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.
I can no more go out and come in - The idea of physical infirmities, or inability to perform the duties of a leader, through exhaustion of nature, is excluded by the testimony borne to the undiminished energies, both mental and corporeal, of Moses (Deuteronomy 34:7). But the unalterable decree of heaven had fixed the Jordan as the boundary of his life's journey, and having that goal, he could no longer act as formerly the part of their guide and governor. The import of the clause obviously is, 'I shall not be in circumstances to march with you any further.'
Also the Lord hath said unto me - should be 'for the Lord hath said.'
Thou shalt not go over this Jordan. While taking a solemn leave of the people, he exhorted them not to be intimidated by the menacing opposition of enemies; to take encouragement from the continued presence of their covenanted God; and to rest assured that the same divine power which had enabled them to discomfit their first assailants on the east of Jordan would aid them not less effectually in the adventurous enterprise which they were about to undertake, and by which they would obtain possession of 'the land which He had sworn unto their fathers to give them.'