Why was Josue, son of Nun, filled with the spirit of wisdom?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

The chapter says it was because Moses had laid his hands on him. Israel’s children obeyed Josue and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Chapter breakdown

Moses goes up from Moab’s plains to Mount Nebo, to Phasga’s top opposite Jericho. The Lord shows him all Galaad as far as Dan; all Nephtali; Ephraim and Manasses; all Juda to the furthest sea; the south part; and the breadth of Jericho’s plain, the city of palm trees, as far as Segor. The Lord says this is the land he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give their descendants. Moses has seen it with his eyes but will not cross into it.

Moses, the Lord’s servant, dies in Moab by the Lord’s command. Challoner’s separate note says this last chapter, which relates Moses’ death, was written by Josue or by some of the prophets. The verse says he buried Moses in Moab’s valley opposite Phogor and that no man has known his tomb until this present day. Challoner explains the burial as being through the ministry of angels. He says the burial place was to be unknown lest Israel, so prone to idolatry, worship Moses with divine honours. The angels and this reason are in the note, rather than the verse’s own account.

Moses dies at one hundred and twenty years old. His eye is not dim and his teeth are not moved. Israel’s children mourn him in Moab’s plains for thirty days, and the days of their mourning for Moses end.

Josue, son of Nun, is filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. Israel’s children obey him and do as the Lord commanded Moses. The chapter’s separate opening summary describes Josue as succeeding with the spirit of God through Moses’ laying on of hands; the verse itself names the spirit of wisdom.

No more a prophet arises in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face: in all the signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt to Pharao, all his servants, and his whole land, and in all the mighty hand and great miracles Moses did before all Israel.

The story inside

The chapter records Moses’ ascent and view of the named land, then the Lord’s statement that he will not cross into it. His death, burial, age, bodily details, and thirty days of mourning follow. Challoner gives two possible authors of this account and separately explains the burial through angels and the reason for an unknown place. The next verse states a direct cause: Josue has the spirit of wisdom because Moses laid his hands on him, and Israel obeys. The closing comparison preserves Moses’ distinct place as the prophet the Lord knew face to face, with signs in Egypt and miracles before Israel. The source does not describe the weather, Moses’ feelings, a peaceful transfer of government, or the mechanism of seeing the land.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Seeing the land and entering it are distinct here. The Lord shows Moses the named regions and confirms the promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, while saying Moses will not cross into them.
2
The burial explanation needs its attribution. The verse locates the burial and says its place is unknown until the present day. Challoner adds the angels and the concern that Israel might give Moses divine honours; his authorship note leaves Josue or some prophets as alternatives.
3
Josue’s wisdom has a stated cause. Moses had laid his hands on him; Israel’s obedience is then recorded. The final verses still compare Moses with other prophets through face-to-face knowledge, signs and wonders in Egypt, and miracles before all Israel.

Test your recall

What does the chapter name as the reason Josue was filled with the spirit of wisdom?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 22334–22355
Deuteronomy Chapter 34 Moses seeth the promised land, but is not suffered to go into it. He dieth at the age of 120 years. God burieth his body secretly, and all Israel mourn for him thirty days. Josue, replenished (by imposition of Moses’s hands) with the spirit of God, succeedeth. But Moses, for his special familiarity with God, and for most wonderful miracles, is commended above all other prophets. 34:1. Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab upon mount Nebo, to the top of Phasga over against Jericho: and the Lord shewed him all the land of Galaad as far as Dan. 34:2. And all Nephtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasses, and all the land of Juda unto the furthermost sea, 34:3. And the south part, and the breadth of the plain of Jericho the city of palm trees as far as Segor. 34:4. And the Lord said to him: This is the land, for which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to thy seed. Thou hast seen it with thy eyes, and shalt not pass over to it.
Lines 22357–22368
34:5. And Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of Moab, by the commandment of the Lord: Died there.... This last chapter of Deuteronomy, in which the death of Moses is related, was written by Josue, or by some of the prophets. 34:6. And he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab over against Phogor: and no man hath known of his sepulchre until this present day. He buried him, viz.... by the ministry of angels, and would have the place of his burial to be unknown, lest the Israelites, who were so prone to idolatry, might worship him with divine honours.
Lines 22370–22375
34:7. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, neither were his teeth moved. 34:8. And the children of Israel mourned for him in the plains of Moab thirty days: and the days of their mourning in which they mourned Moses were ended.
Lines 22377–22379
34:9. And Josue the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the children of Israel obeyed him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.
Lines 22381–22393
34:10. And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 34:11. In all the signs and wonders, which he sent by him, to do in the land of Egypt to Pharao, and to all his servants, and to his whole land, 34:12. And all the mighty hand, and great miracles, which Moses did before all Israel.