The Fallible Synthetic Study Bible — Deuteronomy 34:1

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Deuteronomy 34:1–12 — The Death of 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.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

After blessing the people, Moses ascended Mount Nebo, according to the command of God ( Deuteronomy 32:48-51 ), and there the Lord showed him, in all its length and breadth, that promised land into which he was not to enter.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Moses went up — When he knew the place of his death, he cheerfully mounted the hill to come to it. Those who are well acquainted with another world, are not afraid to leave this. When God’s servants are sent for out of the world, the summons runs, “Go up and die!”

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

it speaks well for Joshua’s character—in fact, it is altogether characteristic of the man—that in this record of the death of the great lawgiver he should have concealed himself and every other figure from sight except Jehovah and His servant Moses.

Ellicott assumes Joshua's authorship; the text is silent on its writer, and the FSSB records that as an open question, not a settled fact.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

This chapter appears from internal evidence to have been written subsequently to the death of Moses, and it probably formed, at one time, an introduction to the Book of Joshua.

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Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead as far as Dan,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mō·šeh way·ya·‘al mê·‘ar·ḇōṯ mō·w·’āḇ ’el- har nə·ḇōw rōš hap·pis·gāh ’ă·šer ‘al- pə·nê yə·rê·ḥōw Yah·weh ’eṯ- way·yar·’ê·hū kāl- hā·’ā·reṣ ’eṯ- hag·gil·‘āḏ ‘aḏ- dān

Word by word22 · parsed

מֹשֶׁ֜הmō·šehThen MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

וַיַּ֨עַלway·ya·‘alwent upH5927

√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yaʿal (H5927) — the consecutive imperfect that drives the whole chapter's narrative spine: Moses goes up (v.1), the LORD speaks (v.4), Moses dies (v.5), the LORD buries (v.6).

מֵֽעַרְבֹ֤תmê·‘ar·ḇōṯfrom the plainsH6160

√ ʻărâbâh — a desertPreposition-mNounfeminine plural construct

מוֹאָב֙mō·w·’āḇof MoabH4124

√ Môwʼâb — Moab, an incestuous son of LotNounproperfeminine singular

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

הַ֣רharMountH2022

√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)Nounmasculine singular construct

נְב֔וֹnə·ḇōwNeboH5015

√ Nᵉbôw — Nebo, the name of a Babylonian deity, also of a mountain in Moab, and of a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

רֹ֚אשׁrōšto the topH7218

√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcNounmasculine singular construct

הַפִּסְגָּ֔הhap·pis·gāhof PisgahH6449

√ Piçgâh — Pisgah, a Mountain East of JordanArticleNounproperfeminine singular

hap·pis·gāh (H6449) carries the article — "the Pisgah," a height or ridge rather than a proper name in origin; a rare word (8 verses), which makes it a strong verbal anchor for the Transjordan-survey threads.

אֲשֶׁ֖ר’ă·šerwhichH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

עַל־‘al-facesH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

פְּנֵ֣יpə·nê. . .H6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Nouncommon plural construct

יְרֵח֑וֹyə·rê·ḥōwJerichoH3405

√ Yᵉrîychôw — Jericho or Jerecho, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

יְהוָ֧הYah·wehAnd the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

YHWH (H3068) is the grammatical subject of the showing — the whole vision is framed not as Moses straining his eyes but as the covenant God displaying His sworn land.

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

וַיַּרְאֵ֨הוּway·yar·’ê·hūshowed himH7200

√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

way·yar·ʾê·hū (H7200, Hifil) — "and-He-caused-him-to-see-it." The verb recurs in v.4 (her·ʾî·ṯî·ḵā, "I have made you see"), binding vv.1 and 4 into a single act of granted vision.

כָּל־kāl-the wholeH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

הָאָ֛רֶץhā·’ā·reṣlandH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

הַגִּלְעָ֖דhag·gil·‘āḏfrom GileadH1568

√ Gilʻâd — Gilad, a region East of the JordanArticleNounproperfeminine singular

עַד־‘aḏ-as farH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

דָּֽן׃dānas DanH1835

√ Dân — Dan, one of the sons of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

dān (H1835) — here a place, the northern limit. Benson, Barnes, and the Pulpit Commentary all note this Dan was named only after Moses' death (Judges 18:29), which the commentators take as a hint at a post-Mosaic hand.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And went-up Moses from the steppes of Moab to Mount Nebo, the head of the Pisgah, which is over against the face of Jericho; and YHWH made-him-see all the land — the Gilead as far as Dan,

Where the English smooths the original

וַיַּ֨עַל BSB's went up renders way·yaʿal (H5927, ʻâlâh, to ascend) — a plain verb, but in Hebrew it carries the freight of cultic ascent: the same root climbs every altar and pilgrim-road. Moses' last act is an going-up, not a descent into death.
וַיַּרְאֵ֨הוּ showed him flattens the causative way·yar·ʾê·hū (H7200 in the Hifil): not merely "let him see" but made him to see — God actively works the seeing. The smooth English loses the agency: the vision is a divine deed done to Moses, not a panorama Moses achieves.
רֹ֚אשׁ the top renders rōš (H7218), literally the head of Pisgah. The Hebrew personifies the summit; the same word names the "head" over which no successor-prophet will rise (v.10, qām).
אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֣י which faces compresses ʾăšer ʿal-pᵉnê — "which is upon the face of." By Semitic orientation "the face" is the east; the idiom is geographic, not anatomical, and the English "faces" hides that pānîm (face) is the same noun that will govern "face to face" in v.10.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

All Naphtali, i.e. the land of Naphtali , which, together with Dan, was in the north of Canaan, as Ephraim and Manasseh were in the midland parts, and Judah on the south, and the sea on the west. So these parts lying in the several quarters are put for all the rest.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

all the land of Judah, unto the hinder sea ] A natural hyperbole; the hinder or Western Sea ( Deuteronomy 11:24 ). The Mediterranean is hidden by the hills of Judah. But again the bulk of Judah is in sight, and the Sea is mentioned as its W. boundary.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

Which lay in the northern part of the land, and where was Galilee of the Gentiles, and so he had a sight of all that country most frequented by the Messiah when come, see Matthew 4:13

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all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’êṯ kāl- nap̄·tā·lî wə·’eṯ- ’e·reṣ ’ep̄·ra·yim ū·mə·naš·šeh wə·’êṯ kāl- ’e·reṣ yə·hū·ḏāh ‘aḏ hā·’a·ḥă·rō·wn hay·yām

Word by word14 · parsed

וְאֵת֙wə·’êṯH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

כָּל־kāl-allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

wə·ʾêṯ (H853 with conjunctive waw) — the direct-object marker chained across vv.1–3 stitches the survey into one long object of the single verb "showed" in v.1.

נַפְתָּלִ֔יnap̄·tā·lîof NaphtaliH5321

√ Naphtâlîy — Naphtali, a son of Jacob, with the tribe descended from him, and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

nap̄·tā·lî (H5321) — the far north; Gill links this region to "Galilee of the Gentiles… most frequented by the Messiah" (Matthew 4:13), reading the panorama forward to the One the land awaits.

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

אֶ֥רֶץ’e·reṣthe landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Nounfeminine singular construct

אֶפְרַ֖יִם’ep̄·ra·yimof EphraimH669

√ ʼEphrayim — Ephrajim, a son of JosephNounpropermasculine singular

וּמְנַשֶּׁ֑הū·mə·naš·šehand ManassehH4519

√ Mᵉnashsheh — Menashsheh, a grandson of Jacob, also the tribe descended from him, and its territoryConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

וְאֵת֙wə·’êṯH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

כָּל־kāl-allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

אֶ֣רֶץ’e·reṣthe landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Nounfeminine singular construct

יְהוּדָ֔הyə·hū·ḏāhof JudahH3063

√ Yᵉhûwdâh — Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

עַ֖ד‘aḏas far asH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

הָאַחֲרֽוֹן׃hā·’a·ḥă·rō·wnthe WesternH314

√ ʼachărôwn — hinderArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

hā·ʾa·ḥă·rō·wn (H314) — Gill notes the same word renders "the latter day" in some Jewish readings (Jarchi), who took the verse as showing Moses all of Israel's future "until the resurrection of the dead." The FSSB does not adopt that midrash; it records it as ancient haggadah.

