John Gill Commentary Deuteronomy 34

And Moses went up from the plains of Moab
Where the Israelites had lain encamped for some time, and where Moses has repeated to them the law, and all that, is contained in this book of Deuteronomy; and after he had read to them the song in (Deuteronomy 32:1–43); and had blessed the several tribes, as in the preceding chapter: at the command of God he went up from hence,

unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that [is] over
against Jericho ;
Nebo was one of the mountains of Abarim, which formed a ridge of them, and Pisgah was the highest point of Nebo, and this was over against Jericho on the other side Jordan, see (Deuteronomy 32:49); hither Moses went, to the top of this high mountain, for aught appears, without any support or help, his natural force not being abated, though an hundred and twenty years old; and hither he seems to have gone alone, though Josephus ^F16 and the Samaritan Chronicle ^F17 say, Eleazar, Joshua, and the elders of Israel accompanied him:

and the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan ;
the Word of the Lord, as the Targum of Jonathan, who appeared to him in the bush, sent him to Egypt, wrought miracles by him there, led him and the people of Israel through the Red sea and wilderness, and brought them to the place where they now were: and though the eye of Moses was not become dim, as was usual at such an age he was of, yet it can hardly be thought it should be so strong as to take a distinct view of the whole land of Canaan, to the utmost borders of it: no doubt but his natural sight was wonderfully strengthened and increased by the Lord, by whom he was directed first to behold the land of Gilead on that side of Jordan where he was, and which was the possession of the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh; and then he was directed to look forward to the land of Canaan beyond Jordan, to the northern part of it; for Dan is not the tribe of Dan, but a city of that name, formerly Leshem, which the Danites took, and lay the farthest north of the land, hence the phrase "from Dan to Beersheba", see (Joshua 19:47); this city is so called by anticipation:

Aben Ezra thinks Joshua wrote this verse by a spirit of prophecy; and it is very likely the whole chapter was written by him, and not the eight last verses only, as say the Jewish writers: this view Moses had of the good land a little before his death may be an emblem of that sight believers have, by faith, of the heavenly glory, and which sometimes is the clearest when near to death; this sight they have not in the plains of Moab, in the low estate of nature, but in an exalted state of grace, upon and from off the rock of Christ, in the mountain of the church of God, the word and ordinances being often the means of it; it is a sight by faith, and is of the Lord, which he gives, strengthens, and increases, and sometimes grants more fully a little before death.

FOOTNOTES:

• F16: Antiqu. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 48.
• F17: Apud Hottinger. Smegma, l. 1. c. 8. p. 456.

And all Naphtali
Which lay in the northern part of the land, and where was Galilee of the Gentiles, and so he had a sight of all that country most frequented by the Messiah when come, see (Matthew 4:13–15);

and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh :
which lay in the midland part of the country:

and all the land of Judah ;
which lay to the south:

unto the utmost sea ;
the Mediterranean sea, which was the western boundary of the land, called the "hinder sea", (Zechariah 14:8); and might as well be so rendered here, for the same word is used: Jarchi would have it read, not the "hinder sea", but the "latter day": for, he says, the Lord showed to Moses all that should happen to Israel until the resurrection of the dead; and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases the above passages, and observes that the Lord showed Moses the mighty deeds of Jephthah of Gilead, and the victories of Samson, who was of the tribe of Dan; the idolatries of that tribe, and Samson the saviour that should spring from them; Deborah and Barak, and the princes of the house of Naphtali; Joshua the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, that should fight with and slay the kings of Canaan; and Gideon the son of Joash, of the tribe of Manasseh, that should fight with Midian and Amalek, and all the kings of Israel, and the kingdom of the house of Judah;

the king of the south, that should join the king of the north to destroy the inhabitants of the earth; and even the destruction of Armiilus or antichrist, and the war of Gog and Magog, and the great affliction Michael shall save from.

