1 These be the words which Moses spake unto 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 unto Kadeshbarnea.)
3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;
4 After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt 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 spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:
7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh 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 unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
9 And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
10 The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye 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 ye are, and bless you, as he hath 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 ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast 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 brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye 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 unto me, and I will hear it.
18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.
19 And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye 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 unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us.
21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
22 And ye came near unto 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 unto 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 unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us.
26 Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:
27 And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28 Whither shall we go up? our brethren 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 unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
30 The LORD your God which goeth 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 thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
32 Yet in this thing ye 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 ye should go, and in a cloud by day.
34 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,
35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers.
36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.
37 Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 Moreover your little ones, which ye 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 unto 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 ye answered and said unto 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 ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.
42 And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them. Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.
43 So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.
44 And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
45 And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.
1 These be the words H1697 which Moses H4872 spake H1696 unto all Israel H3478 on this side H5676 Jordan H3383 in the wilderness, H4057 in the plain H6160 over against H4136 the Red H5489 sea, between Paran, H6290 and Tophel, H8603 and Laban, H3837 and Hazeroth, H2698 and Dizahab. H1774
2 (There are eleven H259 H6240 days' H3117 journey from Horeb H2722 by the way H1870 of mount H2022 Seir H8165 unto Kadeshbarnea.) H6947
3 And it came to pass in the fortieth H705 year, H8141 in the eleventh H6249 H6240 month, H2320 on the first H259 day of the month, H2320 that Moses H4872 spake H1696 unto the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 according unto all that the LORD H3068 had given him in commandment H6680 unto them;
4 After H310 he had slain H5221 Sihon H5511 the king H4428 of the Amorites, H567 which dwelt H3427 in Heshbon, H2809 and Og H5747 the king H4428 of Bashan, H1316 which dwelt H3427 at Astaroth H6252 in Edrei: H154
5 On this side H5676 Jordan, H3383 in the land H776 of Moab, H4124 began H2974 Moses H4872 to declare H874 this law, H8451 saying, H559
6 The LORD H3068 our God H430 spake H1696 unto us in Horeb, H2722 saying, H559 Ye have dwelt H3427 long enough H7227 in this mount: H2022
7 Turn H6437 you, and take your journey, H5265 and go H935 to the mount H2022 of the Amorites, H567 and unto all the places nigh H7934 thereunto, in the plain, H6160 in the hills, H2022 and in the vale, H8219 and in the south, H5045 and by the sea H3220 side, H2348 to the land H776 of the Canaanites, H3669 and unto Lebanon, H3844 unto the great H1419 river, H5104 the river H5104 Euphrates. H6578
8 Behold, H7200 I have set H5414 the land H776 before H6440 you: go H935 in and possess H3423 the land H776 which the LORD H3068 sware H7650 unto your fathers, H1 Abraham, H85 Isaac, H3327 and Jacob, H3290 to give H5414 unto them and to their seed H2233 after H310 them.
9 And I spake H559 unto you at that time, H6256 saying, H559 I am not able H3201 to bear H5375 you myself alone: H905
10 The LORD H3068 your God H430 hath multiplied H7235 you, and, behold, ye are this day H3117 as the stars H3556 of heaven H8064 for multitude. H7230
11 (The LORD H3068 God H430 of your fathers H1 make you a thousand H505 times H6471 so many more as H3254 ye are, and bless H1288 you, as he hath promised H1696 you!)
12 How H349 can I myself alone bear H5375 your cumbrance, H2960 and your burden, H4853 and your strife? H7379
13 Take H3051 you wise H2450 men, H582 and understanding, H995 and known H3045 among your tribes, H7626 and I will make H7760 them rulers H7218 over you.
14 And ye answered H6030 me, and said, H559 The thing H1697 which thou hast spoken H1696 is good H2896 for us to do. H6213
15 So I took H3947 the chief H7218 of your tribes, H7626 wise H2450 men, H582 and known, H3045 and made H5414 them heads H7218 over you, captains H8269 over thousands, H505 and captains H8269 over hundreds, H3967 and captains H8269 over fifties, H2572 and captains H8269 over tens, H6235 and officers H7860 among your tribes. H7626
16 And I charged H6680 your judges H8199 at that time, H6256 saying, H559 Hear H8085 the causes between your brethren, H251 and judge H8199 righteously H6664 between every man H376 and his brother, H251 and the stranger H1616 that is with him.
17 Ye shall not respect H5234 persons H6440 in judgment; H4941 but ye shall hear H8085 the small H6996 as well as the great; H1419 ye shall not be afraid H1481 of the face H6440 of man; H376 for the judgment H4941 is God's: H430 and the cause H1697 that is too hard H7185 for you, bring H7126 it unto me, and I will hear H8085 it.
18 And I commanded H6680 you at that time H6256 all the things H1697 which ye should do. H6213
19 And when we departed H5265 from Horeb, H2722 we went through H3212 all that great H1419 and terrible H3372 wilderness, H4057 which ye saw H7200 by the way H1870 of the mountain H2022 of the Amorites, H567 as the LORD H3068 our God H430 commanded H6680 us; and we came H935 to Kadeshbarnea. H6947
20 And I said H559 unto you, Ye are come H935 unto the mountain H2022 of the Amorites, H567 which the LORD H3068 our God H430 doth give H5414 unto us.
21 Behold, H7200 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath set H5414 the land H776 before H6440 thee: go up H5927 and possess H3423 it, as the LORD H3068 God H430 of thy fathers H1 hath said H1696 unto thee; fear H3372 not, neither be discouraged. H2865
22 And ye came near H7126 unto me every one of you, and said, H559 We will send H7971 men H582 before H6440 us, and they shall search us out H2658 the land, H776 and bring H7725 us word H1697 again H7725 by what way H1870 we must go up, H5927 and into what cities H5892 we shall come. H935
23 And the saying H1697 pleased me well: H3190 H5869 and I took H3947 twelve H8147 H6240 men H582 of you, one H259 of a tribe: H376 H7626
24 And they turned H6437 and went up H5927 into the mountain, H2022 and came H935 unto the valley H5158 of Eshcol, H812 and searched it out. H7270
25 And they took H3947 of the fruit H6529 of the land H776 in their hands, H3027 and brought it down H3381 unto us, and brought H7725 us word H1697 again, H7725 and said, H559 It is a good H2896 land H776 which the LORD H3068 our God H430 doth give H5414 us.
26 Notwithstanding ye would H14 not go up, H5927 but rebelled H4784 against the commandment H6310 of the LORD H3068 your God: H430
27 And ye murmured H7279 in your tents, H168 and said, H559 Because the LORD H3068 hated H8135 us, he hath brought us forth H3318 out of the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 to deliver H5414 us into the hand H3027 of the Amorites, H567 to destroy H8045 us.
28 Whither shall we go up? H5927 our brethren H251 have discouraged H4549 our heart, H3824 saying, H559 The people H5971 is greater H1419 and taller H7311 than we; the cities H5892 are great H1419 and walled up H1219 to heaven; H8064 and moreover we have seen H7200 the sons H1121 of the Anakims H6062 there.
