60 Itamar Kislev Several scholars have further suggested that the translator of chapters 25–31 did not have chapters 35–40 before him. According to this thesis, the latter chapters were added to the text of Exodus at a later stage and the Hebrew Vorlage which lay before the first translator constituted an earlier stage of redaction, one made prior to the addition of these chapters. The change of translator is understood to reflect the various stages of the development of the biblical text: once these chapters had been incorporated into the Hebrew text, they were translated and added to the Septuagint (5). In this article, I shall employ a similar argument to the one just outlined in order to reconstruct the passage concerning Joshua’s investiture in Numbers 27,12-23. After having informed the reader that God commanded Moses to ascend Mount Abarim to die (vv. 12–14), the passage describes Moses’ request that God appoint his successor (vv. 15-17). God responds to Moses’ appeal, commanding him to appoint a successor by means of a series of specific acts (vv. 18-20a). Joshua’s role is defined in vv. 20b-21, and the text subsequently relates that Moses appointed Joshua, performing the required actions in accordance with God’s command (vv. 22-23). The actions which God commanded Moses to carry out in order to complete Joshua’s investiture were as follows: 1) to take Joshua (v. 18a); 2) to lean his hands upon him (v. 18b); 3) to stand Joshua in front of Eleazar and the community (v. 19a); 4) to publicly appoint him (v. 19b); 5) to place part of his dwh upon him (v. 20a) (6). The fourth action — Joshua’s appointment — is formulated by use of the verb hwx, whose meaning here, as in several other instances in the Hebrew Bible, is “to appoint” (7). The text’s intention appears to be that Moses is to publicly appoint Joshua as his successor (8). I have argued elsewhere, on the basis of various factors and considerations, that v. 19, which includes Moses’ standing Joshua before Eleazar and the community and his public commission, is not part of the (5) See, e.g., A. KUENEN, An Historico-Critical Inquiry into the Origin and Composition of the Hexateuch (London 1886) 79-80 (Dutch original, 1885). (6) On the meaning of dwh and its significance in this text, see I. KISLEV, “The Investiture of Joshua (Numbers 27:12-23) and the Dispute on the Form of the Leadership in Yehud” (forthcoming in VT). (7) Both here and in v. 23, the verb hwx carries the meaning of “to appoint to a task”: cf. also Num 32,38; Deut 3,31; 31,14. 23; 1 Sam 13,14; 25,30; 2 Sam 6,21; 7,11; Neh 5,14; 1 Chr 22,12. See Nachmanides and Sforno to Num 27,19; A. DILLMANN, Numeri, Deutronomium, und Josua (Leipzig 1886) 180; BDB, s.v. hwx, 845; N. LOHFINK, Theology of the Pentateuch (trans. L.M. Maloney; Edinburgh 1994) 240 and n. 27; J. MILGROM, Numbers (JPS; Philadelphia, PA 1990) 326, n. 42; M. WEINFELD, From Joshua to Josiah (Jerusalem 1992) 198 and n. 18 (Hebrew); HALOT, s.v. hwx (3:1011). According to the Samaritan addition to the end of Numbers 27, based on Deut 3,21-22, the verb hwx is understood in its usual meaning as referring to specific verbal content, however. (8) Lohfink, Theology of the Pentateuch, 241-243; D.J. MCCARTHY, “An Installation Genre?”, JBL 90 (1971) 31-41; J.R. PORTER, “The Succession of Joshua”, Proclamation and Presence. Old Testament Essays in Honour of G.H. Davies (eds. J.I. DURHAM – J.R. PORTER; Macon, TX 1983) 104-106. It would appear that the significant differences which exist between the examples adduced by these scholars mean that the examples cannot constitute a sufficient basis for reconstructing the way in which such investitures were performed. They can, nevertheless, provide information concerning those descriptions of investitures which employ the verb hwx. Porter also believes that the use of this verb is typical of descriptions of this sort: PORTER, “The Succession of Joshua”, 107-109.