Deuteronomy 31:7-8

31:7 Then Moses called out to Joshua ¹  in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will accompany these people to the land that the Lord promised to give their ancestors, ²  and you will enable them to inherit it. 31:8 The Lord is indeed going before you – he will be with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”

Deuteronomy 31:14

The Commissioning of Joshua

31:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The day of your death is near. Summon Joshua and present yourselves in the tent ³  of meeting ⁴  so that I can commission him.” ⁵  So Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the tent of meeting.

Deuteronomy 31:23

31:23 and the Lord ⁶  commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will take the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.” ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 3:28

3:28 Commission ⁸  Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because he will lead these people over and will enable them to inherit the land you will see.”

Deuteronomy 34:9

The Epitaph of Moses

34:9 Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had placed his hands on him; ⁹  and the Israelites listened to him and did just what the Lord had commanded Moses.

Numbers 27:18-21

27:18 The Lord replied ¹⁰  to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is such a spirit, ¹¹  and lay your hand on him; ¹²  27:19 set him ¹³  before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community, and commission ¹⁴  him publicly. ¹⁵  27:20 Then you must delegate ¹⁶  some of your authority ¹⁷  to him, so that the whole community of the Israelites will be obedient. ¹⁸  27:21 And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ¹⁹  will seek counsel ²⁰  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ²¹  At his command ²²  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

Joshua 1:2

1:2 “Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! ²³  Cross the Jordan River! ²⁴  Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them. ²⁵ 

Joshua 3:7

3:7 The Lord told Joshua, “This very day I will begin to honor you before all Israel ²⁶  so they will know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.

Joshua 4:14

4:14 That day the Lord brought honor to Joshua before all Israel. They respected ²⁷  him all his life, ²⁸  just as they had respected ²⁹  Moses.

Acts 7:45

7:45 Our ³⁰  ancestors ³¹  received possession of it and brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors, ³²  until the time ³³  of David.

Hebrews 4:8

4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God ³⁴  would not have spoken afterward about another day.

[31:7]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text includes “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:7]  ² tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 20).

[31:14]  ³ tc The LXX reads “by the door of the tent” in line with v. 10 but also, perhaps, as a reflection of its tendency to avoid over-familiarity with Yahweh and his transcendence.

[31:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “tent of assembly” (מוֹעֵד אֹהֶל, ’ohel mo’ed); this is not always the same as the tabernacle, which is usually called מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, “dwelling-place”), a reference to its being invested with God’s presence. The “tent of meeting” was erected earlier than the tabernacle and was the place where Yahweh occasionally appeared, especially to Moses (cf. Exod 18:7-16; 33:7-11; Num 11:16, 24, 26; 12:4).

[31:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will command him.”

[31:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “he.” Since the pronoun could be taken to refer to Moses, the referent has been specified as “the Lord” in the translation for clarity. See also the note on the word “you” later in this verse.

[31:23]  ⁷ tc The LXX reads, “as the Lord promised them, and he will be with you.” This relieves the problem of Moses apparently promising to be with Joshua as the MT reads on the surface (“I will be with you”). However, the reading of the LXX is clearly an attempt to clarify an existing obscurity and therefore is unlikely to reflect the original.

[3:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “command”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “charge Joshua.”

[34:9]  ⁹ sn See Num 27:18.

[27:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “said.”

[27:18]  ¹¹ sn The word “spirit” probably refers to the Holy Spirit, in which case it would be rendered “in whom is the Spirit.” This would likely be a permanent endowment for Joshua. But it is also possible to take it to refer to a proper spirit to do all the things required of such a leader (which ultimately is a gift from the Spirit of God). The Hebrew text simply says “in whom is a spirit.”

[27:18]  ¹² sn This symbolic act would indicate the transfer of leadership to Joshua.

[27:19]  ¹³ tn This could be translated “position him,” or “have him stand,” since it is the causative stem of the verb “to stand.”

[27:19]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is the Piel perfect of צִוָּה (tsivvah, literally “to command”). The verb has a wide range of meanings, and so here in this context the idea of instructing gives way to a more general sense of commissioning for duty. The verb in sequence is equal to the imperfect of instruction.

[27:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in their eyes.”

[27:20]  ¹⁶ tn The verb is simply “give,” but in this context giving some of Moses’ honor to Joshua in the presence of the people is essentially passing the leadership to him, or delegating the authority to him with the result that people would follow him.

[27:20]  ¹⁷ tc The Greek, Syriac, and Vulgate read “glory” for this form that occurs only here in the Pentateuch. Elsewhere it is rendered “majesty, splendor” (see Ps 96:6). It could even be “vitality” here. The authority being transferred here is both spiritual and civil.

[27:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “hear.”

[27:21]  ¹⁹ tn The passage simply has “and he will ask,” but Eleazar is clearly the subject now.

[27:21]  ²⁰ tn Heb “ask.”

[27:21]  ²¹ sn The new leader would not have the privilege that Moses had in speaking to God face to face. Rather, he would have to inquire of the Lord through the priest, and the priest would seek a decision by means of the Urim. The Urim and the Thummim were the sacred lots that the priest had in his pouch, the “breastplate” as it has traditionally been called. Since the Law had now been fully established, there would be fewer cases that the leader would need further rulings. Now it would simply be seeking the Lord’s word for matters such as whether to advance or not. The size, shape or substance of these objects is uncertain. See further C. Van Dam, The Urim and Thummim.

[27:21]  ²² tn Heb “mouth,” meaning what he will say.

[1:2]  ²³ tn Heb “Get up!”

[1:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “this Jordan”; the word “River” has been supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in v. 11).

[1:2]  ²⁵ tc Heb “Cross over this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land that I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.” The final phrase, “to the children of Israel,” is probably a later scribal addition specifying the identity of “these people/them.”

[3:7]  ²⁶ tn Or more literally, “to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel.”

[4:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “feared.”

[4:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “all the days of his life.”

[4:14]  ²⁹ tn Heb “had feared.”

[7:45]  ³⁰ tn Grk “And.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:45]  ³¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:45]  ³² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:45]  ³³ tn Grk “In those days.”

[4:8]  ³⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.