Verse explainer

What does Deuteronomy 31:6 really mean?

A promise spoken to a nation on the edge of war — not a general self-help motto, but a command grounded in who God is and what he has already committed to do.

KJV

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

BSB

Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.

The plain meaning

Moses is speaking to the entire assembly of Israel moments before his death. They are camped on the east bank of the Jordan, about to cross into Canaan — a land occupied by peoples they have heard frightening reports about for forty years (Num. 13–14). The command "be strong and courageous" is not motivational decoration; it is the direct response to a specific, named threat: "them" — the Canaanite nations listed in v. 3. The reason for courage is not Israel's own strength but a stated theological fact: the LORD is the one going with them, and he will not fail or forsake them. The verb "forsake" carries the sense of abandonment in the field — leaving someone exposed. Moses then immediately repeats the charge to Joshua alone (v. 7), who will bear the weight of leading the crossing. The promise is not unconditional optimism; it is a guarantee rooted in the character and covenant of God.

The common misreading

"Be strong and courageous" is a universal promise that God will always protect you from harm. The verse circulates widely as a standalone encouragement — printed on mugs, quoted in graduation speeches, texted to people facing hard days. None of that is wrong exactly, but it strips away the specific weight of what Moses is saying. He is not offering a general assurance that life will go well. He is addressing a people about to enter combat, commanding them not to be paralyzed by the specific enemies listed in the verses before (v. 3: the nations of Canaan). The promise is not that they will suffer no loss or face no real danger — Israel's subsequent history makes clear they often did. The promise is that God will not abandon them mid-campaign the way an unreliable ally might. The New Testament letter to the Hebrews (13:5) quotes this same promise in a context of poverty and economic anxiety, showing that later Scripture itself applies it broadly — but always with the same structure: not "nothing bad will happen" but "you will never be deserted by the one who matters most." The misreading turns a covenant commitment into a prosperity guarantee; the text is far more honest, and more durable, than that.

What the commentators say

Matthew Henryearly 18th c. · PD

Henry reads the double command — "be strong" and "of good courage" — as addressing two distinct fears: the fear that saps inward resolve and the outward trembling that paralyzes action. The antidote to both is not willpower but the assurance that God himself is the one marching ahead. Henry stresses that the promise "he will not fail thee" is the ground, not the reward, of the commanded courage.

John Gill18th c. · PD

Gill notes that while these words are addressed corporately to all Israel in v. 6, Moses will repeat them directly to Joshua in v. 7 — and the repetition is pointed. Joshua needed personal courage not merely as a soldier but as the one who must lead without Moses beside him. The charge is not ceremonial; it acknowledges that the absence of a trusted human leader is a real test, and only the presence of God is sufficient answer to it.

Albert BarnesBarnes' Notes · PD

Barnes draws attention to the symmetry of the verse: the negative commands ("fear not, nor be afraid") are matched precisely by positive theological affirmations (God goes with you, God will not fail you, God will not forsake you). He observes that the promise is not that Israel will face no danger but that they will never face it alone — a distinction the New Testament letter to the Hebrews will cite directly (Heb. 13:5) to ground Christian contentment in the same divine faithfulness.

The word behind it

יַעַזְבֶךָּ yaʿazbeka

"He will forsake you" — from the root עָזַב (ʿazab), meaning to leave, abandon, or desert, especially in a context of vulnerability or need. Gesenius notes the word is used of a soldier abandoning his post or a shepherd deserting the flock. The negated form here — "he will NOT forsake you" — is the covenant's sharpest edge: God explicitly rules out the one outcome Israel most feared, being left exposed in enemy territory without a defender.

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