Deuteronomy 31 - Summary

Historical setting

This passage falls at the end of Moses' life, as the Israelites prepare to enter Canaan under new leadership. Moses is presented as 120 years old and physically unable to continue. Joshua is to lead the people across the Jordan River into the land promised to Abraham's descendants. The conquest of the Amorite kings Sihon and Og, mentioned in verse 4, had occurred during the wilderness wandering and served as proof that God could deliver the land to Israel. Moses addresses the assembled people at the edge of Canaan, before the crossing that will determine whether they possess the territory or fail.

The tabernacle, mentioned multiple times, is the portable sanctuary where God's presence dwells in the pillar of cloud. This is the physical and spiritual centre of Israel's community in the wilderness period.

Life and customs

The public reading of law at the Feast of Tabernacles every seven years reflects ancient Near Eastern practice of covenant renewal and a society that depended on oral transmission. Women, children, and resident strangers were included in this hearing, unusual in many ancient cultures but required here because the law's words bind the entire community.

The Levites, the priestly tribe, bore physical responsibility for the ark of the covenant, the wooden chest holding the stone tablets of the law. Placing a document "in the side of the ark" made it an official, sacred record. Writing itself was valued as a way to prevent forgetting and to provide witness. God's face being hidden or shown was understood as the presence or withdrawal of divine favour and protection.

What the text says

Moses speaks to all Israel and announces his own age and inability to lead further, noting that God has forbidden him to cross the Jordan (verses 1-2). God will go before them, destroy the nations in their path, and Joshua will lead them (verses 3, 7-8). Moses charges them to be strong and unafraid because the Lord goes with them (verses 6, 8).

Moses gives the written law to the Levites and all elders and commands that every seven years, at the Feast of Tabernacles, the law shall be read aloud before all Israel, including women, children, and strangers, so they learn and fear God (verses 9-13).

God tells Moses his death is near and instructs him to commission Joshua in the tabernacle (verse 14). There God reveals that after Moses dies, Israel will turn to other gods and break the covenant (verse 16). God will then hide his face from them, and they will suffer evils (verses 17-18).

God commands Moses to write a song as a witness against Israel, to be taught to the children so it will not be forgotten (verses 19, 21-22). Moses completes writing the law in a book, and the Levites place it beside the ark as a witness (verses 24-26). Moses gathers the elders and officers and speaks the song to the entire congregation (verses 28-30), warning them that they will utterly corrupt themselves and do evil after his death (verse 29).

Takeaways

• Moses transfers authority to Joshua while assuring Israel that God's presence, not human leadership, secures their future.
• The law and a song are entrusted to Israel as permanent witnesses to the covenant, to be remembered across generations through public reading and teaching.
• God predicts Israel's future unfaithfulness and prepares written and oral records that will stand as evidence against them when they fall away.