Deuteronomy · chapter 34 of 34
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Deuteronomy 34 tells of the death of Moses. From Mount Nebo the Lord shows him the whole promised land, but he does not cross the Jordan. Moses dies at 120, the Lord buries him in Moab and no one knows his grave. The people mourn him thirty days, and Joshua, full of the spirit of wisdom, takes up leadership. The book ends by saying that no prophet like Moses has arisen.
This is the last chapter of the law of Moses, the Pentateuch. After the speeches, the renewal of the covenant, the song and the blessing, the book closes with the death of its great protagonist. The chapter looks both backward, to what Moses was for Israel, and forward, to the entry into the land under Joshua.
Moses goes up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, opposite Jericho, and the Lord shows him all the land: Gilead as far as Dan, Naphtali, Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negeb and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. The Lord tells him this is the land he swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he will give to their descendants. Moses sees it with his eyes, but he will not cross over there.
There Moses, the servant of the Lord, dies in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. The Lord buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, and no one knows the place of his burial to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he died, and his eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated.
The Israelites weep for Moses thirty days in the plains of Moab, and so the days of weeping and mourning for him come to an end. Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him, and the Israelites obeyed him, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The book ends with a tribute. There has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt against Pharaoh, his servants and all his land, and for the mighty power and the great and terrifying deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord shows Moses the land he swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and tells him he will see it with his eyes but not cross over. The promise is fulfilled, though not in Moses' lifetime.
Moses, the servant of the Lord, dies according to the word of the Lord. The title servant of the Lord sums up his life: he was not an owner but a servant of God and his people.
Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him, and the people obeyed him. Leadership passes from one generation to the next by God's work and by the companionship of the one who forms the successor.
No prophet like Moses has arisen in Israel, whom the Lord knew face to face. The tribute points to his unique closeness to God and prepares the reader to look for the greater Prophet the New Testament announces.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, opposite Jericho. — Deuteronomy 34:1
Answer: All the promised land, from Gilead as far as Dan and to the western sea. — Deuteronomy 34:1-3
Answer: One hundred and twenty years old, and his eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated. — Deuteronomy 34:7
Answer: The Lord buried him in the valley in Moab opposite Beth-peor, and no one knows the place of his grave. — Deuteronomy 34:6
Answer: Thirty days. — Deuteronomy 34:8
Answer: Because Moses had laid his hands on him. — Deuteronomy 34:9
The death of Moses teaches that faithful service does not always see all its fruit. Moses led Israel for forty years and died in sight of the land, not inside it. In a church or class you can honor those who serve without seeing the result, and recognize that each one is part of a larger story God directs.
The text also shows a healthy transition: Moses prepares Joshua, the people accept him and God's work continues. No one is indispensable, but God uses each person in his moment. The New Testament sees in Moses a shadow of Christ, and in Joshua, whose name is the same as Jesus, the one who will lead the people into the promised rest.
With the death of Moses the Pentateuch, the five books of the law, comes to a close. Israel is ready to enter the land under Joshua, and the reader is left with the question of whether the people will keep the covenant. The book of Joshua begins with the Lord's command to cross the Jordan and possess the land he swore to their fathers.
Jewish and Christian tradition attributes the Pentateuch to Moses, but this chapter speaks of his death and what happened afterward. Some believe Moses wrote it by revelation; others think Joshua or a later writer added it. The text does not say who did.
The text says only that the Lord buried him and that no one knows where. Many understand that this kept the tomb from becoming a place of veneration. The letter of Jude 1:9 mentions a dispute over the body of Moses, but the passage gives no further detail.
That none had so close a relationship with God, face to face, or performed so many signs in Egypt and the wilderness. Deuteronomy 18:15 had announced that the Lord would raise up a prophet like him, and the New Testament sees its full fulfillment in Jesus.