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Deuteronomy 31

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Moses Encourages Israel and Names Successor 1–8

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And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.
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And he said unto them, I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: and Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan. ​
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Jehovah thy God, he will go over before thee; he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt dispossess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as Jehovah hath spoken. ​
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And Jehovah will do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and unto their land; whom he destroyed.
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And Jehovah will deliver them up before you, and ye shall do unto them according unto all the commandment which I have commanded you.
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Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be affrighted at them: for Jehovah thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. ​
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And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good courage: for thou shalt go with this people into the land which Jehovah hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. ​
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And Jehovah, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

The Reading of the Law Commanded 9–13

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And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and unto all the elders of Israel. ​
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And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, ​
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when all Israel is come to appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
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Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and thy sojourner that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Jehovah your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; ​
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and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear Jehovah your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over the Jordan to possess it.

God Charges Joshua and Prophesies Apostasy 14–23

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And Jehovah said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. ​
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And Jehovah appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud: and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent. ​
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And Jehovah said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and play the harlot after the strange gods of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. ​
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Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us? ​
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And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.
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Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach thou it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. ​
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For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxed fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant. ​
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And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are come upon them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they frame this day, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.
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So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.
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And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of good courage; for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee. ​

The Law Written and Stored 24–30

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And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
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that Moses commanded the Levites, that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, saying,
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Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee. ​
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For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against Jehovah; and how much more after my death? ​
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Assemble unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
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For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. ​
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And Moses spake in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Deuteronomy 31

Verse 2

I can no more go out and come in — Moses was 'an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated' (Deut 34:7), so the words concern his office. To 'go out and come in' is to lead the people, the work Moses asked the LORD to give a successor (Num 27:17). The reason is the LORD's word: 'Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.'

Verse 3

he will go over before thee — The verb abar, to cross over, is used of both leaders in this verse: the LORD 'will go over before thee', and Joshua 'shall go over before thee'. Moses had said the first earlier in this address: 'the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them' (Deut 9:3).

Verse 6

he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee — Raphah, to let go or slacken, with azab, to leave. Moses speaks the words to all Israel, and the LORD repeats them to Joshua after Moses' death: 'as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee' (Josh 1:5). David gave the same assurance to Solomon (1 Chr 28:20).

Verse 7

Be strong and of a good courage — Chazaq and amats, the pair that appears three times in this chapter: Moses says it to the people (v.6), to Joshua (v.7), and the LORD says it to Joshua (v.23). Moses had been told to 'charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him' (Deut 3:28), and the task, to 'cause them to inherit', is the one given there.

Verse 9

Moses wrote this law — He gave it to 'the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark', the tribe the LORD 'separated… to bear the ark of the covenant' (Deut 10:8), and to 'all the elders of Israel'. Moses later finished 'writing the words of this law in a book' (v.24), and the book is then laid beside the ark (v.26).

Verse 10

At the end of every seven years — The reading falls at the 'year of release' (shemittah), which Deut 15:1 sets as 'the end of every seven years', and in the feast of tabernacles, kept on 'the fifteenth day of this seventh month' (Lev 23:34). V.11 gives the command: 'thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing'.

Verse 12

men, and women, and children, and thy stranger — Five verbs follow the gathering: 'hear', 'learn', 'fear', 'observe', 'do'. When Ezra read the law, he read 'before the men and the women, and those that could understand' (Neh 8:3). At the feast of tabernacles he read 'day by day, from the first day unto the last day' (Neh 8:18).

Verse 14

that I may give him a charge — The LORD tells Moses that his days 'approach' (qarab, to draw near), and the charge announced here is given in v.23. Moses and Joshua 'presented themselves' (yatsab, took their stand) at the tent. Joshua had long been there: he 'departed not out of the tabernacle' when the LORD spoke to Moses (Ex 33:11).

Verse 15

in a pillar of a cloud — The cloud 'stood over the door of the tabernacle', as at the tent in the wilderness, when 'the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses' (Ex 33:9). From it the LORD speaks first to Moses (v.16) and then gives Joshua his charge (v.23).

Verse 16

go a whoring after the gods of the strangers — Zanah is the word the LORD used when the covenant was renewed at Sinai: 'they go a whoring after their gods' (Ex 34:15). Judges records it: 'they went a whoring after other gods' (Judg 2:17). The people 'will forsake me, and break my covenant', and the LORD says it to Moses beforehand.

Verse 17

I will hide my face from them — The same words are in the song of Deut 32:20, 'I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be'. The people's question, 'because our God is not among us?', has an answer: 'if ye forsake him, he will forsake you' (2 Chr 15:2). Isaiah waits on 'the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob' (Isa 8:17).

Verse 19

write ye this song — The song is Deut 32, which 'Moses therefore wrote… the same day' (v.22). Two witnesses stand against Israel: this song, which 'shall testify against them as a witness' (v.21) and 'shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed', and the book beside the ark (v.26). Ed, witness, is the word in both.

Verse 20

eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat — The land of milk and honey (Ex 3:8) is the setting of the fall. Moses' song says the same, 'Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked… then he forsook God which made him' (Deut 32:15), and Hosea puts it, 'they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me' (Hos 13:6).

Verse 23

I will be with thee — The LORD gives the charge announced in v.14 and uses the words he spoke to Moses at the bush: 'Certainly I will be with thee' (Ex 3:12). 'Be strong and of a good courage' (chazaq, amats) is the third time in the chapter. Joshua 1:5 repeats it after Moses' death: 'as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee'.

Verse 26

in the side of the ark — Tsad, side. The ark held only the two tables: 'There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone' (1 Kgs 8:9). The book lay beside them 'for a witness against thee'. Hilkiah found 'the book of the law in the house of the LORD' (2 Kgs 22:8), and Josiah sent to enquire 'because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book' (2 Kgs 22:13).

Verse 27

thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck — Meri, rebellion, and a qasheh oref, a hard neck. The charge is that of Ex 32:9, 'it is a stiffnecked people', and Moses' own testimony, 'Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you' (Deut 9:24). Stephen applies the same to his hearers: 'Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears' (Acts 7:51).

Verse 29

ye will utterly corrupt yourselves — Shachath, to ruin or corrupt, the verb of the song, 'They have corrupted themselves' (Deut 32:5), and of Judg 2:19, 'when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers'. 'Evil will befall you in the latter days' uses the same verb (qarah) and the same phrase as Jacob's 'befall you in the last days' (Gen 49:1).