הַיָּ֥םhay·yāmSeaH3220

√ yâm — a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of waterArticleNounmasculine singular

hay·yām (H3220) — the Mediterranean, hidden behind the Judean hills; Cambridge frankly calls naming it "a natural hyperbole," since the sea itself was not visible from Nebo.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the hinder sea,

Where the English smooths the original

הָאַחֲרֽוֹן הַיָּ֥ם the Western Sea is an interpretive rendering of hay·yām hā·ʾa·ḥă·rō·wn — literally the hinder sea. The adjective ʾa·ḥă·rō·wn (H314) means "behind / latter"; Hebrew orientation faces east, so "behind" is west. The English "Western" tells you the result but erases the bodily metaphor of a man who faces sunrise, with the Great Sea at his back.
כָּל־ The threefold kāl (H3605, "all / the whole") — all Naphtali, all the land of Judah — is not mere emphasis. It signals totality of the granted inheritance: the dying man is shown the entirety of what he may not enter.
נַפְתָּלִ֔י Naphtali stands by metonymy for its whole territory; BSB supplies "all of" but the Hebrew lets the tribal name be the land. Poole notes these named quarters "lying in the several quarters are put for all the rest" — north, midland, south, and west sketched by representative tribes.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

the Plain ] Heb. kikkar , the root meaning of which, to judge from its use alike for a district, a loaf and a weight, must be round or oval . Render the Round : here in apposition (delete of ) to the Biḳ‘ah (lit. space cleft or laid open between hills, HGHL 385, 654 f.), or Valley, of Jericho

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

The city of palm trees, i.e. Jericho, so called both here and Judges 1:16 3:13 2 Chronicles 28:15 , from the multitude of palm trees which were in those parts, as Josephus and Strabo write; from whence and the balm there growing it was called Jericho, which signifies odoriferous , or sweet-smelling.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

And the south — i.e. , the Negeb. And the plain — i.e. , the plain of Jordan. The valley of Jericho. —The city of palm trees may or may not be identical with that place.

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the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho (the City of Palms) all the way to Zoar.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’eṯ- han·ne·ḡeḇ wə·’eṯ- hak·kik·kār biq·‘aṯ yə·rê·ḥōw ‘îr hat·tə·mā·rîm ‘aḏ- ṣō·‘ar

Word by word10 · parsed

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

הַנֶּ֗גֶבhan·ne·ḡeḇthe NegevH5045

√ negeb — the south (from its drought)ArticleNounproperfeminine singular

han·ne·ḡeḇ (H5045) — "the dry/south"; the survey now sweeps from the far north (v.2) back down to the southern steppe, completing the four quarters.

וְֽאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

הַכִּכָּ֞רhak·kik·kārand the regionH3603

√ kikkâr — a circle, iArticleNounfeminine singular

בִּקְעַ֧תbiq·‘aṯfrom the ValleyH1237

√ biqʻâh — properly, a split, iNounfeminine singular construct

biq·ʿaṯ (H1237, from biqʿâh) — a "cleft" or broad valley split open between hills; the Jordan rift below Nebo.

יְרֵח֛וֹyə·rê·ḥōwof JerichoH3405

√ Yᵉrîychôw — Jericho or Jerecho, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

עִ֥יר‘îrthe CityH5892

√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Nounfeminine singular

הַתְּמָרִ֖יםhat·tə·mā·rîmof PalmsH8558

√ tâmâr — a palm treeNounproperfeminine singular

עַד־‘aḏ-all the wayH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

צֹֽעַר׃ṣō·‘arto ZoarH6820

√ Tsôʻar — Tsoar, a place East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

ṣō·ʿar (H6820) — Zoar, the little town at the Dead Sea's southern end where Lot fled (Genesis 19:22); a rare name (9 verses) anchoring the southern terminus of the vision and a quiet echo of the earlier judgment on the Cities of the Round.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

and the Negev, and the Round of the valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.

Where the English smooths the original

הַכִּכָּ֞ר the region renders hak·kik·kār (H3603), whose root means a circle / round — used alike for a district, a round loaf, and a weight. Cambridge urges "render the Round." The colorless "region" loses the picture of the encircled oval plain of the Jordan, the same kikkar Lot chose in Genesis 13:10.
הַתְּמָרִ֖ים עִ֥יר the City of Palms is exactly ʿîr hat·tᵉmā·rîm — but the title is descriptive, not the city's proper name (Jericho). The Hebrew names a place by its trees; Gill marshals Josephus, Pliny, Diodorus, and Strabo to confirm Jericho's famed palms. The English keeps the image, but a reader should know it is an epithet, not a toponym.
הַנֶּ֗גֶב the Negev is wisely left untranslated here; the older versions read "the south." The word negeb (H5045) means literally "the parched" (from drought), so it is at once a compass-direction and a description of the dry southland.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

I have caused thee to see it — For though his sight was good, yet he could not have seen all Canaan, a hundred and sixty miles in length, and fifty or sixty in breadth, if his sight had not been miraculously assisted and enlarged, He saw it at a distance. Such a sight the Old Testament believers had of the kingdom of the Messiah. And such a sight believers have now of the glory that shall be revealed.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

I have caused thee to see it - The sight thus afforded to Moses, like that of "all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time" Luke 4:5 , was no doubt supernatural.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

but thou shalt not go over thither; which he had said more than once before and abides by it, and this because of the behaviour of Moses at the waters of Meribah, Numbers 20:12 ; see Deuteronomy 3:25 .

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And the LORD said to him, “This is the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

Yah·weh way·yō·mer ’ê·lāw zōṯ hā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer niš·ba‘·tî lə·’aḇ·rā·hām lə·yiṣ·ḥāq ū·lə·ya·‘ă·qōḇ lê·mōr ’et·tə·nen·nāh lə·zar·‘ă·ḵā her·’î·ṯî·ḵā ḇə·‘ê·ne·ḵā wə·šām·māh lō ṯa·‘ă·ḇōr

Word by word18 · parsed

יְהוָ֜הYah·wehAnd the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

וַיֹּ֨אמֶרway·yō·mersaidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

אֵלָ֗יו’ê·lāwto himH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine singular

זֹ֤אתzōṯThisH2063

√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)Pronounfeminine singular

הָאָ֙רֶץ֙hā·’ā·reṣis the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular

אֲשֶׁ֣ר’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

נִ֠שְׁבַּעְתִּיniš·ba‘·tîI swore to giveH7650

√ shâbaʻ — to seven oneself, iVerbNifalPerfectfirst person common singular

niš·baʿ·tî (H7650) — the oath-verb gathers Genesis 15:18 (Abraham), 26:3 (Isaac), 28:13 (Jacob) into one sworn line; the land Moses sees is land already legally deeded by divine oath.

לְאַבְרָהָ֨םlə·’aḇ·rā·hāmAbrahamH85

√ ʼAbrâhâm — Abraham, the later name of AbramPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

לְיִצְחָ֤קlə·yiṣ·ḥāqIsaacH3327

√ Yitschâq — Jitschak (or Isaac), son of AbrahamPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

וּֽלְיַעֲקֹב֙ū·lə·ya·‘ă·qōḇand JacobH3290

√ Yaʻăqôb — Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarchConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

לֵאמֹ֔רlê·mōrwhen I saidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

אֶתְּנֶ֑נָּה’et·tə·nen·nāhI will giveH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcVerbQalImperfectfirst person common singularthird person feminine singular

לְזַרְעֲךָ֖lə·zar·‘ă·ḵāit to your descendantsH2233

√ zeraʻ — seedPreposition-lNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

הֶרְאִיתִ֣יךָher·’î·ṯî·ḵāI have let you seeH7200

√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)VerbHifilPerfectfirst person common singularsecond person masculine singular

her·ʾî·ṯî·ḵā (H7200, Hifil perfect) — "I have made you see it"; with v.1's way·yar·ʾê·hū this forms an inclusio of granted vision around vv.1–4.

בְעֵינֶ֔יךָḇə·‘ê·ne·ḵāit with your own eyesH5869

√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Preposition-bNouncdcsecond person masculine singular

וְשָׁ֖מָּהwə·šām·māh. . .H8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenConjunctive wawAdverbthird person feminine singular

לֹ֥אlōbut you will notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

lō (H3808) — the flat negative on which Moses' life breaks: "but you shall not cross." Gill traces the refusal to the waters of Meribah (Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 3:25). The text states the bar; it does not, here, re-litigate the cause.

תַעֲבֹֽר׃ṯa·‘ă·ḇōrcross into itH5674

√ ʻâbar — to cross overVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

ṯaʿăḇōr (H5674) — second masculine singular: the prohibition is personal and final.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And YHWH said to him: This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To your seed I will give it; I have made you see it with your eyes, but there you shall not cross over.