29 Then I said H559 unto you, Dread H6206 not, neither be afraid H3372 of them.
30 The LORD H3068 your God H430 which goeth H1980 before H6440 you, he shall fight H3898 for you, according to all that he did H6213 for you in Egypt H4714 before your eyes; H5869
31 And in the wilderness, H4057 where thou hast seen H7200 how that the LORD H3068 thy God H430 bare H5375 thee, as a man H376 doth bear H5375 his son, H1121 in all the way H1870 that ye went, H1980 until ye came H935 into this place. H4725
32 Yet in this thing H1697 ye did not believe H539 the LORD H3068 your God, H430
33 Who went H1980 in the way H1870 before H6440 you, to search you out H8446 a place H4725 to pitch your tents H2583 in, in fire H784 by night, H3915 to shew H7200 you by what way H1870 ye should go, H3212 and in a cloud H6051 by day. H3119
34 And the LORD H3068 heard H8085 the voice H6963 of your words, H1697 and was wroth, H7107 and sware, H7650 saying, H559
35 Surely there shall not one H376 of these men H582 of this evil H7451 generation H1755 see H7200 that good H2896 land, H776 which I sware H7650 to give H5414 unto your fathers, H1
36 Save H2108 Caleb H3612 the son H1121 of Jephunneh; H3312 he shall see H7200 it, and to him will I give H5414 the land H776 that H834 he hath trodden upon, H1869 and to his children, H1121 because he hath wholly H4390 followed H310 the LORD. H3068
37 Also the LORD H3068 was angry H599 with me for your sakes, H1558 saying, H559 Thou also shalt not go H935 in thither. H8033
38 But Joshua H3091 the son H1121 of Nun, H5126 which standeth H5975 before H6440 thee, he shall go in H935 thither: encourage H2388 him: for he shall cause Israel H3478 to inherit H5157 it.
39 Moreover your little ones, H2945 which ye said H559 should be a prey, H957 and your children, H1121 which in that day H3117 had no knowledge H3045 between good H2896 and evil, H7451 they shall go in H935 thither, and unto them will I give H5414 it, and they shall possess H3423 it.
40 But as for you, turn H6437 you, and take your journey H5265 into the wilderness H4057 by the way H1870 of the Red H5488 sea. H3220
41 Then ye answered H6030 and said H559 unto me, We have sinned H2398 against the LORD, H3068 we will go up H5927 and fight, H3898 according to all that the LORD H3068 our God H430 commanded H6680 us. And when ye had girded H2296 on every man H376 his weapons H3627 of war, H4421 ye were ready H1951 to go up H5927 into the hill. H2022
42 And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto me, Say H559 unto them, Go not up, H5927 neither fight; H3898 for I am not among H7130 you; lest ye be smitten H5062 before H6440 your enemies. H341
43 So I spake H1696 unto you; and ye would not hear, H8085 but rebelled H4784 against the commandment H6310 of the LORD, H3068 and went H5927 presumptuously H2102 up H5927 into the hill. H2022
44 And the Amorites, H567 which dwelt H3427 in that mountain, H2022 came out H3318 against H7125 you, and chased H7291 you, as bees H1682 do, H6213 and destroyed H3807 you in Seir, H8165 even unto Hormah. H2767
45 And ye returned H7725 and wept H1058 before H6440 the LORD; H3068 but the LORD H3068 would not hearken H8085 to your voice, H6963 nor give ear H238 unto you.
46 So ye abode H3427 in Kadesh H6946 many H7227 days, H3117 according unto the days H3117 that ye abode H3427 there.
1 These are the words which Moses spake unto all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.
2 It is eleven days' `journey' from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea.
3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that Jehovah had given him in commandment unto them;
4 after he had smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.
5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,
6 Jehovah our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mountain:
7 turn you, and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites, and unto all `the places' nigh thereunto, in the Arabah, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the sea-shore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which Jehovah sware unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
9 And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
10 Jehovah your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
11 Jehovah, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as ye are, and bless you, as he hath 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, according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.
14 And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good `for us' to do.
15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes.
16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear `the causes' between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the sojourner that is with him.
17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it.
18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.
19 And we journeyed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.
20 And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the hill-country of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God giveth unto us.
21 Behold, Jehovah thy God hath set the land before thee: go up, take possession, as Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, hath spoken unto thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.
22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities unto which we shall come.
23 And the thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe:
24 and they turned and went up into the hill-country, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.
25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which Jehovah our God giveth unto us.
26 Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah your God:
27 and ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28 Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
29 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
30 Jehovah your God who goeth before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
31 and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that Jehovah thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came unto this place.
32 Yet in this thing ye did not believe Jehovah your God,
33 who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.
34 And Jehovah heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,
35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers,
36 save Caleb the son of Jephunneh: he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed Jehovah.
37 Also Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither:
38 Joshua the son of Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage thou him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 Moreover your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, and your children, that this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in thither, and unto 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 to the Red Sea.
41 Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against Jehovah, we will go up and fight, according to all that Jehovah our God commanded us. And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill-country.
42 And Jehovah said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.
43 So I spake unto you, and ye hearkened not; but ye rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill-country.
44 And the Amorites, that dwelt in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even unto Hormah.
45 And ye returned and wept before Jehovah; but Jehovah hearkened not to your voice, nor gave ear unto you.
46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode `there'.
1 These `are' the words which Moses hath spoken unto all Israel, beyond the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the plain over-against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-Zahab;
2 eleven days' from Horeb, the way of mount Seir, unto Kadesh-Barnea.
3 And it cometh to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month hath Moses spoken unto the sons of Israel according to all that Jehovah hath commanded him concerning them;
4 after his smiting Sihon king of the Amorite who is dwelling in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan who is dwelling in Ashtaroth in Edrei,
5 beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, hath Moses begun to explain this law, saying:
6 `Jehovah our God hath spoken unto us in Horeb, saying, Enough to you -- of dwelling in this mount;
7 turn ye and journey for you, and enter the mount of the Amorite, and unto all its neighbouring places, in the plain, in the hill-country, and in the low country, and in the south, and in the haven of the sea, the land of the Canaanite, and of Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Phrat;
8 see, I have set before you the land; go in and possess the land which Jehovah hath sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them, and to their seed after them.
9 `And I speak unto you at that time, saying, I am not able by myself to bear you;
10 Jehovah your God hath multiplied you, and lo, ye `are' to-day as the stars of the heavens for multitude;
11 Jehovah, God of your fathers, is adding to you, as ye `are', a thousand times, and doth bless you as He hath spoken to you.
12 `How do I bear by myself your pressure, and your burden, and your strife?
13 Give for yourselves men, wise and intelligent, and known to your tribes, and I set them for your heads;
14 and ye answer me and say, Good `is' the thing which thou hast spoken -- to do.
15 `And I take the heads of your tribes, men, wise and known, and I appoint them heads over you, princes of thousands, and princes of hundreds, and princes of fifties, and princes of tens, and authorities, for your tribes.
16 And I command your judges at that time, saying, Hearkening between your brethren -- then ye have judged righteousness between a man, and his brother, and his sojourner;
17 ye do not discern faces in judgment; as the little so the great ye do hear; ye are not afraid of the face of any, for the judgment is God's, and the thing which is too hard for you, ye bring near unto me, and I have heard it;
18 and I command you, at that time, all the things which ye do.
19 `And we journey from Horeb, and go `through' all that great and fearful wilderness which ye have seen -- the way of the hill-country of the Amorite, as Jehovah our God hath commanded us, and we come in unto Kadesh-Barnea.
