1 These be the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

2 (There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to Kadeshbarnea.)

3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them;

4 After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelled in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelled at Astaroth in Edrei:

5 On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,

6 The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, You have dwelled long enough in this mount:

7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and to all the places near thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and to Lebanon, to the great river, the river Euphrates.

8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them.

9 And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:

10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.

11 (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you!)

12 How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?

13 Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.

14 And you answered me, and said, The thing which you have spoken is good for us to do.

15 So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.

16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brothers, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.

17 You shall not respect persons in judgment; but you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it to me, and I will hear it.

18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.

19 And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which you saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.

20 And I said to you, You are come to the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God does give to us.

21 Behold, the LORD your God has set the land before you: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has said to you; fear not, neither be discouraged.

22 And you came near to me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.

23 And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:

24 And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.

25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God does give us.

26 Notwithstanding you would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:

27 And you murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

28 Where shall we go up? our brothers have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.

29 Then I said to you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.

30 The LORD your God which goes before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;

31 And in the wilderness, where you have seen how that the LORD your God bore you, as a man does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came into this place.

32 Yet in this thing you did not believe the LORD your God,

33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in a cloud by day.

34 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and swore, saying,

35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I swore to give to your fathers.

36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he has trodden on, and to his children, because he has wholly followed the LORD.

37 Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, You also shall not go in thither.

38 But Joshua the son of Nun, which stands before you, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

39 Moreover your little ones, which you said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and to them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

40 But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

41 Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when you had girded on every man his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the hill.

42 And the LORD said to me, Say to them. Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest you be smitten before your enemies.

43 So I spoke to you; and you would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.

44 And the Amorites, which dwelled in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even to Hormah.

45 And you returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not listen to your voice, nor give ear to you.

46 So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you stayed there.

These verses are prefixed as a connecting link between the contents of the preceding books and that of Deuteronomy now to follow. The sense of the passage might be given thus: The discourses of Moses to the people up to the eleventh month of the fortieth year (compare Deu 1:3) have now been recorded. The proper names which follow seem to belong to places where words of remarkable importance were spoken. They are by the Jewish commentators referred to the spots which witnessed the more special sins of the people, and the mention of them here is construed as a pregnant rebuke. The Book of Deuteronomy is known among the Jews as the book of reproofs.

On this side of Jordan - Rather, beyond Jordan (as in Deu 3:20, Deu 3:25). The phrase was a standing designation for the district east of Jordan, and at times, when Greek became commonly spoken in the country, was exactly represented by the proper name Peraea.

In the wilderness, in the plain - The former term denotes the Desert of Arabia generally; the latter was the sterile tract ( Arabah, Num 21:4 note) which stretches along the lower Jordan to the Dead Sea, and is continued thence to the Gulf of Akaba.

Over against the Red Sea - Render it: over against Suph. Sea is not in the original text. Suph is either the pass Es Sufah near Ain-el-Weibeh ( Num 13:26 note), or the name of the alluvial district (the Num 21:14 note).

Tophel is identified with Tufileh, the Tafyle of Burckhardt, still a considerable place - some little distance southeast of the Dead Sea. Paran is probably Mount Paran Deu 33:2; or a city of the same name near the mountain. Compare Gen 14:6.

Laban is generally identified with Libnah Num 33:20, and Hazeroth with Ain Hadherah ( Num 11:34 note); but the position of Dizahab is uncertain.

Deu 1:2

For Kadesh see Num 13:26 note; and for Horeb see Exo 3:1.

Astaroth - On this place compare Gen 14:5 and note.

In Edrei - These words should, to render the sense clear, come next after slain. The battle in which Sihon and Og were defeated took place at Edrei.

In the land of Moab - This district had formerly been occupied by the Moabites, and retained its name from them: but had been conquered by the Amorites. Compare Num 21:25, note; Num 22:5, note.

Declare - Render, explain the Law already declared.

The first and introductory address of Moses to the people is here commenced. It extends to Deu 4:40; and is divided from the second discourse by the Deu 1:4 :41-49. A summary of the address is given in the chapter-headings usually found in English Bibles.

To the mount of the Amorites - i. e. to the mountain district occupied by the Amorites, reaching into the Negeb, and part of the territory assigned to the tribe of Judah.

This appointment of the captains (compare Exo 18:21 ff) must not be confounded with that of the elders in Num 11:16 ff. The former would number 78,600; the latter were 70 only.

A comparison between this passage and that in Exodus makes it obvious that Moses is only touching on certain parts of the whole history, without regard to order of time, but with a special purpose. This important arrangement for the good government of the people took place before they left Horeb to march direct to the promised land. This fact sets more clearly before us the perverseness and ingratitude of the people, to which the orator next passes; and shows, what he was anxious to impress, that the fault of the 40 years delay rested only with themselves!

That great and terrible wilderness - Compare Deu 8:15. This language is such as people would employ after having passed with toil and suffering through the worst part of it, the southern half of the Arabah (see Num 21:4 note); and more especially when they had but recently rested from their marches in the plain of Shittim, the largest and richest oasis in the whole district on the Eastern bank near the mouth of the Jordan.

The plan of sending the spies originated with the people; and, as in itself a reasonable one, it approved itself to Moses; it was submitted to God, sanctioned by Him, and carried out under special divine direction. The orator s purpose in this chapter is to bring before the people emphatically their own responsibilites and behavior. It is therefore important to remind them, that the sending of the spies, which led immediately to their complaining and rebellion, was their own suggestion.

The following verses to the end of the chapter give a condensed account, the fuller one being in Num. 13 14, of the occurrences which led to the banishment of the people for 40 years into the wilderness.

The sentence on Moses was not passed when the people rebelled during their first encampment at Kadesh, but some 37 years later, when they had re-assembled in the same neighborhood at Meribah (see the Num 20:13 note). He alludes to it here as having happened not many months previously, bearing on the facts which were for his purpose in pricking the conscience of the people.

Ye were ready to go up into the hill - Rather, perhaps, ye made light of going up; i. e. ye were ready to attempt it as a trifling undertaking. Deu 1:43 shows the issue of this spirit in action; compare marginal references.

The Amorites - In Num 14:45, it is the Amalekites and the Canaanites who are said to have discomfited them. The Amorites, as the most powerful nation of Canaan, lend their name here, as in other passages (eg. Deu 1:7) to the Canaanite tribes generally.