Deuteronomy 34

1. Nebo. See note on Numb. xxvii. 12. Of the chain of mountains called “Abarim,” one was called Pisgah, and its peak, fronting the valley, Nebo. The heights here are very considerable, affording a wide prospect, especially towards the west.

unto Dan. As this name was not given till the time of Judg. xviii. 1, 27-29, it is evident that this account of the death of Moses is a later addition; and vers. 10-12 seem to indicate that it was made at the period when the Old Testament Scriptures were arranged, probably by Ezra.

6 no man knoweth. The burial-place of Moses was probably concealed that his tomb might not become the occasion of idolatry or superstition.

10 there arose not a prophet. This appendix to the narrative shows how the expectation of the pious Israelite was kept alive by the promise of his great Lawgiver (xviii. 15, 18): and confessedly that promise has not been fulfilled, nor can we see how it can now be accomplished, unless Jesus of Nazareth, “a Prophet mighty in word and deed before God and all the people,” be the person “of whom Moses and all the prophets have spoken.”