20 `And I say unto you, Ye have come in unto the hill-country of the Amorite, which Jehovah our God is giving to us;
21 see, Jehovah thy God hath set before thee the land; go up, possess, as Jehovah, God of thy fathers, hath spoken to thee; fear not, nor be affrighted.
22 `And ye come near unto me, all of you, and say, Let us send men before us, and they search for us the land, and they bring us back word `concerning' the way in which we go up into it, and the cities unto which we come in;
23 and the thing is good in mine eyes, and I take of you twelve men, one man for a tribe.
24 `And they turn and go up to the hill-country, and come in unto the valley of Eshcol, and spy it,
25 and they take with their hand of the fruit of the land, and bring down unto us, and bring us back word, and say, Good is the land which Jehovah our God is giving to us.
26 `And ye have not been willing to go up, and ye provoke the mouth of Jehovah your God,
27 and murmur in your tents, and say, In Jehovah's hating us He hath brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorite -- to destroy us;
28 whither are we going up? our brethren have melted our heart, saying, A people greater and taller than we, cities great and fenced to heaven, and also sons of Anakim -- we have seen there.
29 `And I say unto you, Be not terrified, nor be afraid of them;
30 Jehovah your God, who is going before you -- He doth fight for you, according to all that He hath done with you in Egypt before your eyes,
31 and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen that Jehovah thy God hath borne thee as a man beareth his son, in all the way which ye have gone, till your coming in unto this place.
32 `And in this thing ye are not stedfast in Jehovah your God,
33 who is going before you in the way to search out to you a place for your encamping, in fire by night, to shew you in the way in which ye go, and in a cloud by day.
34 `And Jehovah heareth the voice of your words, and is wroth, and sweareth, saying,
35 Not one of these men of this evil generation doth see the good land which I have sworn to give to your fathers,
36 save Caleb son of Jephunneh -- he doth see it, and to him I give the land on which he hath trodden, and to his sons, because that he hath been fully after Jehovah.
37 `Also with me hath Jehovah been angry for your sake, saying, Also, thou dost not go in thither;
38 Joshua son of Nun, who is standing before thee, he goeth in thither; him strengthen thou; for he doth cause Israel to inherit.
39 `And your infants, of whom ye have said, For a prey they are, and your sons who have not known to-day good and evil, they go in thither, and to them I give it, and they possess it;
40 and ye, turn for yourselves, and journey toward the wilderness, the way of the Red Sea.
41 `And ye answer and say unto me, We have sinned against Jehovah; we -- we go up, and we have fought, according to all that which Jehovah our God hath commanded us; and ye gird on each his weapons of war, and ye are ready to go up into the hill-country;
42 and Jehovah saith unto me, Say to them, Ye do not go up, nor fight, for I am not in your midst, and ye are not smitten before your enemies.
43 `And I speak unto you, and ye have not hearkened, and provoke the mouth of Jehovah, and act proudly, and go up into the hill-country;
44 and the Amorite who is dwelling in that hill-country cometh out to meet you, and they pursue you as the bees do, and smite you in Seir -- unto Hormah.
45 `And ye turn back and weep before Jehovah, and Jehovah hath not hearkened to your voice, nor hath he given ear unto you;
46 and ye dwell in Kadesh many days, according to the days which ye had dwelt.
1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the plain, opposite to Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.
3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that Jehovah had given him in command to them;
4 after he had smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth [and] at Edrei.
5 On this side the Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to unfold this law, saying,
6 Jehovah our God spoke unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have stayed long enough in this mountain.
7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites, and unto all the neighbouring places in the plain, in the mountain, and in the lowland, and in the south, and by the seaside, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which Jehovah swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
9 And I spoke unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone.
10 Jehovah your God hath multiplied you, and behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
11 Jehovah, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you as he hath said unto you!
12 How can I myself alone sustain your wear, and your burden, and your strife?
13 Provide you wise and understanding and known men, according to your tribes, that I may make them your chiefs.
14 And ye answered me, and said, The thing that thou hast spoken is good [for us] to do.
15 So I took the chiefs of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them chiefs over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers for your tribes.
16 And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and him also that sojourneth with him.
17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment: ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's; and the matter that is too hard for you shall ye bring to me, that I may hear it.
18 And I commanded you at that time all the things that ye should do.
19 And we departed from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw, on the way to the mountain of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God had commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.
20 And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God giveth us.
21 Behold, Jehovah thy God hath set the land before thee: go up, take possession, as Jehovah the God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.
22 And ye came near to me all of you, and said, We will send men before us, who shall examine the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and of the cities to which we shall come.
23 And the matter was good in mine eyes; and I took twelve men of you, one man for 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 hand, and brought it down unto us, and brought us answer, and said, The land is good that Jehovah our God hath given us.
26 But ye would not go up, and rebelled against the word of Jehovah your God;
27 and ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28 Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, [They are] a people greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
29 And I said unto you, Be not afraid, neither fear them;
30 Jehovah your God who goeth before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;
31 and in the wilderness where thou hast seen that Jehovah thy God bore thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came to this place.
32 But In this thing ye did not believe Jehovah your God,
33 who went in the way before you, to search you out a place for your encamping, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.
34 And Jehovah heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and swore, saying,
35 None among these men, this evil generation, shall in any wise see that good land, which I swore to give unto your fathers!
36 Except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed Jehovah.
37 Also Jehovah was angry with me on your account, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.
38 Joshua the son of Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: strengthen him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 And your little ones, of whom ye said, They shall be a prey, and your children, who this day know neither good nor evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.
40 But ye, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
41 -- And ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against Jehovah, we will go up and fight, according to all that Jehovah our God hath commanded us. And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and ye would go presumptuously up the hill.
42 And Jehovah said to me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.
43 And I spoke unto you, but ye would not hear, and ye rebelled against the word of Jehovah, and acted presumptuously, and went up the hill.
44 And the Amorite that dwelt on that hill came out against you, and chased you, like as bees do, and cut you in pieces in Seir, as far as Hormah.
45 And ye returned and wept before Jehovah, but Jehovah would not listen to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
46 And ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode [there].
1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 It is eleven days' [journey] from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.
3 It happened 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 Yahweh had given him in commandment to them;
4 after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.
5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,
6 Yahweh our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, You have lived long enough in this mountain:
7 turn you, and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites, and to all [the places] near thereunto, in the Arabah, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the sea-shore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them.
9 I spoke to you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
10 Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are this day as the stars of the sky for multitude.
11 Yahweh, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you!
12 How can I myself alone bear your encumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?
13 Take wise men of understanding and well known according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.
14 You answered me, and said, The thing which you have spoken is good [for us] to do.
15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes.
16 I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him.
17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike; 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, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.
18 I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.
19 We traveled from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.
20 I said to you, You are come to the hill-country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us.
21 Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you: go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you; don't be afraid, neither be dismayed.
22 You came near to me everyone of you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.
23 The thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe:
24 and they turned and went up into the hill-country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.
25 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 Yahweh our God gives to us.
26 Yet you wouldn't go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God:
27 and you murmured in your tents, and said, Because Yahweh 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 are we going up? our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to the sky; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
29 Then I said to you, Don't dread, neither be afraid of them.
30 Yahweh your God who goes before you, he will 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 Yahweh your God bore you, as a man does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.
32 Yet in this thing you didn't believe Yahweh your God,
33 who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day.
34 Yahweh heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying,
35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the 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 Yahweh.
37 Also Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, saying, You also shall not go in there:
38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there: encourage you him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 Moreover your little ones, whom you said should be a prey, and your children, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there, 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 to the Red Sea.
41 Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against Yahweh, we will go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us. You girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill-country.
42 Yahweh said to me, Tell them, Don't go up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest you be struck before your enemies.
43 So I spoke to you, and you didn't listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill-country.
44 The Amorites, who lived in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah.
45 You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh didn't listen to your voice, nor gave ear to you.
46 So you abode in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you abode [there].
1 These are the words which Moses said to all Israel on the far side of Jordan, in the waste land in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran on the one side, and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab on the other.
2 It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.
3 Now in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses gave to the children of Israel all the orders which the Lord had given him for them;
4 After he had overcome Sihon, king of the Amorites, ruling in Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, ruling in Ashtaroth, at Edrei:
5 On the far side of Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses gave the people this law, saying,
6 The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, You have been long enough in this mountain:
7 Make a move now, and go on your way into the hill-country of the Amorites and the places near it, in the Arabah and the hill-country and in the lowlands and in the South and by the seaside, all the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
8 See, all the land is before you: go in and take for yourselves the land which the Lord gave by an oath to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their seed after them.
9 At that time I said to you, I am not able to undertake the care of you by myself;
10 The Lord your God has given you increase, and now you are like the stars of heaven in number.
11 May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times greater in number than you are, and give you his blessing as he has said!
12 How is it possible for me by myself to be responsible for you, and undertake the weight of all your troubles and your arguments?
13 Take for yourselves men who are wise, far-seeing, and respected among you, from your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.
14 And you made answer and said to me, It is good for us to do as you say.
15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men and respected, and made them rulers over you, captains of thousands and captains of hundreds and captains of fifties and captains of tens, and overseers of your tribes.
16 And at that time I gave orders to your judges, saying, Let all questions between your brothers come before you for hearing, and give decisions uprightly between a man and his brother or one from another nation who is with him.
17 In judging, do not let a man's position have any weight with you; give hearing equally to small and great; have no fear of any man, for it is God who is judge: and any cause in which you are not able to give a decision, you are to put before me and I will give it a hearing.
18 And at that time I gave you all the orders which you were to do.
19 Then we went on from Horeb, through all that great and cruel waste which you saw, on our way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as the Lord gave us orders; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.
20 And I said to you, You have come to the hill-country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us.
21 See now, the Lord your God has put the land into your hands: go up and take it, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has said to you; have no fear and do not be troubled.
22 And you came near to me, every one of you, and said, Let us send men before us to go through the land with care and give us an account of the way we are to go and the towns to which we will come.
23 And what you said seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from among you, one from every tribe;
24 And they went up into the hill-country and came to the valley of Eshcol, and saw what was there.
25 And taking in their hands some of the fruit of the land, they came down again to us, and gave us their account, saying, It is a good land which the Lord our God is giving us.
26 But going against the order of the Lord your God, you would not go up:
27 And you made an angry outcry in your tents, and said, In his hate for us the Lord has taken us out of the land of Egypt, to give us up into the hands of the Amorites for our destruction.
28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts feeble with fear by saying, The people are greater and taller than we are, and the towns are great and walled up to heaven; and more than this, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
29 Then I said to you, Have no fear of them.
30 The Lord your God who goes before you will be fighting for you, and will do such wonders as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;
31 And in the waste land, where you have seen how the Lord was supporting you, as a man does his son, in all your journeying till you came to this place.
32 But for all this, you had no faith in the Lord your God,
33 Who goes before you on your way, looking for a place where you may put up your tents, in fire by night, lighting up the way you are to go, and in a cloud by day.
34 And the Lord, hearing your words, was angry, and said with an oath,
35 Truly, not one of this evil generation will see that good land which I said I would give to your fathers,
36 But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he will see it; and to him and to his children I will give the land over which his feet have gone, because he has been true to the Lord with all his heart.
37 And, in addition, the Lord was angry with me because of you, saying, You yourself will not go into it:
38 Joshua, the son of Nun, your servant, he will go into the land: say to him that he is to be strong, for he will be Israel's guide into their heritage.
39 And your little ones, who, you said, would come into strange hands, your children, who now have no knowledge of good or evil, they will go into that land, and to them I will give it and it will be theirs.
40 But as for you, go back, journeying into the waste land by the way of the Red Sea.
41 Then you said to me, We have done evil against the Lord, we will go up to the attack, as the Lord our God has given us orders. And arming yourselves every one, you made ready to go up without care into the hill-country.
42 And the Lord said to me, Say to them, Do not go up to the attack; for I am not among you, and you will be overcome by those who are against you.
43 This I said to you, but you gave no attention and went against the orders of the Lord, and in your pride went up into the hill-country.
44 And the Amorites who were in the hill-country came out against you and put you to flight, rushing after you like bees, and overcame you in Seir, driving you even as far as Hormah.
