Deuteronomy 31 is filled with transitions. Moses announces the nearness of his death. Joshua is publicly strengthened. The written law is entrusted to the priests. The people are commanded to hear it read at the appointed time. The Lord reveals future apostasy, and Moses is told to write a song that will stand as witness. The chapter therefore gathers together succession, Scripture, public teaching, divine foreknowledge, and the painful truth that a holy leader cannot secure fidelity merely by his presence.
Deuteronomy 31 - Joshua, the Law, and the Nearness of Departure
Historical and Scriptural Context
Moses has completed the great body of covenant instruction. Now he turns to what will remain after his departure: Joshua, the book of the law, the recurring public reading, and the witness of song. The chapter is a bridge between Deuteronomy’s teaching and Joshua’s leadership.
It also contains one of Scripture’s sober reminders that even after signs, wonders, manna, and law, the human heart may still turn aside. Covenant life therefore requires continual remembrance, teaching, and return.
Patristically, this chapter is especially rich because Joshua’s name in Greek is Iesous. That makes the passage a natural place for the Fathers to see typology: Moses gives the law, but Joshua/Jesus leads the people forward into inheritance.
Geographical Significance ⛰️
The scene remains on the plains of Moab near the Jordan. Yet the chapter repeatedly points forward:
- into the land Joshua will lead the people to inherit
- to the tabernacle of testimony where Moses and Joshua stand before the Lord
- to the cyclical gathering at the feast of tabernacles when the law will be publicly read
The people are about to move geographically, but the true issue is whether they will remain spiritually anchored.
Characters
- Moses: the departing servant, still strong in spirit though nearing death.
- Joshua: the appointed successor, charged before all Israel.
- The priests and Levites: guardians of the written law and the ark.
- The assembly: men, women, children, and strangers who must hear and learn.
- The Lord: who both commissions and forewarns.
Text Broken Open
1. Courage for the next servant
“Be courageous and strong, fear not… for it is the Lord your God that advances with you in the midst of you, neither will he by any means forsake thee, nor desert thee.” (Deuteronomy 31:6, Brenton)
Moses cannot cross, but God will. This is the root of Joshua’s courage. Leadership in Scripture is never self-generated heroism. It is faith in the God who goes before.
Orthodox service in the Church should learn from this. When one servant decreases or departs, the continuity of the people does not depend on personality cults. The Lord remains present.
2. Joshua and the Jesus typology
“And Moses called Joshua, and said to him before all Israel, Be courageous and strong; for thou shalt go in before this people into the land.” (Deuteronomy 31:7, Brenton)
This is one of the clearest places to note that Joshua’s Greek name is the same form later used for Jesus. The typology must be handled carefully, but it is real and spiritually fruitful. Moses the lawgiver can teach, warn, and bless. Joshua leads into inheritance. So too the law is holy, but Christ Jesus brings His people into the deeper rest and inheritance the law alone could not secure.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses and Saint Cyril of Alexandria’s typological readings both help here. The point is not to erase Joshua’s historical role, but to see how Scripture itself trains the Church to look from Moses toward Jesus.
3. The law is written and handed on
“And Moses wrote the words of this law in a book, and gave it to the priests the sons of Levi who bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 31:9, Brenton)
This is a major moment. The law is not left merely to memory or charisma. It is written and entrusted. The written word serves the living covenant community.
Orthodoxy treasures both Scripture and tradition, not as rivals, but as one living deposit held in the worshipping Church. This chapter is a strong witness that revelation is meant to be preserved, heard, and transmitted.
4. The public reading every seven years
“Having assembled the people, the men, and the women, and the children, and the stranger… that they may hear, and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 31:12, Brenton)
The law is not for a restricted scholarly class. Children are included. Strangers are included. Hearing produces learning, and learning produces fear of the Lord. The chapter places great trust in repeated hearing.
This has direct pastoral force. Families and parishes cannot live on fragments of Scripture remembered from long ago. The word must be heard again and again.
5. Divine foreknowledge and human rebellion
“This people will arise and go a whoring after the strange gods of the land… and they will forsake me, and break my covenant.” (Deuteronomy 31:16, Brenton)
The Lord sees what will come. Yet the foreknowledge of God does not excuse the people. The warning is given precisely so that the people may know the truth of their condition when disaster falls.
