Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Bible Commentaries
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers Ellicott's Commentary
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliographical Information
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on Deuteronomy 31". "Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers". https://studylight.org/commentaries/eng/ebc/deuteronomy-31.html. 1905.
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on Deuteronomy 31". "Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers". https://studylight.org/
Whole Bible (42)Old Testament (1)Individual Books (4)
Verses 1-8
XXXI.
Deuteronomy 31:1-8. MOSES RESIGNS HIS CHARGE AS LEADER TO JOSHUA.
(1) And Moses went and spake.âThe expression is unusual. Possibly it means âwent on to speak.â The Palestine Targum has, âHe went into the house of instruction and spake.â The LXX. have apparently preserved a different reading, and say, âAnd Moses made an end of speaking these wordsâ (like Deuteronomy 32:45), as if the Hebrew were vayâcal instead of vay-yelek. A transposition of two letters would make all the difference.
(2) I am an hundred and
twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in.âThe description of Mosesâ death in Deuteronomy 34:7, says, âhis eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.â Yet he may have felt within himself that his work was done. âI have no longer authority, for the authority is taken from me and given into the hand of Joshuaâ is one interpretation. And it suits with what follows. âThe Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.â
(3) The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee . . . Joshua, he shall go over before thee.âCan it be accidental that Jehovah and Joshua are spoken of in exactly the same language, and that there is no distinguishing conjunction between them, the âandâ of the English Version being supplied? âJehovah, He is going over; Joshua, he is going over.â Verbally, the two are as much identified as âThe God who fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel that redeemed me from all evilâ (Genesis 48:15-16). The prophetical truth of this identification is too remarkable to be missed.
(4) As he did to Sihon and to Og.âThe value of these two conquests, before Israel passed the Jordan, was inestimable, as an encouragement to them to persevere.
(5) According unto all the commandments.âThe Hebrew word for âcommandmentsâ is in the singular, Mitzvah, the principle of action.
(6) Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid.âHere this is addressed to the people in the plural number. The same thing is said to Joshua in the next verse.
(7, 8) And Moses called unto Joshua.âIn these words Moses formally delivers the charge of the people to Joshua, to lead them over Jordan.
He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee.âRepeated by Jehovah Himself (Joshua 1:5). âWill not let thee goâ is the exact meaning of âfailâ here. Comp. Deuteronomy 9:14, âlet me alone.â
Verses 9-13
Deuteronomy 31:9-13. MOSES RESIGNS HIS CHARGE AS LAWGIVER TO THE PRIESTS.
(9-11) And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests . . . And . . . commanded them, saying . . . thou shalt read.âThis must be distinguished from the deliverance of the âbookâ to the Levites in Deuteronomy 31:25-26. The deliverance here must be understood as a charge and a trust conveyed to the priests, making them responsible for the âreading of the law,â and for the instruction of the people. This is the special duty of the priests. They are said to âbearâ the ark of the covenant here; not because they always carried it (they did sometimes, as in Joshua 3:0), but because they were responsible for it, just as they were also responsible for the exposition of the law (Deuteronomy 17:9). This is another example of the distinction between priests and Levites in the book of Deuteronomy.
(10, 11) At the end of every seven years, in the . . . year of release, in the feast of tabernacles . . . thou shalt read this law.âThe fulfilment of this command, as far as the reading of the law is concerned, is described in Joshua 8:34-35; and again âat the feast of tabernaclesâ in Nehemiah 8:0. That the law read on these occasions was especially the book of Deuteronomy appears from the Talmudical treatise Sotah (p. 41), where the reading of it by the king is described as beginning with Deuteronomy 1:1 : âThese are the words.â It is in this connection that the story is told of Agrippa that he wept when he came to Deuteronomy 17:15, âThou mayest not set a stranger over thee.â But they said, âFear not, Agrippa, thou art our brother,â and he then finished the reading. It was read from a platform erected in the forecourt of the temple. From this passage it is clear that the âreadingâ was understood to refer specially to the book of Deuteronomy.
(13) That their children . . . may hear.âIt is obvious from this that the existence of many copies of the law was not contemplated by the writer. Comp. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 : âThese words shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them.â
Verse 14
Deuteronomy 31:14-23. JOSHUA IS APPOINTED BY JEHOVAH TO MOSESâ PLACE.
(14) Thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves.âWhat Moses had already done before Israel (Deuteronomy 31:1-8) is now ratified by Jehovah to Joshua and Moses.