45 And you came back, weeping before the Lord; but the Lord gave no attention to your cries and did not give ear to you.
46 So you were kept waiting in Kadesh for a long time.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 1
Commentary on Deuteronomy 1 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Deuteronomy 1:1-4 contain the heading to the whole book; and to this the introduction to the first address is appended in Deuteronomy 1:5. By the expression, “ These be the words ,” etc., Deuteronomy is attached to the previous books; the word “ these ,” which refers to the addresses that follow, connects what follows with what goes before, just as in Genesis 2:4; Genesis 6:9, etc. The geographical data in Deuteronomy 1:1 present no little difficulty; for whilst the general statement as to the place where Moses delivered the addresses in this book, viz., beyond Jordan , is particularized in the introduction to the second address (Deuteronomy 4:46), as “ in the valley over against Beth-Peor ,” here it is described as “ in the wilderness, in the Arabah, ” etc. This contrast between the verse before us and Deuteronomy 4:45-46, and still more the introduction of the very general and loose expression, “in the desert,” which is so little adapted for a geographical definition of the locality, that it has to be defined itself by the additional words “ in the Arabah ,” suggest the conclusion that the particular names introduced are not intended to furnish as exact a geographical account as possible of the spot where Moses explained the law to all Israel, but to call up to view the scene of the addresses which follow, and point out the situation of all Israel at that time. Israel was “ in the desert, ” not yet in Canaan the promised inheritance, and in fact “ in the Arabah .” This is the name given to the deep low-lying plain on both sides of the Jordan, which runs from the Lake of Gennesaret to the Dead Sea, and stretches southwards from the Dead Sea to Aila , at the northern extremity of the Red Sea, as we may see very clearly from Deuteronomy 2:8, where the way which the Israelites took past Edom to Aila is called the “ way of the Arabah ,” and also from the fact that the Dead Sea is called “ the sea of the Arabah ” in Deuteronomy 3:17 and Deuteronomy 4:49. At present the name Arabah is simply attached to the southern half of this valley, between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea; whilst the northern part, between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee, is called el Ghor; though Abulfeda, Ibn Haukal, and other Arabic geographers, extend the name Ghor from the Lake of Gennesaret to Aila (cf. Ges. thes. p. 1166; Hengstenberg, Balaam, p. 520; Robinson, Pal. ii. p. 596). - סוּף מול , “ over against Suph ” ( מול for מוּל , Deuteronomy 2:19; Deuteronomy 3:29, etc., for the sake of euphony, to avoid the close connection of the two 8-sounds). Suph is probably a contraction of ים־סוּף , “the Red Sea” (see at Exodus 10:19). This name is given not only to the Gulf of Suez (Exodus 13:18; Exodus 15:4, Exodus 15:22, etc.), but to that of Akabah also (Numbers 14:25; Numbers 21:4, etc.). There is no other Suph that would be at all suitable here. The lxx have rendered it πλήσιον τῆς ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης ; and Onkelos and others adopt the same rendering. This description cannot serve as a more precise definition of the Arabah , in which case עשׁר (which) would have to be supplied before מול , since “the Arabah actually touches the Red Sea.” Nor does it point out the particular spot in the Arabah where the addresses were delivered, as Knobel supposes; or indicate the connection between the Arboth Moab and the continuation of the Arabah on the other side of the Dead Sea, and point out the Arabah in all this extent as the heart of the country over which the Israelites had moved during the whole of their forty years' wandering (Hengstenberg). For although the Israelites passed twice through the Arabah, it formed by no means the heart of the country in which they continued for forty years. The words “opposite to Suph ,” when taken in connection with the following names, cannot have any other object than to define with greater exactness the desert in which the Israelites had moved during the forty years. Moses spoke to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan, when it was still in the desert, in the Arabah, still opposite to the Red Sea, after crossing which it had entered the wilderness (Exodus 15:22), “between Paran , and Tophel , and Laban , and Hazeroth , and Di-Sahab .” Paran is at all events not the desert of this name in all its extent, but the place of encampment in the “desert of Paran ” (Numbers 10:12; Numbers 12:16), i.e., the district of Kadesh in the desert of Zin (Numbers 13:21, Numbers 13:26); and Hazeroth is most probably the place of encampment of that name mentioned in Numbers 11:35; Numbers 12:16, from which Israel entered the desert of Paran . Both places had been very eventful to the Israelites. At Hazeroth , Miriam the prophetess and Aaron the high priest had stumbled through rebellion against Moses (Num 12). In the desert of Paran by Kadesh the older generation had been rejected, and sentenced to die in the wilderness on account of its repeated rebellion against the Lord (Num 14); and when the younger generation that had grown up in the wilderness assembled once more in Kadesh to set out for Canaan, even Moses and Aaron, the two heads of the nation, sinned there at the water of strife, so that they two were not permitted to enter Canaan, whilst Miriam died there at that time (Num 20). But if Paran and Hazeroth are mentioned on account of the tragical events connected with these places, it is natural to conclude that there were similar reasons for mentioning the other three names as well.
Tophel is supposed by Hengstenberg ( Balaam , p. 517) and Robinson ( Pal. ii. p. 570) and all the more modern writers, to be the large village of Tafyleh , with six hundred inhabitants, the chief place in Jebal , on the western side of the Edomitish mountains, in a well-watered valley of the wady of the same name, with large plantations of fruit-trees ( Burckhardt , Syr. pp. 677, 678). The Israelites may have come upon this place in the neighbourhood of Oboth (Numbers 21:10-11); and as its inhabitants, according to Burckhardt , p. 680, supply the Syrian caravans with a considerable quantity of provisions, which they sell to them in the castle of el Ahsa , Schultz conjectures that it may have been here that the people of Israel purchased food and drink of the Edomites for money (Deuteronomy 2:29), and that Tafyleh is mentioned as a place of refreshment, where the Israelites partook for the first time of different food from the desert supply. There is a great deal to be said in favour of this conjecture: for even if the Israelites did not obtain different food for the first time at this place, the situation of Tophel does warrant the supposition that it was here that they passed for the first time from the wilderness to an inhabited land; on which account the place was so memorable for them, that it might very well be mentioned as being the extreme east of their wanderings in the desert, as the opposite point to the encampment at Paran , where they first arrived on the western side of their wandering, at the southern border of Canaan. Laban is generally identified with Libnah , the second place of encampment on the return journey from Kadesh (Numbers 33:22), and may perhaps have been the place referred to in Num 16, but not more precisely defined, where the rebellion of the company of Korah occurred. Lastly, Di-Sahab has been identified by modern commentators with Mersa Dahab or Mina Dahab , i.e., gold-harbour, a place upon a tongue of land in the Elanitic Gulf, about the same latitude as Sinai, where there is nothing to be seen now except a quantity of date-trees, a few sand-hills, and about a dozen heaps of stones piled up irregularly, but all showing signs of having once been joined together (cf. Burckhardt , pp. 847-8; and Ritter, Erdk . xiv. pp. 226ff.). But this is hardly correct. As Roediger has observed (on Wellsted's Reisen , ii. p. 127), “the conjecture has been based exclusively upon the similarity of name, and there is not the slightest exegetical tradition to favour it.” But similarity of names cannot prove anything by itself, as the number of places of the same name, but in different localities, that we meet with in the Bible, is very considerable. Moreover, the further assumption which is founded upon this conjecture, namely, that the Israelites went from Sinai past Dahab , not only appears untenable for the reasons given above, but is actually rendered impossible by the locality itself. The approach to this tongue of land, which projects between two steep lines of coast, with lofty mountain ranges of from 800 to 2000 feet in height on both north and south, leads from Sinai through far too narrow and impracticable a valley for the Israelites to be able to march thither and fix an encampment there.
(Note: From the mouth of the valley through the masses of the primary mountains to the sea-coast, there is a fan-like surface of drifts of primary rock, the radius of which is thirty-five minutes long, the progressive work of the inundations of an indefinable course of thousands of years” ( Rüppell , Nubien, p. 206).)
And if Israel cannot have touched Dahab on its march, every probability vanishes that Moses should have mentioned this place here, and the name Di-Sahab remains at present undeterminable. But in spite of our ignorance of this place, and notwithstanding the fact that even the conjecture expressed with regard to Laban is very uncertain, there can be no well-founded doubt that the words “ between Paran and Tophel ” are to be understood as embracing the whole period of the thirty-seven years of mourning, at the commencement of which Israel was in Paran, whilst at the end they sought to enter Canaan by Tophel (the Edomitish Tafyleh ), and that the expression “ opposite to Suph ” points back to their first entrance into the desert. - Looking from the steppes of Moab over the ground that the Israelites had traversed, Suph , where they first entered the desert of Arabia, would lie between Paran , where the congregation arrived at the borders of Canaan towards the west, and Tophel , where they first ended their desert wanderings thirty-seven years later on the east.
