This is followed by a long section beginning with R. Josiah's account of the honors which Moses rendered Joshua, and the service which he did him in the last days of his life.
After this the close of Moses' life is depicted, a bat kol (heavenly voice) giving warning with increasing insistence of the hours, even of the seconds, that remained for him.
This enumeration of the hours and the conventional formula יצתה בת קול are important for the determination of the dependence of the additions in Deuteronomy Rabbah 11 and the second recension on the original version.
Early in the midrash the angels Gabriel and Zangaziel, "the scribe of all the sons of heaven," are mentioned; but in the last hours of the life of Moses it is Samael, the head of the Satans, whose activity is most conspicuous as he watches for the passing of the soul, while Michael weeps and laments.
The entire passage represented by Deuteronomy Rabbah 11:9-10 is found also, combined in the same manner, in Yalkut Shimoni[10] where the Midrash Petirat Mosheh is given as the source.
[14] As it is based upon a defective manuscript, the manner in which this introduction was connected with the original midrash can not be determined; but what follows the missing portion does not differ essentially from that found in the first recension, although it is somewhat shorter and is changed in arrangement.