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From: Deuteronomy 31:1-8

Joshua and His Mission

[1] So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. [2] And he said
to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I am no longer able
to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this
Jordan.’ [3] The LORD your God himself will go over before you; he will
destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them; and
Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken. [4] And 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. [5] And the LORD will give them over to
you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have
commanded you. [6] Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be in dread
of them: for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you
or forsake you.”

[7] Then Moses summoned Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel,
“Be strong and of good courage; for you shall go with this people into the land
which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall put them
in possession of it. [8] It is the LORD who goes before you; he will be with you,
he will not fail you or forsake you; do not fear or be dismayed.”

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Commentary:

31:1-34:12. These chapters form a conclusion which seems to refer not just
to Deuteronomy but to the entire Pentateuch. The last editor of the text has
availed himself of material from earlier traditions (more from some than
from others).

The predominant type of material here is what we might call “historical”,
including (as is common to both Eastern and Classical history writing) a
number of poetic pieces, notably the “Song of Moses” (32:1-43) and the
“Blessing of Moses” (33:2-29). The narrative sections cover the last days of
Moses, and the appointment of Joshua and his mission (31:1-9,14-15), the
ceremonial reading of the Law (31:9-13) and the death of the great deliverer
of Israel. (chap. 34).

31:1-8. Joshua will take over the leadership of Israel from Moses (cf. also
vv. 14, 23) and will bring about the conquest of the promised land.

The one hundred and twenty years of Moses’ life are divided into three
periods of forty years each—in Egypt (Acts 7:28), in Midian (Ex 7:7) and
in the desert. It could be that the number forty is meant to indicate a
generation; but it is not easy to say exactly what the hagiographer had in
mind. Anyway, the three phases in the great lawgiver’s life are fairly clear
to see. In each of them Go made manifest his power and his choice of
Moses, and at every stage Moses proved docile and effective.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.