Deeper Commentary
Deu 34:1 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to
the top of Pisgah, opposite from Jericho. Yahweh showed him all the land
of Gilead to Dan-
This presumably required supernatural vision, it was a vision of the
Kingdom. This vision may not have just been literal, because in Dt. 33 the
blessings of Moses imply his foresight also of their future experiences in
that land, especially in the last days. It was from "Abarim" (Dt. 32:49). Moses seeing the Kingdom but being unable to enter it, nor himself
lead God's people into it, points forward to how the law of Moses gave a
vision of the Kingdom, but was unable to bring us into it. That required
the work of Joshua / Jesus. "Abarim" means 'the regions beyond'. Moses and
his law gave an insight into the Kingdom, the region beyond him. For the
culture of grace and kindness, centered around the sacrificed future
Messiah, the Lord Jesus, was the outcome of the law. But it was
unattainable by weak men.
Deu 34:2 and all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the
land of Judah to the hinder sea-
The idea is that he saw the western boundary, having seen the
northern boundary in :1. The renowned Hebrew commentator Rashi claims "to
the hinder sea" should be "unto the last day". As noted on :1, I suggest
that the vision was not only geographical, but also of how things would be
in the land over time, especially in the last days, as explained on Dt.
33.
Deu 34:3 and the South and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of
palm trees to Zoar-
If indeed (see on :1,2) Moses saw not only geographically but also
over time, he would have seen the events around Jericho as the walls fell,
and seen things like the casting of the temple items in 1 Kings 7:46-
which was done in the plain of the valley of Jericho. The LXX puts this
description in terms of the promises made to Abraham which will be alluded
to in :4: "from the River of Egypt unto the Great River, the River
Euphrates, and unto the Western Sea".
Deu 34:4 Yahweh said to him, This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to
Isaac and to Jacob, saying ‘I will give it to your seed’. I have caused
you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there-
Moses' final experience was to view the land just as Abraham did,
looking to all points of the compass and then receiving the promise that
he would one day, not immediately, eternally inherit it (Gen. 13:14,15).
So Moses was comforted that he was indeed a seed of Abraham.
Deu 34:5 So Moses the servant of Yahweh died there in the land of Moab,
according to the word of Yahweh-
Moses died "by the mouth of the Lord (Heb.). "By the
mouth of the Lord" can imply a kiss; as if the Angel kissed Moses, and
this resulted in his death. Remember, the Angel was Moses friend (Ex. 33:11). It was a reversal of how the Angel created Adam and breathed into his nose the Spirit; now the Angel kisses Moses and takes it away. And then he buried him, laying him in the grave in hope of better days, when Christ would come and raise his people, when God's people would at last be obedient. What an end. Moses seems to have foreseen this when he said that “We bring our years to an end with a sigh”, a final outbreathing (Ps. 90:9 RVmg.). And then the Angel built a sepulchre. Just picture that Angel perhaps digging, yes digging the grave, building the sepulchre of the rocks laying around in that cleft in the mountain. In the context of Moses leading Israel, we are told: "As a beast goeth down into the valley (tired at the end of a day, led there to drink by a loving owner), the Spirit (Angel) of the Lord caused him to rest" (Is. 63:14). Moses was buried by the Angel in a valley in the mountain (Dt. 34:6). The Hebrew translated " rest" means both to physically lay down and to comfort. So we have the picture of the Angel comforting Moses with the hope of resurrection, kissing him goodnight as it were, and then laying him down in the grave. The softness of God at the death of Moses, the gentleness, prefigured above all the gentleness, in a sense, of the Father with His Son at the cross; and His gentleness with each of us in out time of dying. Let's remember this idea. For short of the second coming, we're all mortal. There's something wondrous about the death of Moses. It's as if God took Moses' funeral- and said in truth 'This is the best man I've yet known', as a man might say at the funeral of his best friend.
Deu 34:6 He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth
Peor, but no man knows of his tomb to this day-
This was the very place where they camped after being rejected from
entering the land (Dt. 3:29). In his death, Moses was completely
identified with his sinful people, as was the Lord Jesus. For those
association with Him, sin itself is thereby no longer a barrier between
God and man. Is. 63:14 says that the Spirit [the Angel] caused Moses to rest as a
man leads his animal to water in a valley. The way the Angel buried Moses
is very touching. “According to the word of Yahweh” (:5) can bear the
translation “By the kiss of
Yahweh”, as if the Angel with whom Moses was used to speaking face to
face, as a man speaks with his friend, kissed him and as it were reversed
the kiss of life, took his breath / spirit away, and laid him down to rest
there on the mountain, then carried the body down to the valley and buried
him there, to rest until the resurrection. The softness, respect and
gentleness of God with His beloved in their time of dying comes over very
strongly here.
An alternative reconstruction of the death of Moses is possible.
