Deuteronomy 31:2-6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 31:1-8

Loth to part (we say) bids oft farewell. Moses does so to the children of Israel: not because he was loth to go to God, but because he was loth to leave them, fearing that when he had left them they would leave God. He had finished what he had to say to them by way of counsel and exhortation: here he calls them together to give them a word of encouragement, especially with reference to the wars of Canaan, in which they were now to engage. It was a discouragement to them that Moses was to be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 31:2

And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day ,.... Whether the meaning is, that that day precisely was his birthday, is a question; it may be the sense is only this, that he was now arrived to such an age; though Jarchi takes it in the first sense, to which are objected his words in Deuteronomy 31:14 ; yet it seems by Deuteronomy 32:48 that having delivered to the children of Israel the song he was ordered this day to write, on the selfsame day he was bid to go... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 31:3

The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee ,.... 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 land: and thou shalt possess them ; their countries,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 31:4

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 kings, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 31:5

And the Lord shall give them up before your face ,.... To ruin and destruction; the Targum of Jonathan is,"the Word of the Lord shall deliver them up:" that ye may do unto them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you ; that is, utterly destroy them, make no covenant with them, enter into no alliances nor contract any marriages with them; but demolish their altars, cut down their groves, and break their images in pieces; of which last Aben Ezra interprets the words;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of a good courage ,.... The Septuagint version is,"play the men, and be strong;'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 them ; their enemies, though so numerous, so mighty, and some of them of a gigantic stature, and their cities strong and well... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 31:2

I am a hundred and twenty years old - The life of Moses, the great prophet of God and lawgiver of the Jews, was exactly the same in length as the time Noah employed in preaching righteousness to the antediluvian world. These one hundred and twenty years were divided into three remarkable periods: forty years he lived in Egypt, in Pharaoh's court, acquiring all the learning and wisdom of the Egyptians; (see Acts 7:20 , Acts 7:23 ;); forty years he sojourned in the land of Midian in a... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 31:3

Joshua, he shall go over before thee - See on Numbers 27:17 ; (note), etc. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong - חזקו chizku , the same word that is used Exodus 4:21 ; (note), Exodus 9:15 ; (note), for hardening Pharaoh's heart. See the notes there. The Septuagint, in this and the following verse, have, Ανδριζου και ισχυε , Play the man, and be strong; and from this St. Paul seems to have borrowed his ideas, 1 Corinthians 16:13 ; : Στηκετε εν τῃ πιστει· ανδριζεσθε, κρατιουσθε : Stand firm in the faith; play the man - act like heroes; be vigorous. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 31:2

Verse 2 2And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old. Although Moses had been often proudly and disdainfully rejected, it could not but be the case, nevertheless, that his departure would both awaken the deepest sorrow, and inspire them with much alarm. By setting before them his age, therefore, he consoles their anxiety, and mitigates their grief; and also, by another reason, he represses their lamentations, i.e., that God had fixed his term of life. He adduces it, then, as an... read more

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