Although the Torah tells us that no one knows where Moshe was buried (Devarim 34:6), this is preceded by the Torah telling us that he was buried in the valley in the Land of Moav opposite the House of Peor. The Talmud (Sotah 13b) presents this verse as if it is teasing us, as despite describing precisely where Moshe was buried, it says we won’t be able to find it.
It’s clear that Moshe died on Har Nevo (Devarim 32:50 and 34:5), but there are indications that he wasn’t buried there. For one thing, it says he was buried in a valley, which is not a mountain. Not only that, but the nation camped “in the valley opposite the House of Peor” (3:29 and 4:46), and it’s highly unlikely that they camped on the slopes of a mountain. Additionally, when Moshe blessed the tribe of Gad, he included why they wanted their portion to be on the east side of the Jordan River—because that’s where Moshe would be buried (33:21). Since Nevo was in Reuven’s portion, not Gad’s (see Bamidbar 32:37-38), he must not have been buried there. Because of this issue, the Talmud (Sotah 13b) says that Moshe’s body was carried four mil “on the wings of the Divine Presence” into Gad’s portion. These factors indicate that Moshe was buried somewhere in the valley opposite Peor, near Nevo, but not on Har Nevo itself, right? Not so fast.
Rashi (on Bamidbar 20:22) says explicitly that Moshe was buried on Har Nevo, likely based on Bamidbar Rabbah (19:16) and/or Tanchuma Chukas (14/37). Rashi also says (Bamidbar 21:20) that Moshe died in the valley in the Plains of Moav (which is where the Torah says he was buried), so Rashi is clearly equating this valley with Har Nevo. Ibn Ezra (Devarim 34:6) agrees, connecting the dots by referencing numerous verses. He starts with the end of the song the nation sung about the well (Bamidbar 21:20), which seems to say that the nation traveled from Bamos to “the valley in the field of Moav, at the head of the summit,” indicating that the valley itself is at the head of the summit (“ראש הפסגה”), a term equated with Har Nevo (Devarim 34:1). Since their next destination was Arvos Moav (Bamidbar 22:1), Ibn Ezra assumes that the nation traveled from this valley to Arvos Moav. I’m not convinced a travel itinerary in a song can be connected with the itinerary of the narrative, but (as Ibn Ezara points out) in the list of encampments (Bamidbar 33:48) they did travel from הרי העברים to ערבות מואב, and הר העברים is one of the ways the Torah refers to Har Nevo (Devarim 32:49). The bottom line is that “the valley” and Har Nevo seem to be one and the same, so if Moshe was buried in the valley, he must have been buried on Har Nevo. Or was he?
Did you notice that despite Har Nevo being referred to as הר העברים twice (Bamidbar 27:12 and Devarim 32:49), it’s also referred to as הרי העברים (Bamidbar 33:47-48), using the plural “mountains of”? This supports my suggestion a couple of weeks ago, trying to explain how some say Aharon and Miriam were also buried on Har Nevo—that it refers to a mountain range, not just a single mountain. This could also explain how a mountain could be referred to as a valley, as the valleys between the mountains of a mountain range are included in the mountain range itself. Nevertheless, if Moshe stood on top of one of the mountains to view the Promised Land, he must have descended into the nearby valley (or been brought there on the wings of the Divine Presence) if that’s where he was buried.
The Torah mentions that the nation camped in the valley opposite Peor twice (Devarim 3:29 and 4:46). The second time, it refers to where they were camped when Moshe taught them the Torah (4:44-45), i.e. the speeches that make up the bulk of Sefer Devarim. These were taught at Arvos Moav—the final camp before crossing into the Promised Land—not the camp before it. The “valley” must therefore be Arvos Moav (see Rashbam on 3:29), and not between mountains of the mountain range. This valley—the Jordan Rift Valley—extends from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Kinneret, with the mountain range on its eastern side starting well south of the Dead Sea (which is how Hor HaHar is part of it) and ending just north of the Dead Sea. Because it’s such a large valley, the Torah must tell us which part of Arvos Moav they camped in (see Bamidbar 33:49). Moshe being buried opposite Peor and next to Har Nevo (the northernmost mountain of the mountain range—and possibly what “the head of the summit” means) limits which part of the valley he could have been buried in, but he was apparently buried in this valley, closer to the Dead Sea than to the Kinneret or the Gulf of Aqaba.
Even if the valley adjacent to Har Nevo could also be referred to as Har Nevo, or the mountain adjacent to the valley could be considered part of the valley—thereby allowing Moshe to have been buried both “on Har Nevo” and “in the valley”—we still need to deal with how it was in Gad’s portion, since the southern part of the land that had been Sichon’s (near the Dead Sea) was part of Reuven’s portion, with Gad’s farther north.
It wasn’t uncommon for cities within the boundaries of one tribe to be inhabited by members of a different tribe. This seems to be the case with several cities within Reuven’s portion, which were attributed to Gad (see pages 116-117/112-113 of Atlas Daat Mikra), so Moshe could have been buried in one of Gad’s cities within Reuven’s portion. Although Nevo (the city) was in Reuven’s portion, the mountain that was near it—Har Nevo (or the part of the valley near that mountain)—may have been in Gad’s portion (see Bamidbar 33:47, where הרי העברים is “before Nevo,” implying that Nevo and Har Nevo are separate locations).
Even though Gad knew that Moshe would be buried on the eastern side of the Jordan, they couldn’t have known that he would be buried in their portion rather than Reuven’s (or Menashe’s), since they were also on the eastern side of the Jordan. Gad’s request was likely made because they wanted land where Moshe had actually lived—and led the nation—not because that’s where he’d be buried. [One of the reasons Gad had more cattle than the rest of the nation (see Sha’arei Aharon on Bamidbar 32:1) is that they only ate the manna, and not their livestock, while the others ate both. Without their herds being thinned for consumption, their cattle kept multiplying exponentially. Holding the manna—which fell in Moshe’s merit, and ceased after he died—in such high esteem (and wanting to live where it fell) might have been another reason they asked for that land.] When Moshe said Gad wanted land on the eastern side of the Jordan because he would be buried there, was it because they expected Moshe’s grave to be in their portion, or because the reason Moshe would be buried there was because he wasn’t crossing to the other side, and they wanted land that he had conquered (and not Yehoshua)? It’s therefore possible that Gad was praised for wanting land on the eastern side of the Jordan even if Moshe wouldn’t be buried in their portion. Nevertheless, because they wanted their portion to be where Moshe had lived—and led—God apparently arranged for him to be buried specifically in their portion, even if it meant carrying his body there on the wings of His Divine Presence.
Rabbi Dov Kramer would like to thank Moshe Kinderlehrer, Jill Kirsch and the rest of the Jewish Link staff for allowing him to share his thoughts on geographical issues as they pertain to the parsha. Although this concludes our year-long series (and he looks forward to not worrying about weekly deadlines), with God’s help he will still occasionally share some of his thoughts in these pages. Until then, you can follow him on Twitter or Facebook (@RabbiDMK), and contact him via gmail using that same handle.
