The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Joshua to Succeed Moses
Deuteronomy 31:1–8 — Joshua to Succeed Moses. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1When Moses had finished speaking these words to all Israel,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
mō·šeh way·yê·leḵ way·ḏab·bêr ’eṯ- hā·’êl·leh had·də·ḇā·rîm ’el- kāl- yiś·rā·’êl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Moses went and-spoke these words to all-Israel.
Where the English smooths the original
And Moses went and spake. —The expression is unusual. Possibly it means “went on to speak.” The Palestine Targum has, “He went into the house of instruction and spake.” The LXX. have apparently preserved a different reading, and say, “And Moses made an end of speaking these words” (like Deuteronomy 32:45 ), as if the Hebrew were vay’cal instead of vay-yelek. A transposition of two letters would make all the difference.Ellicott lays out the textual crux exactly: the Masoretic "went" against the Septuagint's "made an end," two readings a single letter-swap apart.
ויּלך does not mean "he went away" (into his tent), which does not tally with what follows ("and spake"); nor is it merely equivalent to porro, amplius. It serves, as in Exodus 2:1 and Genesis 35:22 , as a pictorial description of what he was about to do, in the sense of "he prepared himself," or rose up. After closing the exposition of the law, Moses had either withdrawn, or at any rate made a pause, before he proceeded to make his final arrangements for laying down his office, and taking leave of the people.Keil reads the verb not as travel but as a vivid "he set himself" — the deliberate composure of a man rising to lay down his office.
It is probable that this rehearsal of the law extended over several successive days; and it might be the last and most important day on which the return of Moses to the place of assembly is specially noticed. In drawing his discourse towards a conclusion, he adverted to his advanced age; and although neither his physical nor intellectual powers had suffered any decay (De 34:7), yet he knew, by a special revelation, that the time had arrived when he was about to be withdrawn from the superintendence and government of Israel.JFB sets the scene: the close of a multi-day rehearsal of the law, Moses turning his discourse toward its end and his own departure.
2he said to them, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem ’ā·nō·ḵî hay·yō·wm mê·’āh wə·‘eś·rîm ben- šā·nāh ’ū·ḵal lō- ‘ō·wḏ lā·ṣêṯ wə·lā·ḇō·w Yah·weh ’ā·mar ’ê·lay lō ṯa·‘ă·ḇōr ’eṯ- haz·zeh hay·yar·dên
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-he-said to-them, A-son-of a-hundred and-twenty year I (am) this-day; I-am- not -able any-more to-go-out and-to-come-in; and-Yahweh has-said to-me, You-shall- not -cross this Jordan.
Where the English smooths the original
I can, no more go out and come in - Render I shall not longer be able to go out and come in: i. e., discharge my duties among you. There is no inconsistency with Deuteronomy 34:7 . Moses here adverts to his own age as likely to render him in future unequal to the active discharge of his office as leader of the people: the writer of Deuteronomy 34:1-12 , one of Moses' contemporaries, remarks of him that up to the close of life "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated"Barnes resolves the apparent contradiction with Deuteronomy 34:7: "go out and come in" is the discharge of office, not bodily vigor — and the vigor was undimmed to the end.
Go out and come in, i.e. perform the office of a leader or governor, either because I now find a decay of my mind and body, which seems not well to agree with Deu 34:7 , or because I foresee the time of my death approaches.Poole names the idiom flatly — "perform the office of a leader" — and weighs the two readings of why Moses must stop.
an hundred and twenty years old ] So P Deuteronomy 34:7 , cp. Exodus 7:7 . As we have seen, dates in the Pent. are nearly all from P; 120 = 3 × 40, the usual round number for a generation.Cambridge reads the age as a schematic figure — three generations of forty years — rather than a strict chronicle.
but Moses must not lead them there, this work was reserved for Joshua, a type of Christ; not Moses and his law, or obedience to it, is what introduces any into the heavenly Canaan only Jesus and his righteousness; see Deuteronomy 3:27 .Gill draws the figural line at once: the lawgiver may not bring Israel in; that work falls to Joshua — "a type of Christ."
