Hebrew פרדס (pardes) appears thrice in the Tanakh; in the Song of Solomon 4:13, Ecclesiastes 2:5 and Nehemiah 2:8. In those contexts it could be interpreted as an "orchard" or a "fruit garden".
Alter suggests that it is unintelligible in his translation of the Torah:
The Hebrew 'eshdat, anachronistically construed by later Hebrew exegetes to mean "fire of the law," is not intelligible ... this translation embraces the proposal that the text originally read 'esh d[oleq]et (burning, or racing, fire) or something similar.
And this book says that it is often understood to mean "slope":
Most English translations consider it a form of the word 'ashed (or 'eshed), meaning slope ... The problem with 'eshdat, however, is lexical: the form as it is found in Deuteronomy 33:2 is not quite the same as what one sees elsewhere in the OT.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
The next expression in the same verse is no less problematic. That which is translated either “firey law” or “flashing lightning” is “eshdat” in Hebrew, being a term that appears nowhere else. If broken in two it is: “e’sh” – fire – and “dat” – meaning “law, edict” or “manner of things.” However, “dat” is found only in Esther, one time in Ezra and in the Aramaic sections of Daniel, making its usage here, at such an early stage, totally doubtful. According to the B.D.B Lexicon “eshdat” was originally “esh yokeh-dat,” that is “burning fire” (with the first two syllables now missing). [1] According to this viewpoint we should read, “On His right (-that is, the right hand side) is a burning fire.”
Of course and the term appears in Ezra and other early texts.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
FWIW I wonder whether יִפָּרֵ֔ד in Genesis 2:10 is a reflection of the Persian root of pardes. Just a guess. No one knows why gardens are called pardes in Persian
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
...the term appears in Ezra and other early texts.
I want to say that I'm keeping an open mind here. I wasn't aware of this issue until now.
I'm not sure if you are referring to dat, but if so the link I gave above says it is "found only in Esther, one time in Ezra and in the Aramaic sections of Daniel, making its usage here [in Dt. 32:3], at such an early stage, totally doubtful."
Those are all late writings (excepting Dt. 32:3).
So far my impression is that one doubtful word is not enough to overturn the idea that Jeremiah could have written Deuteronomy.
You know in spite of all you gained, you still have to stand out in the pouring rain.
I think Persian period is early. These are all pseudepigraphal texts. I think the widespread recognition of Jewish forgery efforts cleared the way for Christian forgeries. Even the term is redundant. They're all fake. Trump's use of "fake news" to justify dishonesty is only the modern take
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote