And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,
Moses went up from the plains of Moab. This chapter appears, from internal evidence, to have been written subsequently to the death of Moses; and it probably formed at one time an introduction to the book of Joshua, the first eight verses being probably written by him immediately after the death of Moses, and the last four verses by Ezra. Josephus says that Moses wrote the account of his death before his ascent to Nebo ('Antiquities,' b. 4:, ch. 8:, sec. 48).
Unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah - literally, the head or summit of the Pisgah; i:e., the height (cf. Numbers 23:14; Deuteronomy 3:17-27; Deuteronomy 4:49). The general name given to the whole mountain range east of Jordan was Abarim (cf. Deuteronomy 32:49): and the peak to which Moses ascended was dedicated to the pagan Nebo, as Balaam's standing place had been consecrated to Peor. Some modern travelers have fixed on Jebel-Attarus, a high mountain south of the Jabbok (Zerka), as the Nebo of this passage, (Burckhardt, Seetzen, etc.) But it is situated too far north for a height which, being described as "over against Jericho," must be looked for above the last stage of the Jordan, between the Jordan and Heshbon.
The credit of discovering the precise peak, bearing the name and answering to the position of mount Nebo, appears due to M. De Sauley, and it has been confirmed by the recent scientific traveler, Mr. Tristram, 'On leaving the plain,' says De Sauley, 'to the south of Heshbon, and entering on the hilly district which reaches to Medeba and Main, I found myself in a shallow valley between two eminences-the one on the right (west) called Jebel Neba, the one on the left (east) Jebel Jelul-i.e, "the glorious, illustrious mountain." The former of these is mount Nebo. From this mount the view over the Ghor and the highlands of Canaan beyond it is magnificent; and it is easy to understand how Moses was brought to that spot to see the promised land before his death' ('Voyage en Terre Sainte ').
The Lord showed him all the land of Gilead. That pastoral region was discernible at the northern extremity of the mountain-line on which he stood, until it ended, far beyond his sight, in Dan. Westward, there were on the horizon the distant hills of "all Naphtali." Coming nearer, was "the land of Ephraim and Manasseh." Immediately opposite was "all the land of Judah" - a title at first restricted to the portion of this tribe beyond which were "the utmost sea" (the Mediterranean) and the desert of the "south." These were the four great marks of the future inheritance of his people, on which the narrative fixes our attention.
Immediately below him was 'the circle' of the plain of Jericho, with its forest of palm trees eight miles long; and far away on his left, the last inhabited spot before the great desert, "Zoar." The foreground of the picture alone was clearly discernible. There was no miraculous power of vision imparted to Moses. That he should see all that is described is what any man could do, if he attained sufficient elevation. The atmosphere of the climate is so subtle and free from vapour that the sight is carried to a distance of which the beholder, who judges from the more dense air of Europe, can form no idea (Vere Munro). But between him and that 'good land' the deep valley of the Jordan intervened; he was not to "go over there."