1ESTAS son las palabras que habló Moisés a todo Israel de este lado del Jordán, en el desierto, en el Arabá, al extremo opuesto al Mar Rojo, entre Parán, y Tofel, y Labán, y Hazerot, y Di-zahab. 2Once días de viaje hay de Horeb, camino de la serranía de Seir, hasta Cades-barnea. 3Y aconteció a fines de los cuarenta años, en el mes undécimo, el primero del mes, que habló Moisés á los hijos de Israel conforme a todo lo que le había mandado Jehová acerca de ellos; 4después que hubo herido a Sehón, rey amorreo, que habitaba en Hesbón, y a Og, rey de Basán, que habitaba en Asterot, en Edrei. 5De este lado del Jordán, pues, en la tierra de Moab, encargóse Moisés de explicar esta ley, diciendo: 6Jehová, nuestro Dios, nos habló en Horeb, diciendo: Bastante tiempo habéis permanecido en este monte: 7volveos, y alzad el campamento, y marchad a la serranía de los Amorreos y a todos los lugares vecinos, situados en el Arabá, en la Serranía, en la Sefela, en el Mediodía, y en la ribera del mar, tierra del Cananeo; y al Líbano, hasta el gran río, el río Eufrates. 8Ved que pongo delante de vosotros la tierra; entrad, poseed la tierra que juró Jehová a vuestros padres, a Abraham, a Isaac y a Jacob, que se la daría a ellos y a su descendencia después de ellos. 9¶Y os hablé en aquel tiempo, diciendo: No puedo yo solo llevar la carga de vosotros. 10Jehová vuestro Dios os ha hecho muy numerosos; y heos aquí el día de hoy como las estrellas del cielo en multitud. 11¡Jehová el Dios de vuestros padres, os haga mil veces más numerosos de lo que sois y os bendiga, según os ha prometido! 12Mas ¿cómo he de sobrellevar yo solo vuestra molestia y vuestra carga y vuestra contención? 13Dadme de vuestra parte hombres sabios y entendidos y conocidos de vuestras tribus, a quienes yo ponga por caudillos vuestros. 14Y me respondisteis: Bueno será que hagamos lo que has dicho. 15Tomé pues las cabezas de vuestras tribus, hombres sabios y conocidos, y los puse por caudillos vuestros, jefes de miles, jefes de centenas, jefes de cincuentenas, y jefes de decenas, y por magistrados de vuestras tribus. 16Y mandé a estos vuestros jueces, en ese tiempo, diciendo: Oíd los pleitos entre vuestros hermanos, y juzgad con justicia entre cada uno y su hermano, a su vecino extranjero. 17No hagáis acepción de personas en el juicio; al pequeño oiréis lo mismo que al grande: no habéis de temer el rostro del hombre, porque el juicio es de Dios; y la causa que fuere demasiado difícil para vosotros, la traeréis a mí, y yo la oiré. 18Y os mandé en ese tiempo todas las cosas que habíais de hacer. 19¶Levantamos el campamento, pues, de Horeb, y anduvimos por todo aquel desierto grande y terrible que visteis en el camino de la serranía de los Amorreos, como nos mandaba Jehová nuestro Dios; y así llegamos a Cades-barnea. 20Entonces os dije: Habéis llegado a la serranía de los Amorreos, que Jehová nuestro Dios nos va a dar. 21Mira, oh Israel, que Jehová tu Dios pone delante de tu rostro la tierra: sube, toma posesión, como te ha dicho Jehová, el Dios de tus padres; no temas, ni te amedrentes. 22¶Con lo cual os acercasteis a mí, todos vosotros, y dijisteis: Enviemos hombres delante de nosotros, que nos exploren la tierra, y nos vuelvan a traer razón del camino por donde hemos de subir, y de las ciudades adonde hemos de llegar. 23Y me pareció acertado el consejo; por lo cual tomé de entre vosotros doce hombres, un hombre de cada tribu; 24los cuales volvieron el rostro y subieron a la Serranía, y llegaron hasta el torrente de Escol, espiando la tierra. 25Y tomaron de las frutas del país en su mano, y bajando de allí, nos las trajeron; también nos trajeron respuesta, diciendo: Buena es la tierra que Jehová nuestro Dios nos da. 26Pero no quisisteis subir; antes os rebelasteis contra el mandamiento de Jehová vuestro Dios, 27y murmurasteis en vuestras tiendas, y dijisteis: Por habernos aborrecido Jehová, nos sacó de la tierra de Egipto, a fin de entregarnos en mano de los Amorreos, para destruirnos. 28¿A dónde hemos de subir? Nuestros hermanos nos han hecho desmayar el corazón, diciendo: El pueblo es más grande y más alto que nosotros; las ciudades grandes e inexpugnables, amuralladas hasta el cielo; y también vimos allí a los hijos de los Anaceos. 29Entonces yo os dije: No os aterréis, ni tengáis miedo de ellos. 30Jehová vuestro Dios es el que va delante de vosotros; él peleará por vosotros, en conformidad con todo lo que hizo por vosotros en Egipto, ante vuestros mismos ojos; 31y también en el desierto, donde habéis visto cómo Jehová vuestro Dios os llevó, cual lleva un hombre a su propio hijo, en todo el camino que anduvisteis hasta vuestra llegada a este lugar. 32Pero en este asunto no fuisteis fieles a Jehová vuestro Dios, 33que iba delante de vosotros en el camino, a reconoceros lugar donde hubieseis de acampar, en una columna de fuego de noche, para haceros ver el camino por donde hubieseis de andar, y en una nube de día. 34Y oyó Jehová la voz de vuestras palabras, e indignóse, y juró, diciendo: 35No verá ni uno solo de los hombres de esta mala generación, la buena tierra que juré dar a vuestros padres; 36excepto Caleb, hijo de Jefone; él la verá, y le daré la tierra que ha pisado, a él y a sus hijos; por cuanto ha seguido cumplidamente a Jehová: 37(pues también contra mí airóse Jehová, por vuestra causa, y dijo: Ni tú tampoco entrarás allá); 38y Josué, hijo de Nun, que está en pie delante de ti, él entrará allá. Anímale, porque él la dará en herencia a Israel. 39Y vuestros niños, de quienes dijisteis que iban a ser una presa, y vuestros hijitos que no conocen en el día ni bien ni mal, ellos entrarán allá; porque a ellos la daré, y ellos la tomarán en posesión. 40Vosotros empero, volveos y emprended la marcha para el desierto, camino del Mar Rojo. 41¶Entonces respondiéndome dijisteis: Hemos pecado contra Jehová; nosotros ciertamente subiremos y pelearemos, conforme a todo lo que Jehová nuestro Dios nos tiene mandado. Y os ceñisteis cada cual sus armas de guerra, y os aprontasteis para subir temerariamente a la Serranía. 42Mas Jehová me dijo: Diles: No subáis, ni peleéis, que yo no estoy en medio de vosotros; no suceda que seáis heridos delante de vuestros enemigos. 43Y yo os hablé, pero no escuchasteis, sino que os rebelasteis contra el mandamiento de Jehová, y, llenos de presunción, subisteis a la Serranía. 44Entonces los Amorreos, que habitan en aquella serranía, salieron a encontraros; y os persiguieron, como suelen hacer las abejas, y os derrotaron en Seir, hasta Horma. 45Después os volvisteis y llorasteis delante de Jehová; pero Jehová no oyó vuestra voz, ni os prestó oídos. 46Y habitasteis en Cades muchos días, según el número de los días que habitasteis allí.
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.