Deuteronomy 1:2
In Deuteronomy 1:2 also the retrospective glance at the guidance through the desert is unmistakeable. “ Eleven days is the way from Horeb to the mountains of Seir as far as Kadesh-Barnea .” With these words, which were unquestionably intended to be something more than a geographical notice of the distance of Horeb from Kadesh-barnea, Moses reminded the people that they had completed the journey from Horeb, the scene of the establishment of the covenant, to Kadesh, the border of the promised land, in eleven days, that he might lead them to lay to heart the events which took place at Kadesh itself. The “way of the mountains of Seir” is not the way along the side of these mountains, i.e., the way through the Arabah, which is bounded by the mountains of Seir on the east, but the way which leads to the mountains of Seir, just as in Deuteronomy 2:1 the way of the Red Sea is the way that leads to this sea. From these words, therefore, it by no means follows that Kadesh-Barnea is to be sought for in the Arabah, and that Israel passed through the Arabah from Horeb to Kadesh. According to Deuteronomy 1:19, they departed from Horeb, went through the great and terrible wilderness by the way to the mountains of the Amorites, and came to Kadesh-barnea. Hence the way to the mountains of the Amorites, i.e., the southern part of what were afterwards the mountains of Judah (see at Numbers 13:17), is the same as the way to the mountains of Seir; consequently the Seir referred to here is not the range on the eastern side of the Arabah, but Seir by Hormah (Deuteronomy 1:44), i.e., the border plateau by Wady Murreh , opposite to the mountains of the Amorites (Joshua 11:17; Joshua 12:7 : see at Numbers 34:3).
Deuteronomy 1:3-5
To the description of the ground to which the following addresses refer, there is appended an allusion to the not less significant time when Moses delivered them, viz., “ on the first of the eleventh month in the fortieth year ,” consequently towards the end of his life, after the conclusion of the divine lawgiving; so that he was able to speak “ according to all that Jehovah had given him in commandment unto them ” (the Israelites), namely, in the legislation of the former books, which is always referred to in this way (Deuteronomy 4:5, Deuteronomy 4:23; Deuteronomy 5:29-30; Deuteronomy 6:1). The time was also significant, from the fact that Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, had then been slain. By giving a victory over these mighty kings, the Lord had begun to fulfil His promises (see Deuteronomy 2:25), and had thereby laid Israel under the obligation to love, gratitude, and obedience (see Numbers 21:21-35). The suffix in הכּתו refers to Moses, who had smitten the Amorites at the command and by the power of Jehovah. According to Joshua 12:4; Joshua 13:12, Joshua 13:31; Edrei was the second capital of Og, and it is as such that it is mentioned, and not as the place where Og was defeated (Deuteronomy 3:1; Numbers 21:33). The omission of the copula ו before בּאדרעי is to be accounted for from the oratorical character of the introduction to the addresses which follow. Edrei is the present Draà (see at Numbers 21:33). - In Deuteronomy 1:5, the description of the locality is again resumed in the words “ beyond the Jordan ,” and still further defined by the expression “ in the land of Moab; ” and the address itself is introduced by the clause, “ Moses took in hand to expound this law ,” which explains more fully the דּבּר (spake) of Deuteronomy 1:3. “In the land of Moab” is a rhetorical and general expression for “in the Arboth Moab.” הואיל does not mean to begin, but to undertake, to take in hand, with the subordinate idea sometimes of venturing, or daring (Genesis 18:27), sometimes of a bold resolution: here it denotes an undertaking prompted by internal impulse. Instead of being construed with the infinitive, it is construed rhetorically here with the finite verb without the copula (cf. Ges. §143, 3, b ). בּאר probably signified to dig in the Kal ; but this is not used. In the Piel it means to explain ( διασαφῆσαι , explanare , lxx, Vulg .), never to engrave, or stamp, not even here nor in Deuteronomy 27:8 and Habakkuk 2:2. Here it signifies “to expound this law clearly,” although the exposition was connected with an earnest admonition to preserve and obey it. “This” no doubt refers to the law expounded in what follows; but substantially it is no other than the law already given in the earlier books. “Substantially there is throughout but one law” ( Schultz ). That the book of Deuteronomy was not intended to furnish a new or second law, is as evident as possible from the word בּאר .
Moses commenced with the summons issued by the Lord to Israel at Horeb, to rise and go to Canaan.
Deuteronomy 1:6
As the epithet applied to God, “ Jehovah our God ,” presupposes the reception of Israel into covenant with Jehovah, which took place at Sinai, so the words, “ ye have dwelt long enough at this mountain ,” imply that the purpose for which Israel was taken to Horeb had been answered, i.e., that they had been furnished with the laws and ordinances requisite for the fulfilment of the covenant, and could now remove to Canaan to take possession of the promised land. The word of Jehovah mentioned here is not found in this form in the previous history; but as a matter of fact it is contained in the divine instructions that were preparatory to their removal (Num 1-4 and 9:15-10:10), and the rising of the cloud from the tabernacle, which followed immediately afterwards (Numbers 10:11). The fixed use of the name Horeb to designate the mountain group in general, instead of the special name Sinai , which is given to the particular mountain upon which the law was given, is in keeping with the rhetorical style of the book.
Deuteronomy 1:7
“ Go to the mount of the Amorites, and to all who dwell near .” The mount of the Amorites is the mountainous country inhabited by this tribe, the leading feature in the land of Canaan, and is synonymous with the “land of the Canaanites” which follows; the Amorites being mentioned instar omnium as being the most powerful of all the tribes in Canaan, just as in Genesis 15:16 (see at Genesis 10:16). שׁכניו , “ those who dwell by it ,” are the inhabitants of the whole of Canaan, as is shown by the enumeration of the different parts of the land, which follows immediately afterwards. Canaan was naturally divided, according to the character of the ground, into the Arabah , the modern Ghor (see at Deuteronomy 1:1); the mountain , the subsequent mountains of Judah and Ephraim (see at Numbers 13:17); the lowland ( shephelah ), i.e., the low flat country lying between the mountains of Judah and the Mediterranean Sea, and stretching from the promontory of Carmel down to Gaza, which is intersected by only small undulations and ranges of hills, and generally includes the hill country which formed the transition from the mountains to the plain, though the two are distinguished in Joshua 10:40 and Joshua 12:8 (see at Joshua 15:33.); the south land ( negeb : see at Numbers 13:17); and the sea-shore , i.e., the generally narrow strip of coast running along by the Mediterranean Sea from Joppa to the Tyrian ladders, or Râs el Abiad , just below Tyre (vid., v. Raumer , Pal. p. 49). - The special mention of Lebanon in connection with the land of the Canaanites, and the enumeration of the separate parts of the land, as well as the extension of the eastern frontier as far as the Euphrates (see at Genesis 15:18), are to be attributed to the rhetorical fulness of the style. The reference, however, is not to Antilibanus, but to Lebanon proper, which was within the northern border of the land of Israel, as fixed in Numbers 34:7-9.
