Deuteronomy 34:2 Komentář

Having read how Moses finished his testimony, we are told here how he immediately after finished his life. This chapter could not be written by Moses himself, but was added by Joshua or Eleazar, or, as bishop Patrick conjectures, by Samuel, who was a prophet, and wrote by divine authority what he found in the records of Joshua, and his successors the judges. We have had an account of his dying words, here we have an account of his dying work, and that is work we must all do shortly, and it had need be well done. Here is, I. The view Moses had of the land of Canaan just before he died (Deu 34:1-4). II. His death and burial (Deu 34:5, Deu 34:6). III. His age (Deu 34:7). IV. Israel's mourning for him (Deu 34:8). V. His successor (Deu 34:9). VI. His character (Deu 34:10, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 34 This chapter informs us of Moses going up to the top of Pisgah, where he was shown the whole land of Canaan, Deu 34:1; of his death, burial, and age, Deu 34:5; of Israel's mourning for him, and the time of it, Deu 34:8; of his successor Joshua, Deu 34:9; and of the character of Moses, to whom no prophet was to be compared, Deu 34:10.

And all Naphtali,.... 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 Mat 4:13, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh: which lay in the midland part of the country: and all the land of Judah; which lay to the south: unto the utmost sea; the Mediterranean sea, which was the western boundary of the land, called the "hinder sea", Zac 14:8; and might as well be so rendered here, for the same word is used: Jarchi would have it read, not the "hinder sea", but the "latter day": for, he says, the Lord showed to Moses all that should happen to Israel until the resurrection of the dead; and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases the above passages, and observes that the Lord showed Moses the mighty deeds of Jephthah of Gilead, and the victories of Samson, who was of the tribe of Dan; the idolatries of that tribe, and Samson the saviour that should spring from them; Deborah and Barak, and the princes of the house of Naphtali; Joshua the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, that should fight with and slay the kings of Canaan; and Gideon the son of Joash, of the tribe of Manasseh, that should fight with Midian and Amalek, and all the kings of Israel, and the kingdom of the house of Judah; the king of the south, that should join the king of the north to destroy the inhabitants of the earth; and even the destruction of Armiilus or antichrist, and the war of Gog and Magog, and the great affliction Michael shall save from.

MOSES FROM MOUNT NEBO VIEWS THE LAND. (Deu 34:1-12) Moses went up from the plains of Moab--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. unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah--literally, the head or summit of the Pisgah; that is, the height (compare Num 23:14; Deu 3:17-27; Deu 4:49). The general name given to the whole mountain range east of Jordan, was Abarim (compare Deu 32:49), and the peak to which Moses ascended was dedicated to the heathen Nebo, as Balaam's standing place had been consecrated to Peor. Some modern travellers have fixed on Jebel Attarus, a high mountain south of the Jabbok (Zurka), as the Nebo of this passage [BURCKHARDT, SEETZEN, &c.]. But it is situated too far north for a height which, being described as "over against Jericho," must be looked for above the last stage of the Jordan. the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead--That pastoral region was discernible at the northern extremity of the mountain line on which he stood, till it ended, far beyond his sight in Dan. Westward, there were on the horizon, the distant hills of "all Naphtali." Coming nearer, was "the land of Ephraim and Manasseh." Immediately opposite was "all the land of Judah," a title at first restricted to the portion of this tribe, beyond which were "the utmost sea" (the Mediterranean) and the Desert of the "South." These were the four great marks of the future inheritance of his people, on which the narrative fixes our attention. Immediately below him was "the circle" of the plain of Jericho, with its oasis of palm trees; and far away on his left, the last inhabited spot before the great desert "Zoar." The foreground of the picture alone was clearly discernible. There was no miraculous power of vision imparted to Moses. That he should see all that is described is what any man could do, if he attained sufficient elevation. The atmosphere of the climate is so subtle and free from vapor that the sight is carried to a distance of which the beholder, who judges from the more dense air of Europe, can form no idea [VERE MONRO]. But between him and that "good land," the deep valley of the Jordan intervened; "he was not to go over thither."

And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, After blessing the people, Moses ascended Mount Nebo, according to the command of God (Deu 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. From Nebo, a peak of Pisgah, which affords a very extensive prospect on all sides, he saw the land of Gilead, the land to the east of the Jordan as far as Dan, i.e., not Laish-Dan near the central source of the Jordan (Jdg 18:27), which did not belong to Gilead, but a Dan in northern Peraea, which has not yet been discovered (see at Gen 14:14); and the whole of the land on the west of the Jordan, Canaan proper, in all its different districts, namely, "the whole of Naphtali," i.e., the later Galilee on the north, "the land of Ephraim and Manasseh" in the centre, and "the whole of the land of Judah," the southern portion of Canaan, in all its breadth, "to the hinder (Mediterranean) sea" (see Deu 11:24); also "the south land" (Negeb: see at Num 13:17), the southern land of steppe towards the Arabian desert, and "the valley of the Jordan" (see Gen 13:10), i.e., the deep valley from Jericho the palm-city (so called from the palms which grew there, in the valley of the Jordan: Jdg 1:16; Jdg 3:13; Ch2 28:15) "to Zoar" at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea (see at Gen 19:22). This sight of every part of the land on the east and west was not an ecstatic vision, but a sight with the bodily eyes, whose natural power of vision was miraculously increased by God, to give Moses a glimpse at least of the glorious land which he was not to tread, and delight his eye with a view of the inheritance intended for his people.