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.

Historical introduction to Deu 1:6 ff.: a compilation, perhaps intended to introduce the whole book.

Deu 1:1. beyond Jordan: therefore the writer dwelt W. of the Jordan; so Deu 1:5 and often, Deu 3:8; Deu 3:20; Deu 3:25. Araban (lit. waste region): the low-lying valley of the Jordan, the Sea of Galilee and Dead Sea, extending from the Sea of Galilee to the Red Sea (Gulf of Akabah

Deu 1:2. Horeb in D and E = Sinai in J and P (see Deu 33:2).

Deu 1:3. From P: its P origin is revealed by the date note and the word translated eleventh.

Deu 1:4. Sinon: Num 21:21 *. Og: p.64, Num 21:33 *. Amorites in E and D = Canaanites in J; i.e. the pre-Israelite population of W. Palestine. Read (with LXX) and at Edrei: Og had two royal residences.

Deu 1:5. began: the Heb. means to undertake or set about a task. this law: i.e. the D law which, however, begins at Deuteronomy 12. The word translated law (torah) means instruction, though following the LXX (nomos) and Vulg. (lex) it is rendered by a word = law in most modern VSS. The Heb. word came to denote the authoritative teaching of prophets ( 1Sa 10:25; Isa 1:10 *, etc.) and of priests (see Lev 10:11, etc.). In D and in writings of the D school it becomes a technical term for the D code (see Ezra (Cent. B), pp. 8ff.). The Jews use the word for the Pentateuch, but it never has that sense in the OT. See p. 121, Pro 3:1 *.

Deu 1:6 to Deu 4:40. Moses-' first discourse, based on JE in Ex. and Nu. though possessing peculiar features due to a Deuteronomic editor.

Deu 1:6 to Deu 3:29. Moses Reviews the Journey of the Israelites from Horeb.

Deu 1:6-8. The words suggest that the Israelites would be able to take possession of the land immediately they entered it; cf. Joshua, which describes such an entrance into Canaan. The more historical view is that given by Judges.

Deu 1:6. The Lord. spake: where? (cf. Exo 33:1).

Deu 1:7. hill country, etc.: a common name for W. Palestine from its leading physical characteristics; Deu 1:4 * (Amorties). all the places, etc.: render, all their bordering peoples (or tribes). Araban: I*. Here it means that part of it which stretched from S. of Sea of Galilee to some fifty miles S. of Dead Sea. lowland: (pp. 31f.), the flat country of the Philistines. South: Heb. Negeb, the technical term for the barren region S. of the Judæ an mountains (p. 32). The writer's use of the word for S. shows that he lived W. of the Jordan. the sea shore: i.e. the maritime plain to the N. of Philistia. the land of the Canaanites: probably an interpolation. Lebanon. Euphrates: the ideal boundaries N. and E.; Deu 11:24, cf. Jos 1:4.

Deu 1:8. This oath is often mentioned by JE ( Gen 24:7, etc.) and in Dt. ( Deu 3:5; Deu 6:10; Deu 6:18; Deu 6:23, etc.). The contents of the oath are expressly stated in Gen 22:16 f. only (see Gen 26:3 f. (J)

Deu 1:9-18 cf. Exo 18:13-26 * (E)). The idea of appointing judges to assist Moses is in Exo 18:17-23 suggested by Jethro not, as here, by Moses himself. The parallel passage differs also as to the time. See Deu 16:18-20 * and Deu 17:8-13 *, where further provision is made for the administration of justice.

Deu 1:15. officers: Deu 16:18 *.

Deu 1:16. a man and his brother: a Hebraism meaning one man and another. the stranger: better sojourner (p. 110, Lev 17:8 f.*). The Heb. word (ger) denotes an alien who has settled permanently among the Israelites. In the earlier codes he had no legal status, and was, therefore, liable to be oppressed and wronged; see Exo 22:21; Exo 23:9 (JE). In post-exilic times (P, etc.) he had become a naturalised Jew (i.e. a proselyte, the word used in the LXX), having the privileges and responsibilities of full citizenship; cf. Exo 12:49 (P), Lev 24:22 (H), etc. See HSDB, Stranger. Heb. treated the alien much more humanely than Bab. law ( Deu 15:12-18 *).

Deu 1:17. God decides through the Urim and Thummim ( Exo 28:30, pp. 100f.). and through His laws. In Deu 1:19-46 (from Horeb to Kadesh) the narrative interrupted by Deu 1:9-18 is resumed.

Deu 1:19. great and terrible wilderness ( Deu 8:15); i.e. the desert of et-Tih between the peninsula of Sinai and S. Palestine. as. commanded us: cf. Deu 1:7.

Deu 1:24. valley of Eshcol: Num 13:23 *.

Deu 1:28. sons of the Anakim: Heb. necked, i.e. long-necked people. The phrase means simply tall, giant-like folk. Anak is not a proper name (see Num 13:28).

Deu 1:32. Render, Yet in spite of this utterance (of mine), etc.

Deu 1:33. Exo 13:21 * (J) and Exo 40:34-38 * (P), cf. Num 9:15-22; Num 10:11 f., Num 14:14; Psa 105:39 (see note in Cent.B).

Deu 1:35. of this evil generation: omit with LXX and Num 14:22 ff.; its omission is required by the sense and by Heb. grammar.

Deu 1:36. save Caleb: so D and J ( Num 14:24); in P ( Num 14:30) Joshua is added. the land: i.e. Hebron and neighbourhood ( Num 13:22 ff. (JE), Jos 14:12-14). the Lord (Yahweh): read, me (Heb. consonants identical).

Deu 1:37. According to D (see also Deu 3:26; Deu 4:21) Moses is prevented from entering Canaan on account of the people's disobedience at Kadesh in the second year of the Exodus, but according to P ( Deu 32:50 f., Num 20:12; Num 27:13 f.) it is on account of his own presumption at the same spot thirty-seven years later when he struck the rock.

Deu 1:38. standeth before: the attitude of one who serves (see 1Ki 10:8, cf. Exo 33:11).

Deu 1:39. The verse should begin with, But your children; the foregoing words, absent from the LXX and superfluous for the sense, are taken from Num 14:31.

Deu 1:40. Red Sea: go LXX, Vulg.; Heb. Sea of Reeds; probably the Gulf of Akabah.

Deu 1:41-46. Num 14:39-45 (JE).