When Moshe attempts to enter the land (Devarim 3:23-28), he is stopped by the words "Rav lach." These words are a reflection of Moshe's own words, in Parshat Korach, "Rav lachem, Bnei Levi." The sages saw it (Sotah 13b) as a matter of Mida k'Neged Mida.
Now, the words "Rav lachem, Bnei Levi" are probably the redactor's. The redactor of EJ and P, that is. Therefore, the words "Rav lach" signify a response to this very late addition to the Torah.
The two matters following "Rav lach," Moshe's virtual tour of the Land, and the Divine command to hand over the leadership to Yehoshua, are reflections of Bamidbar 27:12-23, also a late addition to P.
It is exceptional to find, in Sefer Devarim, references to P at all. For instance, Devarim 11:6 shows no knowledge of Korach, only of Datan and Aviram. Therefore, Devarim 3:23-28 is a late, and very non-typical, addition to Sefer Devarim, the redactor of which must have felt attacked by "Rav lachem, Bnei Levi," with good reason. The writing of Devarim 3:23-28 is his response, "Rav lach."
A similarly new passage is Devarim 4:41-44, which is not older than Bamidbar 35:9-14, which is very late. In this case, it may be that the author of Devarim 4:41-44 is the same as the author of Bamidbar 35:9-14: the redactor of the Torah. The redactor did not choose for "Rav lachem, Bnei Levi," nor did he choose for "Rav lach." He included both P and D, and harmonized the two as far as possible, by adding material, without changing the sources themselves. For some other examples of probable redactorial edits in Sefer Devarim, see our earlier post.
