How did Maimonides extend 'write this song' to 'write a complete Torah scroll'?

He argued that since one may not write only the song in isolation, and since the Torah must be complete for the song to be present in it, the obligation necessarily covers the full text.

What does Joshua 8:32's inscription at Mount Ebal reveal about priorities upon entering the land?

Before building cities or waging war for territory, Joshua wrote the Torah publicly on the stones of Ebal -- placing covenant fidelity before military strategy.

What does the tradition that Joshua inscribed the Torah in seventy languages add to the commandment?

It universalizes the obligation -- the Torah written and made legible is Israel's witness before all nations, not only a private possession for Israel alone.

Commandment #156 · Positive · Temple & Worship

Write Ye This Song: Every Israelite and the Torah Scroll

Q: What was the original 'song' God commanded Moses to write in Deuteronomy 31:19?

Ha'azinu -- the great poem of Deuteronomy 32, which was to serve as a witness against Israel if they abandoned the covenant after entering the land.

Q: Why does Maimonides rule that a scroll missing even one letter is invalid?

Because a partial Torah scroll cannot function as the witness Deuteronomy 31:19 describes -- the completeness of the text is essential to its covenantal role.

כְּתִיבַת סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה

Source: Deuteronomy 31:19 · Maimonides, Sefer HaMitzvot, Positive #18

On the last day of his life, Moses received a final instruction: 'Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel' (Deuteronomy 31:19). The 'song' is Ha'azinu (Deuteronomy 32), but Maimonides extended the obligation to the entire Torah: every Israelite must write — or commission — a complete Torah scroll. Joshua 8:32's inscription at Mount Ebal shows the commandment's first execution after Moses' death.

Now Therefore Write Ye This Song

וְעַתָּה כִּתְבוּ לָכֶם אֶת הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת וְלַמְּדָהּ אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל שִׂימָהּ בְּפִיהֶם לְמַעַן תִּהְיֶה לִּי הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת לְעֵד בִּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

"Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel."

Deuteronomy 31:19 — Open in Torah Reader

Deuteronomy 31:19 records God's direct command to Moses: 'write ye this song.' The 'song' is Ha'azinu, the poem of Deuteronomy 32, which serves as a witness against Israel if they abandon the covenant. Maimonides extends the commandment: since the Torah must be preserved and studied, and since the Torah contains this song, every Israelite is obligated to write a complete Torah scroll — or commission one — so as to always have the text available.

The reasoning in Mishneh Torah ('Laws of Torah Scrolls' 7:1) is that one may not write only the portion of the song in isolation; the scroll must be complete, because 'a Torah scroll in which even one letter is missing is not a Torah scroll.' The commandment thus expands from 'write this poem' to 'possess a complete, accurate handwritten Torah.'

He Wrote Upon the Stones a Copy of the Law

וַיִּכְתָּב שָׁם עַל הָאֲבָנִים אֵת מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה אֲשֶׁר כָּתַב לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

"And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel."

Joshua 8:32 — Open in Nevi'im Reader

Joshua 8:32 shows the commandment's first execution after Moses' death. Upon entering the land, Joshua inscribed the Torah on the stones of Mount Ebal — a public, visible copy of the law 'in the presence of the children of Israel.' The public inscription does not replace each individual's obligation to have a personal scroll; it illustrates how deeply the commandment is woven into the first acts of the conquest: before building cities, Israel writes the Torah.

The Mishnah (Sotah 7:5) adds that the inscription at Ebal was in all seventy languages of the nations, so that every people could read the law. Whether or not that tradition is literal history, it captures the theological weight placed on Deuteronomy 31:19: the Torah written, preserved, and made legible is Israel's perpetual witness before God and the nations.

Key Figures

Moses

Moses is the writer of the original (Deuteronomy 31:22: 'Moses therefore wrote this song the same day'). Every Torah scroll written since is an act of participation in what Moses completed on the last day of his life.

Joshua

Joshua's inscription at Ebal (Josh 8:32) is the first post-Mosaic fulfilment of Deut 31:19. His act of writing the Torah publicly, immediately upon entering the land, frames the entire conquest as an act of covenant fidelity before military strategy.

Study Questions

For reflection and group study

What was the original 'song' God commanded Moses to write in Deuteronomy 31:19, and what role was it to play?

How does Maimonides extend the commandment from 'write this song' to 'write a complete Torah scroll'?

What does Joshua 8:32's inscription at Mount Ebal reveal about the priority Israel placed on writing the Torah upon entering the land?

Why does Maimonides rule that a scroll missing even one letter is not a valid Torah scroll?

What does the tradition that the Ebal inscription was written in seventy languages suggest about how Israel understood the commandment?

Read the full passage on writing the Torah in the Torah reader.

Open Deuteronomy 31 in the Bible Reader

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