How did Moses write Deuteronomy if it records his death?

There is no need whatever to take Deut. 34 as written by Moses before his death. Others followed inspired like him. But, as to the contents, Jehovah buried the dead law-giver; and Jude tells us what none had revealed till then. Satan would have turned a willing people to idolize him dead, whom living they strove against. No man knows his sepulchre unto this day. The testimony to the blessed man of God, as in Num. 12:3, better suits the successor to whom it was given of God.

Is it not a portentous thing that men should come to such a pass? To deny the genuineness of the books of Moses is a daring insult, not only to the Scriptures, but to the Son of God Himself. It is giving the lie to the Saviour, and the Judge of all. Yet men are to be found who deny to Moses the Books of the Law — most audaciously of all, the last one that professes to come most directly from his mouth. Nevertheless if there is the least trustworthiness in Deuteronomy, it is what Moses said himself. It is not merely what he collected, or what he caused to be written, but what he uttered also.

Of course by this nobody means — except Jews perhaps — that Moses wrote the last chapter about his death and burial. I do not say it is impossible, and that God might not have revealed these things to him. But there is no need to assume any such anticipation. There is an evident break after the closing and crowning song of Moses; and the last chapter is clearly, in my judgment, added by an inspired person who took up and thus continued the record of the enlarging and developing purposes of God. No need therefore, for any bit of superstition — as I conceive it is — in supposing that Moses necessarily wrote the account of his own death. There are in Scripture evident traces of the hand of an inspired editor — of one raised up by God to put the books of the Bible together. You must remember they came out separately. Not only have they been combined since, but there are, here and there, what one may call inspired insertions. God can give an inspired editor as well as an inspired writer. Every Scripture is inspired, and so was the person who edited it and added these joints and bands when the time came to close the canon of Scripture. It is only unbelief that makes difficulties out of that which is plain enough.

When the Pentateuch was completed Moses directed it to be placed in the side of the Ark (Deut. 31:24, 26). Was this the identical copy of the law found by Hilkiah the high priest seven hundred and fifty years afterwards, amongst the rubbish in the Temple (2 Kings 22:8); or was it a copy transcribed from the original by one of the early kings (Deut. 17:18)? We believe it was the very copy of the law or Pentateuch written by the hand of Moses (2 Chron. 34:14). That Moses was the writer of these five inspired records is evident from the testimony of the books themselves (Deut. 31:9, 24), by Joshua (Joshua 1:7), by Samuel (1 Sam. 12:6-8), by David (1 Kings 2:3), by Solomon (1 Kings 8:53, 56), by Jehovah (2 Kings 21:8), by Josiah (2 Kings 23:2-3, 25) by Jehoiada (2 Chron. 23:16-18), by Hezekiah (2 Chron. 30:16), by Ezra (Ezra 7:6), by Nehemiah (Neh. 13:1), by Daniel (Dan. 9:11-13), by Malachi (Mal. 4:4), by Christ (John 5:45-47), by Peter (Acts 3:22-26), by Stephen (Acts 7), by Paul (1 Cor. 9:9), by all the Jewish writers, ancient and modern, and by the Jewish nation in all ages, by apostates as Mahomet and Julian, by heathen writers as Longinus and Tacitus. Yet in the face of this overwhelming testimony, Divine, Christian, Jewish, and Heathen, men will be found bold enough and bad enough to impugn the authority of the Pentateuch, and deny, too, its Mosaic authorship!

The magnificent conclusion to the blessing of the Tribes (Deut. 33:26-29) forms a perfectly beautiful and fitting close to the pen of inspiration by the hand of Moses. The first eight verses of the concluding chapter of Deuteronomy were probably written by Joshua, and the last four verses by an utterly unknown hand, perhaps by Ezra, the editor and compiler of the Old Testament. This last chapter of the Pentateuch (Deut. 34) is, however, as fully inspired as the first chapter (Gen. 1), and we may again remark that the question of authorship in no wise touches the fact of inspiration: "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God."

Sometimes the question is being raised as to who was the author of Deuteronomy 34 where we find the death and burial of Moses. It probably was Joshua, the friend and successor of Moses (Deuteronomy 34:9) who under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit added this short appendix to the whole work of his predecessor.

Three major divisions will be helpful, In our study of this book. The first, ending with Chapter 4:43, is a resume of Israel's history. The second, from Chapter 4:44 to Chapter 30:20, is an explanation and expansion of the laws previously given to Israel. The third (Chapter 31 to the end) is mainly prophetic, though chapter 34 is necessarily added by a different writer, for it records the death of Moses. It may have been Joshua or Eleazar the high priest who wrote this, but we have no need to know.

The last chapter of Deuteronomy is necessarily an appendix by another hand. It is the account of Moses' death on the mount, and his burial by God, after being shown the land into which he cannot enter. Joshua succeeds him as Israel's leader; but as a prophet in the nearness to God to which he was called, he had no successor until He came who in His own Person stood alone, in life, in death, filling all the mediatorial types, and transcending them by the full measure of His infinite glory, in whose light indeed alone they shine.

As to the last chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, there is scarcely need for a word. No one conceives it as being in the least contradictory of the Mosaic authorship of the entire book, that Joshua or some other inspired narrator should give us the account of the close of the life of the great lawgiver. This fittingly is put at the close of his last book, and captious indeed would be the criticism that would make evil use of it.

Moses willingly did as the Lord commanded, though it was not at that time that Moses was taken away in death (vs.22-23), so that it was still Moses through whom the Lord spoke through chapters 28 to 36, and it was Moses whose address to Israel occupied the whole book of Deuteronomy, except for chapter 34, which records his death and burial by the Lord.

Though Moses continued in leading Israel through nine chapters in Numbers following the occasion mentioned here, and though all the book of Deuteronomy was an address given by Moses to Israel, yet here we find God in advance giving instruction to Moses to appoint Joshua to take his place, telling him also to go up to the Mount Abarim, see the land of Israel from there, and there be taken away in death. This vision of the land and Moses' death are recorded in Deuteronomy 34.

Deuteronomy is the last book of the Pentateuch (Greek for "Fivebook") or of the Thora (Hebrew word for "law"). The unity of the Pentateuch and the Mosaic authorship have often been denied since the 19th century. Criticism has especially focused on the book of Deuteronomy. Some have claimed it was written only at the time of Josiah, or even later.

Starting from 2 Timothy 3:16: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" we can see in the Old as well as in the New Testament that Moses is considered to be the author of Deuteronomy and therefore the time of writing is confirmed. In Deuteronomy 31:9 and 24-26 it is testified that Moses wrote the book and that he gave it to the Levites to keep it. In Joshua 8:32-35 explicit reference is made to Deuteronomy 27:8-12 as "all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before". While mentioning the law of Moses (Thora) in 2 Chron. 34:14 and Neh. 8:1 the book of Deuteronomy is included as well.