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Page 22
(23) V. That in Genesis xxii:14 Mount Moriah is called the mount of God,
[Endnote 9], a name which it did not acquire till after the building of the
Temple; the choice of the mountain was not made in the time of Moses, for
Moses does not point out any spot as chosen by God; on the contrary, he
foretells that God will at some future time choose a spot to which this name
will be given.
(24) VI. Lastly, that in Deut. chap. iii., in the passage relating to Og,
king of Bashan, these words are inserted: "For only Og king of Bashan
remained of the remnant of giants: behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of
iron: is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the
length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a
man." (25) This parenthesis most plainly shows that its writer lived long
after Moses; for this mode of speaking is only employed by one treating of
things long past, and pointing to relics for the sake of gaining credence:
moreover, this bed was almost certainly first discovered by David, who
conquered the city of Rabbath (2 Sam. xii:30.) (26) Again, the historian a
little further on inserts after the words of Moses, "Jair, the son of
Manasseh, took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and
Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashan-havoth-jair, unto this
day." (27) This passage, I say, is inserted to explain the words of Moses
which precede it. (28) "And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the
kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of
Argob, with all Bashan, which is called the land of the giants." (29) The
Hebrews in the time of the writer indisputably knew what territories
belonged to the tribe of Judah, but did not know them under the name of the
jurisdiction of Argob, or the land of the giants. (30) Therefore the writer
is compelled to explain what these places were which were anciently so
styled, and at the same time to point out why they were at the time of his
writing known by the name of Jair, who was of the tribe of Manasseh, not of
Judah. (31) We have thus made clear the meaning of Aben Ezra and also the
passages of the Pentateuch which he cites in proof of his contention. (32)
However, Aben Ezra does not call attention to every instance, or even the
chief ones; there remain many of greater importance, which may be cited.
(33) Namely (I.), that the writer of the books in question not only speaks
of Moses in the third person, but also bears witness to many details
concerning him; for instance, "Moses talked with God;" "The Lord spoke with
Moses face to face; " "Moses was the meekest of men" (Numb. xii:3); "Moses
was wrath with the captains of the host; "Moses, the man of God, "Moses, the
servant of the Lord, died;" "There was never a prophet in Israel like
unto Moses," &c. (34) On the other hand, in Deuteronomy, where the law which
Moses had expounded to the people and written is set forth, Moses speaks and
declares what he has done in the first person: "God spake with me " (Deut.
ii:1, 17, &c.), "I prayed to the Lord," &c. (35) Except at the end of the
book, when the historian, after relating the words of Moses, begins again to
speak in the third person, and to tell how Moses handed over the law which
he had expounded to the people in writing, again admonishing them, and
further, how Moses ended his life. (36) All these details, the manner of
narration, the testimony, and the context of the whole story lead to the
plain conclusion that these books were written by another, and not by Moses
in person.
(37) III. We must also remark that the history relates not only the manner
of Moses' death and burial, and the thirty days' mourning of the Hebrews,
but further compares him with all the prophets who came after him, and
states that he surpassed them all. (38) "There was never a prophet in Israel
like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." (39) Such testimony
cannot have been given of Moses by, himself, nor by any who immediately
succeeded him, but it must come from someone who lived centuries afterwards,
especially, as the historian speaks of past times. (40) "There was never a
prophet," &c. (41) And of the place of burial, "No one knows it to this
day."
(42) III. We must note that some places are not styled by the names they
bore during Moses' lifetime, but by others which they obtained subsequently.
(43) For instance, Abraham is said to have pursued his enemies even unto
Dan, a name not bestowed on the city till long after the death of Joshua
(Gen. xiv;14, Judges xviii;29).
(44) IV. The narrative is prolonged after the death of Moses, for in
Exodus xvi:34 we read that "the children of Israel did eat manna forty
years until they came to a land inhabited, until they came unto the borders
of the land of Canaan." (45) In other words, until the time alluded to in
Joshua vi:12.
(46) So, too, in Genesis xxxvi:31 it is stated, "These are the kings that
reigned in Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel."
(47) The historian, doubtless, here relates the kings of Idumaea before that
territory was conquered by David [Endnote 10] and garrisoned, as we read
in 2 Sam. viii:14. (48) From what has been said, it is thus clearer than the
sun at noonday that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses, but by someone
who lived long after Moses. (49) Let us now turn our attention to the books
which Moses actually did write, and which are cited in the Pentateuch; thus,
also, shall we see that they were different from the Pentateuch. (50)
Firstly, it appears from Exodus xvii:14 that Moses, by the command of God,
wrote an account of the war against Amalek. (51) The book in which he did so
is not named in the chapter just quoted, but in Numb. xxi:12 a book is
referred to under the title of the wars of God, and doubtless this war
against Amalek and the castrametations said in Numb. xxxiii:2 to have been
written by Moses are therein described. (52) We hear also in Exod. xxiv:4 of
another book called the Book of the Covenant, which Moses read before the
Israelites when they first made a covenant with God. (53) But this book or
this writing contained very little, namely, the laws or commandments of God
which we find in Exodus xx:22 to the end of chap. xxiv., and this no one
will deny who reads the aforesaid chapter rationally and impartially. (54)
It is there stated that as soon as Moses had learnt the feeling of the
people on the subject of making a covenant with God, he immediately wrote
down God's laws and utterances, and in the morning, after some ceremonies
had been performed, read out the conditions of the covenant to an assembly
of the whole people. (55) When these had been gone through, and doubtless
understood by all, the whole people gave their assent.
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