Where the English smooths the original

נִ֠שְׁבַּעְתִּי I swore renders niš·baʿ·tî (H7650, Nifal of šābaʿ) — the root that literally means "to seven oneself," to bind by a sevenfold oath. The promise is not a wish but a self-sworn covenant-oath to the three patriarchs, the bedrock the whole panorama rests on.
לְזַרְעֲךָ֖ to your descendants renders lᵉ·zar·ʿăḵā (H2233, zeraʿ, seed) — singular collective "seed," not plural "descendants." The English pluralizes for clarity, but the grammar of "seed" is precisely what later revelation (Galatians 3:16) will press as a single line running to Christ. NB: that is a NT argument, recorded here, not a claim the Hebrew of v.4 makes on its own.
הֶרְאִיתִ֣יךָ I have let you see softens the Hifil perfect her·ʾî·ṯî·ḵā — "I have caused you to see it." It is the same causative root as v.1's "showed him." Benson and Barnes both insist the seeing was supernaturally enlarged; the verb's causative force carries that — God did the seeing-in Moses.
תַעֲבֹֽר cross into it renders ṯaʿăḇōr (H5674, ʿâbar, to pass/cross over) — the verb of crossing the Jordan that defines the whole book's threshold. The pathos is in the bare "you shall not cross": Moses is the man who brought a nation to a river he is forbidden to ford.

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Alexander MaclarenExpositions of Holy Scripturec. 1905

A fitting end to such a life! The great law-giver and leader had been all his days a lonely man; and now, surrounded by a new generation, and all the old familiar faces vanished, he is more solitary than ever. He had lived alone with God, and it was fitting that alone with God he should die.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

For many years it had been the habit of Moses to do everything “at the mouth of the Lord.” Only one fatal mistake mars the record of obedience. It was but one last act of obedience to lie down and die at the word of Jehovah.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

According to the word of the Lord - It denotes that Moses died, not because his vital powers were exhausted, but by the sentence of God, and as a punishment for his sin. Compare Deuteronomy 32:51 .

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

He is called the servant of the Lord, not only as a good man, (all such are his servants,) but as a man eminently useful, who had served God’s counsels in bringing Israel out of Egypt, and leading them through the wilderness. And it was more his honour to be the servant of the Lord, than to be king in Jeshurun.

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So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, as the LORD had said.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mō·šeh ‘e·ḇeḏ- Yah·weh way·yā·māṯ šām bə·’e·reṣ mō·w·’āḇ ‘al- Yah·weh pî

Word by word10 · parsed

מֹשֶׁ֧הmō·šehSo MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

mō·šeh (H4872) — named one last time as living agent before the verb "died"; the chapter will repeat his name like a tolling bell (vv.5, 7, 8 twice, 9, 10, 12).

עֶֽבֶד־‘e·ḇeḏ-the servantH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine singular construct

ʿe·ḇeḏ (H5650) in construct with YHWH — the title that Hebrews 3:5 will set in deliberate contrast to Christ the Son over the house; the servant motif is the hinge of the whole Moses-Christ typology.

יְהוָ֛הYah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

וַיָּ֨מָתway·yā·māṯdiedH4191

√ mûwth — to die (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

שָׁ֜םšāmthereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

בְּאֶ֥רֶץbə·’e·reṣin the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

מוֹאָ֖בmō·w·’āḇof MoabH4124

√ Môwʼâb — Moab, an incestuous son of LotNounproperfeminine singular

עַל־‘al-asH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

יְהוָֽה׃Yah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

פִּ֥יpîhad saidH6310

√ peh — the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech)Nounmasculine singular construct

pî (H6310, peh, mouth) — "the mouth of YHWH." The rabbinic reading "by a kiss of the Lord" (Baba Bathra; Maimonides) is, as the Pulpit Commentary and Keil both note, a tender embellishment the plain idiom does not require; the FSSB records it as Jewish interpretation, not as the verse's claim.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And Moses, the servant of YHWH, died there in the land of Moab, according to the mouth of YHWH.

Where the English smooths the original

עֶֽבֶד־יְהוָ֛ה the servant of the LORD renders ʿeḇed YHWH (H5650) — a title, not a mere description. This is the first time the phrase is fixed on Moses at his death; it becomes his standing epithet (Joshua 1:1). Benson notes it outranks being "king in Jeshurun." The English keeps it, but the weight is honorific: a covenant office-name.
עַל־פִּ֥י as the LORD had said renders ʿal-pî YHWH — literally upon / according to the mouth of YHWH. The Hebrew idiom is "at the mouth of," i.e. by His command. Ellicott catches the pathos: Moses, who lived doing all "at the mouth of the Lord," performs one last obedience — to lie down and die at that mouth's word.
וַיָּ֨מָת died renders the bare way·yā·māṯ (H4191). No softening, no euphemism: the great lawgiver simply dies. Barnes stresses the death is by divine sentence, not exhausted vitality (cf. v.7) — a penal yet honored end.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

And he buried him. —Moses is alone in this honour. The Son of God was buried by sinful men. Moses was buried by Jehovah.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

he buried ] He can only be Jehovah , for no man knew the grave; hence the rendering they buried , though possible, so far as the grammar goes, is contrary to the sense.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day—This concealment seems to have been owing to a special and wise arrangement of Providence, to prevent its being ranked among "holy places," and made the resort of superstitious pilgrims or idolatrous veneration, in after ages.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

The place of his burial was not known. If the soul be at rest with God, it is of little consequence where the body rests.

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And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab facing Beth-peor, and no one to this day knows the location of his grave.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yiq·bōr ’ō·ṯōw ḇag·gay bə·’e·reṣ mō·w·’āḇ mūl bêṯ pə·‘ō·wr wə·lō- ’îš ’eṯ- ‘aḏ haz·zeh hay·yō·wm yā·ḏa‘ qə·ḇu·rā·ṯōw

Word by word16 · parsed

וַיִּקְבֹּ֨רway·yiq·bōrAnd He buriedH6912

√ qâbar — to interConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yiq·bōr (H6912) — God buries; the same God who showed the land (v.1) and spoke the death (v.4) now performs the burial. The threefold divine action frames Moses' whole end.

אֹת֤וֹ’ō·ṯōwhimH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine singular

בַגַּיְ֙ḇag·gayin a valleyH1516

√ gayʼ — a gorge (from its lofty sidesPreposition-b, ArticleNouncommon singular

ḇag·gay (H1516, gayʼ) — "in the valley"; Keil locates it as the valley near Pisgah (Numbers 21:20), distinct from the Jordan valley of Deuteronomy 3:29 — though Beth-peor ties it firmly to the Deuteronomy 3:29 / 4:46 setting.

בְּאֶ֣רֶץbə·’e·reṣin the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

מוֹאָ֔בmō·w·’āḇof MoabH4124

√ Môwʼâb — Moab, an incestuous son of LotNounproperfeminine singular

מ֖וּלmūlfacingH4136

√ mûwl — properly, abrupt, iPreposition

בֵּ֣יתbêṯvvvH1047

√ Bêyth Pᵉʻôwr — Beth-Peor, a place East of the JordanPreposition

bêṯ pᵉʿōwr (H1047) — Beth-peor, a very rare name (4 verses), which makes the verbal link to Deuteronomy 3:29 and 4:46 strong rather than coincidental (Verifier tiers it "verbal — confirmed").