There is no need, therefore, for resorting, with Raschi and others, to the expedient of reading "for" instead of "and" in the following clause; as if the cause why Moses could no longer go in and out among the people was God's prohibition of his going over Jordan. This is simply another and collateral reason why he had now to retireThe Pulpit Commentary takes the opposite side of the waw debate flagged in the divergence note: against JFB, Gill, and the Targum (who read "for the LORD hath said"), it keeps the plain "and," treating the Jordan prohibition as "simply another and collateral reason" rather than the cause of Moses' retirement.
3The LORD your God Himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua will cross ahead of you, as the LORD has said.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā hū ‘ō·ḇêr lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā hū- yaš·mîḏ ’eṯ- hā·’êl·leh hag·gō·w·yim mil·lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā wî·riš·tām yə·hō·wō·šu·a‘ hū ‘ō·ḇêr lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā ka·’ă·šer Yah·weh dib·ber
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Yahweh your-God, He (is) crossing-over before-you; He will-destroy these nations from-before-you, and-you-shall-dispossess-them; Joshua, he (is) crossing-over before-you, as Yahweh has-spoken.
Where the English smooths the original
Can it be accidental that Jehovah and Joshua are spoken of in exactly the same language, and that there is no distinguishing conjunction between them, the “and” of the English Version being supplied? “Jehovah, He is going over; Joshua, he is going over.” Verbally, the two are as much identified as “The God who fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel that redeemed me from all evil” ( Genesis 48:15-16 ). The prophetical truth of this identification is too remarkable to be missed.Ellicott's striking observation on the verse's grammar: Yahweh and Joshua are described in identical words, with no conjunction to part them — a parallel he calls "too remarkable to be missed."
But although Moses could not, and was not to lead his people into Canaan, the Lord would fulfil His promise, to go before Israel and destroy the Canaanites, like the two kings of the Amorites; only they (the Israelites) were to do to them as the Lord had commanded them, i.e., to root out the Canaanites (vid., Deuteronomy 7:2 .; Numbers 33:51 .; Exodus 34:11 .).Keil reads the division of labor: God goes before and destroys; Israel's part is to carry out what He commands.
This he said to encourage the people of Israel; that though he should die, and not go over with them, their ever living and true God, the great Jehovah, the Lord of hosts, he would go before them, and fight their battles for them; so that they had nothing to fear from their enemies: and he will destroy those nations from before thee; the seven nations which then inhabited the landGill frames the verse pastorally: the comfort is not in the mortal leader but in the "ever living and true God" who outlasts him and goes before.
4And the LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, when He destroyed them along with their land.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh wə·‘ā·śāh lā·hem ka·’ă·šer ‘ā·śāh lə·sî·ḥō·wn ū·lə·‘ō·wḡ mal·ḵê hā·’ĕ·mō·rî ’ă·šer hiš·mîḏ ’ō·ṯām ū·lə·’ar·ṣām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Yahweh will-do to-them as-he-did to-Sihon and-to-Og, kings of-the-Amorites, and-to-their-land, whom he-destroyed.
Where the English smooths the original
As he did to Sihon and to Og. —The value of these two conquests, before Israel passed the Jordan, was inestimable, as an encouragement to them to persevere.Ellicott on the rhetorical force of the two names: victories already won are the surest argument for victories yet to come.
And the Lord shall do unto them as he did unto Sihon, and to Og, kings of the Amorites,.... Deliver them up into their hands; see the history of this in Numbers 21:10 , and unto the land of them whom he destroyed; put them into the possession of the land of Canaan, as they were now in possession of the land of those two kings he destroyed by them. This instance is given to encourage their faith, assuring them that what had been done to them would be done to the Canaanitish kingsGill points to the history in Numbers 21 and names the verse's purpose plainly: "to encourage their faith."
