This verse is somewhat of a shift; it is not a recital of what happened next, as we might expect, but a general statement about Joshua, successor of Moses. For the commissioning of Joshua, see 31.1-8; Num 27.12-23.

Full of the spirit of wisdom: this is God-given wisdom.

Moses had laid his hands on him: see Num 27.22-23. It will be helpful to place this information at the beginning of the verse as follows: “Before Moses died, he placed his hands on Joshua and appointed him to be his successor. Yahweh filled him with wisdom [or, made him a very wise person].”

The people of Israel obeyed him: this goes quite naturally with what follows; they did as the LORD had commanded Moses and obeyed Joshua (see Good News Translation).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .