And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua. The leader prepared, in obedience to the divine call, to re-ascend the mount, and he was attended on by his minister or assistant, Joshua. It would be a great comfort to him to have the company of that active, faithful, and pious attendant, during the protracted halt he had to make, ere he was summoned to the top of the mount. There is no evidence that Joshua was included in the number of the 70 elders who had been up the mount at the sacrificial feast; at all events, he is not mentioned, because he possessed no independent status.
His name which was at first Oshea or Hoshea (see the note at Exodus 17:9), was afterward changed to Joshua or Jehoshua (Numbers 22:16). Although his only errand was to minister to Moses on the mount, he enjoyed a greater distinction than any of the 70 elders who had preceded him, in being privileged to ascend to a higher point; and his service on this occasion was a sort of initiatory consecration to the duties of the important office with which, on the death of Moses, he was invested.