1These are the things that Moses said to all the Israelites when they were on the west side of the desert at the Jordan, near the Red Sea (between Pharan-Tophol, Lobon, Aulon, and the gold works), 2eleven day’s journey from Horeb and Mount Seir, near Kadesh Barne. 3It was the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year that Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and [he recounted] all the instructions that Jehovah had given Him concerning them. 4This was after he had cut down Seon, the king of the Amorites (who lived in Hesh-Eboneh), as well as Og and the king of Bashan (who lived in AstarOth and Edrain) 5in the land of Moab. Moses said this about [God’s] Law: 6‘It was while we were at Mount Horeb that Jehovah your God spoke to us and said, You have lived on this mountain long enough. 7Now, turn away… leave and go to the mountains of the Amorites and to those who live near the Araba; to the mountains and valleys south of the land of the CanaAnites, from the [Mediterranean] Sea to Lebanon, and as far as the great Euphrates River. 8{Look!} God has given you all the land that’s before you; so go there and inherit the land that I swore to your ancestors (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) that I would give to them and their seed. 9‘As I told you before, I was unable to lead you all by myself, 10for Jehovah your God has made you grow. Look! There are now so many of you… like the stars in the sky in numbers! 11For, Jehovah the God of your ancestors has made you grow a thousand-times more, and He blest you and He spoke to you. 12So, how could I handle all the work, burdens, and complaints by myself? 13Therefore, [I told you to] select some wise, understanding, and sensible men from your tribes who I would make your leaders. 14Then you answered me and said, What you have told us to do is a good thing. 15‘So I took your wise, understanding, and sensible men and assigned them to be the rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, to serve as your officers and judges. 16And at the time, I told your judges to hear cases between you brothers, and to judge honestly, whether it is [a dispute] between a man and His brother, or with converts who are living among you. 17And they were not to favor one over the other when it comes to judgment. Rather, they were to judge both the rich and the poor in the same way. Nor were they to fear anyone, because the judgment is God’s. 18And whenever a case was too hard for them, they were to bring it to me and I would hear it. 19‘Then we left the Dry Place (Horeb) and traveled through that great and terrible desert; and (as Jehovah our God instructed us) you saw all the land from the mountains of the Amorites to Kadesh Barne. 20Then, when we reached the mountains of the Amorites, I told you: 21{Look!} Jehovah your God has given you all the land that lies before you. So, go there and inherit it. And as Jehovah the God of your ancestors said to you, don’t be afraid! 22‘But you all came to me and said, Let’s send men ahead of us into the land and have them bring back a report about which way we should travel and which of the cities we should enter. 23‘Well, that sounded good to me, so I chose twelve men, one man from each tribe, 24and they went to the mountain and traveled as far as the valley of the [grape] clusters and surveyed it. 25Then they took some of the fruit of the land and brought it back to you, and they said, The land that Jehovah our God is giving us is good! 26‘However, you refused to enter it and you rebelled against the words of our God Jehovah. 27Then you went back to your tents and started complaining, saying, Jehovah hates us, because he has brought us out of the land of Egypt just to put us into the hands of the Amorites who will destroy us! 28Why would we want to go there? ‘Then your brothers grabbed at your heart strings when they said, It’s a big country and they have many more people who are stronger than we are. And their cities are huge, with walls that are as high as the sky. And we saw the sons of the giants there! 29‘But I told you, Don’t be afraid and don’t fear them, 30because Jehovah your God is traveling before you and He will fight them with you… and He will win, just as He did for you in the land of Egypt! 31Why, you’ve seen this happen [many times] while you were in this desert on the way to the mountains of the Amorites… Jehovah your God has carried you as dearly as any man could nurse his child during all your travels coming to this place. 32‘But you didn’t believe Jehovah your God, 33who travels before you and chooses where you will stay… who guides you with a fire each night and shows you the way to go with a cloud each day. 34‘And when Jehovah heard the things you were saying, He became very angry. So He swore and said, 35None of these men will see the good land that I swore to give to their ancestors, 36except Caleb (the son of JephonNe)… he will see it and I will give this land that he traveled to, to him and his sons, because he did what Jehovah said. 37‘Then Jehovah became angry with me because of you. For he told me, You won’t enter the land either. 38Rather, JoShua (the son of NaWeh) who stands at your side will enter [the land]. So you must give him [your] strength, because he will help Israel to inherit it. 39But only the young children who haven’t yet come to know good from evil will enter [the land with him]. I’m going to give it to them and they will inherit it! 40‘Then you turned and marched back into the desert, along the banks of the Red Sea. 41’But later you said, We have sinned against Jehovah our God. And now we will go there and fight, just as Jehovah our God commanded us. So everyone grabbed his weapons of war and assembled to go back to the mountain. 42‘But Jehovah said to me, Tell them not to go and fight, because I’m not with them. Their enemies will destroy them! 43‘So I told you, but you wouldn’t listen to me! You disobeyed Jehovah’s Commandments and you forced your way up the mountain. 44Then the Amorites who lived there came out to meet you and chased you like bees all the way from [Mount] Seir to [Mount] Herman. 45And then you sat down and bawled before our God Jehovah, but He wouldn’t listen to you or pay any attention to you. 46So, you spent a long time living in Kadesh.’
