Vayeilekh - Deut. 31:1-31:30

This very short Torah portion is joined with Nitzevim, and while there are less than three dozen verses, there are a couple of interesting points that I wanted to bring up concerning the duplication of stories from multiple sources.

Now you may wonder how there can be multiple versions in such a short portion and nobody taking notice of it.

At the beginning of the portion, Moses tells the people that he cannot go with them and that, at age 120, he was done. He then writes a Torah and gives it to the priests who would be carrying the ark.

Except that the priests did not carry the ark (See Numbers 7:9).

He then reminds the priesthood that during the 7th year, perhaps he was referring to the shmittah year, the priesthood would gather all the people together and read the Torah, and to do this always.

Verse 14 appears to be a repeat of this story, but with variations.

In this one, Yahweh tells Moses that his time is near, reminds Moses that the Jews will turn to idolatry and go into exile, and then told Moses a song to write down (which will be revealed in the next chapter). And when Moses finished writing the Torah to the very end, he handed it to the Levites and told them to carry the Torah with them by the Holy Ark that they were assigned to carry.

There is no command to read it to the people, just Moses swearing to the land and the heavens to witness that the Jews would sin and wicked things would happen to them, Then Moses prepared to sing the song.

It appears that this first version was written by the priestly group, which not only showed how special they were, but giving them the power to call the people together to hear a reading by the priesthood.

The second version was not from the priestly caste, but from another, which not only invoked the chastising demeanor of God, repeatedly, but assigns the Torah to the non-priests to carry with them. It is interesting that in later periods, the Levites, having little to do, were assigned as musicians and singers within the Temple, and that the segment that includes the giving of the song does so to those who would be the singers in later generations.

And the other point?

Even though Moses wrote the Torah all the way to the end and gave it to the Levites (version 2), there are still several more chapters left in the book!

It's just something to notice.