Sotah 13b (יג:) — the Talmud in English

They said:

Israel:

This is all that is written here!

And we raised an objection:

And if Moses had not occupied himself

with Joseph’s bones,

would Israel not have occupied themselves with them?

After all, they had all been adjured concerning this, so how could they have allowed Moses to deal with them alone?

But is it not written

“And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried in Shechem”

? This indicates that after Moses died, Israel occupied themselves with him.

And furthermore, if Israel did not occupy themselves with him

after Moses died,

his sons

of Joseph

would they not have occupied themselves with him

? How could they have allowed the rest of the people to deal with him?

But is it not written

concerning Shechem,

“And they became an inheritance for the children of Joseph”

? This indicates that the children of Joseph buried him in their inheritance because he was dear to them.

And we answer:

They said,

Joseph’s sons themselves:

Let him be left

so that all Israel could occupy themselves with him, because

his honor is greater when attended to by many than by few.

And furthermore, they said

Israel concerning Moses:

Let him be left

so that he alone could occupy himself with him, because

his honor is greater when attended to by the great than by the small.

And concerning what is written,

“They buried him in Shechem,”

we raised the question:

What is different about Shechem

—why did they bury him specifically there? And we answer:

Rabbi Hama, son of Rabbi Hanina, said: From Shechem they stole him

his brothers,

and to Shechem we shall return his lost object.

The verses contradict one another: It is written

in the portion of Beshalah,

“And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him,”

which implies that only Moses did so, and not the rest of the people;

and it is written

in the Book of Joshua,

“And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up

from Egypt,” which implies that they all brought him up?

And we answer:

Rabbi Hama, son of Rabbi Hanina, said: Whoever performs a matter but does not complete it, and another comes and completes it, Scripture ascribes to

the latter

who completed it as though he had performed it

in its entirety. Here too, the children of Israel completed his burial; therefore, his bringing up as well is attributed to them.

Rabbi Elazar says: Heaven also removes him from his position of greatness

from one who begins a matter but does not complete it [unless he was prevented by circumstances beyond his control, as Moses died in the wilderness].

As it is written

after Joseph was sold,

“And it came to pass at that time that Judah went down”

: Judah had begun Joseph’s rescue, saying, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?” but he did not complete it.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: He also buries his wife and sons,

as it is written

“And the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died,”

and it is written

“And Er and Onan died,”

who were Judah’s sons.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: Why was Joseph called—

“bones”

during his lifetime?

Because while still alive Joseph said of himself, “And you shall bring up my bones from here,”

because he did not protest his father’s honor, for they said to him

his brothers:

“Your servant, our father,”

and he said nothing to them.

And Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, and some say Rabbi Hama, son of Rabbi Hanina: Why did Joseph die before his brothers?

Because he conducted himself with authority.

It is written:

“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt.”

Rabbi Elazar said: Do not read horad, ‘was brought down,’ but horid, ‘he brought down’—

for he brought Pharaoh’s astrologers down from their greatness,

by interpreting Pharaoh’s dream when they did not know how to interpret it.

It is written:

“And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, bought him.”

Rav said: He bought him for himself

for homosexual intercourse, because of his beauty.

Gabriel came and punished him

he castrated him [with an additional mutilation], for

at first it is written Potiphar, and ultimately

it is written

Potiphera,

because Gabriel mutilated him.

We learned in the Mishna:

Who is as great for us as Moses?

It is written in the portion of Va’ethannan:

“And the Lord said to me: It is enough for you;

do not continue to speak to Me further about this matter.”

Rabbi Levi said: With

rav,

He informed—

with

rav,

they informed him.

With

rav,

Moses informed

the sons of his opponents in the portion of Korah, saying to them:

“It is enough for you,

sons of Levi.” The Holy One, blessed be He, is exacting with the righteous to the measure of a hairsbreadth, and he was punished in the same measure:

with

rav,

they informed him—

“It is enough for you.”

Alternatively:

“It is enough for you”—

you have a master.

And who is he?

Joshua!

For his reign had arrived, and one reign does not encroach upon another.

