Deuteronomy 32:49

32:48-52 Now Moses had done his work, why should he desire to live a day longer? God reminds him of the sin of which he had been guilty, for which he was kept from entering Canaan. It is good for the best of men to die repenting the infirmities of which they are conscious. But those may die with comfort and ease, whenever God calls for them, notwithstanding the sins they remember against themselves, who have a believing prospect, and a well-grounded hope of eternal life beyond death.

Get thee up into this mountain Abarim,.... Which was near in sight, and pointed at; it was a range of mountains, of which see Numbers 21:11 , unto Mount Nebo; which was one of the mountains of Abarim, and had its name either from its height, or a city of this name, to which it was near, see Numbers 32:38; Jerom says (b), in his lays it was shown six miles from Heshbon to the east; it should be read, to the west: which is in the land of Moab; it formerly belonged to it, but was taken from he Moabites by Sihon, and now possessed by Israel: that is over against Jericho; which lay on the other side of Jordan, in the land of Canaan: and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession; which he might take a view of from the high mountain of Nebo, especially his sight being strengthened by the Lord, as no doubt it was; and this would give him a pleasure to behold, though he might not go into it, and confirm his faith that Israel would possess it, as well as be an emblem to him of the heavenly Canaan he was going to inherit. (b) De loc. Heb. fol. 93. N.

(49) G et thee up into this mountain Abarim. —See Numbers 27:12 . The same command was given there, and was answered by Moses with the prayer for a successor, which was granted. All that is narrated between that passage and this may be considered as preliminary to Moses’ departure. Mount Nebo.—The particular peak of the “Abarim” (“mountains beyond Jordan,” or “passages of Jordan”), where Moses was to die, was not mentioned before. “The rugged summit of mount Nebo rises abruptly 4,000 feet above the plain (where the Israelites were encamped), and still retains its name, with unchanged meaning, in the Arabic Neba, or height” (Couder’s Bible Handbook, p. 254).

49 . Abarim ] Lit. the men or regions beyond or over there. Only in P, Jeremiah 22:20 R.V., and Ezekiel 39:11 (where read Abarîm ). The name is proof that the people who used it were settled W. of Jordan and looked across the valley of that river and the Dead Sea, to the E. range beyond. See the present writer’s ‘Abarîm’ in E. B. , HGHL 53, 548, 553, and Mod. Criticism , etc., 18 f. unto mount Nebo … Jericho ] Not in Numbers 27:12-14 , unsuitable in the mouth of the Deity, and obviously a geographical note like those in chs. 2 f. Nebo is P’s name for E’s and D’s Pisgah. See on Deuteronomy 3:17 , Deuteronomy 34:1 . I ] The shorter form of the Heb. pronoun as always in P, while in Deut. the longer is used, for exceptions see on Deuteronomy 12:30 . children of Israel ] So throughout the passage; not as in D all Israel . for a possession ] Not the deuter. yerushah or naḥalah (inheritance), Deuteronomy 4:21 , etc., but ’ahuzzah as elsewhere in P, e.g. Leviticus 14:34 . The term is exactly equal to the Fr. law-term ‘saisine,’ the Eng. ‘seisin’ or ‘seizin,’ the act of taking corporal possession or the legal equivalent of this.

1 . Moses went up ] As commanded, Deuteronomy 3:27 , Deuteronomy 32:49 . plains of Moab ] Heb. ‘arbôth Mo’ab , the parts of the ‘Arabah (see on Deuteronomy 1:1 ) reckoned as Moabite. The designation is peculiar to P, who gives it as Israel’s last camp before crossing Jordan, Numbers 33:48-50 , cp. Numbers 22:1 ; Numbers 26:3 ; Numbers 26:63 ; Numbers 31:12 ; Numbers 35:1 ; Numbers 36:13 , Joshua 13:32 , which place these ‘steppes’ on Jordan and opposite Jericho . According to Deuteronomy 3:24-29 Moses ascended Nebo from Israel’s immediately previous camp in the glen over against Beth-Pe‘or , which is above the Jordan valley. But ‘arbôth Mo’ab may have been loosely held to cover this higher hollow that debouches on the ‘Arabah . unto mount Nebo , the headland of the Pisgah ] The former is P’s name for the mount ( Deuteronomy 32:49 ), the latter that of E ( Numbers 21:20 ; Numbers 23:14 ) and deuteron. writers, see on Deuteronomy 3:17 . It is the headland which breaks from the plateau of Moab between Heshbon and Medaba under the name en-Nebâ (= ‘mountain-back,’ Dalman MNPDV , 1900, p. 23) or en-Nebâ, and runs out to the S. of the W. ‘Uyûn Musa upon the N. end of the Dead Sea. From the high edge of the Plateau it dips a little, and so loses the view to the E.—Israel’s desert horizons for 40 years—but the bulk of W. Palestine is in sight; only at first the nearer side of the Jordan valley is invisible, and N. and S. the view is hampered by the parallel headlands.

"That self-same day," viz., the day upon which Moses had rehearsed the song to the children of Israel, the Lord renewed the announcement of his death, by repeating the command already given to him ( Numbers 27:12-14 ) to ascend Mount Nebo, there to survey the land of Canaan, and then to be gathered unto his people. In form, this repetition differs from the previous announcement, partly in the fact that the situation of Mount Nebo is more fully described (in the land of Moab, etc., as in Deuteronomy 1:5 ; Deuteronomy 29:1 ), and partly in the continual use of the imperative, and a few other trifling points. These differences may all be explained from the fact that the account here was not written by Moses himself.

And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Hoshea the son of Nun. And when Moses had ended speaking all these words to all Israel, he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words that I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to take heed to do, all the words of this law. For it is no vain word for you, but it is your life, and through this word ye shall prolong your days on the land whereunto ye pass over the Jordan to possess it. And Jehovah spoke to Moses that same day, saying, Go up into this mountain Abarim, mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, which is opposite Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession, and die on the mountain whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy peoples, as Aaron thy brother died on mount Hor, and was gathered unto his peoples; because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye hallowed me not in the midst of the children of Israel. For thou shalt see the land before [thee]; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel. Chapter 33 And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.