Sihon … Og ] Deuteronomy 2:32 ff., Deuteronomy 3:1 ff., Deuteronomy 29:7 ; Amorites , Deuteronomy 3:8 .Cambridge catalogues the back-references: the defeat of Sihon and Og has already been narrated three times over in Deuteronomy itself.
5The LORD will deliver them over to you, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh ū·nə·ṯā·nām lip̄·nê·ḵem wa·‘ă·śî·ṯem lā·hem kə·ḵāl- ham·miṣ·wāh ’ă·šer ṣiw·wî·ṯî ’eṯ·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Yahweh will-give-them before-you, and-you-shall-do to-them according-to-all the-commandment that I-have-commanded you.
Where the English smooths the original
According unto all the commandments. —The Hebrew word for “commandments” is in the singular, Mitzvah, the principle of action.Ellicott's single most precise grammatical note on the verse: the "commandments" of the English is one word in Hebrew — mitzvah, "the principle of action."
Before your face, i.e. into your power. See Poole " Deu 1:8 " .Poole renders the idiom directly: "before your face" is a Hebrew way of saying "into your power."
deliver them up before you ] Deuteronomy 1:8 , Deuteronomy 7:2 , etc., with both Sg. and Pl. The change to Pl. here is confirmed by Sam. LXX. all the commandment , etc.] i.e. that in Deuteronomy 7:2 ff.Cambridge identifies the content of "the commandment" as the conquest law of Deuteronomy 7:2, and notes the singular form confirmed by the Samaritan and Greek witnesses.
6Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ḥiz·qū wə·’im·ṣū ’al- tî·rə·’ū wə·’al- ta·‘ar·ṣū mip·pə·nê·hem kî Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā hū ha·hō·lêḵ ‘im·māḵ lō yar·pə·ḵā wə·lō ya·‘az·ḇe·kā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Be-strong and-be-courageous; do- not -fear and-do- not -be-terrified of-them, for Yahweh your-God, He (is) the-one-going with-you; He will- not -let- you -drop nor forsake you.
Where the English smooths the original
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid. —Here this is addressed to the people in the plural number. The same thing is said to Joshua in the next verse.Ellicott catches the grammatical pivot: the charge stands first in the plural to the nation (v. 6), then in the singular to Joshua (v. 7) — the same words, two addressees.
Be strong — In faith in God. He will not fail thee nor forsake thee — Will not leave thee to thyself, but will be always present with thee to assist and make thee successful in thy undertakings. This promise, though made at this time particularly to Israel and Joshua, yet belongs to all believers, Hebrews 13:5 .Benson interprets the strength as faith and draws the line forward himself: the promise "belongs to all believers, Hebrews 13:5" — the very text the apostle would later quote.
Moses assures Israel of the constant presence of God with them. This is applied by the apostle to all God's spiritual Israel, to encourage their faith and hope; unto us is this gospel preached, as well as unto them; he will never fail thee, nor forsake thee, Heb 13:5.Henry reads the promise of presence as the whole point of the unit, and applies it forward to "all God's spiritual Israel" — "unto us is this gospel preached, as well as unto them." His concise note is the patristic-Puritan anchor for the Hebrews 13:5 reading (see the flagged thread).
be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, trusting and relying on him that goes before you; and so take heart, and be of good courage, and act the manly part; the apostle seems to refer to this passage, 1 Corinthians 16:13 , fear not, nor be afraid of themGill hears a New Testament echo in the charge — Paul's "quit you like men, be strong" (1 Corinthians 16:13) — and reads "be strong" as strength in the Lord and the power of his might.
fail thee ] let thee drop ; Deuteronomy 4:31 : not fail nor forsake thee , so Deuteronomy 31:8 , Joshua 1:5 (deuter.), 1 Chronicles 28:20 , Hebrews 13:5 . Sg. is confirmed by Sam. LXX.Cambridge gives the literal force — "let thee drop" — and traces the promise's whole chain through Joshua 1:5, 1 Chronicles 28:20, and Hebrews 13:5.
7Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
mō·šeh way·yiq·rā lî·hō·wō·šu·a‘ way·yō·mer ’ê·lāw lə·‘ê·nê ḵāl yiś·rå̄·ʾēl ḥă·zaq we·’ĕ·māṣ kî ’at·tāh tā·ḇō·w ’eṯ- haz·zeh hā·‘ām ’el- hā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer Yah·weh niš·ba‘ la·’ă·ḇō·ṯām lā·ṯêṯ lā·hem wə·’at·tāh tan·ḥî·len·nāh ’ō·w·ṯām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Moses called to-Joshua and-said to-him in-the-eyes-of all-Israel, Be-strong and-be-courageous; for you, you-will-go with this people into the-land that Yahweh swore to-their-fathers to-give to-them, and-you, you-shall-cause- them -to-inherit it.
Where the English smooths the original
Moses — said to him in the face of all Israel — Lest any should question or deny his authority after Moses’s death. Be strong and of good courage — The same exhortation and promise are given to him in particular, that were before given to them all, because he was to bear the charge of them all, and the toil and burden of governing them, and conducting their affairs.Benson explains both the public setting (so none could later deny Joshua's authority) and why the charge is repeated to him alone: he bears the whole weight of governing.
Moses hands over to Joshua that office as leader of the people, to which he had already been designated Deuteronomy 1:38 ; Numbers 27:23 . He assigns also to the Levitical priests and the elders, as the ecclesiastical and civil heads of the nation, the responsibility of teaching the law and enforcing its observance Deuteronomy 31:10-13 . Both these were symbolic acts, designed to mark the responsibility of the parties concerned after the death of Moses.Barnes reads the scene as a formal, symbolic transfer of responsibility — Joshua's leadership and the priests' teaching office both inaugurated against the day of Moses' death.
את־העם תּבוא, "thou wilt come with this people into the land." These words are quite appropriate; and the alteration of תּבוא into תּביא, according to Deuteronomy 31:23 (Samar., Syr., Vulg.), is a perfectly unnecessary conjecture; for Joshua was not appointed leader of the people here, but simply promised an entrance with all the people into Canaan.Keil defends the Masoretic "go with" against the versions' "bring," reading this verse as a promise of entrance rather than the formal appointment (which comes in v. 23).
8The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh hū ha·hō·lêḵ lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā hū yih·yeh ‘im·māḵ lō yar·pə·ḵā wə·lō ya·‘az·ḇe·kā lō ṯî·rā wə·lō ṯê·ḥāṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Yahweh, He (is) the-one-going before-you; He, He-will-be with-you; He will- not -let- you -drop nor forsake you; do- not -fear and-do- not -be-dismayed.
Where the English smooths the original
the same that brought Israel out of Egypt, had gone before them in the wilderness, and now would go before Joshua and them into the land of Canaan: he will be with thee; to guide and direct, to assist and strengthen, to protect and defend, to give success to his arms, and victory over his enemies: he will not fail thee, neither forsake theeGill binds the promise to the whole history: the God who went before Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness is the same who now goes before Joshua into Canaan.
And the LORD, he it is that doth {d} go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. (d) Signifying that man can never be of good courage, unless he is persuaded of God's favour and assistance.The Geneva note states the verse's theology in one line: courage is impossible apart from the persuasion of God's favor — the presence is the precondition of the command.
