Deuteronomy 31
Moses, now 120 years old, publicly commissions Joshua as his successor, establishing prophetic succession as the means by which covenant leadership transfers across generations. The institution of reading the torah every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles establishes periodic covenant renewal as the rhythm of Israel's public life and makes the law a living reality renewed in community gathering. The divine prediction that Israel will become corrupt and turn to other gods anticipates future apostasy while establishing that even disobedience does not catch God unaware, and the Song of Moses (Haazinu) is appointed as a witness to covenant obligation and consequences. The placement of the torah beside the ark institutionalizes the law as the physical center of the covenant, making the law itself an object of reverence and the container of God's presence. This chapter transitions from Moses' instruction to institutional arrangements that will survive him, establishing torah reading, priestly mediation, and prophetic succession as means by which covenant persists beyond any individual's lifespan.
Deuteronomy 31:1
Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel — Moses delivers the final covenant address. The people listen to covenant-sealing words.
Deuteronomy 31:2
He said to them: 'I am now one hundred twenty years old; I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has said to me, "You shall not cross over this Jordan" — Moses' age ('meyah v'esrim shana') marks completion: forty years leading Israel. Jordan crossing is forbidden him (Numbers 20:11-12).
Deuteronomy 31:3
The LORD your God himself will cross over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua also will cross over before you, as the LORD promised — God leads (not Moses); Joshua succeeds him. Conquest is God's work ('YHVH eloheykhem hu over lifanekha').
Deuteronomy 31:4
The LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them — Joshua's conquest parallels Sihon and Og's defeat (Deuteronomy 29:7-8): divine pattern repeated.
Deuteronomy 31:5
The LORD will give them over to you, and you shall deal with them in accordance with all the commandment that I have given you — conquest brings dispossession ('v'natan YHVH otam lifneykhem'). Joshua follows Moses' covenant law.
Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous; do not fear or be in dread of them, because the LORD your God goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you — the exhortation ('chazak v'ematz') is repeated (to Joshua and Israel). Divine presence ensures victory ('YHVH elohekha hu over temkha').
Deuteronomy 31:7
Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: 'Be strong and courageous; for you shall lead this people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors to give them; and you shall put them in possession of it — Joshua's public commissioning ('va-yitz'av et Yeshua') makes succession official. Moses promises ('nishba YHVH') the land.