Chapter Thirty-One
Joshua Appointed to Succeed Moses
31:1 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ 3 The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken. 4 And the LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5 And the LORD will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Undoubtedly a bittersweet moment for Moses, he tells his audience his age and that he is no longer able to get around. He then reminds them that, due to his disobedience, he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land (see Numbers 20:12; 27:13-14; Deuteronomy 1:37; 3:27; 4:21), but not to be worried as YHWH Himself would go before them to destroy and remove the current inhabitants. Moses introduces Joshua as the one God chose to be their next leader (see Deuteronomy 3:21).
Moses relates the soon-to-be engagement of the enemy with the battles won by YHWH when they defeated the Amorite Kings Sihon and Og (see Numbers 21:21-25, 33-35; Deuteronomy 2:31-35; 3:1-7). He will give them over to them to be destroyed (see Deuteronomy 7:2).[1] Moses calls on them to be strong and courageous and not fear these people, YHWH will be with them. He will not stop or leave them.
31:7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. 8 It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
In what might be called today an “installation ceremony,” Moses calls Joshua up in front of the people and tells him to “Be strong and courageous,” as he will lead the people into the Promised Land. He further states that YHWH will go before him and will always be with him, therefore there is no reason to fear or be dismayed (Hebrew ‘ṯē·ḥāṯ’,[2] verb first used in Deuteronomy 1:21, meaning to scare, to shatter; as a noun it refers to terror or something dreadful).
The Law is Written
31:9 Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
Moses wrote God’s law down and gave it to the priests, to the other Levites and to the elders of Israel. These were not individual copies to each person listed, they were to be accessible to them as they will be responsible to teach others and guide leaders in accordance with the law (see Deuteronomy 10:8). The book of the law will be kept in the Ark of the Covenant, see verses 25-26). Some debate whether the “Book of the Law” is only what we call the book of Deuteronomy, or is it all five books of Moses? Some even suggest that only the regulations mentioned in Deuteronomy were written down. While it is true that the five books of Moses constitute the Torah, the law of God, in this context the writing was undoubtedly a reference to the text of Deuteronomy alone (supporting the belief that Deuteronomy was written primarily for the general population).[3]
It was to be read every seven years during the year of release (the Sabbath for the land, see Leviticus 25:1-7), while celebrating the week-long Feast of Booths, one of the three mandatory attendance festivals (see Exodus 23:14, 16-17; 34:22; Leviticus 23:33-43; Numbers 29:12-39; Deuteronomy 16:13-17). All the people, men, women, children, and any sojourners were to assemble to listen to the law being read aloud to them, so that they would all know and be careful to do as the law required of them.
Moses to Write a Song and Joshua Commissioned as Leader of Israel
31:14 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 15 And the LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.
God tells Moses that he will be dying soon and that he should bring Joshua to the Tabernacle so that He can commission him (Hebrew ‘ǎṣǎw·wěn’,[4] a verb meaning to order, to direct, to be commanded) to be the people of Israel’s leader. The scene changes from the gathering of all the people of Israel to the intimate setting of Moses and Joshua before YHWH at the Tabernacle. While there, God’s presence could be seen as a pillar of cloud at the entrance.
31:16 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.
God first talks to Moses, He tells him again that he is about to die and that as a result of his death the people will essentially panic and lose their identity as God’s people. He tells them that they will rise up and rebel as they whore after and serve the false gods of the people they were to remove from the land, which, by doing, would break the covenant between them and God. In response God would leave them and be devoured by His anger. So many evil and troubling things will occur that they will ask, “Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?” And God will hide His face from them because they turned to other gods. However, this horrific prediction could be avoided if Moses can offer them an object lesson in the form of a song.
31:19 “Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. 20 For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. 21 And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” 22 So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.
God wants Moses to write a song (Hebrew ‘šî·rā(h)’,[5] a lyrical song) that was to be taught to the people of Israel. This would be his second song; the first one was offered in celebration of the defeat of Pharaoh’s army (see Exodus 15:1-21). This song was to be another warning, something that every person would be taught and memorize regarding the future falling away (apostasy) of Israel and how God will react to the breaking of the covenant.
