Deuteronomy
Chapter 34
Death and Burial of Moses
From the barren plain of Moab, Moses went up to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the Land: from Gilead to Dan,
the whole of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, the whole land of Judah, as far as the Western Sea,
the Negeb, the Plains, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.
And the Lord said to him:
“This is the land about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, promising it to their descendants. I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not enter it.”
Moses, the servant of God, died there in the land of Moab, according to the will of the Lord.
They buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-Peor, but to this very day, no one knows where his tomb is.
Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died. He did not lose his vigor, and his eyes still saw clearly.
The children of Israel mourned for him in the plains of Moab for thirty days.
But Joshua, son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands upon him. The children of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
No prophet like Moses has appeared again. The Lord conversed with him face to face.
What signs and wonders he worked in Egypt against Pharaoh, against his people, and all his land!
He displayed great power and awesome might in the sight of all Israel!
Commentaries
Death and Burial of Moses.
As already announced in 32:48-52, Moses was destined to die before crossing the Jordan. However, God allows him to see from the top of Mount Nebo the land where the Israelites will settle. Moses’ role has been more than enough: he led the fight against Egypt’s oppressive power until the people were freed; he guided them for forty years through the desert; he served as a mediator between God and the people, revealing and teaching his brothers the will, laws, and commands of the Lord. Now, at the moment of claiming the land, someone else will take his place.
Moses’ silence before the divine decision demonstrates the proper attitude of someone who recognizes that, in the effort to build the society God desires, he is merely an intermediary, a worker, and an instrument of the only Indispensable and Irreplaceable One—God.