Though the rebellious generation were to perish, and Moses was not to be permitted to enter Canaan, God would not depart from his promise, but would by another leader bring the people to the inheritance which he had sworn to their fathers to give them.
(For the account of Joshua's appointment and installation, see Numbers 27:15-23.) Which standeth before thee; i.e. to be thy minister or servant (Exodus 24:13; Exodus 33:11; Numbers 11:28; comp. for the meaning of the phrase Deuteronomy 10:8; Deuteronomy 18:7; Daniel 1:5).
Encourage him; literally, strengthen him (comp. Deuteronomy 3:21, Deuteronomy 3:22; Deuteronomy 31:7, Deuteronomy 31:8). Inherit it; the "it" refers back to Deuteronomy 1:35, "that good land." In Deuteronomy 1:8 and Deuteronomy 1:21, the land is spoken of as to be possessed by the Israelites; here it is spoken of as to be inherited by them.
The former has reference to their having to wrest the land by force from the Canaanites ( יָרַשׁ, to occupy by force, to dispossess; cf. Deuteronomy 2:12, Deuteronomy 2:21, Deuteronomy 2:22, where the verb is, in the Authorized Version, rendered by "destroy''); the latter has reference to their receiving the land as a heritage ( נָנחל) from God, who, when he divided to the nations their inheritance, assigned Canaan to the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 32:8).
"Joshua the executor of the inheritance" (Schroeder).