31:25–54 Dividing the Spoils. This section provides direction for how to divide the plunder (vv. 25–31), lists the plunder itself (vv. 32–47), and describes a special offering of the plunder made by the soldiers (vv. 48–54).
31:27–30 The spoil was divided evenly between the soldiers and the people. The soldiers then gave a tribute of 0.2 percent to the priests, and the people gave a tribute of 2 percent to the Levites. Because there were far fewer priests than Levites, this difference makes sense and also allows the soldiers to keep a larger share than the people in recognition of their service in battle.
31:40, 47 people. Perhaps they became servants for the tabernacle (cf. Josh 9:21–27).
31:49 counted. Taking a census in ancient Israel was dangerous, especially when the Lord did not explicitly command it (see 2 Sam 24:1–10). not one is missing. Demonstrates that the Lord fought for them.
31:50 A ransom payment was needed to atone for those in the census (Exod 30:11–16).
31:52 The soldiers give an average of 1.4 shekels per person, almost three times the required amount (cf. Exod 30:13), perhaps to express thanksgiving for the Lord’s help in battle.
32:1–42 The Transjordan Tribes. While most of Israel’s tribes eventually settled west of the Jordan River, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh settled east of it (see map). This chapter describes how that came about.
32:1 To the east of the Jordan River is a plateau whose slopes receive sufficient amounts of rainfall to produce vegetation, the very thing Gad and Reuben need.
32:3 For possible locations of some of these cities, see map.
32:5 The request to inherit east of the Jordan was not necessarily sinful. The Lord had promised that Israel’s land would stretch from Egypt to Assyria (Gen 15:18). This land on the east side of the Jordan was well within those bounds.
32:6–15 The two and a half tribes make no mention of helping to fight for the rest of the promised land, and Moses provides an appropriate rebuke.
32:7 discourage. If part of the army refused to go into battle, the rest of the soldiers would quickly lose hope. The end result would be the same as what happened in ch. 14: the Israelites refusing to enter the promised land and experiencing the Lord’s judgment (vv. 8–15).
32:17 go ahead of the Israelites. Not only fight with them, but take the lead.
32:20–22 That Moses accepts their proposal is further proof that their desire for land east of the Jordan is not wrong.
32:21 before the LORD. Perhaps the troops march in front of the Lord’s ark (Josh 6:7). he has driven his enemies out. “The battle is the LORD’s” (1 Sam 17:47).
32:22 See Josh 22:1–9.
32:23 your sin. The punishment it deserves. will find you out. Because the sovereign Lord justly judges sin (Gen 44:16; Gal 6:7–9).
32:25, 27 See Josh 4:12–13; 22:1–9.
32:28–32 Since Moses will soon die (27:12–14; 31:2), he makes sure the other leaders are aware of the arrangement.
32:33–42 These verses describe the property inherited by the two and a half tribes; Josh 13:8–33 does so in more detail.
32:33 half-tribe. Half the tribe of Manasseh settled on the east side of the Jordan and half on the west side (see map). This tribe was not part of the original request (v. 1), but certain of its members captured land east of the Jordan (vv. 39–42), so this verse mentions the tribe here with the others that settled east of the Jordan.
33:1–56 Stages in Israel’s Journey. Ch. 33 summarizes the 40-year journey that brought the Israelites from Egypt to this point on the plains of Moab. They will shortly march from here into the promised land. This itinerary lists 42 travel stations, many of which were not cities that left ruins behind but simply encampments and thus are difficult to identify with certainty. This itinerary overlaps with other itineraries (21:10–20; Deut 1–3), though there are differences, perhaps in part because not one of these itineraries is complete. The locations remind the Israelites of their faithlessness, the Lord’s justice, and the Lord’s mercy and faithfulness in bringing them to this point. The people of God must always remember who the Lord has shown himself to be in the past and then act in light of that in the present (cf. Deut 8:1–18; 9:7; Rom 12:1). For further details on some of the places and events listed in this itinerary, see the following table:
33:50–56 Now that the Israelites are on the cusp of the promised land, the Lord reissues commands that emphasize the importance of dispossessing the land of its inhabitants and their idolatrous practices (cf. Exod 23:24; 34:12–14; Lev 18:24–27). Once again, full obedience to his commands is of utmost importance.
33:52 drive out. Other texts make clear that this would happen when the Lord drove out the nations in terror (Exod 23:27–28) or gave them over to Israel to be destroyed in warfare (Deut 7:1–2; 20:16–18). See Introduction to Deuteronomy: Themes and Theology (Holy War); see also Introduction to Joshua: Theological Themes (Genocide?). Destroy. The land was the Lord’s, and he alone was to be worshiped in it; this is also true of the earth as a whole (cf. Pss 24:1–2; 67:1–7).
33:54 Distribute the land by lot. See note on 26:52–56.
33:55 barbs . . . thorns . . . trouble. The inhabitants would lead Israel into the same types of wickedness they engaged in, and the Lord would punish Israel with the same type of judgment the inhabitants would suffer (v. 56; cf. Exod 34:11–17; Lev 18:24–30; Deut 7:1–5; 12:29–31).
34:1—36:13 Commands and Regulations for Life in the Promised Land. This is a fitting way to close the book; Israel will be marching into the land very soon.
34:1–29 Boundaries of Canaan. Since Israel is about to inherit the promised land, this chapter describes its borders: southern (vv. 3–5), western (v. 6), northern (vv. 7–9), and eastern (vv. 10–12). These borders match descriptions of Canaan in Egyptian sources from the second half of the second millennium BC, the exact time period Israel is getting ready to enter the land (and therefore evidence for the antiquity of this list). Since two and a half tribes have already claimed their inheritance east of the Jordan, this land will be for the remaining nine and a half tribes (vv. 13–15). See map. (The northern and northeastern borders are less than certain due to the difficulty of identifying many of the sites.)