See on Deuteronomy 31:6 . On the phrase fear not, neither be dismayed , characteristic of the Sg. passages, see on Deuteronomy 1:21 .Cambridge marks the grammatical signature: "fear not, neither be dismayed" belongs to the singular-address strand — the words spoken to Joshua personally.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens on a textual crux that the editors will not let pass. The Masoretic text reads way·yê·leḵ (H1980), "and Moses went"; the Septuagint read "and Moses made an end," and Ellicott shows the two are a single letter-swap apart — vay'cal for vay-yelek — "a transposition of two letters would make all the difference." Keil refuses the wooden "went away" and reads the verb as a vivid gesture: "he prepared himself, or rose up," a man composing himself to lay down his charge. What follows is Moses' own statement of why: he is "a son of a hundred and twenty year" (the Hebrew idiom ben-, H1121), which Cambridge reads as a schematic "3 × 40, the usual round number for a generation" — three lifetimes brought to their full term. He "can no more go out and come in" — an idiom Barnes and Poole agree means not bodily failure (Deuteronomy 34:7 keeps his eye undimmed) but the discharge of office. Above all, "Yahweh has said to me, you shall not cross this Jordan." Gill draws the figural conclusion the chapter invites: "Moses must not lead them there, this work was reserved for Joshua, a type of Christ; not Moses and his law… is what introduces any into the heavenly Canaan only Jesus and his righteousness." The law may bring a people to the river; it cannot bring them across.
The most arresting feature of the unit is grammatical, and Ellicott names it: "Can it be accidental that Jehovah and Joshua are spoken of in exactly the same language, and that there is no distinguishing conjunction between them, the 'and' of the English Version being supplied? 'Jehovah, He is going over; Joshua, he is going over.'" Both subjects carry the same emphatic pronoun hū (H1931) and the same participle ‘ō·ḇêr (H5674) — the very verb of crossing that v. 2 had just forbidden to Moses. What the lawgiver may not do, Yahweh and the man named "Yahweh-saves" do together, in one breath. Ellicott calls the parallel "too remarkable to be missed." The ground of confidence is the proven past: Yahweh "will do" (wə·‘ā·śāh, H6213) to the Canaanite nations "as He did" (‘āśāh) to Sihon and Og, the standing pair of conquered Amorite kings — "this instance," says Gill, "is given to encourage their faith." And the obligation laid on Israel is, as Ellicott alone notes, a singular noun: "the Hebrew word for 'commandments' is in the singular, Mitzvah, the principle of action." Not a list, but one whole charge.
Here the unit gives Scripture two of its most-quoted phrases. The first is the formula ḥizqū wə-’imṣū — "be strong and be courageous" (H2388 + H553) — which Ellicott observes is here "addressed to the people in the plural number," before being repeated to Joshua in the singular in v. 7. This is the exact charge God will press three times on Joshua in Joshua 1 (vv. 6, 7, 9), where the rare verb "be terrified" (ʻârats, H6206 — only fifteen verses in all Scripture) reappears, making the link verbal and not merely thematic. The second is the promise: "He will not let you drop nor forsake you." Cambridge gives the literal force — "let thee drop" — the image of a hand that will not loosen, and traces the clause forward through "Joshua 1:5 (deuter.), 1 Chronicles 28:20… Hebrews 13:5." Benson, on this very verse, draws the apostolic line himself: "This promise, though made at this time particularly to Israel and Joshua, yet belongs to all believers, Hebrews 13:5." Gill hears Paul too — "the apostle seems to refer to this passage, 1 Corinthians 16:13." The command rests entirely on the participle of v. 6: Yahweh is "the one going with you." Courage is commanded only because presence is promised.
Moses now calls Joshua and repeats the formula, but "in the eyes of" (lə·‘ê·nê, H5869) all Israel — a public, witnessed transfer. Benson reads the publicity as deliberate: "in the face of all Israel — Lest any should question or deny his authority after Moses's death," and the singular charge is given to Joshua alone "because he was to bear the charge of them all." Barnes calls it a "symbolic act, designed to mark the responsibility… after the death of Moses." The promise of v. 6 is then spoken a second time, now to the leader: "the LORD, He is the one going before you… He will not let you drop nor forsake you; do not fear, neither be dismayed" — the rare verb châthath (H2865, "to prostrate, shatter") anchoring the link to David's identical charge to Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:20. Keil defends the Masoretic "thou wilt come with this people" against the versions' "bring," reading the verse as a promise of entrance rather than the formal appointment that comes in v. 23. The Geneva note states the whole unit's logic in a line: "man can never be of good courage, unless he is persuaded of God's favour and assistance."
