Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 1:38
[But] Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
38. Joshua the son of Nun ] So Deu 3:28; P, Num 27:18 ff.; not given in JE.
which standeth before thee ] Deu 10:8; so a servant stood before his lord, a courtier before his king, and the Levites before Jehovah. JE, Exo 24:13 f., the minister of Moses.
encourage thou him ] lit. him make thou strong. The vb izze, alone as here, or with the synonymous vb ’imme Deu 3:28; or in their intransitive forms Deu 31:6-7; Deu 31:23. Cp. Deu 11:8, Deu 12:23 ( be firm).
cause to inherit ] characteristic of D: used of Joshua here, Deu 3:28, Deu 31:7; Jos 1:6; but of God 12 to, Deu 19:3. Outside D only in Jer 3:18; Jer 12:14; Eze 46:18 and later writers. P uses another form of the vb, Num 34:29; Jos 13:32; Jos 14:1; Jos 19:51.
Further Note to Deu 1:36-38. Because Moses has just been described as seeking to turn the people from their sin, 29 ff., and it is therefore unreasonable to include him in their punishment; because Deu 1:37-38 needlessly anticipate Deu 3:26; Deu 3:28 and Deu 4:21; and because Deu 1:39 in whole or part follows suitably on Deu 1:36; therefore Deu 1:37-38 are taken by many (Dillm., W. R. Smith, Steuern., Berth, etc.) as a later addition to the text. And indeed the beginning of Deu 1:39 shows that the original has been disturbed by an editorial hand (see below). Steuern. would also omit Deu 1:36 on the ground that Kaleb has not been previously mentioned in this survey. But Kaleb is mentioned in JE on which this survey otherwise depends. In whatever way these textual questions may be decided, the parallel passages Deu 3:26 ff. and Deu 4:21 confirm the fact of a D tradition or statement that Jehovah was angry with Moses for the people’s sake. This can only mean, their guilt was great enough to include the very leader who had done his best to dissuade them from their disaffection! Now neither JE nor P gives any hint of so remarkable a judgement. On the contrary, P accounts for the exclusion of Moses by his own sin in striking the rock at adesh 37 years after this disaffection of Israel, Num 21:10 ff; Num 27:13 f.; Deu 32:50 f. The most reasonable explanation of such discrepancies is that they are discrepancies not of fact but or opinion. The earliest tradition, JE, merely held the facts that Kaleb survived and that Moses died on the eve of the possession of the Promised Land. The problem, which arose from this contrast of fortune, the deuteronomic writers solved by the statement that Moses was included in the guilt of the people when, startled by the report of the spies, they refused to invade Canaan from the S. in the second year of the wandering; and this agrees with the deuteronomic principle of the ethical solidarity of Israel. But the later priestly writer or writers, under the influence of the idea, first emphasized in the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer 31:29 f., Ezekiel 18), that every man died because of his own sin, found a solution for the problem in Moses’ own guilt in presumptuously striking the rock at adesh, 37 years later. In this double engagement, from two different standpoints, with so difficult a problem, note the strong evidence that the survival of Kaleb and the death of Moses before Israel’s entrance to the Land were regarded as irremoveable elements of the early tradition.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Which standeth before thee, i.e. who is now thy minister and servant, for such are oft described by this phrase, as 1Ki 1:2; Dan 1:5,19.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
[But] Joshua, the son of Nun, which standeth before thee,…. His servant and minister, which this phrase is expressive of:
he shall go in thither: into the good land, instead of Moses, and as his successor, and who was to go before the children of Israel, and introduce them into it, as a type of Christ, who brings many sons to glory:
encourage him; with the promise of the divine Presence with him, and of success in subduing the Canaanites, and settling the people of Israel in their land; and so we read that Moses did encourage him, De 31:7
for he shall cause Israel to inherit it; go before them as their captain, and lead them into it; fight their battles for them, conquer their enemies, and divide the land by lot for an inheritance unto them; so the heavenly inheritance is not by the law of Moses, and the works of it, but by Joshua, or Jesus, the Saviour, by his achievements, victories, and conquests.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Joshua. Num 14:30.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Joshua: Num 13:8, Num 13:16, Num 14:30, Num 14:38, Num 26:65
which standeth: Exo 17:9-14, Exo 24:13, Exo 33:11, 1Sa 16:22, Pro 22:29
encourage him: Deu 3:28, Deu 31:7, Deu 31:8, Deu 31:14, Deu 31:23, Num 27:18-23, Jos 1:1, Jos 1:6-9
Reciprocal: 1Sa 16:21 – stood before him 1Ki 18:15 – before whom I Jer 40:10 – serve Heb 3:16 – not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1:38 [But] Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth {t} before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
(t) Who minister to you.