(Deuteronomy 1:1) These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
In the preceding chapters of Numbers Moses had been giving the people the commandments and judgments of the Lord, concerning their inheritances in the promised land--the boundaries, the division of it, cities of refuge, and the case of inheritances in it. However, this first verse in Deuteronomy probably refers to what will shortly follow, not what had preceded this. Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, suggested that the first five verses of this chapter were placed as an introduction to the rest of the book, and that they didn't appear to be written by Moses, but may have been added by either Joshua or Ezra. Albert Barnes's (Notes on the Bible) sense of this first verse was that it was written by Moses as a "connecting link between the contents of the preceding books and that of Deuteronomy now to follow. The sense of the passage might be given thus: 'The discourses of Moses to the people up to the eleventh month of the fortieth year have now been recorded.'” I think I prefer the flow of the first explanation, but I really don't think it matters in the scheme of things.
At this time, the Israelites were still in the plains of Moab on the east side of the Jordan River. The original word translated as "red" was "suph", and it was used when referring to the Red Sea. However, the Israelites were not near the Red Sea at this time. In the KJV, "Sea" was added by translators, assuming it meant the Red Sea. However, all the commentaries I read state it could not have referred to the Red Sea because the Israelites were farther away from it than they had ever been; it may have been a city called "Suph", which is reasonable as many other places follow its mention. The consensus is that all these places were the boundaries of the plain where the Israelites were at that time. Suph probably meant Suphah which was in Moab; Paran was thought to be Mount Paran, not the Wilderness of Paran which was too remote; Tophel is probably Tufileh; Laban is generally identified as Libnah; Hazeroth may be Ain Hadherah; and Dizahab actually means "gold", so it was either the name of a place or could have meant a place where gold was found, a gold mine.
(2) It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.
Again, this verse seems to be part of an introduction to what will follow in later verses. In the KJV it is in parentheses. Perhaps this is the only verse that was added after Moses wrote his record. Going from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea was only an eleven day journey, yet it had taken the Israelites forty years to get to this point. I tried for quite awhile to find a map that showed what would be a normal path from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea, and came across this delightful map from an article by Phil Campbell that really sums up the point:
That point is, of course, what could have taken just eleven days, but because of their unbelief in God, took the Israelites forty years and an entirely new generation to get back to the current point.
(3) And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him as commandments to them, (4) After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei.
Now here they were in their fortieth year after coming out of Egypt, in the eleventh month, Shevat, which is about our January and February, on the first day of that month. Moses was about to speak to the congregation what the Lord had commanded him to give as commandments to them. This was after their victory over Sihon (from Heshbon) and Og (from Bashan who dwelt at Ashtaroth) in Edrei. The 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes suggests this was a parenthetical mention to remind the Israelites of God's favor, preparing them to be receptive to what was to follow.
(5) On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying, (6) “The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain.'"
On their current side of the Jordan River, across from their promised land, Moses began speaking to the people. They had come to Mount Sinai (generally thought of as the same place as Horeb) in the third month after their departure from Egypt (Exodus 19:1-2), and left it on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year (Numbers 10:11-13), so it appears they had been there nearly a whole year when God told them it was time to move.
(7) "‘Turn and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and to all the places near to it in the plain, in the hills, and in the valley, in the south and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, to the great river, the river Euphrates.'"
Moses continued, repeating what the Lord had told them when it was time to move from Horeb. He told them to move from Horeb and go toward the mountains occupied by the Amorites, and to all the places near it, in the plain, in the hills, and in the valley, to the southern border of Canaan to the Mediterranean Sea, to the land of the Canaanites upward to Lebanon to the Euphrates River.
The map above (courtesy of Bible History Online) gives a general sense of the area the Lord was talking about. There are the Amorites in the east to the southern border of Canaan which was at Kadesh Barnea to the Mediterranean Sea, and in the north is Mount Lebanon.
(8) "'Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.'"
