain which looks down towards Yerecho. And YHVH showed him all the land, even Gil'ad, and as far as Dan.
As far as Dan! To look from Nevo beyond Gil'ad and reach Dan, Dan would have to be at La'ish (see my note to Deuteronomy 33:22), rather than on the Mediterranean (if he could look from Nevo beyond Yericho or Yeru-Shala'im, then he might see whatever was at that point of the Mediterranean: the key here is the word "AD", which describes a vanishing-point on the horizon, not the wide-angle lens of a panorama)! Which allows us to date the text as post-Joshuaic, let alone post-Mosaic (see Judges 18:1-10): imagine a chief of the Sioux Indians from the 10th century being taken to the summit of the Catskills and shown the land, all the way from a place named Newark to another named New Jersey.
34:2 VE ET KOL NAPHTALI VE ET ERETS EPHRAYIM U MENASHEH VE ET KOL ERETS YEHUDAH AD HA YAM HA ACHARON
וְאֵת כָּל נַפְתָּלִי וְאֶת אֶרֶץ אֶפְרַיִם וּמְנַשֶּׁה וְאֵת כָּל אֶרֶץ יְהוּדָה עַד הַיָּם הָאַחֲרוֹן
BN: And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephrayim and Menasheh, and all the land of Yehudah as far as the distant sea;
But... wait a minute... the division of the land into tribal territories will not happen until Yehoshu'a has incompleted the non-conquest, which is to say taken as much land as he could, and then given up, leaving the unallocated tribes to find their own homes, which is why Dan had the problems that it did. So how could Mosheh know where to look, for Naphtali et al? Again, a much later date for the text.
34:3 VE ET HA NEGEV VE ET HA KIKAR BIK'AT YERECHO IR HA TEMARIM AD TSO'AR
KJ: And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
BN: And the Negev, and the Plain, and the valley of Yerecho, [and] the city of palm-trees, as far as Tso'ar.
NEGEV: Could mean "south" or could be the area of desert known by that name.
34:4 VA YOMER YHVH ELAV ZOT HA ARETS ASHER NISHBATI LE AV-RAHAM LE YITSCHAK U LE YA'AKOV LEMOR LE ZARACHA ETNENAH HER'IYTICHA VE EYNEYCHA VE SHAMAH LO TA'AVOR
KJ: And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.
BN: And YHVH said to him: This is the land which I swore to Av-Raham, to Yitschak, and to Ya'akov, saying: I will give it to your seed; I have enabled you to see it with your own eyes, but you shall not go over there.
34:5 VA YAMAT SHAM MOSHEH EVED YHVH BE ERETS MO-AV AL PI YHVH
KJ: So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
BN: So Mosheh the servant of YHVH died there in the land of Mo-Av, according to the word of YHVH.
EVED YHVH: Which may or may not mean "servant"; as we have seen a hundred times, EVED can mean "servant", or even "slave", but it can also mean "worshipper", and from the evidence of his song and his blessing, and the fierce injunctions of the chapters preceding them in this book, I could make a very strong case for "servant" as a euphemism for "fanatical devotee".
34:8 VA YIVKU VENEY YISRA-EL ET MOSHEH BE ARVOT MO-AV SHELOSHIM YOM VA YITMU YEMEY VECHI EVEL MOSHEH
וַיִּבְכּוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת מֹשֶׁה בְּעַרְבֹת מוֹאָב שְׁלֹשִׁים יוֹם וַיִּתְּמוּ יְמֵי בְכִי אֵבֶל מֹשֶׁה
KJ: And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
BN: And the Beney Yisra-El wept for Mosheh in the plains of Mo-Av thirty days; so the days of weeping in the mourning for Mosheh were ended.
As with the blessings, so with the funeral, the two books of the principal founding-fathers, Ya'akov and Mosheh, both end in precisely the same way, though the number of days of mourning (Genesis 50) was longer for Ya'akov, because Yoseph insisted on both the Egyptian and the Yisra-Eli rites, where Mosheh received only the Yisra-Eli (click here), the 30 days here being ANINUT.
34:9 VI YEHOSHU'A BIN NUN MAL'E RU'ACH CHACHMAH KI SAMACH MOSHEH ET YADAV ALAV VA YISHME'U ELAV BENEY YISRA-EL VA YA'ASU KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ET MOSHEH
KJ: And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.
BN: Now Yehoshu'a bin Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Mosheh had awarded him Smichah; so the Beney Yisra-El listened to him attentively, and did as YHVH instructed Mosheh.
SAMACH MOSHEH: Yes, literally, he "laid his hands upon him", but not in the miraculous-healing sense of the Jesus legends. When an undergraduate completes a university degree, they are awarded Satis in the form of a bachelorhood (should women not get spinsterhoods?). When a student of Jewish law completes their apprenticeship, with or without formal examinations depending on the denomination, they are awarded Smichah, and can now adopt the title Rabbi. So, here, the denoting of Yehoshu'a as his successor, trained and ready.
