"How could Moses be the author of Deuteronomy when his obituary is listed as the last chapter?
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan . . . . So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished . . . .
Deuteronomy 34:1–12
At the time of the writing, books were contained on scrolls. The ending of one book and the beginning of the next were not clearly delineated. In modern translations there are many instances where the last verse is considered the first verse of the next chapter in the Jewish text. This does not mean that there is an error, but that the demarcations are different.
*Likewise, the last chapter of Deuteronomy could as easily be considered the first chapter of Joshua without harming the integrity of the text. This is one possible solution to the inferred contradiction.
*Another possibility is that, having recorded the final words of blessing in Deuteronomy 33:29, another writer completed the story of Moses after his death. Being divinely inspired (2 Timothy 3:16–17), the author noted these last activities of Moses and placed them in the records. Exactly who this author was is a matter of dispute. Whether Joshua, Ezra, Eliazar, or another, the account simply closes out the life of Moses.
Whether we should rearrange the chapters or ascribe a different author to that small portion, there is no contradiction in the text. No truth of Scripture is altered by either of these resolutions to the apparent problem. If, upon your death, someone were to take your journal or personal memoirs and add a short description of your death, you would still be considered the author of the biography."
AIG
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan . . . . So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished . . . .
Deuteronomy 34:1–12
At the time of the writing, books were contained on scrolls. The ending of one book and the beginning of the next were not clearly delineated. In modern translations there are many instances where the last verse is considered the first verse of the next chapter in the Jewish text. This does not mean that there is an error, but that the demarcations are different.
*Likewise, the last chapter of Deuteronomy could as easily be considered the first chapter of Joshua without harming the integrity of the text. This is one possible solution to the inferred contradiction.
*Another possibility is that, having recorded the final words of blessing in Deuteronomy 33:29, another writer completed the story of Moses after his death. Being divinely inspired (2 Timothy 3:16–17), the author noted these last activities of Moses and placed them in the records. Exactly who this author was is a matter of dispute. Whether Joshua, Ezra, Eliazar, or another, the account simply closes out the life of Moses.
Whether we should rearrange the chapters or ascribe a different author to that small portion, there is no contradiction in the text. No truth of Scripture is altered by either of these resolutions to the apparent problem. If, upon your death, someone were to take your journal or personal memoirs and add a short description of your death, you would still be considered the author of the biography."
AIG