Read under Sola Scriptura, this passage is the hinge on which the Pentateuch turns toward its sequel — and it turns on a refusal. Moses, the man who spoke with God face to face, who carried the law down from the mountain, is told plainly: "you shall not cross this Jordan." The law can bring Israel to the very edge of the inheritance; it cannot carry them in. That work is given to another — and the text makes the substitution unmistakable by giving Yahweh and Joshua the same grammar (Ellicott's observation, not ours): the same pronoun, the same participle, no conjunction to divide them. The man who leads Israel across bears the name Yᵉhôshûaʻ, "Yahweh saves" — the Hebrew form of the name later given in Greek as Jesus. The fallible reading offered here, to be tested against the whole counsel of Scripture, is this: Deuteronomy 31 stages in miniature the entire economy of salvation. The law (Moses) is good, undimmed to the last, and genuinely from God — yet by its own word it cannot bring anyone into the promised rest. A second leader, who shares the divine name and crosses where the law could not, leads the people through the waters into possession of what was sworn to their fathers. Gill saw it on v. 2: "not Moses and his law… is what introduces any into the heavenly Canaan only Jesus and his righteousness." The command "be strong and courageous" is not a demand for self-generated bravery; it is grounded, every time it is spoken, on the single fact that God himself goes with and before his people — and "will not let you drop." The apostle, lifting that promise into Hebrews 13:5, treats it as still binding on us. We hold the typological reading as the church has long held it, while flagging the Hebrews citation as one whose verbal provenance is debated.
The law can march a freed people up to the river and no farther; it takes one who bears the saving Name to cross the water and bring them home. (⚙ a fallible reading, not Scripture.)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
Moses' plural charge to the nation here is taken up, word for word, in God's own charge to Joshua at the threshold of the conquest. The link is firm because it rests on a rare verb — ʻârats ("be terrified," H6206) occurs in only fifteen verses in all Scripture — shared with the more common ’âmats ("be courageous," H553, 41 verses) and châzaq ("be strong," H2388). The Verifier records the shared lexemes as ʻârats (H6206), ’âmats (H553), châzaq (H2388), and the negative ’al (H408); the rarity of ʻârats is what lifts this from theme to quotation. The formula given first to Israel (v. 6, plural) and then to Joshua (v. 7, singular) is the one God will repeat three times in Joshua 1 — the new leader is commissioned in the exact words of the old.
Deuteronomy 31:6 · Joshua 1:9
basis: shared Strong's lexemes H6206 ʻârats (rare — 15 vv), H553 ʼâmats (41 vv), H2388 châzaq (266 vv), H408 ʼal; the rare ʻârats fixes the verbal link
The promise sealed on Joshua ("do not fear, neither be dismayed; He will not let you drop nor forsake you") recurs almost intact in David's charge to Solomon for the building of the temple. The Verifier records shared lexemes râphâh ("let drop / fail," H7503, 45 vv), châthath ("be dismayed," H2865, 46 vv), ʻâzab ("forsake," H5800), and yârêʼ ("fear," H3372). Two of these — râphâh and châthath — are relatively uncommon (45 and 46 verses), so their joint appearance with the same cadence is a genuine verbal echo, not coincidence. A new leader facing a great work (conquest, then construction) is steadied by the identical assurance, a formula the canon evidently kept and re-used. Cambridge lists exactly this chain on v. 6.
Deuteronomy 31:8 · 1 Chronicles 28:20
basis: shared Strong's lexemes H7503 râphâh (45 vv), H2865 châthath (46 vv), H5800 ʻâzab (206 vv), H3372 yârêʼ (306 vv); the paired low-frequency râphâh + châthath fix the verbal echo
Moses cites the defeat of the two Amorite kings as the pledge of the conquest to come; the psalmist later recites the same pair in praise. The Verifier records the shared proper nouns ʻÔwg (Og, H5747, 22 vv), Çîychôwn (Sihon, H5511, 34 vv), and ʼĔmôrîy (Amorite, H567), with melek (king, H4428). Because Sihon and Og are rare names — a fixed pair appearing together in only a handful of texts — the link is a firm verbal one: this exact conquest-formula became a standing memorial of Yahweh's power, recited in Deuteronomy (1:4; 2:30; 3:8), the historical books (1 Kings 4:19; Nehemiah 9:22), and the Psalter (135:11; 136:19–20).
