Why did God Himself attend to the burial of Moses? Because of what Moses had done decades earlier in Egypt, when everyone else was busy loading up silver and gold for the exodus. While the Israelites filled their arms with treasure, Moses spent three days and three nights walking silently through the city, searching for one thing—the coffin of Joseph.
Exhausted and faint, he was found by Serah bat Asher, a woman who had lived since the time of Jacob. She led him to a brook where Pharaoh's magicians had sunk Joseph's coffin—a lead casket weighing five hundred talents—so the Israelites could never leave without it. Moses stood at the water's edge and called out: "Joseph, Joseph, you made Israel swear to carry your bones. Do not prevent their redemption." The coffin rose from the depths, floating as lightly as a reed. Moses lifted it onto his shoulders and carried it the entire way out of Egypt, while everyone else carried their gold.
God told him: "You think this was a small thing. By your life, the mercy you have shown is great." So when Moses' own death came, God repaid him in kind. Moses tried everything to avoid dying—he wrote thirteen Torah scrolls on his last day, one for each tribe and one for the Ark. He tried to outrun the sunset, hoping that if the day never ended, the decree could not take effect. God stopped the sun for him, but the decree held.
In his final moments, according to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, Moses seized the angel of death and forced him to walk ahead as Moses blessed each of the twelve tribes. The angel came for him three times. Twice, Moses drove him off by speaking the Shem HaMeforash (שם המפורש), the Ineffable Name. The third time, Moses accepted the judgment. His soul argued with God, protesting that no body had been purer. God agreed—and carried the soul Himself to rest beneath the divine throne.
LI. (1) Now, what was the special merit of Moses, that
God Himself should attend on his burial ? It w^as for the
following reason. When he went down to Egypt and the
time for the redemption of Israel had arrived, all the
Israelites busied themselves with the silver and gold, while
Moses, for three days and three nights, wearied himself
by walking round the city silently searching for Joseph's
coffin, since they could not depart from Egypt without
Joseph, for he had made them promise him before his
death and swear that they would do it, as it is said, ' And
Joseph made the children of Israel swear.'
(2) When Moses was already exceedingly tired, a woman,
Serah, the daughter of Asher, met him, and, seeing him
very faint and weary, she said to him, ' My lord Moses,
why art thou faint?' 'Because,' said he, 'I have been
wandering round the city for three days and three nights
in search of Joseph's coffin, but have not yet been able
to find it.' ' Come with me, and I will show thee where
it is.' Leading him to a brook in that place, she then
related to him that the magicians and wizards of Pharaoh
had made a coffin of lead for Joseph, weighing 500 talents,
and cast it into the brook. They thus spoke to Pharaoh,
' If it please the king, this nation will now not be able
to go forth from this place as it cannot discover Joseph's
coffin.'
(3) Standing by the edge of the brook, Moses exclaimed,
' Joseph, Joseph, thou knowest how thou didst cause
Israel to swear, saying, " The Lord will surely visit you,"
Now bestow glory upon the God of Israel, and do not
prevent their redemption. Beseech, I pray thee, thy
Creator that thou mayest rise from these depths.' Im-
mediately after this the coffin ascended from the depths,
preceded by a bubbling of the waters, floating as lightly as
a reed. Lifting it upon his shoulders, he carried it along,
followed by all the Israelites. They carried the silver and
the gold which they took from Egypt, whilst Moses carried
the coffin. Then said the Lord to Moses, ' Thou sayest
that thou hast in this done a small thing; by thy life, the
142 [LI. 3
mercy which thou hast shown is great, since thou didst not
think of the silver and the gold. I shall, therefore, show
thee the same mercy w^hen thou departest this life. I shall
with My glory bestow kindness on thee.'
(4) Thus, when the time had arrived for Moses to quit
this world, and God said to him, 'Behold, the time
approaches for thee to die,' he exclaimed, ' 0 Lord of
the universe, after having received the law, and having
suffered such weariness, dost Thou tell me, " The day of
thy death draws near "? I shall not die, but will live.'
