Deuteronomy 1:38

38 Joshua, the son of Nun, {your assistant},^[a] will go there; encourage him because he will cause Israel to inherit it.

Deuteronomy 1:38 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 1:38

[But] Joshua, the son of Nun, which standeth before thee
His servant and minister, which this phrase is expressive of:

he shall go in thither:
into the good land, instead of Moses, and as his successor, and who was to go before the children of Israel, and introduce them into it, as a type of Christ, who brings many sons to glory:

encourage him;
with the promise of the divine Presence with him, and of success in subduing the Canaanites, and settling the people of Israel in their land; and so we read that Moses did encourage him, ( Deuteronomy 31:7 Deuteronomy 31:8 )

for he shall cause Israel to inherit it;
go before them as their captain, and lead them into it; fight their battles for them, conquer their enemies, and divide the land by lot for an inheritance unto them; so the heavenly inheritance is not by the law of Moses, and the works of it, but by Joshua, or Jesus, the Saviour, by his achievements, victories, and conquests.

Deuteronomy 1:38 In-Context

36 except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh; he himself shall see it, and to him I will give the land upon which he has trodden and to his sons because {he followed Yahweh unreservedly}.'

37 Even with me Yahweh was angry because of you, saying, 'Not even you shall enter there.

38 Joshua, the son of Nun, {your assistant}, will go there; encourage him because he will cause Israel to inherit it.

39 And your little children, who you thought shall become plunder, and your sons, who do not today know good or bad, shall themselves go there, and I will give it to them, and they shall take possession of it.

40 But you turn and set out [in the direction of] the wilderness by way of the {Red Sea}.'

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "the one standing before you"