Deuteronomy 1:38

Which ministreth unto thee.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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 ḥizzeḳ, alone as here, or with the synonymous vb ’immeṣ 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 Ḳadesh 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 Ḳadesh, 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.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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, Deu 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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Though the rebellious generation were to perish, and Moses was not to be permitted to enter Canaan, God would not depart from his promise, but would by another leader bring the people to the inheritance which he had sworn to their fathers to give them. (For the account of Joshua"s appointment and installation, see Num_27:15-23) Which standeth before thee; i.e. to be thy minister or servant (Exo_24:13; Num_11:28; comp. for the meaning of the phrase Deu_10:8 Deu_18:7; Dan_1:5) Encourage him; literally, strengthen him. (comp. Deu_3:21, 22 31:7, 8) Inherit it; the "it" refers back to ver. 35, "that good land." In vers. 8 and 21, the land is spoken of as to be possessed by the Israelites; here it is spoken of as to be inherited by them. The former has reference to their having to wrest the land by force from the Canaanites (vry; to occupy by force, to dispossess; Deu_2:12, Deu_2:21, Deu_2:22, where the verb is, in the Authorized Version, rendered by "destroy" the latter has reference to their receiving the land as a heritage (ljn) from God, who, when he divided to the nations their inheritance, assigned Canaan to the children of Israel. (Deu_32:8) "Joshua the executor of the inheritance" (Schroeder).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who standeth - Who is now thy servant.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.