פְּע֑וֹרpə·‘ō·wrBeth-peorH1047

√ Bêyth Pᵉʻôwr — Beth-Peor, a place East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

וְלֹֽא־wə·lō-and noH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

אִישׁ֙’îšoneH376

√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

עַ֖ד‘aḏtoH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

הַזֶּֽה׃haz·zehthisH2088

√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatArticlePronounmasculine singular

הַיּ֥וֹםhay·yō·wmdayH3117

√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)ArticleNounmasculine singular

יָדַ֥עyā·ḏa‘knowsH3045

√ yâdaʻ — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

קְבֻ֣רָת֔וֹqə·ḇu·rā·ṯōwthe location of his graveH6900

√ qᵉbûwrâh — sepultureNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular

qᵉḇu·rā·ṯōw (H6900) — the hidden grave. Barnes, Ellicott, and the Pulpit Commentary read it with Jude 9 and the Transfiguration as a hint Moses, like Enoch and Elijah, was spared corruption. The FSSB flags this: it is an inference from later texts, not a statement of v.6.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And He buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor; and no man knows his grave unto this day.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּקְבֹּ֨ר And He buried him renders the third-singular way·yiq·bōr (H6912). The subject is unnamed but, as Cambridge insists, "can only be Jehovah, for no man knew the grave." The LXX hedged to a plural "they buried him"; the Masoretic Hebrew leaves God Himself as the grammatical undertaker. The English rightly capitalizes "He."
מ֖וּל facing renders mūl (H4136) — "over against, in front of." A rare preposition (34 verses); paired with the rare Beth-peor it precisely fixes the burial against the very valley of Israel's earlier apostasy with Baal of Peor (Numbers 25). The bland "facing" hides that the grave looks out on the place of the people's shame.
קְבֻ֣רָת֔וֹ the location of his grave expands the single word qᵉḇu·rā·ṯōw (H6900, his sepulchre). The Hebrew says simply "no man knows his grave" — the not-knowing is total and personal, the man and his resting-place hidden together.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Natural force. The word so rendered ( לֵחַ ) occurs only here; but it is doubtless the subst. connected with the adj. לַח moist, fresh (cf. Genesis 30:37 ; Numbers 6:3 ), and properly means moisture, freshness. It is used here of the natural juices of the body.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

his eyes were not dim; as Isaac's were, and men at such an age, and under, generally be: nor his natural force abated; neither the rigour of his mind nor the strength of his body; his intellectuals were not decayed, his memory and judgment; nor was his body feeble

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

By a miraculous work of God, in mercy to his church, and for the support of the great cause committed to him, it appears the full vigour of every faculty, both of body and mind, was preserved to him to his dying hour.

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Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not diminished.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·mō·šeh mê·’āh wə·‘eś·rîm ben- šā·nāh bə·mō·ṯōw ‘ê·nōw lō- ḵā·hă·ṯāh lê·ḥōh wə·lō- nās

Word by word12 · parsed

וּמֹשֶׁ֗הū·mō·šehMoses [was]H4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

מֵאָ֧הmê·’āha hundredH3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine singular

וְעֶשְׂרִ֛יםwə·‘eś·rîmand twentyH6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyConjunctive wawNumbercommon plural

בֶּן־ben-years oldH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine singular construct

שָׁנָ֖הšā·nāh. . .H8141

√ shâneh — a year (as a revolution of time)Nounfeminine singular

בְּמֹת֑וֹbə·mō·ṯōwwhen he diedH4191

√ mûwth — to die (literally or figuratively)Preposition-bVerbQalInfinitive constructthird person masculine singular

עֵינ֖וֹ‘ê·nōwyet his eyesH5869

√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Nouncommon singular constructthird person masculine singular

ʿê·nōw (H5869, ʿayin, eye) — "his eye"; the same noun as the "eyes" of v.4 with which Moses saw the land. The undimmed eye is the chapter's quiet marvel: death takes a man at the height of his powers, not in their decay.

לֹֽא־lō-were notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

כָהֲתָ֥הḵā·hă·ṯāhweakH3543

√ kâhâh — to be weak, iVerbQalPerfectthird person feminine singular

לֵחֹֽה׃lê·ḥōhand his vitalityH3893

√ lêach — freshness, iNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

lê·ḥōh (H3893) — a true hapax legomenon; the FSSB notes the translation "natural force / vitality / freshness" rests on cognate evidence, not on parallel usage, and so is more inferential than most renderings.

וְלֹא־wə·lō-had notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

נָ֥סnāsdiminishedH5127

√ nûwç — to flit, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

nās (H5127, nûwç, to flee) — "had not fled." His freshness had not fled away; the verb personifies vitality as something that takes flight in the aged, but had not in Moses.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And Moses was a son of a hundred and twenty years in his dying; his eye had not dimmed, and his freshness had not fled.

Where the English smooths the original

בֶּן־ years old renders the idiom ben- (H1121, "son of") — Moses is literally "a son of a hundred and twenty years." Hebrew reckons age as sonship-to-time; the English "old" loses the family-of-years metaphor that runs through the whole Bible's way of counting a life.
כָהֲתָ֥ה were not weak renders ḵāhăṯāh (H3543, kâhâh, to grow dim) — the verb used of failing eyesight (Isaac's eyes, Genesis 27:1). "Weak" is too general: the Hebrew says his eye had not grown dim — pointed irony, since the eye that did not dim was the very eye granted the supernatural sight of v.1.
לֵחֹֽה his vitality renders lê·ḥōh (H3893, lêach) — a word found only here in the whole Hebrew Bible, meaning moisture, freshness, sap (the Pulpit Commentary links it to lach, "fresh/green," of Genesis 30:37). "Vitality" abstracts away the vivid botanical image: his sap had not dried; he was still green wood, not withered.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

they cried and wept in a very vehement manner, when he signified to them his approaching death, and took his leave of them; and when he was dead they mourned for him, in a public manner, the space of time here mentioned, the time of mourning for his brother Aaron

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

wept for Moses … thirty days—Seven days was the usual period of mourning, but for persons in high rank or official eminence, it was extended to thirty (Ge 50:3-10; Nu 20:29).

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

It is a debt owing to the surviving honour of deceased worthies, to follow them with our tears, as those who loved and valued them, are sensible of the loss of them

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The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ḇə·nê yiś·rā·’êl ’eṯ- way·yiḇ·kū mō·šeh bə·‘ar·ḇōṯ mō·w·’āḇ šə·lō·šîm yō·wm yə·mê ḇə·ḵî ’ê·ḇel mō·šeh way·yit·tə·mū

Word by word14 · parsed

בְנֵ֨יḇə·nêThe IsraelitesH1121

ḇᵉnê yiś·rā·ʾêl (H1121 + H3478) — "the sons of Israel"; the same phrase that opens v.9's account of their obedience to Joshua, binding national grief to national continuity.

יִשְׂרָאֵ֧לyiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

וַיִּבְכּוּ֩way·yiḇ·kūgrievedH1058

√ bâkâh — to weepConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֹשֶׁ֛הmō·šehfor MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

בְּעַֽרְבֹ֥תbə·‘ar·ḇōṯin the plainsH6160

√ ʻărâbâh — a desertPreposition-bNounfeminine plural construct

מוֹאָ֖בmō·w·’āḇof MoabH4124

√ Môwʼâb — Moab, an incestuous son of LotNounproperfeminine singular

שְׁלֹשִׁ֣יםšə·lō·šîmthirtyH7970

√ shᵉlôwshîym — thirtyNumbercommon plural

šᵉlō·šîm (H7970) — thirty days; JFB and Poole note this is the mourning period for the highest rank (cf. Aaron, Numbers 20:29), double the ordinary seven (Genesis 50:10).

י֑וֹםyō·wmdaysH3117

יְמֵ֥יyə·mêuntil the timeH3117

בְכִ֖יḇə·ḵîof weepingH1065

√ Bᵉkîy — a weepingNounmasculine singular construct

אֵ֥בֶל’ê·ḇeland mourningH60

√ ʼêbel — lamentationNounmasculine singular construct

מֹשֶֽׁה׃mō·šehfor MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

וַֽיִּתְּמ֔וּway·yit·tə·mūcame to an endH8552

√ tâmam — to complete, in a good or a bad sense, literal, or figurative, transitive or intransitiveConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yit·tᵉmū (H8552) — "and-they-were-completed"; the verb of completion that ends both the mourning and, structurally, the era of Moses, clearing the stage for v.9.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the steppes of Moab thirty days; and the days of weeping, of mourning for Moses, came to an end.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּבְכּוּ֩ grieved renders way·yiḇ·kū (H1058, bâkâh) — specifically wept, shed tears, not the broader "grieved." The Hebrew is wet with tears; "grieved" makes it an inner state, but the verb is audible weeping.
וַֽיִּתְּמ֔וּ came to an end renders way·yit·tᵉmū (H8552, tâmam, to be complete / finished). The same root that elsewhere means moral "completeness" here clocks the mourning's full term. The neutral English does not carry the abruptness of the Hebrew: the days are finished off, and the narrative turns at once to Joshua — a brevity Maclaren (on v.5) felt as "almost a bitter touch."
בְכִ֖י אֵ֥בֶל weeping and mourning renders two distinct nouns, bᵉḵî (H1065, a weeping) and ʾêḇel (H60, lamentation/mourning-rite). The pair is not redundant: the first is the tears, the second the formal mourning observance. The English collapses the inner grief and the public rite into a near-synonym.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

That honour was reserved for Joshua, our Lord Jesus, of whom Joshua was a type, (and the name is the same,) to do that for us which the law could not do, Ro 8:3. Through him we enter into the spiritual rest of conscience, and eternal rest in heaven.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Moses had laid his hands upon him. —See Numbers 27:18 ; Numbers 27:23 . It is the first example of “ordination” in Holy Scripture.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

and who, by the spirit of wisdom on him, was abundantly qualified for the government of the people of Israel; in which he was a type of Christ, on whom the spirit of wisdom and understanding is said to rest, Isaiah 11:2

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

By this the favour of God is demonstrated, in that he does not leave his Church destitute of a governor.