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 MOSES' SPEECH AT THE END OF THE FORTIETH YEAR. (Deu. 1:1-46)
These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel--The mental condition of the people generally in that infantine age of the Church, and the greater number of them being of young or tender years, rendered it expedient to repeat the laws and counsels which God had given. Accordingly, to furnish a recapitulation of the leading branches of their faith and duty was among the last public services which Moses rendered to Israel. The scene of their delivery was on the plains of Moab where the encampment was pitched
on this side Jordan--or, as the Hebrew word may be rendered "on the bank of the Jordan."
in the wilderness, in the plain--the Arabah, a desert plain, or steppe, extended the whole way from the Red Sea north to the Sea of Tiberias. While the high tablelands of Moab were "cultivated fields," the Jordan valley, at the foot of the mountains where Israel was encamped, was a part of the great desert plain, little more inviting than the desert of Arabia. The locale is indicated by the names of the most prominent places around it. Some of these places are unknown to us. The Hebrew word, Suph, "red" (for "sea," which our translators have inserted, is not in the original, and Moses was now farther from the Red Sea than ever), probably meant a place noted for its reeds (
Num 21:14).
Tophel--identified as Tafyle or Tafeilah, lying between Bozrah and Kerak.
Hazeroth--is a different place from that at which the Israelites encamped after leaving "the desert of Sinai."
2 There are eleven days' journey from Horeb--Distances are computed in the East still by the hours or days occupiesd by the journey. A day's journey on foot is about twenty miles--on camels, at the rate of three miles an hour, thirty miles--and by caravans, about twenty-five miles. But the Israelites, with children and flocks, would move at a slow rate. The length of the Ghor from Ezion-geber to Kadesh is a hundred miles. The days here mentioned were not necessarily successive days [ROBINSON], for the journey can be made in a much shorter period. But this mention of the time was made to show that the great number of years spent in travelling from Horeb to the plain of Moab was not owing to the length of the way, but to a very different cause; namely, banishment for their apostasy and frequent rebellions.
mount Seir--the mountainous country of Edom.
3 in the fortieth year . . . Moses spake unto the children of Israel, &c.--This impressive discourse, in which Moses reviewed all that God had done for His people, was delivered about a month before his death, and after peace and tranquillity had been restored by the complete conquest of Sihon and Og.
4 Ashtaroth--the royal residence of Og, so called from Astarte ("the moon"), the tutelary goddess of the Syrians. Og was slain at
Edrei--now Edhra, the ruins of which are fourteen miles in circumference [BURCKHARDT]; its general breadth is about two leagues.
5 On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law--that is, explain this law. He follows the same method here that he elsewhere observes; namely, that of first enumerating the marvellous doings of God in behalf of His people, and reminding them what an unworthy requital they had made for all His kindness--then he rehearses the law and its various precepts.
6 The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount--Horeb was the general name of a mountainous district; literally, "the parched" or "burnt region," whereas Sinai was the name appropriated to a particular peak [see on
Exod 19:2]. About a year had been spent among the recesses of that wild solitude, in laying the foundation, under the immediate direction of God, of a new and peculiar community, as to its social, political, and, above all, religious character; and when this purpose had been accomplished, they were ordered to break up their encampment in Horeb. The command given them was to march straight to Canaan, and possess it [
Deut 1:7].
7 the mount of the Amorites--the hilly tract lying next to Kadesh-barnea in the south of Canaan.
to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon--that is, Phśnicia, the country of Sidon, and the coast of the Mediterranean--from the Philistines to Lebanon. The name "Canaanite" is often used synonymously with that of "Phśnician."
8 I have set the land before you--literally, "before your faces"--it is accessible; there is no impediment to your occupation. The order of the journey as indicated by the places mentioned would have led to a course of invasion, the opposite of what was eventually followed; namely, from the seacoast eastward--instead of from the Jordan westward (see on
Num 20:1).
