Deuteronomy 31:16

16 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will arise and go a whoring after the strange gods of the land, into which they are entering: and they will forsake me, and break my covenant, which I made with them.

Deuteronomy 31:16 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 31:16

And the Lord said unto Moses
Out of the pillar of cloud:

behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers;
a phrase expressive of death, frequently used both of good and bad men, which serves to render death easy and familiar, and less formidable; and to assure and lead into an expectation of an awaking out of it, or a resurrection from it:

and this people will rise up;
in their posterity; for not till after Joshua's death, and the death of the elders of Israel, did they revolt to idolatry, ( Joshua 24:31 ) ;

and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither
they go [to be] amongst them;
that is, after the gods of the Canaanites, who though at this time the inhabitants of the land, yet when the children of Israel became possessors of it, they were the strangers of it; and being suffered to continue contrary to the directions God had given to destroy them, would be a means of drawing them into the worship of their idols, expressed here by going a whoring after them, or committing whoredom with them. Idolatry in Scripture is frequently signified by fornication and adultery; and, as foretold, this was the case; see ( Psalms 106:35-39 ) ;

and will forsake me:
their husband, departing from his worship and service:

and break my covenant which I have made with them at Sinai;
and now again in the plains of Moab, and which had the nature of a matrimonial contract; see ( Jeremiah 31:32 ) .

Deuteronomy 31:16 In-Context

14 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, the days of thy death are at hand; call Joshua, and stand ye by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony, and I will give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went to the tabernacle of testimony, and stood by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony.

15 And the Lord descended in a cloud, and stood by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony; and the pillar of the cloud stood by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony.

16 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will arise and go a whoring after the strange gods of the land, into which they are entering: and they will forsake me, and break my covenant, which I made with them.

17 And I will be very angry with them in that day, and I will leave them and turn my face away from them, and they shall be devoured; and many evils and afflictions shall come upon them; and they shall say in that day, Because the Lord my God is not with me, these evils have come upon me.

18 And I will surely turn away my face from them in that day, because of all their evil doings which they have done, because they turned aside after strange gods.