Bible Study with David Ha’ivri

Part two of introduction to the Book of Joshua.

According to the tradition the Torah is considered to be devine and transcribed by Moses, Moshe Rabanu. Rabbis have referred to the last 7 verses as being written by Joshua because they speak of the death of Moshe and it doesn’t seem logical that Moses would be the author of the story of his own death. In any case the last chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy could be considered an introduction to the book of Joshua as it tells of the transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua. Let take a look inside: Deuteronomy Chapter 34 verse 1 through 3.

Moses went up from the steppes of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, opposite Jericho, and the LORD showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan;  all Naphtali; the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; the whole land of Judah as far as the Western Sea; the Negeb; and the Plain—the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar.

In these verses there are 8 or 10 translations that I have some comments on, if I were the translator I would write the following:

Moshe  went up from the plains of Moav to Mount Nevo, to the highest summit, across from Jericho, and the LORD showed him the entire land: Gilead as far as Dan;  all Naphtali; the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; the whole land of Yehuda as far as the Western Sea; the Negev; and the plaza of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar.

Morfix translates the Hebrew word ערבה “Arava” as: wilderness, steppe, plain; (biblical) desert. While the word steppe is included here, I personally am not familiar with the word and it is not really in my vocabulary. Please let me know if you find it as a convenient translation.

In the words Moav, Nevo and Negev for some reason the translator chose to use the letter V instead of B. In Hebrew the Bet and Vet are the same basic letter pronounced differently. In modern Hebrew the Bet ב is marked with a dot in its middle.