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Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wî·hō·wō·šu·a‘ bin- nūn mā·lê rū·aḥ ḥāḵ·māh kî- mō·šeh ’eṯ- sā·maḵ yā·ḏāw ‘ā·lāw bə·nê- yiś·rā·’êl way·yiš·mə·‘ū ’ê·lāw way·ya·‘ă·śū ka·’ă·šer Yah·weh ’eṯ- ṣiw·wāh mō·šeh

Word by word22 · parsed

וִֽיהוֹשֻׁ֣עַwî·hō·wō·šu·a‘Now JoshuaH3091

√ Yᵉhôwshûwaʻ — Jehoshua (iConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

wî·hō·wō·šu·aʿ bin nūn (H3091 + H5126) — "Joshua son of Nun"; the rare name Nun (30 verses) makes the succession-link to Joshua 1:1 a strong verbal tie. Matthew Henry: Joshua "our Lord Jesus, of whom Joshua was a type, (and the name is the same)."

בִּן־bin-sonH1121

נ֗וּןnūnof NunH5126

√ Nûwn — Nun or Non, the father of JoshuaNounpropermasculine singular

מָלֵא֙mā·lêwas filledH4392

√ mâlêʼ — full (literally or figuratively) or filling (literally)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

mā·lê (H4392) — the fullness that qualifies Joshua to lead is itself a gift, transmitted through Moses' hands; leadership in Israel is conferred, not seized.

ר֣וּחַrū·aḥwith the spiritH7307

√ rûwach — windNouncommon singular construct

חָכְמָ֔הḥāḵ·māhof wisdomH2451

√ chokmâh — wisdom (in a good sense)Nounfeminine singular

כִּֽי־kî-becauseH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

מֹשֶׁ֛הmō·šehMosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

סָמַ֥ךְsā·maḵhad laidH5564

√ çâmak — to prop (literally or figuratively)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

sā·maḵ (H5564) — the ordaining gesture; Benson and Poole link it to Acts 6:6, 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6, where the apostolic church carried the same hand-laying forward with prayer.

יָדָ֖יוyā·ḏāwhis handsH3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcNounfeminine dual constructthird person masculine singular

עָלָ֑יו‘ā·lāwon himH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPrepositionthird person masculine singular

בְּנֵֽי־bə·nê-So the IsraelitesH1121

יִשְׂרָאֵל֙yiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

וַיִּשְׁמְע֨וּway·yiš·mə·‘ūobeyedH8085

√ shâmaʻ — to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yiš·mᵉʿū (H8085, shâmaʿ) — "obeyed," literally "heard / hearkened to"; in Hebrew hearing-with-submission is one act. Israel's obedience to Joshua flows from the authority Moses pressed onto him.

אֵלָ֤יו’ê·lāwhimH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine singular

וַֽיַּעֲשׂ֔וּway·ya·‘ă·śūand didH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

כַּאֲשֶׁ֛רka·’ă·šerasH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPreposition-kPronounrelative

יְהוָ֖הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

צִוָּ֥הṣiw·wāhhad commandedH6680

√ tsâvâh — (intensively) to constitute, enjoinVerbPielPerfectthird person masculine singular

מֹשֶֽׁה׃mō·šehMosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the sons of Israel obeyed him, and did as YHWH had commanded Moses.

Where the English smooths the original

מָלֵא֙ was filled renders the stative perfect mā·lê (H4392) — Joshua is full of the spirit of wisdom. The verb is the same used of the tabernacle craftsmen "filled" with skill (Exodus 28:3). The English passive "was filled" is fine, but the Hebrew states a settled condition, not just an event.
ר֣וּחַ חָכְמָ֔ה the spirit of wisdom renders rū·aḥ ḥāḵmāh (H7307 + H2451) — and rûaḥ is at once "spirit, wind, breath." Barnes and JFB read this as practical, governing wisdom; the FSSB notes the ambiguity is real — the same construct can mean the Spirit of God producing wisdom (Isaiah 11:2, as Gill reads forward to Christ) or simply a wise disposition. The English "spirit" preserves both, but the lowercase choice is already an interpretation.
סָמַ֥ךְ had laid renders sā·maḵ (H5564) — to lean, prop, press the hands down. The verb of the laying-on of hands at ordination (Numbers 27:18, 23). Ellicott calls this "the first example of ‘ordination’ in Holy Scripture." "Laid" understates the deliberate pressing of transmitted authority.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Moses was the founder and mediator of the old covenant. As long as this covenant was to last, no prophet could arise in Israel like unto Moses. There is but One who is worthy of greater honour than Moses, namely, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, who is placed as the Son over all the house of God, in which Moses was found faithful as a servant

source ↗

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

And yet it is said ( Deuteronomy 18:15 ) that God would raise up a prophet, from the midst of Israel, like unto Moses. Whence it follows, that this promise was not fulfilled either in Joshua or Samuel, and the best of the Jews confess, that it should not be fulfilled till the Messiah came.

source ↗

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

nor even throughout the whole Old Testament dispensation to the times of Christ, the great Prophet, like to Moses, that was to arise; and the Messiah is by the Jews owned, as by Maimonides (q), to be equal to him, and by others to be above him

source ↗

Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Whom the Lord knew face to face, i.e. whom God did so freely, and familiarly, and frequently converse with.

source ↗

Since that time, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face—

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

‘ō·wḏ wə·lō- nā·ḇî qām bə·yiś·rā·’êl kə·mō·šeh ’ă·šer Yah·weh yə·ḏā·‘ōw pā·nîm ’el- pā·nîm

Word by word12 · parsed

ע֛וֹד‘ō·wḏSince that timeH5750

√ ʻôwd — properly, iteration or continuanceAdverb

ʿōwḏ (H5750) — "again/yet"; the temporal marker that dates the verse's standpoint after Moses and frames the whole as retrospective testimony.

וְלֹֽא־wə·lō-noH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

נָבִ֥יאnā·ḇîprophetH5030

√ nâbîyʼ — a prophet or (generally) inspired manNounmasculine singular

קָ֨םqāmhas risenH6965

√ qûwm — to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

qām (H6965) — "arose"; with nâbîʼ (prophet, H5030) this is the verbal seed of the Deuteronomy 18:15 promise of a prophet to be raised up, which Acts 3:22 and 7:37 apply to Christ.

בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֖לbə·yiś·rā·’êlin IsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobPreposition-bNounpropermasculine singular

כְּמֹשֶׁ֑הkə·mō·šehlike MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverPreposition-kNounpropermasculine singular

אֲשֶׁר֙’ă·šerwhomH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָ֔הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

יְדָע֣וֹyə·ḏā·‘ōwknewH3045

√ yâdaʻ — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

yᵉḏā·ʿōw (H3045) — the divine knowing; Keil ties it to Numbers 12:6–8, where YHWH says He speaks to Moses "mouth to mouth" and not in riddles — the unique prophetic intimacy.

