The book of Numbers can be seen as the glue that joins the two major poles of the Pentateuch: the priestly literature and Deuteronomy. Thus the attempts to discern an independent structure for the book were misguided because the book was never intended to function independently of the other books in the Pentateuch. This is apparent in the geographical markers, which move the Pentateuch’s narrative from the Wilderness of Sinai to the plains of Moab. In other words, the narrative of Numbers moves the
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