1Então subiu Moysés das campinas de Moab ao monte Nebo, ao cume de Pisga, que está defronte de Jericó; e o Senhor mostrou-lhes toda a terra desde Gilead até Dan;
2E todo Naphtali, e a terra d'Ephraim, e Manasseh; e toda a terra de Judah, até ao mar ultimo;
3E o sul, e a campina do valle de Jericó, a cidade das palmeiras até Zoar.
4E disse-lhe o Senhor: Esta é a terra de que jurei a Abrahão, Isaac, e Jacob, dizendo: Á tua semente a darei: mostro-t'a para a veres com os teus olhos; porém lá não passarás.
5Assim morreu ali Moysés, servo do Senhor, na terra de Moab, conforme ao dito do Senhor.
6E o sepultou n'um valle, na terra de Moab, defronte de Beth-peor; e ninguem tem sabido até hoje a sua sepultura.
7Era Moysés da edade de cento e vinte annos quando morreu: os seus olhos nunca se escureceram, nem perdeu o seu vigor.
8E os filhos d'Israel prantearam a Moysés trinta dias nas campinas de Moab: e os dias do pranto do luto de Moysés se cumpriram.
9E Josué, filho de Nun, foi cheio do espirito de sabedoria, porquanto Moysés tinha posto sobre elle as suas mãos: assim os filhos d'Israel lhe deram ouvidos, e fizeram como o Senhor ordenara a Moysés.
10E nunca mais se levantou em Israel propheta algum como Moysés, a quem o Senhor conhecera cara a cara;
11Nem similhante em todos os signaes e maravilhas, a que o Senhor o enviou para fazer na terra do Egypto, a Pharaó, e a todos os seus servos, e a toda a sua terra;
12E em toda a mão forte, e em todo o espanto grande, que obrou Moysés aos olhos de todo o Israel.
📖 Chapter study
Summary
Moses climbs Mount Nebo, where God shows him the whole promised land before his death. He dies there at 120 years old, is buried by God himself in an unknown location, and the book — and the entire Torah — closes with a final tribute: never again did a prophet like Moses arise in Israel, one whom the Lord knew face to face.
Explanation
Moses' death is described with striking dignity: even though he could not enter the promised land because of his own error years earlier, he is given the honor of seeing all of it from the top of the mountain, and God himself takes care of his burial, keeping the location unknown — perhaps to prevent it from later becoming an object of idolatrous worship. The statement that his 'eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated' at 120 years old suggests an extraordinary vitality to the very end, a sign of special blessing on his life. The final tribute — that 'never again did a prophet arise in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face' — closes the entire Pentateuch on a note of unmatched, singular greatness — a standard that, according to Christian faith, would only ultimately be surpassed (not merely equaled) by the coming of Christ, the definitive prophet promised within the very book of Deuteronomy.
Fun facts
- The letter of Jude in the New Testament (v. 9) mentions an extra-biblical tradition about a dispute between the archangel Michael and the devil over the body of Moses, suggesting that the question of Moses' hidden burial sparked significant theological reflection and speculation in the centuries that followed.
- Moses appears alongside Elijah at the Transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:3), symbolically representing the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) conversing with Christ — one of the most theologically charged moments in the New Testament, directly connecting the death recounted in this final chapter of Deuteronomy to the story of Jesus centuries later.