פָּנִ֖יםpā·nîmfaceH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Nounmasculine plural

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

פָּנִֽים׃pā·nîmfaceH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Nounmasculine plural

pānîm (H6440) — "face"; the FSSB notes the word's journey across the unit, from the land's "face" (v.1) to the prophet's "face" before God (v.10), an inner-Hebrew echo invisible in English.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom YHWH knew face to face —

Where the English smooths the original

ע֛וֹד Since that time renders ʿōwḏ (H5750) — "again / still / yet more." The Hebrew says "there did not arise again" — a verdict looking back over a stretch of later prophets. Benson, Ellicott, and Cambridge all take this ʿōwḏ as the clearest internal sign the verse was penned well after Moses, once "a great number of prophets had been known."
קָ֨ם has risen renders qām (H6965, qûwm, to rise / arise / stand up). The verb of a prophet "arising" — the same root Deuteronomy 18:15 uses of the prophet God will raise up like Moses. So this closing eulogy quietly stands in tension with that promise: none has yet arisen — until the One who must.
יְדָע֣וֹ knew renders yᵉḏā·ʿōw (H3045, yâdaʿ) — "YHWH knew him," not "Moses knew YHWH." Keil and the Pulpit Commentary stress the direction: as in 1 Corinthians 8:3, this is the divine knowing that penetrates and manifests, not Moses' achievement. The English "knew" hides which way the knowing runs.
פָּנִ֖ים אֶל־פָּנִֽים face to face is exactly pānîm ʾel-pānîm — "face to face" — the very noun pānîm that v.1 used geographically ("the face of Jericho"). Here it is the height of intimacy; Onkelos paraphrases "the Lord was revealed to him." The plain rendering is faithful; the wonder is that the idiom is literal Hebrew, not a figure.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

In all the signs, &c. — In these also Moses excelled all the prophets, doing more miracles than any, yea, than all that succeeded him. But the prophet whom God raised up like unto Moses in the latter days, not only equalled, but exceeded him in this, as well as in every other respect.

source ↗

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

the Jews observe that the superior excellency of Moses to the rest of the prophets lay chiefly in his superior degree of prophecy rather than in miracles, and not so much in the nature or the quality of the miracles

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

These vv . are irrelevant to the more spiritual estimate of Moses’ prophetic rank in Deuteronomy 34:10 , and therefore may be due to a later hand. On the deuteronomic phrases signs and wonders, mighty hand, great terror , see Deuteronomy 4:34

source ↗

no prophet who did all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent Moses to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his officials and all his land,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lə·ḵāl hā·’ō·ṯō·wṯ wə·ham·mō·wp̄·ṯîm ’ă·šer Yah·weh šə·lā·ḥōw la·‘ă·śō·wṯ bə·’e·reṣ miṣ·rā·yim lə·p̄ar·‘ōh ū·lə·ḵāl- ‘ă·ḇā·ḏāw ū·lə·ḵāl- ’ar·ṣōw

Word by word14 · parsed

לְכָל־lə·ḵāl[no prophet who did] allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

הָ֨אֹת֜וֹתhā·’ō·ṯō·wṯthe signsH226

√ ʼôwth — a signal (literally or figuratively), as aflag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etcArticleNouncommon plural

hā·ʾō·ṯō·wṯ (H226) — "the signs"; the article makes them the well-known signs of the Exodus, not signs in general.

וְהַמּוֹפְתִ֗יםwə·ham·mō·wp̄·ṯîmand wondersH4159

√ môwphêth — a miracleConjunctive waw, ArticleNounmasculine plural

wᵉ·ham·mō·wp̄·ṯîm (H4159) — "the wonders/portents"; a moderately rare word (35 verses) that, paired with ʾôwth and môwrâʼ (v.12), forms the verbal basis the Verifier finds for the threads to Deuteronomy 4:34 and 26:8.

אֲשֶׁ֤ר’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָ֔הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

שְׁלָחוֹ֙šə·lā·ḥōwsent [Moses]H7971

√ shâlach — to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

šᵉlā·ḥōw (H7971) — "sent him"; the sending-formula that frames Moses as the prototypical commissioned prophet, against whom v.10's verdict measures all later prophets.

לַעֲשׂ֖וֹתla·‘ă·śō·wṯto doH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationPreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

בְּאֶ֣רֶץbə·’e·reṣin the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

מִצְרָ֑יִםmiṣ·rā·yimof EgyptH4714

√ Mitsrayim — Mitsrajim, iNounproperfeminine singular

לְפַרְעֹ֥הlə·p̄ar·‘ōhto PharaohH6547

√ Parʻôh — Paroh, a general title of Egyptian kingsPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

וּלְכָל־ū·lə·ḵāl-and to allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

עֲבָדָ֖יו‘ă·ḇā·ḏāwhis officialsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular

וּלְכָל־ū·lə·ḵāl-and allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

אַרְצֽוֹ׃’ar·ṣōwhis landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Nounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

for all the signs and the wonders that YHWH sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land,

Where the English smooths the original

הָ֨אֹת֜וֹת וְהַמּוֹפְתִ֗ים the signs and wonders renders the fixed pair hā·ʾō·ṯō·wṯ wᵉ·ham·mō·wp̄·ṯîm (H226 + H4159) — "the signs and the portents." A ʾôwth is a meaningful token; a môwphêth is a portent/marvel. The two-word formula is technical Exodus-vocabulary for the plagues; Cambridge and Keil flag it as the deuteronomic signature of God's redemptive acts (Deuteronomy 4:34; 26:8). English keeps the pair but loses its formulaic weight.
שְׁלָחוֹ֙ sent Moses renders šᵉlā·ḥōw (H7971, shâlach) with the object-suffix "him" — YHWH sent him. Moses' miracles are not his own power but a commissioned errand; the verb makes him an apostle (one sent). The bracketed "[Moses]" in the gloss is supplied; the Hebrew simply says "sent him."
לַעֲשׂ֖וֹת to do renders la·ʿăśōwṯ (H6213, ʿâsâh, to do/make) — the infinitive of purpose. The same verb recurs in v.12 ("performed") and v.9 ("did as the LORD commanded"); the doing is what binds Moses' miracles, Joshua's obedience, and Israel's response into one fabric of enacted command.

and no prophet who performed all the mighty acts of power and awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

‘ā·śāh ū·lə·ḵōl ha·ḥă·zā·qāh hay·yāḏ ū·lə·ḵōl ham·mō·w·rā hag·gā·ḏō·wl ’ă·šer mō·šeh lə·‘ê·nê kāl- yiś·rā·’êl

Word by word12 · parsed

עָשָׂ֣ה‘ā·śāh[and no prophet who] performedH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

וּלְכֹל֙ū·lə·ḵōlallH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

הַחֲזָקָ֔הha·ḥă·zā·qāhthe mightyH2389

√ châzâq — strong (usuArticleAdjectivefeminine singular

הַיָּ֣דhay·yāḏacts of powerH3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcArticleNounfeminine singular

hay·yāḏ (H3027, yâd) — "the hand"; the same noun as the hands Moses laid on Joshua (v.9), tying the transmitted authority to the power that delivered Israel.

וּלְכֹ֖לū·lə·ḵōlandH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

הַמּוֹרָ֣אham·mō·w·rāawesome deedsH4172

√ môwrâʼ — fearArticleNounmasculine singular

ham·mō·wrā (H4172) — "the terror"; a rare term (12 verses) which, with ʾôwth and môwphêth of v.11, gives the verbal substance for the deuteronomic-formula threads (Deuteronomy 4:34; 26:8; Jeremiah 32:21).

הַגָּד֑וֹלhag·gā·ḏō·wl. . .H1419

√ gâdôwl — great (in any sense)ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

אֲשֶׁר֙’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

מֹשֶׁ֔הmō·šehMoses [did]H4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

לְעֵינֵ֖יlə·‘ê·nêin the sightH5869

√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Preposition-lNouncdc

lᵉ·ʿê·nê (H5869) — "in the eyes of"; the Pentateuch ends, fittingly, on a public spectacle witnessed by "all Israel" — Moses' authority was never private.

כָּל־kāl-of allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃yiś·rā·’êlIsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

and for all the strong hand and for all the great terror that Moses did in the eyes of all Israel.

Where the English smooths the original

הַחֲזָקָ֔ה הַיָּ֣ד the mighty acts of power paraphrases hay·yāḏ ha·ḥă·zā·qāh (H3027 + H2389) — literally the strong hand. This is the Exodus's own image ("with a mighty hand and outstretched arm"); the BSB's "mighty acts of power" explains the metaphor away. The Hebrew keeps the hand — the very hand Moses laid on Joshua in v.9 (yāḏ) is now the hand that smote Egypt.
הַמּוֹרָ֣א הַגָּד֑וֹל awesome deeds renders ham·mō·wrā hag·gā·ḏōwl (H4172 + H1419) — literally the great terror / fear. Môwrâʼ (a rare word, 12 verses) is dread, the fear God's acts struck into Egypt and Israel alike (Gill cites Exodus 19:16). "Awesome deeds" is too domesticated; the noun is terror.
לְעֵינֵ֖י in the sight renders lᵉ·ʿê·nê (H5869, ʿayin, eye) — "to the eyes of all Israel." The book closes on eyes — the same organ that opened the chapter when Moses' undimmed eye saw the land (vv.1, 7). Moses' whole story is bracketed by sight: he sees the land, and Israel sees his deeds.

