Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 31:2
he said to them, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the assembled Israelites after concluding his final address, declaring his age and announcing that God has commanded him to remain on the far side of the Jordan.
The words — The phrase בֶּן־מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה (ben-meh'ah ve-'es.Rim sha.Nah) literally means "a son of one hundred and twenty years," a Hebrew idiom denoting age.
The thread — The narrative later confirms this age in Deuteronomy 34:7, which records Moses’ death, while the leadership transfer fulfills the succession pattern outlined in Numbers 27:17.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to accept a divinely imposed boundary on human authority and to recognize the mandated transition of leadership to Joshua.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 34:7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not diminished.
- Numbers 27:17 who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
- 1 Kings 3:7 And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in.
- Exodus 7:7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
- Numbers 20:12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
- Deuteronomy 3:26 But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter.
- Numbers 27:13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was;
- Deuteronomy 1:37 The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.
- Deuteronomy 4:21 The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
- Deuteronomy 32:48 On that same day the LORD said to Moses,