After they have settled in the land and have eaten and are full and have grown fat (after accepting the abundance and prosperity given to them from God), they will turn to false gods and serve them, in addition to serving God. When the issues begin from breaking the covenant (such as the curses, evils, and troubles), they can remember this song that will then in turn convict them, standing as evidence against them, as this song was never to be forgotten.
God acknowledges that He knows that the people, even on that day, are still inclined to embrace foreign gods. So, Moses wrote the song and taught it to the people (see verse 30 and Deuteronomy 32:1-43).
31:23 And the LORD commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.”
Then YHWH commissioned Joshua (same word as used in verse 14, most often translated as ‘command’) with the words, “Be strong and courageous…” as he will be the one God uses to bring the people into the Promised Land. He will not be alone; YHWH will be with him.
The Book of the Law
31:24 When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, 25 Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, 26 “Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. 27 For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death!
When Moses was done writing the “Book of the Law” he instructed the Levites (verse nine clarifies that the recipients were the priests) to take the book and place it inside of the Ark of the Covenant as a witness against the people of Israel, as he knows that they are rebellious and stubborn by nature. After hearing what God said about the people in verses 16-18, about how after he dies that the people will rebel against God, Moses tells the priests that he knows that the people, even now, are rebellious, and will be more so after his death.
The Song of Moses
31:28 Assemble to 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. 29 For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”
Moses then instructed them to assemble all the elders and leaders of the people so that he could read to them the song that he wrote. Some believe that Moses was to read the text of the Book of the Law that was just finished. However, the context of these and the following verses imply that he is referring to the reading of the song. There would not be a need to read the law again as he just finished presenting it to all the people of Israel.
The song, often referred to as the “Song of Moses”[6] was written and taught to keep the people from rebelling against God after Moses dies, not just at that time but also in the future. Moses precedes sharing the song by clearly telling them that the days of evil will come, because they will have done what is evil in God’s eyes. This “Song of Moses” is referred by the Jews as the “Hǎ·’ǎzî’·nû,”[7] a title taken from the first word (Deuteronomy 32:1), translated in the next chapter as “Give ear,” a call to listen up.
31:30 Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:
The elders and leaders have been assembled and Moses reads the song to them. The words are presented in the next 43 verses.
Considerations
The Bible contains several songs and other rhythmic forms of poetry, perhaps the most notable being the various songs found in the book of Psalms. Hebrew poetry can be very complex and to fully appreciated generally requires listening to the words in the Hebrew language. While Hebrew (or Biblical) poetry may seem very different than most modern examples of poetry, they are similarly constructed. For the sake of discussion, we need to look briefly at two words that are often heard when describing various poems of the Bible:
Dr. Jeffrey H. Tigay, a Biblical scholar and commentator, offers this observation regarding this song’s basic structure:[8]
The poem Haʾzinu (Shiratt Haʾazinu) is written in the style characteristic of biblical poetry. Most of its lines contain at least two colons consisting of an equal or nearly equal number of stress units, usually three, such as the following:
yaʿaróf ka-matár likḥí
tizzál ka-tál ʾimrati (v. 2)
zekhór yemót ʿolám
bínu shenót dor-va-dór (v. 7)
The most notable feature of biblical poetry is parallelism, whereby the colons in each line are related to each other in one of several ways. In most instances they express the same or similar ideas, with the second colon sometimes intensifying the first; in some cases the second colon contains a contrast with the first; in others, it complements the first. These three types are usually termed, respectively, “synonymous,” “antithetic,” and “synthetic” parallelism. For example:
Synonymous
Give ear O heavens, let me speak
Let the earth hear the words I utter, (v. 1)
Antithetic
Our own hand has prevailed
None of this was wrought by the LORD. (v. 27b)
Synthetic
He fixed the boundaries of peoples
In relation to Israel’s numbers. (v. 8)
The first two types of parallelism create a sort of “thought rhyme,” in place of the sound rhyme that is customary in Western poetry and relatively infrequent in biblical poetry.
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[1] See also commentary under Deuteronomy 7:1-5.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 2865.
[3] See the Introduction to Deuteronomy.
[4] Strong’s Hebrew 6680.
[5] Strong’s Hebrew 7892.
[6] See commentary under Exodus 15:1.
[7] Strong’s Hebrew 238.
[8] Tigay, J. H. (1996). Deuteronomy (p. 508). Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.