Deuteronomy 31:14

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

14 And the LORD said to Moses, ¹"Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that ²I may commission him." And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.

Deuteronomy 31:14 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 31:14

And the Lord said unto Moses
Either at the same time, or quickly after; rather, perhaps, the same day:

behold, thy days approach that thou must die;
which does not necessarily imply that he had some days to live, though but few; but that the time of his death drew nigh, his last moments were approaching; the time of his death being, as every man's is, fixed by the Lord, with whom is the number of his years, months, days, and moments, beyond which he cannot pass, ( Job 14:5 ) ;

call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the
congregation, that I may give him a charge;
this looks as if the people had been dismissed after the above exhortations given; and now Joshua was called, and Moses with him, to have a charge given him:

and Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle
of the congregation;
before the Lord. Aben Ezra says, Moses went from the camp of Israel where he was, to the camp of the Shechinah; the Jews pretend to know in what form they walked thither. Moses, they say ^F1, went on the left hand of Joshua; and they went to the tabernacle, and the pillar of cloud descended and separated between them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Debarim Rabba, sect. 9. fol. 244. 2.

Deuteronomy 31:14 In-Context

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."

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.

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.

Cross References

• 1. [Deuteronomy 34:5; Numbers 27:13]
• 2. [ver. 23; Numbers 27:19]