Alternatively:

“It is enough for you”

means: It is enough for you; do not multiply your requests of Me,

so that people will not say: How harsh is the master,

who neither listens nor is appeased by his disciple,

and how obstinate is the disciple

who keeps entreating.

And why so much so?

Why was his prayer not accepted?

The tanna of the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: According to the camel’s strength is its load

—just as its burden is increased according to the camel’s strength, so, because of his righteousness, the Holy One, blessed be He, was exacting with Moses.

It is written:

“And he said to them: I am today one hundred and twenty years old.”

Why must Scripture state

“today”?

Rather,

“Today my days and years have been completed,”

for he was born on that day.

This teaches you that the Holy One, blessed be He, completes the years of the righteous from day to day and from month to month,

so that they die on the day on which they were born.

As it is written:

“I will fill the number of your days.”

It is written:

“I can no longer go out and come in.”

What does

“go out and come in”

mean? If you say it means literally going out and coming in,

that he was unable to go out and come in because of old age,

but is it not written:

“And Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye had not dimmed, nor had his vigor fled,”

meaning that no moisture of his strength had departed from him;

and it is written:

“And Moses went up from the steppes of Moab to Mount Nebo,”

and it was taught in a beraita: There were twelve steps

stairways

there, and Moses traversed them in one stride

—thus, he had not weakened at all, even on the day of his death?

And we answer:

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan:

What does

“go out and come in” mean?

It refers to words of Torah; this teaches that the gates of wisdom were closed to him

on that day.

It is written:

“And Moses and Joshua went and stood in the Tent of Meeting.”

The tanna taught: That Shabbat

on which Moses died,

was a Shabbat of transition

two companions:

authority was removed from one and given to the other

—the beginning of the day belonged to Moses, and its end to Joshua.

Rabbi Yehuda said: Were the verse not written, it would be impossible

to say it!

Where did Moses die?

In the portion of Reuben, as it is written:

“And Moses went up from the steppes of Moab to Mount Nebo,”

and further: “And Moses died there.”

And Nebo stood in the portion of Reuben, as it is written:

“And the children of Reuben built, and so on,

and Nebo, and so on.” [“

Nebo”

is an expression related to prophecy,

for three prophets died there: Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.]

Thus, he died in the portion of Reuben.

And where was Moses buried?

In the portion of Gad, as it is written

concerning Gad:

“And he saw that the first portion was his,

for there the portion of the lawgiver was hidden.”

And from the portion of Reuben to the portion of Gad, how far was it

the distance?

Four mil.

Those four mil—who transported him?

This teaches that Moses was borne on the wings of the Shekhina

on the wing of His garment of glory, that is, the Holy One, blessed be He, brought him.

And the ministering angels say

concerning Moses:

“He performed the righteousness of the Lord and His judgments with Israel.”

And the Holy One, blessed be He, says

concerning him:

“Who will rise up for Me against the evildoers? Who will stand for Me against the workers of iniquity?”

to rebuke them for My sake.

And Shmuel said:

The Holy One, blessed be He, says:

“Who is like the wise, and who knows the interpretation?”

for he knew how to make a compromise between Me and Israel.

And Rabbi Yohanan said:

The Holy One, blessed be He, says:

“From where can wisdom be found?”

And Rav Naḥman said:

The Holy One, blessed be He, says:

“And Moses died there.”

Simelion

a sage’s name

said:

The Holy One, blessed be He, says:

“And Moses died there, the great scribe of Israel,”

who wrote the Torah.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: Twelve mil by twelve mil—

corresponding to the encampment of Israel.

A Divine voice proclaimed and said: “Moses died, the great scribe of Israel.”

And some say: Moses did not die.

It is written here:

“And he died there,”

and it is written there:

“And he was there with the Lord

forty days and forty nights.” We derive a gzera shava: “there”–“there”:

Just as there he stood and served

before the Lord,

so here he stands and serves.

It is written:

“And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor.”

Rabbi Berekhya said: A sign within a sign

—that is, there are many indications here of the place of Moses’ burial: in the land of Moab, in the valley, opposite Beth-peor.

And even so:

“No man knows the place of his burial.”