9 I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone--a little before their arrival in Horeb. Moses addresses that new generation as the representatives of their fathers, in whose sight and hearing all the transactions he recounts took place. A reference is here made to the suggestion of Jethro (
Exod 18:18). In noticing his practical adoption of a plan by which the administration of justice was committed to a select number of subordinate officers, Moses, by a beautiful allusion to the patriarchal blessing, ascribed the necessity of that memorable change in the government to the vast increase of the population.
10 ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude--This was neither an Oriental hyperbole nor a mere empty boast. Abraham was told (
Gen 15:5-
Gen 15:6) to look to the stars, and though they "appear" innumerable, yet those seen by the naked eye amount, in reality, to no more than three thousand ten in both hemispheres. The Israelites already far exceeded that number, being at the last census above six hundred thousand [
Num 26:51]. It was a seasonable memento, calculated to animate their faith in the accomplishment of other parts of the divine promise.
19 we went through all that great and terrible wilderness--of Paran, which included the desert and mountainous space lying between the wilderness of Shur westward, or towards Egypt and mount Seir, or the land of Edom eastwards; between the land of Canaan northwards, and the Red Sea southwards; and thus it appears to have comprehended really the wilderness of Sin and Sinai [FISK]. It is called by the Arabs El Tih, "the wandering." It is a dreary waste of rock and of calcareous soil covered with black sharp flints; all travellers, from a feeling of its complete isolation from the world, describe it as a great and terrible wilderness.
22 ye came . . . and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land--The proposal to despatch spies emanated from the people through unbelief; but Moses, believing them sincere, gave his cordial assent to this measure, and God on being consulted permitted them to follow the suggestion (see on
Num 13:1). The issue proved disastrous to them, only through their own sin and folly.
28 the cities are great, and walled up to heaven--an Oriental metaphor, meaning very high. The Arab marauders roam about on horseback, and hence the walls of St. Catherine's monastery on Sinai are so lofty that travellers are drawn up by a pulley in a basket.
Anakims--(See on
Num 13:33). The honest and uncompromising language of Moses, in reminding the Israelites of their perverse conduct and outrageous rebellion at the report of the treacherous and fainthearted scouts, affords a strong evidence of the truth of this history as well as of the divine authority of his mission. There was great reason for his dwelling on this dark passage in their history, as it was their unbelief that excluded them from the privilege of entering the promised land (
Heb 3:19); and that unbelief was a marvellous exhibition of human perversity, considering the miracles which God had wrought in their favor, especially in the daily manifestations they had of His presence among them as their leader and protector.
34 the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth--In consequence of this aggravated offense (unbelief followed by open rebellion), the Israelites were doomed, in the righteous judgment of God, to a life of wandering in that dreary wilderness till the whole adult generation had disappeared by death. The only exceptions mentioned are Caleb and Joshua, who was to be Moses' successor.
37 Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes--This statement seems to indicate that it was on this occasion Moses was condemned to share the fate of the people. But we know that it was several years afterwards that Moses betrayed an unhappy spirit of distrust at the waters of strife (
Ps 106:32-
Ps 106:33). This verse must be considered therefore as a parenthesis.
39 your children . . . who in that day had no knowledge between good and evil--All ancient versions read "to-day" instead of "that day"; and the sense is--"your children who now know," or "who know not as yet good or evil." As the children had not been partakers of the sinful outbreak, they were spared to obtain the privilege which their unbelieving parents had forfeited. God's ways are not as man's ways [
Isa 55:8-
Isa 55:9].
40 turn you, and take your journey into the . . . Red Sea--This command they disregarded, and, determined to force an onward passage in spite of the earnest remonstrances of Moses, they attempted to cross the heights then occupied by the combined forces of the Amorites and Amalekites (compare
Num 14:43), but were repulsed with great loss. People often experience distress even while in the way of duty. But how different their condition who suffer in situations where God is with them from the feelings of those who are conscious that they are in a position directly opposed to the divine will! The Israelites were grieved when they found themselves involved in difficulties and perils; but their sorrow arose not from a sense of the guilt so much as the sad effects of their perverse conduct; and "though they wept," they were not true penitents. So the Lord would not hearken to their voice, nor give ear unto them.
46 So ye abode at Kadesh many days--That place had been the site of their encampment during the absence of the spies, which lasted forty days, and it is supposed from this verse that they prolonged their stay there after their defeat for a similar period.