Deuteronomy 31:7

Deu 31:7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

Ver. 7. For thou must go with this people.] As a worthy guide, to lead them to their rest temporal; so doth Christ all his to their rest eternal.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deu 31:7. Moses — said to him in the face of all Israel — Lest any should question or deny his authority after Moses’s death. Be strong and of good courage — The same exhortation and promise are given to him in particular, that were before given to them all, because he was to bear the charge of them all, and the toil and burden of governing them, and conducting their affairs.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For he that must govern the people, hath need to be valiant to repress vice, and constant to maintain virtue.

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

7. in the sight of all Israel] Deu_34:12.

Be strong and of a good courage] As in Deu_31:6 but Sg.; cp. Deu_3:28. LXX: ἀνδρίζου καὶ ἴσχυε.

go with] Rather bring, as in some Heb. MSS, Sam. Vulg. and Deu_31:23.

sworn] Deu_1:8.

cause them to inherit] Deu_1:38, Deu_3:28.

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.

And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee,.... The Word of the Lord, his Shechinah, according to the above Targum, and so in the next clause; the same that brought Israel out of Egypt, had gone before them in the wilderness, and now would go before Joshua and them into the land of Canaan:

he will be with thee; to guide and direct, to assist and strengthen, to protect and defend, to give success to his arms, and victory over his enemies:

he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee; not fail to give him counsel and direction, to afford him strength, and to fill him with courage, and to deliver his enemies into his hands; nor forsake him till he had finished the work he was to do, had made a complete conquest of the Canaanites, and settled the people of Israel in their land:

fear not, neither be dismayed; at the number and strength of the enemy, nor at any difficulties that might lie in the way of finishing so great an undertaking, since the Lord would be with him; see Rom 8:31.

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

Moses hands over to Joshua that office as leader of the people, to which he had already been designated Deu 1:38; Num 27:23. He assigns also to the Levitical priests and the elders, as the ecclesiastical and civil heads of the nation, the responsibility of teaching the law and enforcing its observance Deu 31:10-13. Both these were symbolic acts, designed to mark the responsibility of the parties concerned after the death of Moses.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Called. Hebrew, "unto Josue." He did this publicly that no dispute might arise after his death, respecting the choice of a successor. (Haydock) --- Lot. Hebrew and Chaldean, "thou shalt put them in possession of it." (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

7. Called unto Joshua — Moses, in the sight of all Israel, calls Joshua, who is to be his successor, and with words of encouragement tells him he is to go with the people into the Land of Promise, and to cause them to possess it.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 7, 8 Moses, having in view the appointment of Joshua as his successor, also encourages him to go forward on the strength of the Divine promise. Thou must go with this people. This is a correct rendering of the words as they stand in the Hebrew text. The Samaritan, Syriac, and Vulgate have, "Thou shalt bring this people;" but this is probably an arbitrary correction in order to assimilate this to ver. 23. And thou shalt cause them to inherit it; i.e. shalt conduct them to the full possession of the land.

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

General Information:

Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they were one man, so the words "you" and "your" here are singular. (See: Forms of You)

in the sight of all Israel

This means that all of the people of Israel were present. AT: "in the presence of all the Israelites" (See: Metonymy)

Be strong and of good courage

"Be strong and courageous." See how you translated this in Deuteronomy 31:5.

you will cause them to inherit it

"you will help them take the land"

translationWords

Moses

Joshua

Israel

oath

inherit

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

כי אתה תבוא את העם הזה — Translate this as the Targum does: ארי אתה תעול עם עמא הדין, THOU SHALT GO WITH THIS PEOPLE. Moses, by the statement “Thou shall go with this people” (as one of them) said in effect to Joshua: The elders of the generation will be with thee: everything has to be done according to their opinion and their advice. The Holy One, blessed be He, however, said to Joshua, (v. 23) “For thou shalt bring (תביא) the children of Israel into the land which I swore unto them” — thou shalt bring them even against their will; everything depends on you alone: if necessary take a stick and beat them over the head: there can be but one leader for a generation, and not two leaders for a generation (Sanhedrin 8a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.