For Teaching

Deuteronomy 31: What the Passage Says

116 claims across 30 verses, in the order the chapter makes them.

Not a sermon outline. What Deuteronomy 31 says, and what its hard words meant. The reading of it is yours.

The Chapter in a Sentence

Moses, now a hundred and twenty years old, tells Israel that he will not cross the Jordan, and that the LORD and Joshua will go ahead of them; he charges Joshua to be strong. He writes down the law and orders it read aloud to the whole people every seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles. At the Tent of Meeting the LORD tells Moses he is about to die and that the people will turn to other gods and break the covenant, so Moses is to write a song that will stand as a witness against them. Moses writes the song, has the book of the law placed beside the ark as a witness, and then recites the song to the whole assembly.

Claim by Claim

31:1
- Moses went.
- Moses spoke these words to all Israel.
31:2
- Moses said to them that he was one hundred and twenty years old that day.
- Moses said he could no longer go out and come in.
- Moses said the LORD had told him he would not cross this Jordan.
31:3
- Moses said the LORD their God himself would cross over ahead of them.
- Moses said the LORD would destroy these nations from before them.
- Moses said they would dispossess those nations.
- Moses said Joshua would cross over ahead of them.
- Moses said this was as the LORD had spoken.
31:4
- Moses said the LORD would do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites.
- Moses said the LORD had destroyed Sihon and Og and their land.
31:5
- Moses said the LORD would give them over before them.
- Moses said they were to do to them according to all the commandment he had commanded them.
31:6
- Moses told them to be strong and courageous.
- Moses told them not to fear.
- Moses told them not to be terrified of them.
- Moses said the LORD their God was the one going with them.
- Moses said the LORD would not let them go.
- Moses said the LORD would not forsake them.
31:7
- Moses called to Joshua.
- Moses spoke to Joshua in the sight of all Israel.
- Moses told Joshua to be strong and courageous.
- Moses said Joshua would go with this people into the land the LORD swore to their fathers to give them.
- Moses said Joshua would cause them to inherit it.
31:8
- Moses said the LORD was the one going before Joshua.
- Moses said the LORD would be with Joshua.
- Moses said the LORD would not let Joshua go.
- Moses said the LORD would not forsake Joshua.
- Moses told Joshua not to fear.
- Moses told Joshua not to be dismayed.
31:9
- Moses wrote this law.
- Moses gave the written law to the priests, the sons of Levi.
- The priests, the sons of Levi, carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
- Moses gave the written law to all the elders of Israel.
31:10
- Moses commanded them, saying that it was to be at the end of every seven years.
- Moses specified the appointed time of the year of release.
- Moses specified the Feast of Booths.
31:11
- Moses said this would be when all Israel came to appear before the LORD their God at the place he would choose.
- Moses said this law was to be read before all Israel in their hearing.
31:12
- Moses commanded that the people be assembled.
- Moses specified the men, the women, and the children.
- Moses specified the sojourner within their gates.
- Moses said the purpose was that they might hear.
- Moses said the purpose was that they might learn.
- Moses said the purpose was that they might fear the LORD their God.
- Moses said the purpose was that they might observe to do all the words of this law.
31:13
- Moses said their children, who had not known it, would hear.
- Moses said those children would learn to fear the LORD their God.
- Moses said this was for all the days they lived in the land.
- Moses said they were crossing the Jordan to that land to possess it.
31:14
- The LORD said to Moses that his days were drawing near to die.
- The LORD told Moses to call Joshua.
- The LORD told them to present themselves in the tent of meeting.
- The LORD said he would give Joshua a charge.
- Moses and Joshua went.
- Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the tent of meeting.
31:15
- The LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud.
- The pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.
31:16
- The LORD said to Moses that he was about to lie down with his fathers.
- The LORD said this people would rise up.
- The LORD said this people would prostitute themselves after the foreign gods of the land they were entering.
- The LORD said they would forsake him.
- The LORD said they would break his covenant, which he had made with them.
31:17
- The LORD said his anger would burn against them in that day.
- The LORD said he would forsake them.
- The LORD said he would hide his face from them.
- The LORD said they would be devoured.
- The LORD said many evils and troubles would find them.
- The LORD said they would say in that day that these evils had come upon them because their God was not among them.
31:18
- The LORD said he would surely hide his face in that day.
- The LORD said this was because of all the evil they had done.
- The LORD said this was because they had turned to other gods.
31:19
- The LORD commanded them to write this song for themselves.
- The LORD commanded that it be taught to the children of Israel.
- The LORD commanded that it be put in their mouths.
- The LORD said the purpose was that this song be a witness for him against the children of Israel.
31:20
- The LORD said he would bring them into the land he swore to their fathers.
- The LORD said that land flows with milk and honey.
- The LORD said they would eat and be satisfied and grow fat.
- The LORD said they would turn to other gods.
- The LORD said they would serve those gods.
- The LORD said they would spurn him.
- The LORD said they would break his covenant.
31:21
- The LORD said many evils and troubles would find them.
- The LORD said this song would testify before them as a witness.
- The LORD said the song would not be forgotten from the mouth of their offspring.
- The LORD said he knew their inclination, which they were acting on that very day.
- The LORD said he knew it before he brought them into the land he swore to give.
31:22
- Moses wrote this song that same day.
- Moses taught it to the children of Israel.
31:23
- An unnamed speaker gave Joshua son of Nun a charge, the text not saying whether it is the LORD or Moses.
- The speaker told Joshua to be strong and courageous.
- The speaker said Joshua would bring the children of Israel into the land he had sworn to them.
- The speaker said he would be with Joshua.
31:24
- Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book.
- Moses wrote them until they were complete.
31:25
- Moses commanded the Levites.
- The Levites carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
31:26
- Moses commanded them to take this book of the law.
- Moses commanded them to place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD their God.
- Moses said it would be there as a witness against them.
31:27
- Moses said he knew their rebellion.
- Moses said he knew their stiff neck.
- Moses said that while he was still alive with them that day they had been rebellious against the LORD.
- Moses said it would be even more so after his death.
31:28
- Moses commanded them to gather to him all the elders of their tribes and their officers.
- Moses said he would speak these words in their hearing.
- Moses said he would call heaven and earth to witness against them.
31:29
- Moses said he knew that after his death they would utterly corrupt themselves.
- Moses said they would turn aside from the way he had commanded them.
- Moses said evil would befall them in the latter days.
- Moses said this was because they would do evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Moses said they would provoke the LORD to anger through the work of their hands.
31:30
- Moses spoke the words of this song in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel.
- He spoke them until they were complete.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

