81 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has writ- ten them, and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were writ- ten down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written (21,24-25) 29. Further, as to the finality of mediators, there is even a verbal overlap between the final encomium to Moses in Deut 34,10-12 and the “first ending” to John in 20,30-31 (discussed above), as these summative texts cite as their first point of evidence both Moses and Jesus as / performers of “signs” (Heb. ‫ ;האותות‬LXX and N.T. σημεια) 30. Finally (with respect to our examination of internal characteristics of Deuteronomy and John), we may observe a note of mystery at the conclusion of each. While, as noted, there is heavy emphasis throughout both on the unique significance of the one mediator between God and the community, both seem to go out of their way to de-emphasize the identity of the author, albeit in somewhat different ways. In the case of Deuteronomy, while the preponderance of the book clearly claims to be Moses’ very words, he is not described as the book’s author (unless that is how one takes ‫ התורה‬in Deut 31,9.24), and the account of his death in the final chapter has always bedeviled attempts to attribute authorship to him 31. In the instance of John, one is left with something of a Russian matryoshka doll. As early as John 1,14, the author’s presence is explicit (via “we”), and his identity is disclosed in John 21,24, as the “beloved disciple”, “who is testifying to these things and has written them” 32. 29 Indeed, at points such as this John’s Gospel verges on positing a parallel between Moses and the beloved disciple as revelators of God — understandable enough, given the Gospel’s claim from the outset that Jesus not only reveals God (John 1,18) but is God (John 1,1; 5,18; 10,30). On the matter of the suffi- ciency claims of the Gospel’s ending, see also John 20,30-31 (discussed above), which likely represents the original ending to the Fourth Gospel and which also simultaneously claims that much more could be (and has been?) written, but that the reader has in hand what is true and essential. 30 Neither Deuteronomy nor John goes quite so far as Rev 22,18-19 in ex- plicitly cursing anyone who adds or takes away from their contents, but both seem quite clearly to be saying: “This is all, and this is enough”. 31 The most extreme example of an attempt to deal with this problem is surely that of Josephus (A.J. 4.8.48), who holds that Moses was inspired to write the account of his own death. 32 Indeed, the authority of the “beloved disciple” as the human authority