34:16–29 Now that the land’s borders have been described (vv. 3–12), this section identifies who will help properly apportion it. The main leaders are Eleazar and Joshua (v. 17); the leaders from the nine and a half tribes are listed more or less in their tribes’ geographic order from south to north (vv. 18–28).
34:17 assign the land. By lot; see note on 26:52–56. Eleazar . . . Joshua. They will lead in place of Aaron and Moses.
34:19 Caleb. See note on 13:30.
35:1–5 Towns for the Levites. In contrast to the other tribes (ch. 34), the Levites do not inherit large tracts of land (18:21–24) and therefore receive cities in which to live (Josh 21; see also map).
35:4–5 While there is some debate, many understand the 1,000 cubits (1,500 feet or about 450 meters) to be the distance from the wall of the city to the edge of the pasturelands (v. 4), and the 2,000 cubits (3,000 feet or about 900 meters) to be the length of the outer edge of the pasturelands when thought of as a square. See “Pasturelands.”
35:6–34 Cities of Refuge. Three important facts shed light on how these cities functioned. (1) Anyone who murdered another person was to be put to death. Humans bear God’s image and are worthy of great respect. To destroy human life was therefore to commit a great crime and to be subject to the greatest penalty: death (Gen 9:5–6). (2) Atonement was necessary for unintentional sins (cf. Lev 4:27–28, 31b). Normally a sacrificial animal’s blood could atone for unintentional sin (e.g., Lev 4:2–3; see 17:11), but when a person accidentally killed another person (manslaughter), only human blood would do—namely, that of the guilty party (v. 33). But for manslaughter there was a way of escape: the guilty party could go to a city of refuge and wait until the high priest’s death (vv. 25, 28, 32), at which point the guilty party could go free. Apparently, the high priest’s death substituted for the death of the guilty party. The author of Hebrews describes Jesus as the ultimate high priest who gives his own lifeblood to atone for people’s sins (Heb 7:26–27; 9:11–14). (3) To stay in the city was to acknowledge the sin and its seriousness and to follow the God-appointed way of dealing with it. Failing to stay in the city was to deny the sin and its seriousness and thus leave oneself open to God’s justice (see note on v. 12).
35:12 avenger. The person who carried out the Lord’s justice (execution), usually understood to be a close relative of the deceased (called the “avenger of blood” in vv. 19, 21, 24, 25, 27). stand trial. Have his day in court and therefore be protected from blood vengeance (cf. v. 25).
35:13 six towns. See Josh 20:7–8 and map.
35:16–21 Examples of murder.
35:22–23 Examples of manslaughter (cf. Deut 19:5).
35:25 send the accused back to the city of refuge. Apparently, the accused stood trial at some place outside the city, perhaps in the original place of the crime or perhaps at the city limits.
35:30 testimony of witnesses. Ensures that one person alone cannot falsely accuse another (Deut 17:6; 19:15).
35:31 ransom. A payment of money.
35:33 Bloodshed pollutes the land. With a stain that could only be removed by the life (i.e., the blood) of the guilty party (or the high priest in cases of manslaughter). A ransom (v. 31) cannot remove the stain; the land would remain defiled, which would lead to the Lord’s punishment (Lev 18:24–28).
35:34 dwell among the Israelites. In the tabernacle (Exod 29:42–46).
36:1–13 Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters. This chapter returns to the story of ch. 27 (see note on 27:1–11 for background). In doing so, it links together chs. 27–36 (with ch. 26 introducing the whole section).
36:3 The leaders correctly assume that if a daughter marries someone from outside her tribe, the land would pass to her husband’s tribe (thus diminishing the land inheritance of the original tribe).
36:4 Year of Jubilee. When land normally returned to its original owner and therefore to the original tribe (see note on Lev 25:10). But in this case, the land would not return to its original tribe because the Jubilee laws applied only to land that people leased, not to inherited land.
36:5–9 Helped ensure that all tribes in Israel kept the land the Lord gave them and therefore that all his people had an inheritance in the promised land.
36:10–12 Many clan-based societies encourage marriage within the clan, perhaps to strengthen clan ties and to safeguard clan property. So marrying one’s cousin was not unusual. But even within the clan, they considered certain relatives too close for sexual relations (see Lev 18:6–18).
36:13 The concluding verse looks backward and forward. the plains of Moab. Looks back at least to 33:50 (and ties together six different sections with commands and regulations relating to life in the promised land) and at most to 22:1 (and ties together chs. 22–36 as one unit, describing what Israel did and learned while waiting on those plains). Jericho. Since it is in the promised land, this looks forward to the coming conquest of that land as the people of Israel march forward with bold faith in the covenant Lord who has promised it to them. This was to be for them a land of rest (Lev 25:4–5), a return to Eden, where they could live securely in a fruitful land with all their needs met, walk in obedient fellowship with the Lord, and extend his holy kingdom throughout the earth (Exod 19:5–6; Lev 26:3–12). The NT applies this picture to Christians, exhorting them to enter the eternal promised land of rest by holding fast to their faith in Jesus (Heb 3:6, 12–14; 4:8–11), the one who has atoned for their sins so that they can enter into a final and perfect Eden and walk in perfect fellowship with God (Rev 5:9–10; 21:1–5; 22:1–5). This is exceedingly good news, and Jesus commands his followers to share it with all peoples so that they too may enter into his kingdom and the eternal rest that he has won for them (Matt 28:18–20; cf. 1 John 2:2; Rev 7:9–10).