Deuteronomy 31:2

And he said unto them, I [am] an hundred and twenty years old this day,.... Whether the meaning is, that that day precisely was his birthday, is a question; it may be the sense is only this, that he

And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

Go out and come in, i.e. perform the office of a leader or governor, either because I now find a decay of my mind and body, which seems not well to agree with , or because I foresee the time of my death approaches.

Deuteronomy 31:2 And he said unto them, I [am] an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.Ver. 2. I am a hundred and twenty, &c.] And so might well bespeak them, as Augustus once did his army, and pacified them thereby when they were in a mutiny; Audite senem iuvenes, quem iuvenem senes audierunt. Suetonius.

XXXI. Deuteronomy 31:1-8. MOSES RESIGNS HIS CHARGE AS LEADER TO JOSHUA.(1) And Moses went and spake.—The expression is unusual. Possibly it means “went on to speak.” The Palestine Targum has, “He went into the house of instruction and spake.” The LXX. have apparently preserved a different reading, and say, “And Moses made an end of speaking these words” (like Deuteronomy 32:45), as if the Hebrew were vay’cal instead of vay-yelek. A transposition of two letters would make all the difference. (2) I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in.—The description of Moses’ death in Deuteronomy 34:7, says, “his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” Yet he may have felt within himself that his work was done. “I have no longer authority, for the authority is taken from me and given into the hand of Joshua” is one interpretation. And it suits with what follows. “The Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.” (3) The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee . . . Joshua, he shall go over before thee.—Can it be accidental that Jehovah and Joshua are spoken of in exactly the same language, and that there is no distinguishing conjunction between them, the “and” of the English Version being supplied? “Jehovah, He is going over; Joshua, he is going over.” Verbally, the two are as much identified as “The God who fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel that redeemed me from all evil” (Genesis 48:15-16). The prophetical truth of this identification is too remarkable to be missed. (4) As he did to Sihon and to Og.—The value of these two conquests, before Israel passed the Jordan, was inestimable, as an encouragement to them to persevere. (5) According unto all the commandments.—The Hebrew word for “commandments” is in the singular, Mitzvah, the principle of action. (6) Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid.—Here this is addressed to the people in the plural number. The same thing is said to Joshua in the next verse. (7, 8) And Moses called unto Joshua.—In these words Moses formally delivers the charge of the people to Joshua, to lead them over Jordan. He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee.—Repeated by Jehovah Himself (Joshua 1:5). “Will not let thee go” is the exact meaning of “fail” here. Comp. Deuteronomy 9:14, “let me alone.”

Verse 2. I am a hundred and twenty years old] The life of Moses, the great prophet of God and lawgiver of the Jews, was exactly the same in length as the time Noah employed in preaching righteousness to the antediluvian world. These one hundred and twenty years were divided into three remarkable periods: forty years he lived in Egypt, in Pharaoh's court, acquiring all the learning and wisdom of the Egyptians; (see Acts 7:20; Acts 7:23); forty years he sojourned in the land of Midian in a state of preparation for his great and important mission; (Acts 7:29-30); and forty years he guided, led, and governed the Israelites under the express direction and authority of God: in all, one hundred and twenty years.

2. an hundred and twenty years old] So P Deuteronomy 34:7, cp. Exodus 7:7. As we have seen, dates in the Pent. are nearly all from P; 120 = 3 × 40, the usual round number for a generation. go out and come in] See on Deuteronomy 13:13 (14) and Deuteronomy 28:6. the Lord hath said, etc.] Deuteronomy 3:27.

I am an hundred and twenty years old - The 40 years of the wandering had passed since Moses, then 80 years old, “spake unto Pharaoh” (Exodus 7:7; Compare Deuteronomy 34:7).

2. I am a hundred and twenty years old this day — The life of Moses is divided into three periods of forty years each. He was forty years old when he fled from Egypt to Midian.