Deuteronomy 1:8-10
This land the Lord had placed at the disposal of the Israelites for them to take possession of, as He had sworn to the fathers (patriarchs) that He would give it to their posterity (cf. Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 15:18., etc.). The “swearing” on the part of God points back to Genesis 22:16. The expression “ to them and to their seed ” is the same as “to thee and to thy seed” in Genesis 13:15; Genesis 17:8, and is not to be understood as signifying that the patriarchs themselves ought to have taken actual possession of Canaan; but “ to their seed ” is in apposition, and also a more precise definition (comp. Genesis 15:7 with Genesis 15:18, where the simple statement “to thee” is explained by the fuller statement “to thy seed”). ראה has grown into an interjection = הנּה . לפני נתן : to give before a person, equivalent to give up to a person, or place at his free disposal (for the use of the word in this sense, see Genesis 13:9; Genesis 34:10). Jehovah (this is the idea of Deuteronomy 1:6-8), when He concluded the covenant with the Israelites at Horeb, had intended to fulfil at once the promise which He gave to the patriarchs, and to put them into possession of the promised land; and Moses had also done what was required on his part, as he explained in Deuteronomy 1:9-18, to bring the people safety to Canaan (cf. Exodus 18:23). As the nation had multiplied as the stars of heaven, in accordance with the promise of the Lord, and he felt unable to bear the burden alone and settle all disputes, he had placed over them at that time wise and intelligent men from the heads of the tribes to act as judges, and had instructed them to adjudicate upon the smaller matters of dispute righteously and without respect of person. For further particulars concerning the appointment of the judges, see at Exodus 18:13-26, where it is related how Moses adopted this plan at the advice of Jethro, even before the giving of the law at Sinai. The expression “ at that time ,” in Deuteronomy 1:9, is not at variance with this. The imperfect ואמר with vav rel ., expresses the order of thought and not of time. For Moses did not intend to recall the different circumstances to the recollection of the people in their chronological order, but arranged them according to their relative importance in connection with the main object of his address. And this required that he should begin with what God had done for the fulfilment of His promise, and then proceed afterwards to notice what he, the servant of God, had done in his office, as an altogether subordinate matter. So far as this object was concerned, it was also perfectly indifferent who had advised him to adopt this plan, whilst it was very important to allude to the fact that it was the great increase in the number of the Israelites which had rendered it necessary, that he might remind the congregation how the Lord, even at that time, had fulfilled the promise which He gave to the patriarchs, and in that fulfilment had given a practical guarantee of the certain fulfilment of the other promises as well. Moses accomplished this by describing the increase of the nation in such a way that his hearers should be involuntarily reminded of the covenant promise in Genesis 15:5. (cf. Genesis 12:2; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:17; Genesis 26:4).
Deuteronomy 1:11
But in order to guard against any misinterpretation of his words, “ I cannot bear you myself alone,” Moses added, “May the Lord fulfil the promise of numerous increase to the nation a thousand-fold.” “ Jehovah, the God of your fathers (i.e., who manifested Himself as God to your fathers), add to you a thousand times , כּכם , as many as ye are, and bless you as He has said. ” The “blessing” after “multiplying” points back to Genesis 12:2. Consequently, it is not to be restricted to “ strengthening, rendering fruitful, and multiplying,” but must be understood as including the spiritual blessing promised to Abraham.
Deuteronomy 1:12
“ How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? ” The burden and cumbrance of the nation are the nation itself, with all its affairs and transactions, which pressed upon the shoulders of Moses.
Deuteronomy 1:13-18
לכם הבוּ , give here, provide for yourselves. The congregation was to nominate, according to its tribes, wise, intelligent, and well-known men, whom Moses would appoint as heads, i.e., as judges, over the nation. At their installation he gave them the requisite instructions (Deuteronomy 1:16): “ Ye shall hear between your brethren ,” i.e., hear both parties as mediators, “ and judge righteously, without respect of person .” פּנים הכּיר , to look at the face, equivalent to פּנים נשׁא (Leviticus 19:15), i.e., to act partially (cf. Exodus 23:2-3). “ The judgment is God's ,” i.e., appointed by God, and to be administered in the name of God, or in accordance with His justice; hence the expression “to bring before God” (Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:7, etc.). On the difficult cases which the judges were to bring before Moses, see at Exodus 18:26.
Everything had been done on the part of God and Moses to bring Israel speedily and safely to Canaan. The reason for their being compelled to remain in the desert for forty years was to be found exclusively in their resistance to the commandments of God. The discontent of the people with the guidance of God was manifested at the very first places of encampment in the desert (Num 11 and 12); but Moses passed over this, and simply reminded them of the rebellion at Kadesh (Num 13 and 14), because it was this which was followed by the condemnation of the rebellious generation to die out in the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 1:19-25
“ When we departed from Horeb, we passed through the great and dreadful wilderness, which ye have seen ,” i.e., become acquainted with, viz., the desert of et Tih , “ of the way to the mountains of the Amorites, and came to Kadesh-Barnea ” (see at Numbers 12:16). הלך , with an accusative, to pass through a country (cf. Deuteronomy 2:7; Isaiah 50:10, etc.). Moses had there explained to the Israelites, that they had reached the mountainous country of the Amorites, which Jehovah was about to give them; that the land lay before them, and they might take possession of it without fear (Deuteronomy 1:20, Deuteronomy 1:21). But they proposed to send out men to survey the land, with its towns, and the way into it. Moses approved of this proposal, and sent out twelve men, one from each tribe, who went through the land, etc. (as is more fully related in Num 13, and has been expounded in connection with that passage, Deuteronomy 1:22-25). Moses' summons to them to take the land (Deuteronomy 1:20, Deuteronomy 1:21) is not expressly mentioned there, but it is contained implicite in the fact that spies were sent out; as the only possible reason for doing this must have been, that they might force a way into the land, and take possession of it. In Deuteronomy 1:25, Moses simply mentions so much of the report of the spies as had reference to the nature of the land, viz., that it was good, that he may place in immediate contrast with this the refusal of the people to enter in.
Deuteronomy 1:26-27
“ But ye would not go up, and were rebellious against the mouth (i.e., the express will) of Jehovah our God, and murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hated us, He hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us .” שׂנאה , either an infinitive with a feminine termination, or a verbal noun construed with an accusative (see Ges. §133; Ewald , §238, a .). - By the allusion to the murmuring in the tents, Moses points them to Numbers 14:1, and then proceeds to describe the rebellion of the congregation related there (Deuteronomy 1:2-4), in such a manner that the state of mind manifested on that occasion presents the appearance of the basest ingratitude, inasmuch as the people declared the greatest blessing conferred upon them by God, viz., their deliverance from Egypt, to have been an act of hatred on His part. At the same time, by addressing the existing members of the nation, as if they themselves had spoken so, whereas the whole congregation that rebelled at Kadesh had fallen in the desert, and a fresh generation was now gathered round him, Moses points to the fact, that the sinful corruption which broke out at that time, and bore such bitter fruit, had not died out with the older generation, but was germinating still in the existing Israel, and even though it might be deeply hidden in their hearts, would be sure to break forth again.
Deuteronomy 1:28
“ Whither shall we go up? Our brethren (the spies) have quite discouraged our heart ” ( המס , lit., to cause to flow away; cf. Joshua 2:9), viz., through their report (Numbers 13:28-29, Numbers 13:31-33), the substance of which is repeated here. The expression בּשּׁמים , “ in heaven ,” towering up into heaven, which is added to “ towns great and fortified ,” is not an exaggeration, but, as Moses also uses it in Deuteronomy 9:1, a rhetorical description of the impression actually received with regard to the size of the towns.
(Note: “The eyes of weak faith or unbelief saw the towns really towering up to heaven. Nor did the height appear less, even to the eyes of faith, in relation, that is to say, to its own power. Faith does not hide the difficulties from itself, that it may not rob the Lord, who helps it over them, of any of the praise that is justly His due” ( Schultz ).)
“ The sons of the Anakims: ” see at Numbers 13:22.
