Moses died and the people moved on: A hidden narrative in deuteronomy

Abstract

The Torah states that Moses died at the age of 120, a ripe old age at which to die. Nevertheless, his death is usually considered tragically premature, as it came before completing his life mission to reach the Promised Land. This interpretation, however, is not the only possible way to approach the story of Moses’ end. From among the numerous references in the Torah that present the grounds of the fate of the protagonist, a different narrative can be extracted. This article traces the historical-literary relationship of the Deuteronomic references to God’s decisions about Moses’ end. It reveals a narrative according to which Moses’ death has come in the right place and at the right time in the people’s life, while the latter survived the journey and reached the promised land.