Deuteronomy 31:4 · Psalm 135:11
basis: shared Strong's lexemes H5747 ʻÔwg (rare — 22 vv), H5511 Çîychôwn (34 vv), H567 ʼĔmôrîy (86 vv), H4428 melek; the rare paired names Sihon+Og fix the recital-formula link
The appointment of Joshua to cross over before the people fulfils the earlier word in this same book, where God told Moses to "charge Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people." The Verifier records shared lexemes Yᵉhôwshûaʻ (Joshua, H3091), ʻâbar (cross over, H5674), hûwʼ (he, H1931), and pânîym (before, H6440). These are common words, so the connection is best tiered as structural/thematic: it is the same narrative thread (Joshua's commission to lead the crossing) picked up across chapters, not a rare-word quotation. The thread is internal to Deuteronomy — the book preparing for its own sequel.
Deuteronomy 31:3 · Deuteronomy 3:28
basis: shared Strong's lexemes H3091 Yᵉhôwshûaʻ, H5674 ʻâbar, H1931 hûwʼ, H6440 pânîym — all common; a shared commissioning pattern, not a rare-word quotation
Moses' singular charge to Joshua — "be strong and courageous… you shall cause them to inherit it" — is matched by God's charge in Joshua 1:6: "be strong and of good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I sware unto their fathers." The Verifier records shared lexemes ’âmats (H553, 41 vv), nâchal (inherit/apportion, H5157, 57 vv), shâbaʻ (swore, H7650), and châzaq (H2388). The presence of two moderately rare verbs — ’âmats and nâchal — alongside the courage-formula makes this a verbal link: Moses' words to Joshua are quoted back to Joshua by God himself.
Deuteronomy 31:7 · Joshua 1:6
basis: shared Strong's lexemes H553 ʼâmats (41 vv), H5157 nâchal (57 vv), H7650 shâbaʻ (175 vv), H2388 châzaq; the paired ʼâmats + nâchal with the courage-formula fix the verbal link
The author of Hebrews grounds his exhortation to contentment in the promise "I will never leave you, nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5), which the older commentators on this passage — Henry, Benson, Gill, Cambridge — all assign to Deuteronomy 31:6 / 31:8 (and the parallel Joshua 1:5). This is a cross-Testament link (Greek New Testament ↔ Hebrew Old Testament), so it cannot rest on a shared Strong's number; the Verifier confirms "no shared original-language lexeme found in the index." The provenance of the citation is genuinely debated: the Greek of Hebrews 13:5 matches the Septuagint of Joshua 1:5 (and resembles Genesis 28:15 and Deuteronomy 31:6/8) more closely than any single verse, and some trace it to a saying current in Jewish liturgy (cf. Philo). Because the apostle names no source and the wording sits between several candidate texts, we flag this link for verification rather than asserting a single Old Testament original. The link is theologically secure and patristically ancient; the precise textual provenance is not.
Deuteronomy 31:6 · Deuteronomy 31:8 · Joshua 1:5 · Hebrews 13:5
basis: cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): no shared Strong's lexeme possible; the Verifier finds none. The NT quotation's provenance is debated — Hebrews 13:5 sits between Joshua 1:5 (LXX), Genesis 28:15, and Deuteronomy 31:6/8, and the apostle names no source
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
The man appointed to lead Israel across the Jordan bears the name Yᵉhôshûaʻ (H3091), "Yahweh saves" — the Hebrew name that comes into Greek as Ἰησοῦς, Jesus (a connection the New Testament itself makes when Hebrews 4:8 distinguishes the Joshua of the conquest from the rest that remains). The commentators read the typology on the text itself: Gill, on v. 2, writes that since Moses "must not lead them there, this work was reserved for Joshua, a type of Christ; not Moses and his law, or obedience to it, is what introduces any into the heavenly Canaan only Jesus and his righteousness." The figural logic is structural, not merely verbal: the law (Moses), good and undimmed to the last, brings the people to the river's edge but is forbidden to cross; a second leader who shares the divine name carries them through the waters into the inheritance. This is the typology Hebrews 3–4 develops at length — the rest the first Joshua gave was not the final rest, which only the greater Joshua secures.