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.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The man on the mountain: a granted vision withheld — 1–4

The chapter opens with a verb of ascent — way·yaʿal (H5927), "and he went up" — and Benson hears in it not dread but readiness: "When God's servants are sent for out of the world, the summons runs, 'Go up and die!'" Keil & Delitzsch frame the whole survey theologically: "the Lord showed him, in all its length and breadth, that promised land into which he was not to enter." The grammar insists on God's agency — the causative way·yar·ʾê·hū (H7200, Hifil), "He made him see," recurring as her·ʾî·ṯî·ḵā in v.4. Benson and Barnes agree the sight was supernaturally enlarged; Barnes compares it to the devil showing Christ "all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time" (Luke 4:5). Yet the vision is bounded by an oath and a bar: God swore (niš·baʿ·tî, H7650 — literally "sevened Himself") this land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses may see but not cross (ʿâbar, H5674). The pathos is exact: the man who led a nation to the Jordan is forbidden the Jordan.

ii. The servant who dies at the mouth of God, and the God who buries — 5–6

Moses dies ʿal-pî YHWH — "at the mouth of YHWH" (v.5). Ellicott draws the line taut: "For many years it had been the habit of Moses to do everything 'at the mouth of the Lord'… It was but one last act of obedience to lie down and die at the word of Jehovah." The rabbinic gloss "by a kiss of the Lord" (Baba Bathra; Maimonides) is, as the Pulpit Commentary notes, a tender embellishment the plain idiom does not require. Then the most astonishing clause in the Pentateuch: way·yiq·bōr (H6912), "and He buried him." Cambridge fixes the subject: "He can only be Jehovah, for no man knew the grave." Ellicott sets the stark antithesis the whole unit will turn on: "The Son of God was buried by sinful men. Moses was buried by Jehovah." Maclaren makes this the keynote of his great exposition: "He had lived alone with God, and it was fitting that alone with God he should die" — and he reads the hidden grave against the open, sunlit sepulchre of Christ, "An endured cross, an empty grave, an occupied throne, are as the threefold cord on which all our hopes hang."

iii. Undimmed eyes, thirty days of tears, and the gap that fills — 7–8

Moses dies at a hundred and twenty with his eye undimmed (kâhâh, H3543) and his lêach (H3893) — a word found nowhere else in Scripture, his sap, his freshness — not fled. The Pulpit Commentary is candid about the philology: the word "occurs only here," rendered from the cognate lach, "moist, fresh." Death takes him at full vigor, by sentence and not by decay (Barnes). Israel weeps (bâkâh, H1058) the thirty days reserved for the highest rank (JFB). And here Maclaren strikes his near-bitter note: "'so the days of mourning for Moses were ended.' A month of it, that was all; and then everybody turned to the new man." The completion-verb way·yit·tᵉmū (H8552) closes an age. Matthew Henry refuses to let the grief curdle, and turns the hidden grave Godward: "If the soul be at rest with God, it is of little consequence where the body rests"; and so, of the thirty days' tears, "how great soever our losses have been, we must not give ourselves up to sorrow… If we hope to go to heaven rejoicing, why should we go to the grave mourning?"

iv. The hands that transmit and the prophet who never arose — 9–12

Joshua is full (mā·lê, H4392) of the spirit of wisdom "because Moses had laid his hands (sā·maḵ, H5564) upon him" — Ellicott calls it "the first example of 'ordination' in Holy Scripture." Matthew Henry presses the type without blurring it: "That honour was reserved for Joshua, our Lord Jesus, of whom Joshua was a type, (and the name is the same)." Then the eulogy: ʿōwḏ (H5750), "there arose no more a prophet… like Moses, whom YHWH knew face to face." Keil insists on the direction of the knowing — "not who knew Him, the Lord" but whom the Lord knew, as ginōskein in 1 Corinthians 8:3. Benson holds this verse against Deuteronomy 18:15's promise of a coming prophet like Moses and concludes, with "the best of the Jews," that "it should not be fulfilled till the Messiah came." The Pentateuch ends on Moses' strong hand and great terror done "in the eyes of all Israel" — public, witnessed, unrepeated.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Read under Sola Scriptura, this chapter is the Torah's deliberate refusal of a hero-ending. The lawgiver climbs, sees, is told "not you," dies, and is buried by the very God whose word barred him — and the people grieve a month and move on. Scripture will not let Moses become the destination. The undimmed eye (v.7) is the clue the narrator hands us: this is not a man failing, but a man finished — full strength, sentence carried, errand complete. And the structure preaches: the unit is bracketed by sight (Moses sees the land, v.1; Israel sees his deeds, v.12) and pierced by a single negative — you shall not cross (v.4). The man who embodies the Law can bring Israel to the river but not over it; only Joshua/Yᵉhôshûaʿ — "YHWH saves" — leads them in. The text itself, by naming what Moses is not (no successor-prophet his equal, v.10) and what he cannot (cross, v.4), leaves a Moses-shaped absence the rest of the canon strains to fill. I take that absence to be intentional: the Law's greatest servant is, by design, a signpost that points past himself. This reading is mine and fallible; test it against the whole counsel of God.

The Torah ends with its greatest man face-down in an unmarked grave God dug — not because the story failed, but because the story was never about reaching the man.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The valley over against Beth-peor — the burial fixed by a rare name verbal / quotation — confirmed

v.6's gay (valley) mūl (over against) Bêyth Pᵉʿôwr reuses the exact triad of Deuteronomy 3:29 and 4:46, where Israel encamped "in the valley over against Beth-peor." Beth-peor (H1047) occurs in only four verses in the whole Hebrew Bible, so the shared lexeme is genuinely rare; with the shared mûl (H4136) and gayʼ (H1516) the Verifier ranks the link as verbal. The grim resonance: Moses is buried beside the very valley where Israel first joined itself to Baal of Peor (Numbers 25). Keil cautions the burial-valley is the one near Pisgah (Numbers 21:20), not the Jordan valley.

Deuteronomy 3:29 · Deuteronomy 4:46

basis: rare shared lexeme H1047 Bêyth Pᵉʻôwr (only 4 vv), plus H4136 mûwl and H1516 gayʼ — Verifier: "verbal — confirmed" for Deut 34:6 ↔ Deut 3:29

Joshua 13:20 — the same two rare names (Pisgah + Beth-peor) fix the Reuben allotment verbal / quotation — confirmed

The strongest verbal anchor for this whole Transjordan setting is Joshua 13:20, where the inheritance of Reuben is bounded by "Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth" — pairing the two rarest place-names of our unit, Piçgâh (H6449, 8 vv) and Bêyth Pᵉʿôwr (H1047, 4 vv), in a single verse. Running the pair through the Verifier returns "verbal — confirmed" on Beth-peor alone; with Pisgah added the two rare lexemes together make this the highest-scoring candidate of the unit. The link is geographic, not a quotation: the place where Moses ascended to die and was buried (vv.1, 6) is the very ground later deeded by lot to Reuben — the land he saw becoming, verse by later verse, an allotted inheritance.

Joshua 13:20

basis: two rare shared lexemes H6449 Piçgâh (8 vv) and H1047 Bêyth Pᵉʻôwr (4 vv) in one verse — Verifier: "verbal — confirmed"; geographic reuse, no quotation claim

The Round (kikkar) and Zoar — the plain Lot once chose (Genesis 13:10) verbal / quotation — confirmed

v.3's "the Round of the valley of Jericho… as far as Zoar" reuses two words from Genesis 13:10, where Lot "lifted up his eyes and saw all the plain (kikkâr, H3603) of the Jordan… as you come to Zoar" before the fire fell on Sodom. Zoar (H6820) is a rare name (9 vv), which lifts the tie above coincidence (Verifier: "verbal — confirmed"). The resonance is somber: the southern terminus of the land Moses is granted to see is the same circling oasis-plain Lot grasped at by sight and lost to judgment. Both men "see" a coveted land with their eyes; one chose it and was scorched, the other is forbidden to enter it yet dies in honor.

Genesis 13:10

basis: shared lexemes H6820 Tsôʻar (rare, 9 vv) and H3603 kikkâr (55 vv) — Verifier: "verbal — confirmed"; thematic echo of Lot, no quotation claim

Moab and Zoar — the same southern frontier Isaiah laments (Isaiah 15:5) structural / thematic — confirmed

The vision's southern edge — "Moab… as far as Zoar" (vv.3, 5) — recurs centuries later in Isaiah's oracle against Moab, where the prophet's "heart cries out for Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar" (Isaiah 15:5). The shared rare name Tsôʿar (H6820, 9 vv) with Môwʼâb sets the same geographic frame, but the genre and burden are wholly different — a survey of granted land here, a dirge over a doomed people there. So this is a structural/geographic echo, not a quotation or borrowing: two texts standing on the same frontier with opposite errands.

