Joshua Heir to Moses (27:12–23)

Abarim range (27:12). The ridge of the Abarim Mountains extends from an area just northeast of the Dead Sea and then south along the edge of the Moabite plateau in Transjordan (for comments on this range, including Mounts Pisgah and Nebo, see comments on 21:17; 23:14, 28).

Meribah Kadesh (27:14). This passage provides the threefold geographical perspective on identifying the place where, after the death of their sister Miriam, Moses and Aaron rebelled against God by irreverently striking the rock twice at the waters of Meribah (Num. 20:2–13). On the location of Meribah Kadesh and Kadesh Barnea, see comments on 10:12; 13:26; 20:16.

Lay your hand on him (27:18). The divine selection of Joshua ben Nun to succeed Moses is conveyed via the laying on of hands—the means of officially transferring authority from one leader to another.263 Among the rock-cut tombs of El-Amarna in Egypt of the fourteenth century B.C. is a scene depicting the pharaoh conferring authority to his officials by extending his hands over their heads.264

Deity conferring authority on Pharaoh

Brian J. McMorrow

Urim (27:21). The Urim, usually listed in conjunction with the Thummim, were among the stones placed in the high priest’s breastplate, probably additional to the twelve representing the tribes of Israel (Ex. 28:30; Lev. 8:8). They were instruments of divine illumination through a priestly intermediary, though the physical shape and the methodology of utilization are not revealed in Scripture. Harrison notes concerning these two words, which begin with the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, “If this is the merismus motif, in which opposites are paired to denote totality, it could be interpreted to mean ‘complete truth in revelation.’” Later the prophets as spokesmen for the Lord superseded the Urim and Thummim as instruments of divine revelation (1 Sam. 28:6; 1 Kings 22:7–8).265