34:10 VE LO KAM NAVI OD BE YISRA-EL KE MOSHEH ASHER YEDA'O YHVH PANIM EL PANIM
KJ: And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
BN: And there has not arisen a prophet since in Yisra-El like Mosheh, whom YHVH knew face to face...
ASHER YEDA'O: Interesting piece of phrasing, of word-order, generating a very interesting piece of theology. YHVH knew Mosheh face-to-face does not infer, let alone imply, nor even insinuate, that Mosheh knew YHVH face-to-face.
34:11 LE CHOL HA OTOT VE HA MOPHTIM ASHER SHELACHO YHVH LA'ASOT BE ERETS MITSRAYIM LE PHAR'OH U LE CHOL AVADAV U LE CHOL ARTSO
KJ: In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,
BN: Through all the signs and wonders which YHVH sent him to perform in the land of Mitsrayim, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land...
34:12 U LE CHOL HA YAD HA CHAZAKAH U LE CHOL HA MORAH HA GADOL ASHER ASAH MOSHEH LE EYNEY KOL YISRA-EL
KJ: And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.
BN: And in all the power of his hand, and in all the greatness of his teaching, which Mosheh undertook in the sight of all Yisra-El.
MORAH: Terror? Where do the translators get this confusion between "fear" and "teaching"? The point about MORAH is TORAH, of which this is the very last sentence, and therefore, for reasons of poetic symmetry if nothing else, requires the self-reference.
And the same reason for finding a way to insert the the word CHAZAK here. Asimple reminder, when reading this in synagogue, not forget to add the phrase CHAZAK, CHAZAK VE NITCHAZEK at this precise moment of completion.
34:3 VE ET HA NEGEV VE ET HA KIKAR BIK'AT YERECHO IR HA TEMARIM AD TSO'AR
וְאֶת הַנֶּגֶב וְאֶת הַכִּכָּר בִּקְעַת יְרֵחוֹ עִיר הַתְּמָרִים עַד צֹעַר
KJ: And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
BN: And the Negev, and the Plain, and the valley of Yerecho, [and] the city of palm-trees, as far as Tso'ar.
NEGEV: Could mean "south" or could be the area of desert known by that name.
IR HA TEMARIM: Is Yerecho being described as "the city of palms", or is there a conjunction missing, and this is another city. There are vast amounts of Christian theological writings which are certain it is the first of these (click here); and modern Israeli writers now appear to agree (click here). But actually the text does not necessarily endorse it, and shrines to the goddess Tamar would have been found all across both the Negev and the Shephelah, as we know from the tale of Yehudah and Tamar in Genesis 38.
34:4 VA YOMER YHVH ELAV ZOT HA ARETS ASHER NISHBATI LE AV-RAHAM LE YITSCHAK U LE YA'AKOV LEMOR LE ZARACHA ETNENAH HER'IYTICHA VE EYNEYCHA VE SHAMAH LO TA'AVOR
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֵלָיו זֹאת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב לֵאמֹר לְזַרְעֲךָ אֶתְּנֶנָּה הֶרְאִיתִיךָ בְעֵינֶיךָ וְשָׁמָּה לֹא תַעֲבֹר
BN: And YHVH said to him: This is the land which I swore to Av-Raham, to Yitschak, and to Ya'akov, saying: I will give it to your seed; I have enabled you to see it with your own eyes, but you shall not go over there.
34:5 VA YAMAT SHAM MOSHEH EVED YHVH BE ERETS MO-AV AL PI YHVH
וַיָּמָת שָׁם מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד יְהוָה בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹאָב עַל פִּי יְהוָה
BN: So Mosheh the servant of YHVH died there in the land of Mo-Av, according to the word of YHVH.
EVED YHVH: Which may or may not mean "servant"; as we have seen a hundred times, EVED can mean "servant", or even "slave", but it can also mean "worshipper", and from the evidence of his song and his blessing, and the fierce injunctions of the chapters preceding them in this book, I could make a very strong case for "servant" as a euphemism for "fanatical devotee".
34:6 VA YIKBOR OTO VA GA'Y BE ERETS MO-AV MUL BEIT PE'OR VE LO YADA ISH ET KEVURATO AD HA YOM HA ZEH
KJ: And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
BN: And he was buried in a valley in the land of Mo-Av, over against Beit Pe'or; and no man knows where his sepulchre is unto this day.
וַיִּקְבֹּר אֹתוֹ בַגַּי בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹאָב מוּל בֵּית פְּעוֹר וְלֹא יָדַע אִישׁ אֶת קְבֻרָתוֹ עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה
BN: And he was buried in a valley in the land of Mo-Av, over against Beit Pe'or; and no man knows where his sepulchre is unto this day.
And how very odd is that! Should there not be 14 sites claiming to be that place, as there were 14 parts of Osher's body that Eshet (Isis) found, and 14 sites for the sepulchre of Jesus as well as for the Stations of the Cross (which is probably the same thing, as are the 14 water-shrines visited by the Beney Yisra-El on their 40-year wilderness pilgrimage), and 14 for the burial-place of Arthur...
