Deuteronomy 34:5

5 And Moses, the servant of the Lord, was dead there, in the land of Moab, for the Lord commanded. (And then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there, in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said.)

Deuteronomy 34:5 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 34:5

So Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of
Moab
Which formerly belonged to Moab, and was taken from them by Sihon king of the Amorites, and now in the possession of Israel: here on a mountain in this land Moses died; and yet, contrary to the express words of this text, some Jewish writers affirm ^F23 that be died not, but was translated to heaven, where he ministers; yea, that he was an angel, and could not die: but it is clear he did die, even though a servant of the Lord, as he was, and a faithful one; but such die as well as others, ( Zechariah 1:5 ) ; there is a saying of some ^F24 Jews,

``Moses died, and who shall not die?''

no man can promise himself immortality here, when such great and good men die: the Targum of Jonathan says, he died on the seventh of Adar or February, on which day he was born; and it is the general opinion of the Jewish writers ^F25, that he died on the seventh of that month, in the middle of the day, and that it was a sabbath day: though, as Aben Ezra observes ^F26, some say he died on the first of Adar; and Josephus

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 is express for it, that it was at the new moon, or first day of the month; and with this agrees the calculation of Bishop Usher ^F2:

according to the word of the Lord;
according to the prophecy of the Lord, and according to a command of his, that he should go up to the above said mountain and die, ( Numbers 27:12 Numbers 27:13 ) ( Deuteronomy 32:49 Deuteronomy 32:50 ) ; or, as the Targum of Jerusalem, according to the decree of the Lord; as the death of every man is, both with respect to time and place, and manner of it: it is appointed for men once to die, ( Hebrews 9:27 ) ; because it is in the original text, "according to the mouth of the Lord" ^F3; hence some Jewish writers, as Jarchi particularly, interpret it of his dying by a kiss of his mouth, with strong expressions and intimations of his love to him, ( Song of Solomon 1:2 ) ; and no doubt but he did die satisfied of the love of God to him, enjoying his presence, and having faith and hope of everlasting life and salvation; but the true sense is, he died according to the will of God, not of any disease, or through the infirmities of age, but by the immediate order and call of God out of this life.

F23 T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 13. 2. Yalkut & R. Abraham Seba in Tzeror Hammor in loc.
F24 Seder Tephillot, fol. 213. 1. Ed. Basil.
F25 T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 38. 1. Seder Olam Rabba, c. 10. p. 29. Judasin, fol. 10. 1. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 7. 2. so Patricides apud Hottinger, p. 457.
F26 Pirush in Deut. i. 2. so Midrash Esther, fol. 93. 2.
F1 Ut supra, (De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 18.) sect. 49.
F2 Annales Vet. Test. p. 37.
F3 (yp le) "super os", Montanus; "juxta os", Tigurine version.

Deuteronomy 34:5 In-Context

3 and the south part, and the breadth of the field of Jericho, of the city of Palms, till to Zoar. (and the south part, or the Negeb, and the breadth of the plain of Jericho, yea, from the City of Palms, unto Zoar.)

4 And the Lord said to him, This is the land for which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I said, I shall give it to thy seed; (now) thou hast seen it with thine eyes, and thou shalt not pass to it (but thou shalt not cross over to it).

5 And Moses, the servant of the Lord, was dead there, in the land of Moab, for the Lord commanded. (And then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there, in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said.)

6 And the Lord buried him in a valley of the land of Moab, (over) against Bethpeor; and no man knew his sepulchre unto this day. (And the Lord buried him in a valley of the land of Moab, opposite the town of Bethpeor; but unto this day, no one knoweth the place of his burial.)

7 Moses was of an hundred and twenty years when he died; his eye dimmed not, neither his teeth were stirred. (Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; but his eyes had not dimmed, and his strength had not diminished.)