Deuteronomy 31:3 (DBY)

Passage

Jehovah thy God, he will go over before thee, he will destroy these nations from before thee, that thou mayest take possession of them: Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as Jehovah hath said.

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 31:1 And Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel;

Deuteronomy 31:2 and he said unto them, I am a hundred and twenty years old this day, I can no more go out and come in; and Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

Deuteronomy 31:3 Jehovah thy God, he will go over before thee, he will destroy these nations from before thee, that thou mayest take possession of them: Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as Jehovah hath said.

Deuteronomy 31:4 And Jehovah will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land; whom he destroyed.

Deuteronomy 31:5 And when Jehovah giveth them up before you, ye shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "over", "before", "thee", "destroy", and "nations". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "over", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "and he said unto them I am..." into verse 4's "And Jehovah will do to them as...", so "jehovah" and "over" belong inside that flow. In Deuteronomy context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jehovah" and "over" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.