And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. Jump to: Barnes • Benson • BI • Calvin • Cambridge • Clarke • Darby • Ellicott • Expositor's • Exp Dct • Gaebelein • GSB • Gill • Gray • Guzik • Haydock • Hastings • Homiletics • JFB • KD • King • Lange • MacLaren • MHC • MHCW • Parker • Poole • Pulpit • Sermon • SCO • TTB • WES • TSK EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE) (9) And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom.—Probably we should connect this with the preceding verse, “The days of mourning for Moses were ended,” and ended more naturally because Joshua proved so well able to meet the wants of the people.Moses had laid his hands upon him.—See Numbers 27:18; Numbers 27:23. It is the first example of “ordination” in Holy Scripture. And did as the Lord commanded Moses.—Not “commanded Joshua.” Joshua would not separate himself from the law given by his Master. Is it not true that when the Israel of God hearken to the true Joshua, they must needs do as the Lord commanded Moses?[11] [11] It may be worth while to remark that nowhere does this phrase occur so often as in the record of the setting up of the tabernacle in the last chapter of Exodus. Seven times it is written there that all was done as the Lord commanded Moses. Is it not a figure of the “true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man”—the temple of His Body, which was prepared “to do Thy will, O God”? for Moses had laid his hands upon him; which was a symbol of the government being committed to him, and devolving upon him after his death, and expressive of prayer for him, that he might be fitted for it, of which action see Numbers 27:23, and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses; or by the hand of Moses; they received him and owned him as their supreme governor under God, and yielded a cheerful obedience to his commands, as the Lord by Moses commanded them to do, and as they promised; see Joshua 1:16. (e) By this the favour of God is demonstrated, in that he does not leave his Church destitute of a governor. EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES) 9. was full of the spirit of wisdom] Cp. P in Exodus 28:3, where the wisdom is of a different kind.laid his hands upon him] So P, Numbers 27:18-23. Deuteronomy 34:9Joshua now took Moses' place as the leader of the people, filled with the spirit of wisdom (practical wisdom, manifesting itself in action), because Moses had ordained him to his office by the laying on of hands (Numbers 27:18). And the people obeyed him; but he was not like Moses. "There arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face," i.e., so far as the miracles and signs were concerned which Moses did, by virtue of his divine mission, upon Pharaoh, his servants, and his land, and the terrible acts which he performed before the eyes of Israel (Deuteronomy 34:11 and Deuteronomy 34:12; vid., Deuteronomy 26:8, and Deuteronomy 4:34). "Whom Jehovah knew:" not who knew Him, the Lord. "To know," like γινώσκειν in 1 Corinthians 8:3, relates to the divine knowledge, which not only involves a careful observance (Deuteronomy 2:7), but is also a manifestation of Himself to man, a penetration of man with the spiritual power of God. Because he was thus known by the Lord, Moses was able to perform signs and wonders, and mighty, terrible acts, such as no other performed either before or after him. In this respect Joshua stood far below Moses, and no prophet arose in Israel like unto Moses. - This remark concerning Moses does not presuppose that a long series of prophets had already risen up since the time of Moses. When Joshua had defeated the Canaanites, and conquered their land with the powerful help of the Lord, which was still manifested in signs and wonders, and had divided it among the children of Israel, and when the tribes had settled down in their inheritance, so that the different portions of the land began to be called by the names of Naphtali, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Judah, as is the case in Deuteronomy 34:2; the conviction might already have become established in Israel, that no other prophet would arise like Moses, to whom the Lord had manifested Himself with such signs and wonders before the Egyptians and the eyes of Israel. The position occupied by Joshua in relation to this his predecessor, as the continuer of his work, would necessarily awaken and confirm this conviction, in connection with what the Lord had said as to the superiority of Moses to all the prophets (Numbers 12:6.). Moses was the founder and mediator of the old covenant. As long as this covenant was to last, no prophet could arise in Israel like unto Moses. There is but One who is worthy of greater honour than Moses, namely, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, who is placed as the Son over all the house of God, in which Moses was found faithful as a servant (compare Hebrews 3:2-6 with Numbers 12:7), Jesus Christ, the founder and mediator of the new and everlasting covenant. Links Deuteronomy 34:9 InterlinearDeuteronomy 34:9 Parallel Texts Deuteronomy 34:9 NIV Deuteronomy 34:9 NLT Deuteronomy 34:9 ESV Deuteronomy 34:9 NASB Deuteronomy 34:9 KJV Deuteronomy 34:9 Bible Apps Deuteronomy 34:9 Parallel Deuteronomy 34:9 Biblia Paralela Deuteronomy 34:9 Chinese Bible Deuteronomy 34:9 French Bible Deuteronomy 34:9 German Bible Bible Hub |