“These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel beyond the
Jordan; in the wilderness, in the Arabah, over against Suph, between
Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.”

Thus, Deuteronomy opens – with a convention. Moses gathered the people. For what purpose? In his
own words, here in Deuteronomy 1, we read: “…beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, took Moses
upon himself to expound this law…” It would be an inspired lecture series by none other than God’s
loyal servant, Moses. He committed himself to clarifying crucial aspects of divine Torah.

Abravanel’s introduction to Deuteronomy begins on an autobiographical note: “As a twenty-year-old
youth in my homeland…. I was stirred to ask a question of great import, a question of authorship. Was
Deuteronomy given to the prophet at Mount Sinai or had Moses spoken these things to his co-
religionists as his own accord?”

A youthful Abravanel posed his query to leading thinkers and Bible scholars of his time. To no avail. He
found their answers lacking and superficial. Acknowledging the daunting task at hand, Abravanel
promises he “will elucidate it in a compelling manner” fully aware that his “discourse must be
comprehensive and multifaceted owing to the fact that all earlier and latter predecessors shied away
from tackling the topic's complexities…”

It is not feasible to quote Abravanel’s introduction here in its entirely. Nonetheless, his insight and
approach are too important to gloss over. With that in mind, below is a thumbnail digest.

The bare truth about Deuteronomy is this. Moses prepared his presentation of the commandments for
his fellow Jews as his departing words. A deeply devoted pedagogue’s last tutorial, it consisted of his
own notes jotted down over an illustrious career, brilliant tenure.

God saw it differently. After Moses had finished teaching, the Creator bid him to insert the lecture series
into the Torah – as is. Or possibly, God added His editorial comments as the loyal scribe sat to write
Deuteronomy.

Be that as it may, Moses’ valediction came about as a result of his own initiative. Its writing, however,
did not. Not a letter, let alone a word. This point is crucial to put in bold print, underline, and exclaim!

How could the truth be different? How could a mortal's work product sit alongside the Creators?
Indeed, God dictated Deuteronomy word for word to Moses, just as He had with the four earlier books.
God, for His part, stood in full accord with the seer. His loyal emissary's sentiments pleased Him greatly.
That is why He spoke them out to Moses and had him arrange it just so. Acceding to the Almighty's will,
the scribe stilled his own voice.

The Talmudic sages teach methodology and authorship this way. The Torah's text from the beginning to
end were spoken out by the Maker and written down by Moses. But the final eight verses, starting with and "Moses died there" until the Torah's last verse had been dictated by the Holy One to a tearful Moses who transcribed it. Abravanel, not surprisingly, will have more to say about this when the time comes.

The takeaway is that the entire Torah – including Deuteronomy – followed the model just described. A
conduit, the prophet wrote what he heard and internalized.

Of course, much still needs to be fleshed out in the full essay. Among the salient questions are:

  •  Why are the Torah’s first four books written in third person, yet much of Deuteronomy is in first
    person?
  •  Does Deuteronomy clarify commandments and narratives found in the first four books, or are
    new divine directives disclosed?

In closing, note that Abravanel categorically asserts that Deuteronomy is of divine origin. He does not
brook opposition to this conclusion. He goes further, heaping scorn upon scoffers who view authorship
of the Torah differently. See Abravanel’s World for his introduction to Deuteronomy.