TO GRANT OR NOT TO GRANT: THE SELF-CHARACTERIZATION OF MOSES IN DEUTERONOMY 3:12-26.

Many scholars treat the speeches in Deuteronomy as Persian-era pseudepigraphic compositions attributed to Moses to enhance their acceptance among readers and hearers. As part of a larger project this essay examines Moses' self-portrayal in Deuteronomy 3:12-26. After brief observations on the narrator's account of Moses' allotment of the Transjordanian territories of the Amorite kings Sihon and Og in Numbers 21:21-35, this study focuses on Moses' own recollections of that moment in Deuteronomy 3:12-21 and its sequel in 3:23-29. The results reinforce significant negative features that are observable earlier in this address (1:9-18; 1:22-25; and a critical refrain in 1:37; 3:26; 4:21). By casting a literary selfportrait incompatible with the increasing idealization of Moses in Israelite historical and literary traditions over time, they undermine theories of late pseudepigraphic composition of the first address (1:6-4:40). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]