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Deuteronomy 34 Bible study: Moses the servant of the LORD
Genesis ends with Joseph dying and pointing to "the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (Genesis 50:24). The Law ends with Moses shown that same land (34:4), dying "according to the LORD’s word" (34:5), known by the LORD face to face though no one knows his grave (34:6, 34:10).
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“Since then, there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,”
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“In Deuteronomy 34, the LORD himself showed Moses the land.”
Is that in Deuteronomy 34, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Shown the land, as the LORD had said
"Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is opposite Jericho. The LORD showed him all the land" (34:1). Moses doesn't only look; the LORD shows him, from Gilead to Dan (34:1), "all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the Western Sea" (34:2), "and the south, and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, to Zoar" (34:3). The land is named by tribes Moses has just blessed: Judah (33:7), Ephraim and Manasseh (33:17), Naphtali (33:23). This is what Moses was told in chapter 3, when he asked to go over: "Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan" (3:27). Now the LORD says, "I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there" (34:4). Both halves of the word in chapter 3 are kept.
Where it leads to Jesus
Written in the law of Moses concerning me
Deuteronomy 34:10leads toLuke 24:44
The Law ends with Israel still "in the plains of Moab" (34:8) and the words "Since then, there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses" (34:10). In Luke 24, after he had risen (Luke 24:6), "Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27), and Jesus said, "all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms concerning me must be fulfilled" (Luke 24:44). Jesus names the law of Moses but not this chapter, so tying this chapter to his words is a reading. Some read the Law's closing words, that no prophet like Moses had yet arisen (34:10), as leaving open the promise of "a prophet… like me" (18:15), which Peter quotes of Jesus (Acts 3:22), among the things written concerning him. Others take Jesus' words as about the law of Moses as a whole, which Luke doesn't list verse by verse, and don't single out this chapter.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Deuteronomy 34
That was a taste
The rest of Deuteronomy 34 is waiting in Favor
- The oath, from the end of Genesis to here
- The servant of the LORD, at the LORD's word
- No one knows his tomb; the LORD knew him
- As Aaron died
- The Law, looked back on
- 7 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Deuteronomy 34 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
עֶבֶדevedsay EH-ved
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "slave, servant". "So Moses the servant of the LORD died there" (34:5). The LORD had called him "My servant Moses" (Numbers 12:7), but this is the first time the WEB calls him "the servant of the LORD", and the book of Joshua takes it up from its first verse: "after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD" (Joshua 1:1), with the LORD's own "Moses my servant is dead" (Joshua 1:2). The same word is Pharaoh's "servants" in 34:11. Hebrews says Moses was faithful "as a servant" (Hebrews 3:5).
For your group
Deuteronomy 34 Bible study questions
- 1Moses saw the land but didn't go in (34:4), and the promise went on without him. Is there something you've given yourself to that you may not see finished? What helps you keep going?
- 2Joshua was ready because "Moses had laid his hands on him" (34:9). Who are you pouring into, or who could you, so that what God has given you goes on after you?
- 3Israel wept for thirty days, "until the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended" (34:8). How do you make room for grief, and what has helped you go on without forgetting?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Deuteronomy 34 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home