31:1: Israel was a big family of people. God had chosen them long ago. Moses was their leader. He had led them out of Egypt, where they were slaves.
31:2: "Go out and come in" is a Hebrew idiom for carrying on daily business, and especially for a leader marching an army out and bringing it home again; Moses is saying he can no longer lead. Israel is camped on the east side of the Jordan River, and the land they are to settle lies across it to the west, so "crossing the Jordan" throughout this chapter means entering that land.
31:3: "These nations" means the peoples already living in the land, each with its own king and towns.
31:4: Sihon and Og were kings whose territories lay east of the Jordan; Israel had fought and defeated them on the way, and those lands were the first the people occupied. "Amorites" is a broad term for the peoples of that region.
31:5: "Exactly as I have commanded you" points back to instructions given earlier in Deuteronomy about how Israel was to deal with the nations already living in the land.
31:7: Land was held permanently by tribe and family and handed down; "divide it among them as their own" means assigning each group its lasting share. "Be strong and brave" is formal language used when someone is installed in an office or given a commission.
31:9: Levi was one of the twelve tribes, set apart to handle worship and given no territory of its own. The ark of the covenant was a wooden chest carried on poles, holding the stone tablets of the agreement. A covenant was a formal binding agreement, like a treaty between a ruler and a people, with stated terms, obligations and consequences. "Elders" were the senior heads of families who governed locally.
31:10: Every seventh year was a release year: debts were canceled and fields left unworked. The Feast of Tabernacles was a week-long autumn harvest festival at which people lived in temporary shelters made of branches, recalling the years in the desert; it was one of the occasions when the whole population traveled to the sanctuary.
31:11: "The place he will choose" is a phrase Deuteronomy uses repeatedly for a single central sanctuary that God would later designate. The book never names it.
31:12: The KJV's "stranger within thy gates" means a foreigner settled in an Israelite town; such people held no tribal land but were covered by the law's protections and included in its public gatherings. "Gates" stands for the town itself, since towns were walled and entered by a gate. The Hebrew word rendered "respect" covers both fear and reverence, the regard owed to someone with authority over you.
31:14: The tent of meeting was the portable tent-sanctuary that traveled with the camp and served as the place where God was consulted.
31:15: The pillar of cloud was the visible column that had gone ahead of Israel since they left Egypt, appearing as fire at night.
31:16: "Rest with your ancestors" is a standard idiom for dying and being buried with one's family. Where the rendering says "be unfaithful," the KJV has "go a whoring": Hebrew regularly describes the worship of other gods using the image of a married partner's infidelity, because the covenant was pictured as a marriage bond.
31:17: "Hide my face" is an idiom, the reverse of the blessing that God's face shine on someone. A face turned toward you meant attention and favor; hiding it meant withdrawing protection, not literally becoming invisible.
31:19: Songs were how a society without widespread reading kept a text intact: sung words are memorized and passed down. "Witness" here is a legal term, testimony given in a case, evidence that can be produced later against the accused.
31:20: "Flowing with milk and honey" is a stock phrase for land good for both grazing and farming; the honey may include syrup made from dates as well as the product of bees. "Grow fat" is an idiom for becoming prosperous and comfortable, not a remark about anyone's body.
31:21: The Hebrew word behind "what they are planning" means the bent or shape of someone's thinking, literally something molded, as a potter molds clay. It refers to an inclination rather than a specific plot.
31:23: Joshua had been Moses' assistant for many years. To "give a charge" means to officially hand someone a job along with orders about how to do it.
31:24: A "book" here is a scroll of papyrus or treated leather, written in columns and rolled. Bound books with pages did not exist for centuries yet.
31:25: The Levites were the family group who took care of holy things. Only they were allowed to carry the ark.
31:26: In the ancient Near East a treaty document was commonly deposited in a temple, next to the emblem of the god who had witnessed it, and read out publicly at intervals. Placing the law beside the ark follows that practice.
31:27: The KJV's "stiff neck" is an image from an ox that sets its neck against the yoke and refuses to be steered.
31:28: The "officers" were tribal officials; the Hebrew term suggests record-keepers or marshals who organized and mustered the people. Calling heaven and earth as witnesses follows the pattern of ancient treaties, which named witnesses who would hold both parties to the terms; here the permanent features of the world take that role.
31:29: "In the days to come" translates a Hebrew phrase (KJV "in the latter days") meaning simply a later, unspecified time, not necessarily the end of the world. "What your hands have made" refers to idols, images produced by craftsmen.
31:30: The King James word "congregation" means the whole crowd gathered together. Everyone was there to listen.

Read Deuteronomy 31