Isaiah 15:5

basis: shared lexemes H6820 Tsôʻar (rare, 9 vv) and H4124 Môwʼâb (158 vv); shared geographic frame, different genre/burden, no quotation claim — so thematic not verbal

Nebo, Pisgah, and the command to ascend (Deut 32:49; Num 21:20; 23:14) structural / thematic — confirmed

v.1's ascent of Mount Nebo / the head of the Pisgah over against Moab executes the command of Deuteronomy 32:49 (shared Môwʼâb H4124, Nᵉbôw H5015 — Nebo is rare, 13 vv — and Yᵉrîychôw H3405). The name Pisgah (H6449) is itself rare (8 verses), linking the survey to Numbers 21:20 and 23:14, where Balaam stood on "the top of Pisgah" to view Israel. Same vantage, opposite errand: Balaam looked down to curse and was made to bless; Moses looks down to bless a land he cannot enter.

Deuteronomy 32:49 · Numbers 21:20 · Numbers 23:14

basis: shared lexemes H5015 Nᵉbôw (rare, 13 vv), H6449 Piçgâh (rare, 8 vv), H4124 Môwʼâb, H3405 Yᵉrîychôw; pattern/setting match, no quotation claim

"No prophet arose like Moses" and the prophet to be raised up (Deut 18:15) structural / thematic — confirmed

v.10's verdict — "there arose (qām, H6965) no more a prophet (nâbîʼ, H5030) in Israel like Moses" — stands in pointed tension with Deuteronomy 18:15, where God promises to raise up a prophet "like Moses." The two verses share the very verb and noun of prophetic arising. Benson draws the conclusion that the promise "should not be fulfilled till the Messiah came." The shared lexemes are common (288 and 596 verses), so the link is thematic, not a rare-word quotation; but the canonical pairing is explicit and ancient.

Deuteronomy 18:15

basis: shared lexemes H5030 nâbîʼ (288 vv) and H6965 qûwm (596 vv) — both common, so thematic not verbal; Verifier: "structural / thematic — confirmed"

Signs, wonders, and the great terror — the deuteronomic Exodus formula structural / thematic — confirmed

vv.11–12 close the Torah with the signature triad ʾôwth (signs, H226), môwphêth (wonders, H4159), and môwrâʼ (terror, H4172) — the same fixed formula of Deuteronomy 4:34 and 26:8, and echoed in Jeremiah 32:21, all describing the Exodus deliverance "with signs and wonders and a mighty hand and great terror." Môwrâʼ is moderately rare (12 verses), which lifts the link above coincidence. Cambridge judges vv.11–12 "may be due to a later hand" precisely because they recycle this deuteronomic stock-phrase.

Deuteronomy 4:34 · Deuteronomy 26:8 · Jeremiah 32:21

basis: shared formula H226 ʼôwth, H4159 môwphêth, H4172 môwrâʼ (rare, 12 vv); fixed deuteronomic pattern, no single-verse quotation

Joshua son of Nun succeeds Moses (Joshua 1:1) structural / thematic — confirmed

v.9's Joshua son of Nun, ordained by the laying-on of Moses' hands, is the literary bridge to Joshua 1:1, where "after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD" the LORD speaks to "Joshua son of Nun, Moses' minister." The shared names Yᵉhôwshûaʿ (H3091) and the rare Nûwn (H5126, 30 vv), with Môsheh, make the succession explicit; JFB notes this chapter "probably formed, at one time, an introduction to the Book of Joshua."

Joshua 1:1

basis: shared lexemes H3091 Yᵉhôwshûaʿ, H5126 Nûwn (rare, 30 vv), H4872 Môsheh; narrative succession, no quotation claim

The contest for the body of Moses (Jude 9) — flagged flagged — verify source

v.6's hidden grave and divine burial became, by the first century, a Jewish tradition of Michael the archangel disputing with the devil over Moses' body — cited in Jude 9. Ellicott, Barnes, Poole, and the Geneva Bible all invoke it; Keil ties it to the Transfiguration appearance of Moses (Matthew 17). But this is a cross-Testament link with no shared original-language lexeme (Greek Jude ↔ Hebrew Deuteronomy cannot share Strong's numbers), and the underlying tradition (the Assumption of Moses) is extra-biblical and contested. The FSSB records it but does not assert it.

Jude 1:9

basis: cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): no shared Strong's lexeme possible; Verifier returns no shared lexeme. Rests on an extra-biblical tradition (Assumption of Moses) — provenance contested, so flagged not verbal

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

Moses the servant, Christ the Son over the house widely-held

v.5 fixes on Moses the title servant of YHWH (ʿeḇed, H5650). Hebrews 3:5–6 takes exactly this honor and exalts it: "Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant… but Christ as a Son over His house." Benson states the typology without collapsing it: "Moses was faithful as a servant, but Christ as a son… Moses lies buried: but Christ is 'sitting at the right hand of God.'" The contrast is the New Testament's own (Hebrews 3:2–6, citing Numbers 12:7), not an imposition — Moses' very greatness, including his unmarked grave, is the foil that magnifies the Son.

Deuteronomy 34:5 · Hebrews 3:2-6 · Numbers 12:7

The prophet like Moses — fulfilled in Christ ancient

v.10 declares no prophet ever arose like Moses; Deuteronomy 18:15 had promised God would raise one up. The New Testament resolves the tension explicitly: Peter (Acts 3:22) and Stephen (Acts 7:37) quote Deuteronomy 18 and apply "a prophet like me" to Jesus, and on the mount of Transfiguration the Father's "hear Him" (Mark 9:7) answers Deuteronomy 18:15's "to him you shall listen." Benson and Gill both record the ancient Jewish expectation that the promise awaited the Messiah. This is the unit's clearest forward arrow.

Deuteronomy 34:10 · Deuteronomy 18:15 · Acts 3:22

The hidden grave and the empty tomb widely-held

Maclaren reads v.6 christologically with great restraint, contrasting "that grave with the sepulchre in the garden where Jesus lay, close by a city wall, guarded by foes, haunted by troops of weeping friends, visited by a great light of angel faces." He draws the antithesis out: "The one faded from men’s memory because it was nothing to any man… The other forever draws hearts and memories, because in it was wrought out the victory in which all our hopes are rooted." The figure is not arbitrary: the One who buried Moses (v.6) is the One who would not let His own Holy One "see corruption" (Acts 2:27 / Psalm 16:10). Ellicott's antithesis — "Moses was buried by Jehovah" while "the Son of God was buried by sinful men" — points the same way: the servant's grave is hidden; the Son's is opened. This typological reading is the expositors' own and is offered as a figure to test, not a verbal proof.

Deuteronomy 34:6 · Acts 2:27 · Psalm 16:10

Apparatus & Provenance

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:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (c. 1905)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Authorship. This chapter narrates Moses' own death and burial and looks back on later prophets (v.10, ʿōwḏ). Benson, JFB, Barnes, Ellicott, Cambridge, and the Pulpit Commentary all conclude — on the verse's own internal evidence — that it was written after Moses (proposed hands: Joshua, Eleazar, Samuel, Ezra). The FSSB records this as the historic consensus reading, not as a verdict on the text's inspiration; the named author is, as the Hebrew leaves it, unstated.

Hapax and rare words. v.7's lêach (H3893, "freshness/sap") occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible; the rendering "natural force / vitality" rests on the cognate adjective lach (Genesis 30:37), so it is more inferential than most glosses. The Berean/Strong's parses are not contradicted here, only weighted.

Disputed bases. The Jude 9 "body of Moses" thread is cross-Testament and rests on an extra-biblical tradition; it is flagged, not asserted. The rabbinic "died by a kiss" reading of v.5's "mouth of the LORD," and Jarchi's reading of v.2's "hinder sea" as "the latter day," are recorded as Jewish interpretation, not as the verses' plain sense. The Christ-typology (servant/Son, prophet-like-Moses, hidden/open grave) is the expositors' figural reading offered for testing under Sola Scriptura; only the prophet-like-Moses link carries explicit NT citation (Acts 3:22; 7:37). Per the FSSB cross-reference rule, no Greek↔Hebrew link is tiered "verbal," since shared Strong's numbers are impossible across Testaments. Joshua 1:5 → Hebrews 13:5 is not applicable: this unit is Deuteronomy 34, which does not contain that verse.

✦ = 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)