Here in all likelihood we have the writing of another hand. The section contains the story of the death of Moses, the equipment of Joshua for his work, with a last tender reference to the great leader and lawgiver.
The passing of Moses was full of beauty. As we have seen, his exclusion from the land towards which his face had so long been set was in fact a punishment. Yet how wonderfully it was tempered with mercy.
His force had not weakened. Everything ended in full strength. He went up to die and Jehovah gave him a vision of the land and buried him in the valley.
The last words are almost of the nature of a wail of sorrow. "And there hath not arisen a prophet... like unto Moses."
Notwithstanding this, a promise already had been made by God to Moses and uttered by him in his second discourse, "I will raise thee up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee." Long centuries elapsed and at last that Prophet came, and in His coming was greater than Moses.
Thus ends the last Book of the Pentateuch. The nation created for regeneration among the nations is seen standing on the margin of the possession of their land. The highways of the biblical revelation have led us thus far. The great story will now move on through the history of this people to the coming of the promised One.