Deuteronomy 31:3 · Deuteronomy 31:7 · Hebrews 4:8
Ellicott's grammatical observation carries a christological weight he draws out himself: in v. 3 "Jehovah and Joshua are spoken of in exactly the same language, and that there is no distinguishing conjunction between them… 'Jehovah, He is going over; Joshua, he is going over.' Verbally, the two are as much identified as 'The God who fed me… the Angel that redeemed me' (Genesis 48:15–16). The prophetical truth of this identification is too remarkable to be missed." The same emphatic pronoun hū and the same participle ‘ō·ḇêr stand over both the LORD and the man who bears his saving name. We mark this as a more particular (less universally drawn) reading than the bare Joshua-type: Ellicott's identification of Jehovah and Joshua in the syntax is a striking but not anciently-standard observation, a 19th-century reading we present as suggestive rather than settled — the union of God and the one who saves, glimpsed in the grammar and fulfilled when the Word became flesh and went before his people.
Deuteronomy 31:3
The promise repeated to Israel and to Joshua — "He will not let you drop nor forsake you" (vv. 6, 8) — is the assurance the New Testament gathers up into the presence of Christ. Hebrews 13:5 cites it to anchor Christian contentment ("be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"), and the risen Christ pronounces its substance in his own voice: "lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). The presence that steadied the conquest under Joshua is, for the church, the presence of the greater Joshua who promised never to depart. We hold this application as the apostle himself made it, while noting (see the flagged thread) that the exact Old Testament source of the Hebrews citation is debated.
Deuteronomy 31:6 · Deuteronomy 31:8 · Hebrews 13:5 · Matthew 28:20
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. The named voices are quoted verbatim from public-domain commentaries on Deuteronomy 31:1–8, attributed in place: Charles Ellicott (Commentary for English Readers, 1878), Joseph Benson (1810s), Albert Barnes (Notes on the Bible, 1834), Matthew Poole (1685), John Gill (Exposition, 1746–63), the Geneva Study Bible (1599), Jamieson–Fausset–Brown (1871), the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (1880s), the Pulpit Commentary (1880s), and Keil & Delitzsch (1860s). Several commentators (Henry, Barnes, JFB) print one note across the whole unit 31:1–8; where their text on a given verse is not verse-specific, we have drawn each verse's voices from the editors who comment on that verse directly, to keep every excerpt on point.
Two honesty notes specific to this unit. First, a live textual variant in v. 1: the Masoretic way·yê·leḵ ("went") versus the Septuagint's "made an end" (vay'cal) — Ellicott and Cambridge both flag it, a one-letter difference; BSB follows the LXX sense ("had finished"), so the English and the Hebrew genuinely diverge here, and we have built the literal line from the Masoretic consonants. Second, the Hebrews 13:5 citation (see the flagged thread) is a cross-Testament link that, as a Greek↔Hebrew connection, cannot rest on a shared Strong's number; the Verifier confirms no shared lexeme, and the apostle names no source. The Greek of Hebrews 13:5 sits between Joshua 1:5 (LXX), Genesis 28:15, and Deuteronomy 31:6/8, and we have flagged it rather than assert a single original. All ⚙ synthesis — the literal renderings, divergence notes, word-notes, grand commentary, threads, and christ readings — is the tool's own fallible work, offered under Sola Scriptura to be tested against the text itself, and is not to be confused with the BSB (God's Word) or with the verbatim ✦ public-domain voices.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)