Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Wikimedia. With text of Deut. 31:22.
Moses Wrote Down this Song, Deuteronomy 31:22 - Which Song?
It seems obvious that the song referred to in God’s speech in Deuteronomy 31 is Ha’azinu, though some verses in this chapter imply that it might be the Torah itself. A redaction critical look at God’s speech suggests that neither of these was the original referent.
Published: September 14, 2018
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Last Updated: September 7, 2026
Additionally, both sections focus on how sons will learn from their fathers what the song teaches, generation after generation (Deut 31:21, 32:7).
Editor’s note: For more on this technique, see Zev Farber,“Wiederaufnahme: The Resumptive Repetition,“ TheTorah.com (2014).
This use of the plural is another sign of redaction, since God is speaking to Moses and Joshua, which is in line with the final form of the text, which includes the appointment of Joshua here. The same redaction appears in 32:44:
דברים לב:מד וַיָּבֹא מֹשֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת בְּאָזְנֵי הָעָם הוּא וְהוֹשֵׁעַ בִּן נוּן.
Deut 32:44 And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the nation –he and Hosea bin Nun.
This is a clear attempt to turn a verse that once described an action taken only by Moses into one that describes a joint action of Moses and Joshua. The redactor did not change the singular verb to plural and add Joshua early on, but tacked him on with a clause at the end of the original sentence.
I am putting aside any discussion of v. 23, which is part of an appointment of Joshua text (vv. 14-15, 23) which is spliced into the chapter at a later stage.
דברים לא:ט וַיִּכְתֹּב מֹשֶׁה אֶת הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת וַיִּתְּנָהּ אֶל הַכֹּהֲנִים בְּנֵי לֵוִי הַנֹּשְׂאִים אֶת אֲרוֹן בְּרִית יְ-הוָה וְאֶל כָּל זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.
Deut 31:9 Moses wrote down this Teaching and gave it to the priests, sons of Levi, who carried the Ark of YHWH’s Covenant, and to all the elders of Israel.
Although the text just called the Torah a witness, it alludes again toHa’azinu by Moses declaring that he is about to “call heaven and earth to witness against them” (וְאָעִידָה בָּם אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ; v. 28). This is followed by Moses repeating God’s message to him to the Levites in slightly different words:
לא:כט כִּי יָדַעְתִּי אַחֲרֵי מוֹתִי כִּי הַשְׁחֵת תַּשְׁחִתוּן וְסַרְתֶּם מִן הַדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִי אֶתְכֶם וְקָרָאת אֶתְכֶם הָרָעָה בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים כִּי תַעֲשׂוּ אֶת הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְ-הוָה לְהַכְעִיסוֹ בְּמַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיכֶם.
31:29 For I know that, when I am dead, you will act wickedly and turn away from the path that I enjoined upon you, and that in time to come misfortune will befall you for having done evil in the sight of YHWH and vexed Him by your deeds.
All this was likely added by the same second editor to bring the reader back to the song after connecting the song with the Torah.
This argument is different from what I put forward in my book. See Tzemah Yoreh, On the Borders of Canaan (USA: Modern Scriptures, 2014), 74-81.
Similarly, Maimonides states that “write this song” is a proof that everyone should write the entire Torah. Mishneh Torah, “Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzah and Sefer Torah” 7:1.
These blessings are hard to see as part of the original song referred to in Deuteronomy 31, which was speaking nationally and not tribally. The tribal blessings allude to specific circumstances, whereas Deuteronomy 31 refers to a more enduring and general composition. Moreover, the blessings are rather discontinuous with the framing, especially the ending which, in context, seems to come out of nowhere after a blessing to the final tribe, Asher.