'Thou canst not, for this is the way of man.' 'Lord of
the universe,' entreated Moses, ' I beseech thee before my
death to allow me to enter and search all the gates of the
heavens and the depths of the earth, that they may see
there is none besides Thee, as it is said, " And thou shalt
know this day, and lay it up in thy heart that the Lord is
God and no one else." ' God said, ' Thou hast written of
Me: " and no one else." I say of thee there has not yet.
arisen in Israel any one like Moses, who knew the Lord
face to face.' What is the meaning of the words, ' Behold,
thy day draws near to its end ' ? K. Simon said, ' The
very day appeared before God, and said, "Lord of the
universe, I shall not move nor end, so that Moses may
continue to live." '
(5) The sages asked, ' What did Moses do as soon as
he knew the day on which he was to die ? E. Janai said,
that on that day he wrote thirteen scrolls, twelve for the
tribes, and one he placed in the Ark. Li the event
of their seeking to falsify a word, they might refer to the
one in the Ark. Then said Moses, ' While I have been
occupying myself with the Torah which is living, the day
has set and the decree is thus annulled.' God then forth-
with made a sign to the heavens, and the day remained at
a standstill, saying, ' I will not set, so that Moses shall
live.' Therefore Job uttered, ' Did not I weep for him that
was in trouble (whose day was fixed), that is, the day was
hardened (fixed) for him?' What is the meaning of the
words, ' Behold, thy day draws near ' ? Just as one man
says to his neighbour, ' Behold, someone has sued thee
before the King.'
(6) He called Joshua, and addressed God thus, ' Lord of
the universe, let Joshua, my servant, be the ruler, and
I shall live.' God replied, ' Serve thou him as he did
serve thee.' Moses then rose up and hastened to the
house of Joshua, who was greatly afraid, and said, ' Moses,
my teacher, has come to me.' When he went out Moses
walked on Joshua's left side. "When they entered the tent
of the congregation, the pill^^r of cloud descended and
separated them; as soon as it departed Moses went up
to Joshua, and asked, ' What did the Word say to thee ?'
And Joshua replied, ' When the Word was revealed to thee,
I knew what was said to thee.' Moses then wept, saying,
' Better one hundred deaths, than one jealousy.' Solomon
explains it thus, that love was as strong as death, and
jealousy as Sheol, i.e., the love which Moses bare Joshua,
and the jealousy which he showed towards him. When
Moses was about to die, God tried to appease him, saying,
' By thy life, as thou hast guarded My children in this
world, so will I in the future world make thee the leader
of My children,' as it is said, ' And He will remember the
days of old.'
(7) This is the blessing with which Moses blessed the
children of Israel before his death. What is the meaning
of the expression, ' Before his death '? The sages say that
Moses took hold of the angel of death, and compelled him
to go before him while he blessed each one of the twelve
tribes. E. Meir says that the angel of death approached
Moses, and said to him, * The Lord has sent me to thee,
because thou must depart on this day.' Moses said, ' I
seek to praise God, as it is said, " I shall not die, but live to
tell of the works of God." ' ' But why,' said the angel, ' art
thou so boastful ? for there are others who praise Him; the
heavens and the earth glorify Him every hour, as it is said,
" The heavens declare the glory of God." But I wall
silence them,' continued Moses, * as it is said, "Listen, 0
heavens, while I speak." ' For the second time the angel
144 [LI. 7
of death approached him, but as soon as Moses uttered the
' Shem Hammeforash ' (Ineffable Name), he fled, as it is said,
'When I call upon the name of the Lord, bring ye
greatness to our God.' When the angel of death approached
him the third time, Moses said, ' It is now necessary for me
to justify the Divine judgment upon me,' for it is said,
' The Eock, whose work is perfect.'
(8) E. Isaac said that the soul of Moses refused to depart
from him, so that Moses communed with it, saying, 'Dost
thou aver that the angel of death tried to overcome thee ?'
' God will not do this,' it replied, 'for " thou hast delivered
my soul from death."' 'Has he caused thee to see them
crying, and made thee weep with them?' ' No, for " (thou
hast delivered) my eye from tears." ' 'But did he try to
make me fall among them (the people) ?' ' " Thou hast
prevented my foot,"' said it, '"from slipping.'" 'And
where wilt thou in the future walk ?' The soul replied, ' I
shall walk before the Lord in the lands of the living.' As
soon as Moses heard this, he exclaimed, 'Eeturn, 0 my soul,
to thy rest.' E. Abin said that as soon as they departed the
mortals glorified God, saying, ' Moses has commanded us a
law, an everlasting inheritance to the congregation of Jacob/
