Devarim 31:2-8

2 And he said unto them, I am me’ah v’esrim shanah today; I can no more go out and come in; also Hashem hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Yarden.

3 Hashem Eloheicha, He will go over before thee, and He will make shmad these Goyim from before thee, and thou shalt dispossess them; and Yehoshua (see Nechemyah 8:17 for Aramaic form, Yeshua), he shall go over before thee, as Hashem hath said.

4 And Hashem shall do unto them as He did to Sichon and to Og, melachim of the Emori, and unto the land of them, whom He made shmad.

5 And Hashem shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto kol hamitzvot which I have commanded you.

6 Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of their faces; for Hashem Eloheicha, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor abandon thee.

7 And Moshe called unto Yehoshua, and said unto him in the sight of kol Yisroel, Chazak! (be strong) and of a good courage; for thou must go with this people unto Ha’Aretz which Hashem hath sworn unto their avot to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. [See Yeshayah 49:8; Yn 14:1-3.]

8 And Hashem, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither abandon thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

Devarim 31:2-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 31

Moses being old, and knowing he should quickly die, and must not go over Jordan with the people of Israel, acquaints them with it, and encourages them and Joshua to go over notwithstanding, and not be afraid of their enemies, since the Lord would go with them, and deliver them into their hands, De 31:1-8; and having written the law, he delivered it to the priests, and ordered that it should be read at the end of every seven years before all the people, that they and theirs might learn it, and fear the Lord, De 31:9-13; and whereas the death of Moses was very near, and the Lord foreseeing the people would quickly fall into idolatry, which would bring great calamities upon them, he directed Moses to write a song, which should be a witness for him, and against them, in ages to come; which Moses accordingly did, De 31:14-22; and Moses having given a charge to Joshua, and finished the writing of the law in a book, gave it to the Levites to put it in the side of the ark, De 31:23-27; and then ordered the chief of the tribes to be gathered together, that he might deliver the song, which by the direction and under the inspiration of God he had written, De 31:28-30; which song is recorded in De 32:1-43.