Rabbinical commentators claim that "he buried him" (Dt. 34:6) is reflexive;
it means that Moses buried himself. For confirmation of this, see
S.R.Hirsch, The Pentateuch, Vol. 5 p.685 (New York: Judaica Press, 1971). It is the same Hebrew construction as in Lev. 22:16 and Num. 6:13. In this case, the description of Christ as 'making his own grave' (Is. 53:9) could be read as an allusion to the death of Moses. Therefore the pattern of events was perhaps something like this: The Angel showed Moses the land; Moses, in the presence of the Angel, dug his own grave and lowered himself into it, as a conscious act of the will, in obedience to God's command (as the prototype of the Lord Jesus). The prophesy that Moses would lie down in death takes on a literal sense in this case (Dt. 31:16). Then the Angel kissed him, and he died. The Angel then built up the sepulchre over his body. Personally I feel this was what happened, but I am cautious to strongly push ideas which rely on a fine point of Hebrew grammar.
Deu 34:7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye
was not dim, nor his youth abated-
Moses was one of those old people who still had a ‘young’ attitude to
life; not for him the cynicism which comes with old age; hence Deuteronomy
is at times optimistic about people with what could be seen as an almost
naive youthful optimism. One wonders whether he was therefore right to
accept Jethro’s advice that he needed to arrange helpers lest he wear out
(Ex. 18:18), seeing that God had kept him so physically strong, and
continued to do so.
Moses accepted Jethro's advice on the basis that he will "surely wear
away" (Ex. 18:18); even though his natural strength never abated (Dt.
34:7), and God surely would not have asked him to do the impossible.
Jethro at this time seems to have seen Yahweh as only one of many gods; he
was a pagan priest. He prophesied that if Moses followed his advice, "all
this people shall go to their place in peace" - which they didn't. Num.
10:31 suggests Moses saw Jethro's knowledge of the desert as better than
the Angelic "eyes" of Yahweh (2 Chron. 16:9; Prov. 15:3) who were going
ahead of the camp to find a resting place (Num. 10:33 cp. Ex. 33:14 cp.
Is. 63:9). It seems Moses recognized his error on the last day of his
life, when he admits Yahweh, not Jethro's wisdom, had led them (Dt. 1:33).
Likewise Paul in his final communication comments on the way that Mark
with whom he had once quarrelled was profitable to him (2 Tim. 4:11).
Deu 34:8 The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab
thirty days; so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended-
Dt. 9:1 records Moses' assumption that Israel would enter Canaan on
the day that he died: "You are to pass over the
Jordan this day". But they did not pass over that day because
they mourned for Moses 30 days. It is possible that Moses felt so despised
by them that he assumed there would be no period of mourning for him.
Deu 34:9 Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses
had laid his hands on him, and the children of Israel listened to him and
did as Yahweh commanded Moses-
We must compare this with
Num. 27:18: "Yahweh said to Moses, Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in
whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him". Because Joshua had the Spirit, Moses was told to lay his hand on him.
Yet Dt. 34:9 says that Moses laid his hand on him so that Joshua might
receive the Spirit. Here we see the upward spiral of spirituality at work-
those who are of the Spirit are made more spiritual.
Deu 34:10 There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom
Yahweh knew face to face-
Messiah was the prophet promised "like unto" Moses (Dt. 18:15,18;
Acts 3:22). This may therefore be a note to the effect that the Messiah
had not yet arisen at the time of writing. Gideon was bidden rise up to the example of Moses- for there were many
similarities between his call by the Angel, and the Angelic calling which
Moses received at the burning bush. Thus Gideon was called to follow the
Angel in faith, "because Ehyeh is with you" (Jud. 6:16)- a direct
quotation from the Angelic manifestation to Moses in Ex. 3:12. And yet he
responds: "Alas! For I have seen Yahweh's envoy face to face!" (Jud.
6:22). Gideon knew full well that Moses had seen the Angel "face to face"
(Dt. 34:10). Gideon's fear is therefore rooted in a sense that "No! I'm
simply not Moses!". And it's the same with us. We can read of all
these reasons to believe that Moses is really our pattern, and respond
that "No! This ain't me...". But there, in the record of Gideon and his
success, lies our challenge to rise up to the spirit of Moses.
Deu 34:11 in all the signs and the wonders which Yahweh sent him to do in
the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land-
Of all the miracles God has worked, those involved with the
salvation of Israel from Egypt are repeatedly presented as the greatest
ever done, and thereby Moses becomes the most spectacular Old Testament
channel for the work of God's Spirit. And this reflects the personal
wonder of the way God brought each of us out from the world onto the path
to His Kingdom. For those raised Christian, this is so hard to perceive
adequately enough.
Deu 34:12 and in all the mighty hand and in all the great terror, which
Moses worked in the sight of all Israel-
The idea is that the hand of Moses did these things, hence GNB "the
great and terrifying things that Moses did in the sight of all Israel".
But the "great terror" was done by the mighty hand of Yahweh (Dt. 4:34;
26:8). The final accolade for Moses was that his hand was hand in hand
with God's, he was a willing partner in the salvation of God's people. The
same phrase "great terror" is used in Jer. 32:20,21, but the point is made
that this was an ongoing work "unto this day". This is the power of event
in Biblical history. Those events are no mere past actions that are
completed. God's word becomes a living word, as we perceive that the same
hand which worked in those historical events is bringing about the essence
of those events in our own lives.
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