This also guards the teacher from naivety. Sound instruction, godly leadership, and holy worship are indispensable. Yet none of these remove the possibility of apostasy without ongoing repentance.
6. The song as witness
“Write the words of this song, and teach it to the children of Israel… that this song may witness for me among the children of Israel to their face.” (Deuteronomy 31:19, Brenton)
Memory is strengthened by song. What a people sing, they often keep longer than what they merely hear once. God appoints poetry as testimony. The next chapter will unfold that witness.
Ephrem’s whole theological instinct helps us appreciate this. Song is not ornament added to truth. Song can become one of truth’s most durable forms.
7. The law beside the ark
“Take the book of this law, and ye shall put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God; and it shall be there among you for a testimony.” (Deuteronomy 31:26, Brenton)
The placement is deeply symbolic. The law stands near the place of covenant presence. Israel’s life with God is never lawless intimacy, nor merely legal formality. Presence and command belong together.
Visual aid: Moses strengthens Joshua
Source: Wikimedia Commons, Moses Appoints Joshua, public domain. Western biblical illustration, not Orthodox iconography.
This image is useful because Deuteronomy 31 is not only about private courage. Moses strengthens Joshua in view of the people, writes the law, and commands public reading. The visual should lead into the chapter’s deeper theme: revelation is handed on through Scripture, assembly, leadership under God, and obedience. Joshua’s name also lets teachers explain the Jesus/Joshua typology without making succession a mere family inheritance.
Church’s Voice in Worship
This chapter strongly supports Orthodox habits of public Scripture reading, catechesis across generations, and the handing on of a received deposit. It also prepares the way for chapter 32, where the witness takes poetic and liturgical form.
Its Christological typology is also important. The Church does not forget Moses, but she reads Moses toward Jesus. The law is received with reverence, yet the final crossing belongs to the Lord who truly leads His people in.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
- Courage rooted in God’s presence
- Trust in handed-down revelation
- Commitment to repeated hearing
- Sobriety about human instability
- Hope in Jesus, the true Joshua
- Readiness for succession and departure
Questions for reflection:
- On what does my courage depend when familiar supports are removed?
- Do I cherish Scripture as a living trust, or merely as information?
- Are children and newcomers helped to hear and learn the faith?
- Have I mistaken strong leadership for guaranteed faithfulness?
- Do I read Moses as pointing me toward Jesus?
Teacher's Notes
- Show: Use the Moses appointing Joshua image when explaining public succession, then distinguish Joshua’s Ephraimite identity from Moses’ Levite line with the relationship chart if needed.
- This chapter is especially useful when teaching about succession from Moses to Joshua and about the written preservation of the law.
- Emphasize the public nature of the reading. The covenant is heard in assembly.
- The Joshua/Jesus typology should be stated clearly but not forced into every line.
- The language of future apostasy should be handled soberly, not sensationally.
- The phrase “go a whoring after the strange gods” reflects older biblical diction. Explain it as covenant infidelity.
Glossary
- Tabernacle of testimony: the sacred tent where God met His people and where covenant witness was borne.
- Ark of the covenant: the holy chest associated with God’s covenant presence.
- Succession: the handing on of leadership and responsibility.
- Testimony: a witness set before the people for remembrance and accountability.
- Typology: a way of reading earlier persons and events as prophetic patterns fulfilled more fully in Christ.
Translation and Source Notes
- Old Testament quotations are from the Brenton Septuagint.
- The chapter prepares directly for the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32.
- Joshua’s Greek name, Iesous, is an important basis for Christian typology.
- Patristic observations are summarized thematically unless tied to clearly identifiable primary works.
Sources
Primary sources
- Deuteronomy 31 (Brenton Septuagint)
- Saint Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses
- Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Pentateuch
- Saint Ephrem the Syrian, hymns on Scripture, song, and remembrance
Secondary academic sources
- Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy
- J. G. McConville, Deuteronomy
- Patrick D. Miller, Deuteronomy
Coptic Orthodox / pastoral sources
- Orthodox Study Bible, notes on Deuteronomy and Joshua
- Fr. Tadros Y. Malaty, commentary on Deuteronomy
Web pages and non-academic sources cited
- None cited directly in this guide