Deuteronomy 1:29-31
The attempt made by Moses to inspire the despondent people with courage, when they were ready to despair of ever conquering the Canaanites, by pointing them to the help of the Lord, which they had experienced in so mighty and visible a manner in Egypt and the desert, and to urge them to renewed confidence in this their almighty Helper and Guide, was altogether without success. And just because the appeal of Moses was unsuccessful, it is passed over in the historical account in Num 13; all that is mentioned there (Deuteronomy 1:6-9) being the effort made by Joshua and Caleb to stir up the people, and that on account of the effects which followed the courageous bearing of these two men, so far as their own future history was concerned. The words “ goeth before you ,” in Deuteronomy 1:30, are resumed in Deuteronomy 1:33, and carried out still further. “ Jehovah,...He shall fight for you according to all ( כּכל ) that,” i.e., in exactly the same manner, as, “ He did for you in Egypt ,” especially at the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex 14), “ and in the wilderness, which thou hast seen ( ראית , as in Deuteronomy 1:19), where ( אשׁר without בּו in a loose connection; see Ewald , §331, c . and 333, a .) Jehovah thy God bore thee as a man beareth his son; ” i.e., supported, tended, and provided for thee in the most fatherly way (see the similar figure in Numbers 11:12, and expanded still more fully in Psalms 23:1-6).
Deuteronomy 1:32-33
“ And even at this word ye remained unbelieving towards the Lord; ” i.e., notwithstanding the fact that I reminded you of all the gracious help that he had experienced from your God, ye persisted in your unbelief. The participle אינכם מאמינם , “ ye were not believing ,” is intended to describe their unbelief as a permanent condition. This unbelief was all the more grievous a sin, because the Lord their God went before them all the way in the pillar of cloud and fire, to guide and to defend them. On the fact itself, comp. Numbers 9:15., Numbers 10:33, with Exodus 13:21-22.
Deuteronomy 1:34-37
Jehovah was angry, therefore, when He heard these loud words, and swore that He would not let any one of those men, that evil generation, enter the promised land, with the exception of Caleb, because he had followed the Lord faithfully (cf. Numbers 14:21-24). The hod in זוּלתי is the antiquated connecting vowel of the construct state.
But in order that he might impress upon the people the judgment of the holy God in all its stern severity, Moses added in Deuteronomy 1:37 : “ also Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither; ” and he did this before mentioning Joshua, who was excepted from the judgment as well as Caleb, because his ultimate intention was to impress also upon the minds of the people the fact, that even in wrath the Lord had been mindful of His covenant, and when pronouncing the sentence upon His servant Moses, had given the people a leader in the person of Joshua, who was to bring them into the promised inheritance. We are not to infer from the close connection in which this event, which did not take place according to Numbers 20:1-13 till the second arrival of the congregation at Kadesh, is placed with the earlier judgment of God at Kadesh, that the two were contemporaneous, and so supply, after “the Lord as angry with me,” the words “on that occasion.” For Moses did not intend to teach the people history and chronology, but to set before them the holiness of the judgments of the Lord. By using the expression “for your sakes,” Moses did not wish to free himself from guilt. Even in this book his sin at the water of strife is not passed over in silence (cf. Deuteronomy 32:51). But on the present occasion, if he had given prominence to his own fault, he would have weakened the object for which he referred to this event, viz., to stimulate the consciences of the people, and instil into them a wholesome dread of sin, by holding up before them the magnitude of their guilt. But in order that he might give no encouragement to false security respecting their own sin, on the ground that even highly gifted men of God fall into sin as well, Moses simply pointed out the fact, that the quarrelling of the people with him occasioned the wrath of God to fall upon him also.
Deuteronomy 1:38-44
“ Who standeth before thee ,” equivalent to “in thy service” (Exodus 24:13; Exodus 33:11 : for this meaning, see Deuteronomy 10:8; Deuteronomy 18:7; 1 Kings 1:28). “ Strengthen him: ” comp. Deuteronomy 31:7; and with regard to the installation of Joshua as the leader of Israel, see Numbers 27:18-19. The suffix in ינחילנּה points back to הארץ in Deuteronomy 1:35. Joshua would divide the land among the Israelites for an inheritance, viz., (v. 39) among the young Israelites, the children of the condemned generation, whom Moses, when making a further communication of the judicial sentence of God (Numbers 14:31), had described as having no share in the sins of their parents, by adding, “who know not to-day what is good and evil.” This expression is used to denote a condition of spiritual infancy and moral responsibility (Isaiah 7:15-16). It is different in 2 Samuel 19:36. - In Deuteronomy 1:40-45 he proceeds to describe still further, according to Numbers 14:39-45, how the people, by resisting the command of God to go back into the desert (Deuteronomy 1:41, compared with Numbers 14:25), had simply brought still greater calamities upon themselves, and had had to atone for the presumptuous attempt to force a way into Canaan, in opposition to the express will of the Lord, by enduring a miserable defeat. Instead of “they acted presumptuously to go up” (Numbers 14:44), Moses says here, in Deuteronomy 1:41, “ ye acted frivolously to go up; ” and in Deuteronomy 1:43, “ ye acted rashly, and went up .” הזיד from זוּד , to boil, or boil over (Genesis 25:29), signifies to act thoughtlessly, haughtily, or rashly. On the particular fact mentioned in Deuteronomy 1:44, see at Numbers 14:45.
Deuteronomy 1:45-46
“ Then ye returned and wept before Jehovah ,” i.e., before the sanctuary; “ but Jehovah did not hearken to your voice .” שׁוּב does not refer to the return to Kadesh, but to an inward turning, not indeed true conversion to repentance, but simply the giving up of their rash enterprise, which they had undertaken in opposition to the commandment of God-the return from a defiant attitude to unbelieving complaining on account of the misfortune that had come upon them. Such complaining God never hears. “ And ye sat (remained) in Kadesh many days, that ye remained ,” i.e., not “as many days as ye had been there already before the return of the spies,” or “as long as ye remained in all the other stations together, viz., the half of thirty-eight years” (as Seder Olam and many of the Rabbins interpret); but “just as long as ye did remain there,” as we may see from a comparison of Deuteronomy 9:25. It seemed superfluous to mention more precisely the time they spent in Kadesh, because that was well known to the people, whom Moses was addressing. He therefore contented himself with fixing it by simply referring to its duration, which was known to them all. It is no doubt impossible for us to determine the time they remained in Kadesh, because the expression “many days” is imply a relative one, and may signify many years, just as well as many months or weeks. But it by no means warrants the assumption of Fires and others, that no absolute departure of the whole of the people from Kadesh ever took place. Such an assumption is at variance with Deuteronomy 2:1. The change of subjects, “ye sat,” etc. (Deuteronomy 1:46), and “we turned and removed” (Deuteronomy 2:1), by no means proves that Moses only went away with that part of the congregation which attached itself to him, whilst the other portion, which was most thoroughly estranged from him, or rather from the Lord, remained there still. The change of subject is rather to be explained from the fact that Moses was passing from the consideration of the events in Kadesh, which he held up before the people as a warning, to a description of the further guidance of Israel. The reference to those events had led him involuntarily, from Deuteronomy 1:22 onwards, to distinguish between himself and the people, and to address his words to them for the purpose of bringing out their rebellion against God. And now that he had finished with this, he returned to the communicative mode of address with which he set out in Deuteronomy 1:6, but which he had suspended again until Deuteronomy 1:19.