Moses and Joshua went.âWe may compare this scene with that which is described in Numbers 20:25-28, when Aaron and Eleazar went up to Mount Hor, in order that the priesthood might be transferred from one to the other. Elijah and Elisha, in like manner, went together over Jordan, when Elijah was about to depart (2 Kings 2:0). For the last time it is recorded here that Jehovah met Moses face to face in the tabernacle. Their next meeting was on Mount Nebo, and the next âwithin the veil !â
Verse 16
(16) And break my covenant.âWith this, contrast Judges 2:1 : âI said, I will never break my covenant with you.â The phrases are identical in Hebrew. Comp. 2 Timothy 2:13 : âIf we believe not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself.â
Verses 16-19
(16, 19) Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers . . . now therefore write ye this song.âThis prophecy that the children of Israel would forsake Jehovah and break His covenant is not a little remarkable, when we consider His dealings with them as a nation. It is one of the many proofs in Holy Scripture that our Creator is not like the man in our Lordâs parable, who âintending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it.â When He chose Israel to be His people, He knew the risk of doing so, and He provided for it beforehand. Not less when He said, âLet us make man in our image, after our likeness,â did He provide the means of forming in us the Divine character by all that Christ has done. The fall is recorded in the third chapter of Genesis. Redemption and restoration are exhibited in type and symbol in the second chapter. God brought Israel into Canaan in full foreknowledge of what the people would become when there.
Verse 17
(17) Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?âA confession made freely by them at this present day.
Verse 18
(18) I will surely hide my face.ââAs though I did not see (them) in their distressâ (Rashi).
Verse 19
(19) Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness.âThis method of perpetuating the truth was even better adapted to the times and to the condition of the people than the delivery of a written law. It was not possible to multiply copies of the law among them to any great extent; but the rhythmical form of the song would make it easy to be retained in their memories. There is reason to believe that Samuel, the first person who (so far as we know) effected anything of importance towards the establishment of a system of religious education in Israel, employed the same means for the purpose, viz., psalms and spiritual songs. The first companies of prophets were evidently singers and minstrels (see 1 Samuel 10:5-6; 1 Samuel 19:20-24); hence their remarkable influence over Saul. And if they taught the psalms to the people, as they learnt them under Samuel and Davidâespecially historical psalms, like the 78th, 105th, and 106thâa very efficacious means of spreading the knowledge of God in Israel was in their hands.
Verse 21
(21) This song . . . shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed.âAnd it is not forgotten now. St. Paul made special use of it in the last days of the second Temple. This song is a favourite piece of Hebrew poetry to this day. Rashi observes: âThis is a promise to Israel that the law shall not be utterly forgotten by their seed.â
I know their imagination.âHeb., yêtzer, the same word employed in Genesis 6:5; Genesis 8:21. It is the word commonly used in Rabbinical literature for the evil nature or good nature in any man. The nature which they are forming, or making, this day, would be a literal rendering of the sentence in this verse. And yet with all this, He made Balaam say, âHe hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob nor seen perverseness in Israelâ (Numbers 23:21). Comp. 1 Chronicles 28:9, âThe Lord . . . understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts,â and Psalms 103:14, âHe knoweth our frame (yêtzer); He remembereth that we are dust.â
Verse 23
(23) And he (Jehovah) gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge.âThis is the first record of Godâs direct communion with Joshua. He was with Moses on the mount during the first forty days, and âdeparted not out of the Tabernacleâ when they came down (Exodus 24:13; Exodus 33:11). But we have no note of any Divine communication made to Joshua apart from Moses before this. It ratifies Joshuaâs appointment as leader of Israel.
Be strong . . .âComp. Joshua 1:2; Joshua 1:6.
Verses 24-28
Deuteronomy 31:24-28. DELIVERY OF THE BOOKS OF MOSES TO THE LEVITES.
(24) When Moses had made an end of writing.âThis means the completion of the books of Moses as he delivered them to Israel; not merely Deuteronomy, as above, in Deuteronomy 31:9, but the whole, including the song mentioned in Deuteronomy 31:22. The song was probably the end of the book as delivered to them by Moses.
In a book.ââAl-sêpher; upon a roll. The Pentateuch is written upon a single roll to this day.
(25) The Levites, which bare the ark.âObserve this, and comp. Deuteronomy 31:9, above.
(26) In the side of the ark.âMore literally, beside, Rashi says, âThe wise men of Israel differ about this in the treatise Baba Bathra (in the Talmud). Some of them say there was a leaf or slab projecting from the ark outside, and there the book was placed. Others say that it was placed beside the tables of the covenant in the ark itself.â
(28) Gather unto me all the elders.âIn like manner Joshua gave a special charge to the elders at the close of his life (Joshua 23:0).
Verse 29
(29) In the latter days.âA not uncommon prophetical expression, used with some considerable latitude. It occurs for the first time in Genesis 49:1. (See also Numbers 24:14 and Deuteronomy 4:30. ) Some would refer it to the âdays of the Messiah,â and make it almost a technical term. But a comparison of these few passages will show that it cannot be tied strictly to any one period.
Verse 30
(30) And Moses spake . . . the words of this song.âThe exodus of Israel begins and ends with a song of Moses. The song of Exodus 15:0 is usually referred to as the âSong of Moses,â and is thought to be intended in Revelation 15:3-4. But there is a remarkable resemblance between Revelation 15:3 and Deuteronomy 32:3-4, which see.