Deuteronomy 34:8

8 And the {Israelites} wept [concerning] Moses thirty days; [finally] the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were completed.

Deuteronomy 34:8 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 34:8

And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of
Moab thirty days
According both to Josephus ^F14 and the Samaritan Chronicle ^F15, they cried and wept in a very vehement manner, when he signified to them his approaching death, and took his leave of them; and when he was dead they mourned for him, in a public manner, the space of time here mentioned, the time of mourning for his brother Aaron, ( Numbers 20:29 ) ;

so the days of weeping [and] mourning for Moses were ended;
on the eighth of Nisan or March, as says the Targum of Jonathan, and on the "ninth" they prepared their vessels and their cattle for a march, and on the tenth passed over Jordan, and on the "sixteenth" the manna ceased, according to the said paraphrase.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 Ut supra. (De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 49.)
F15 Apud Hottinger, p. 456.

Deuteronomy 34:8 In-Context

6 And he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor. But until this day no one knows his burial site.

7 {Now Moses was a hundred and twenty years old} {when he died}; {his sight was not impaired and his vigor had not abated}.

8 And the {Israelites} wept [concerning] Moses thirty days; [finally] the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were completed.

9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses had placed his hands on him, and the {Israelites} listened to him, and they did as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

10 And not again has a prophet arisen in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face,

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "sons/children of Israel"