And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
Wept for Moses thirty days. Seven days was the usual period of mourning; but for persons of high rank or official eminence, it was extended to thirty (Genesis 50:3-10; Numbers 20:29). It was and is customary in the East for friends to mourn very bitterly over such as were absent from home when they died, and were buried at a distance from their relations. It was after this manner that the Israelites lamented the death of Moses. He was absent from them when he died; nor did they carry him in public procession, but they wept for him in the plains of Moab. Josephus gives a highly embellished account of this universal mourning (see 'Antiquities,' b.
iv., ch. 8:, sec. 48).