the writing concerned specified sanctions in an entirely different covenant; and Deut 17:18 and 30:10 allude only to general instructions and provisions. The only Pentateuchal passage that refers comprehensively to a written tōrā is Deut 31:9, where we are told that “Moses wrote down this tōrā.” This particular statement points either to the portions of Deuteronomy that precede, as most moderns assume, or to the poetic sections which follow, as some scholars believe. In neither event could the Pentateuch