Deuteronomy 31:7

7 Then I sent for Joshua. I spoke to him in front of all of the people of Israel. I said, "Be strong and brave. You must go with these people. They are going into the land the LORD promised with an oath to give to their fathers. You must divide it up among them. They will each receive their share.

Deuteronomy 31:7 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 31:7

And Moses called unto Joshua
Who might be at some distance from him, with the tribe to which he belonged. The Targum of Jonathan adds,

``out of the midst of the people:''

and said unto him, in the sight of all Israel;
now assembled together, and what follows was said in their hearing, to make him the more respectable to them:

be strong and of a good courage;
the same that is said to the people in ( Deuteronomy 31:6 ) , and which was still more necessary in him, who was to be their general, and to go at the head of them, and lead them on to battle; and though Joshua was a man of courage and valour, as well as had military skill, as appears by his fight with Amalek, ( Exodus 17:9-13 ) ; yet such an exhortation was not needless, seeing he had so much work to do, and so many enemies to contend with:

for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath
sworn unto their fathers to give them, and thou shalt cause them to
inherit it;
the Targum of Jonathan is,

``which the Word of the Lord hath sworn to give;''

the land of Canaan, thither he must go with them; this was the will and determination of God, and he must go alone without him, Moses, which would be a trial of his courage.

Deuteronomy 31:7 In-Context

5 The LORD will hand those nations over to you. Then you must do to them everything I've commanded you to do.

6 "Be strong and brave. Don't be afraid of them. Don't be terrified because of them. The LORD your God will go with you. He will never leave you. He'll never desert you."

7 Then I sent for Joshua. I spoke to him in front of all of the people of Israel. I said, "Be strong and brave. You must go with these people. They are going into the land the LORD promised with an oath to give to their fathers. You must divide it up among them. They will each receive their share.

8 The LORD himself will go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will never leave you. He'll never desert you. So don't be afraid. Don't lose hope."

9 I wrote down that law. I gave it to the priests, who are sons of Levi. They carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. I also gave the law to all of the elders of Israel.