And the south
The southern part of the land, even all of it; and having shown him that, he is directed eastward to take a view of

the plain of the valley of Jericho ;
which lay before him, a delightful plain; see (Joshua 5:10) ;

the city of palm trees ;
so Jericho was called, because of the multitude of palm trees which grew there, and which Josephus not only testifies {r}, who speaks of it as a plain planted with palm trees, and from whence balsam comes; but several Heathen writers: Pliny says ^F19 Jericho was set with palm trees; Diodorus Siculus ^F20 speaks of the country about Jericho as abounding with palm trees, and in a certain valley, meaning the vale or plains of Jericho, is produced that which is called balsam; so Strabo says ^F21 , Jericho is a plain surrounded with mountains abounding with palm trees, where there is a plantation of palm trees, with other fruit trees, the space of a hundred furlongs:

unto Zoar ;
near the salt sea; see (Genesis 19:22) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 14.
• F20: Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 132.
• F21: Geograph. l. 16. p. 525.

And the Lord said unto him
The Word of the Lord, as the Jerusalem Targum, having shown him all the land of Canaan:

this [is] the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob, saying, I will give it unto your seed ;
to Abraham, (Genesis 15:18) ; to Isaac, (Genesis 26:3) ; to Jacob, (Genesis 28:13) ;

I have caused you to see [it] with your eyes ;
not only had indulged him with a general view of it, but had strengthened his eyesight, that he had a full, clear, and distinct sight of it:

but thou shalt not go over thither ;
which he had said more than once before and abides by it, and this because of the behaviour of Moses at the waters of Meribah, (Numbers 20:12) ; see (Deuteronomy 3:25–27) .

So Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of
Moab
Which formerly belonged to Moab, and was taken from them by Sihon king of the Amorites, and now in the possession of Israel: here on a mountain in this land Moses died; and yet, contrary to the express words of this text, some Jewish writers affirm ^F23 that he died not, but was translated to heaven, where he ministers; yea, that he was an angel, and could not die: but it is clear he did die, even though a servant of the Lord, as he was, and a faithful one; but such die as well as others, (Zechariah 1:5) ;

There is a saying of some ^F24 Jews,``Moses died, and who shall not die?'' no man can promise himself immortality here, when such great and good men die:

The Targum of Jonathan says, he died on the seventh of Adar or February, on which day he was born; and it is the general opinion of the Jewish writers ^F25 , that he died on the seventh of that month, in the middle of the day, and that it was a sabbath day:

Though, as Aben Ezra observes ^F26 , some say he died on the first of Adar; and Josephus

according to the word of the Lord ;
according to the prophecy of the Lord, and according to a command of his, that he should go up to the above said mountain and die, (Numbers 27:12Numbers 27:13) (Deuteronomy 32:49Deuteronomy 32:50) ; or, as the Targum of Jerusalem, according to the decree of the Lord; as the death of every man is, both with respect to time and place, and manner of it: it is appointed for men once to die, (Hebrews 9:27) ;

Because it is in the original text, "according to the mouth of the Lord" ^F3 ; hence some Jewish writers, as Jarchi particularly, interpret it of his dying by a kiss of his mouth, with strong expressions and intimations of his love to him, (Song of Solomon 1:2) ;

And no doubt but he did die satisfied of the love of God to him, enjoying his presence, and having faith and hope of everlasting life and salvation; but the true sense is, he died according to the will of God, not of any disease, or through the infirmities of age, but by the immediate order and call of God out of this life.

FOOTNOTES:

• F23: T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 13. 2. Yalkut & R. Abraham Seba in Tzeror Hammor in loc.
• F24: Seder Tephillot, fol. 213. 1. Ed. Basil.
• F25: T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 38. 1. Seder Olam Rabba, c. 10. p. 29. Judasin, fol. 10. 1. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 7. 2. so Patricides apud Hottinger, p. 457.
• F26: Pirush in Deut. i. 2. so Midrash Esther, fol. 93. 2.
• F3: (yp le) "super os", Montanus; "juxta os", Tigurine version.