GA'I also surprises me. In Genesis 50:11, Ya'akov was buried in Avel Mitsrayim - an Avel being a "meadow", but more specifically in this context a "cemetery"; and from it the word AVELUT, which is "mourning".
34:7 U MOSHEH BEN ME'AH VE ESRIM SHANAH BE MOTO LO CHAHATAH EYNO VE LO NAS LECHO
KJ: And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
BN: And Mosheh was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
34:7 U MOSHEH BEN ME'AH VE ESRIM SHANAH BE MOTO LO CHAHATAH EYNO VE LO NAS LECHO
וּמֹשֶׁה בֶּן מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה בְּמֹתוֹ לֹא כָהֲתָה עֵינוֹ וְלֹא נָס לֵחֹה
BN: And Mosheh was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
And yet, for that last speech, they had to carry him to the pulpit on some kind of a stretcher (Deuteronomy 31:2).
34:8 VA YIVKU VENEY YISRA-EL ET MOSHEH BE ARVOT MO-AV SHELOSHIM YOM VA YITMU YEMEY VECHI EVEL MOSHEH
BN: And the Beney Yisra-El wept for Mosheh in the plains of Mo-Av thirty days; so the days of weeping in the mourning for Mosheh were ended.
As with the blessings, so with the funeral, the two books of the principal founding-fathers, Ya'akov and Mosheh, both end in precisely the same way, though the number of days of mourning (Genesis 50) was longer for Ya'akov, because Yoseph insisted on both the Egyptian and the Yisra-Eli rites, where Mosheh received only the Yisra-Eli (click here), the 30 days here being ANINUT.
34:9 VI YEHOSHU'A BIN NUN MAL'E RU'ACH CHACHMAH KI SAMACH MOSHEH ET YADAV ALAV VA YISHME'U ELAV BENEY YISRA-EL VA YA'ASU KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ET MOSHEH
וִיהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן מָלֵא רוּחַ חָכְמָה כִּי סָמַךְ מֹשֶׁה אֶת יָדָיו עָלָיו וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ אֵלָיו בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת מֹשֶׁה
BN: Now Yehoshu'a bin Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Mosheh had awarded him Smichah; so the Beney Yisra-El listened to him attentively, and did as YHVH instructed Mosheh.
SAMACH MOSHEH: Yes, literally, he "laid his hands upon him", but not in the miraculous-healing sense of the Jesus legends. When an undergraduate completes a university degree, they are awarded Satis in the form of a bachelorhood (should women not get spinsterhoods?). When a student of Jewish law completes their apprenticeship, with or without formal examinations depending on the denomination, they are awarded Smichah, and can now adopt the title Rabbi. So, here, the denoting of Yehoshu'a as his successor, trained and ready.
See also the opening sentence of Pirkei Avot, which gives us the genealogy of Smichah: "Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly..." The Great Assembly being the Sanhedrin, for which click on the link.
34:10 VE LO KAM NAVI OD BE YISRA-EL KE MOSHEH ASHER YEDA'O YHVH PANIM EL PANIM
וְלֹא קָם נָבִיא עוֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמֹשֶׁה אֲשֶׁר יְדָעוֹ יְהוָה פָּנִים אֶל פָּנִים
BN: And there has not arisen a prophet since in Yisra-El like Mosheh, whom YHVH knew face to face...
ASHER YEDA'O: Interesting piece of phrasing, of word-order, generating a very interesting piece of theology. YHVH knew Mosheh face-to-face does not infer, let alone imply, nor even insinuate, that Mosheh knew YHVH face-to-face.
34:11 LE CHOL HA OTOT VE HA MOPHTIM ASHER SHELACHO YHVH LA'ASOT BE ERETS MITSRAYIM LE PHAR'OH U LE CHOL AVADAV U LE CHOL ARTSO
לְכָל הָאֹתֹת וְהַמּוֹפְתִים אֲשֶׁר שְׁלָחוֹ יְהוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם לְפַרְעֹה וּלְכָל עֲבָדָיו וּלְכָל אַרְצוֹ
BN: Through all the signs and wonders which YHVH sent him to perform in the land of Mitsrayim, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land...
34:12 U LE CHOL HA YAD HA CHAZAKAH U LE CHOL HA MORAH HA GADOL ASHER ASAH MOSHEH LE EYNEY KOL YISRA-EL
וּלְכֹל הַיָּד הַחֲזָקָה וּלְכֹל הַמּוֹרָא הַגָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה מֹשֶׁה לְעֵינֵי כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל
BN: And in all the power of his hand, and in all the greatness of his teaching, which Mosheh undertook in the sight of all Yisra-El.
MORAH: Terror? Where do the translators get this confusion between "fear" and "teaching"? The point about MORAH is TORAH, of which this is the very last sentence, and therefore, for reasons of poetic symmetry if nothing else, requires the self-reference.
And the same reason for finding a way to insert the the word CHAZAK here. Asimple reminder, when reading this in synagogue, not forget to add the phrase CHAZAK, CHAZAK VE NITCHAZEK at this precise moment of completion.
No comments:
Post a Comment