Moses continued, reminding the people of the words of their Lord at that time He told them to move from Horeb. He, in essence, told them "There is your land, promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, before you. Now go in and take possession of it."
(9) “And I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘I am not able to bear you alone.'"
Moses reminded the people that he had said he alone was not able to take the entire burden of the children of Israel. In Numbers 11:14 he had told God he could not bear the burden alone, and God had taken of the spirit that was upon Moses and gave it to seventy elders so that they could wisely assist him in governing the people. Although there was no reference that Moses himself had declared he was unable to bear the burden of the people, there was also the time that Moses's father-in-law advised him in Exodus 18:18 that he could not continue to try to bear the burden, but should appoint and teach men to be judges of the people's matters to share the burden with him.
(10) "'The LORD your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude.'"
The KJV never used quotation marks to identify quotes. Some of the versions show this as a continuation of what Moses had said to the people at the time he had told them he was unable to bear them all alone. Others suggest he was telling them at that current time that the Lord had so multiplied them that they currently were as numerous as the stars of heaven, a reference to the original promise God had made to Abraham (Genesis 15:5).
(11) "'(The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as you are, and bless you, as He has promised you!)'"
Once again, it's hard to know with certainty whether Moses was referring to what he had said to them previously at the time he spoke of in verse 9, or if he was making the statement at this current moment. Either way, it is seen as a parenthetical statement that Moses wished for the people to become a thousand times greater in number than they were, and that God would continue to bless them as He had blessed them up to that point.
(12) "'How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?'"
This appears to complete the explanation of what Moses had begun in verse 9, that was the reason he could not bear the burdens of the people by himself.
(13) "'Take wise and understanding men known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.'"
Moses had told the people that they were to take wise and knowledgeable men from their tribes and he would appoint them as leaders of the people.
(14) “And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have spoken is good for us to do.'"
This verse makes it clear that verses 10 through 14 have been what was spoken at the time when Moses apparently told the people that he could not bear them alone, perhaps at the time of Exodus 18:18, or at some other time when he had spoken directly to the people about how best to govern them. He had told them to choose their own leaders from among their tribes to be their leaders, and the people had agreed it was a good plan.
(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."
Moses had previously taken the chief men of wisdom and knowledge from their tribes and made them leaders of the people. Adam Clarke wrote that these were millenaries (captains over thousands), centurions (captains over hundreds), quinquagenaries (captains over fifties), and decurions (captains over tens); and that each of these were probably dependent on that officer immediately above himself. The decurion, or ruler over ten, if he found a matter too hard for him, brought it to the quinquagenary, ruler of fifty, and if he found a case too complicated for him, he brought it to the centurion, etc.
(16) "And I charged your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother and the stranger who is with him.'"
Moses had charged the people's judges at the time to hear the cases of the people, including the strangers who dwelt among them, and to judge righteously.
(17) "‘You shall not respect persons in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid of the face of any man, for the judgment is God's; and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it to me, and I will hear it.'"
To be a respecter of persons was to show partiality to particular classes of people, whether they be rich and powerful, or poor and needy. The judges were to judge impartially, and they were to judge small cases as well as great cases. They were not to fear any man, for their judgment was considered to be God's judgment, as He had commissioned them to judge for Him. If a case had worked up the chain of command and was too difficult for them, then the case was to be brought to Moses, and of course, if it was too difficult for Moses, he took the problem to God.
(18) “And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do."
Moses had delivered to them all the laws, statutes, and judgments that had been revealed to him by the Lord.
(19) "And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which you saw by the way of the mountains of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea."
Moses reminded the people of the time they left Horeb as the Lord had commanded they do. They went through the wilderness of Paran, hard and dry and difficult to travel through, in the way that led to the mountains of the Amorites. They went the way the Lord had told them to go, and they came to Kadesh Barnea.
(20) “And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the LORD our God does give to us.'"
Moses told the people at that time that they had arrived at the mountains of the Amorites which the Lord had given to them, not just the mountains, but the whole land of Canaan beyond them.
(21) "'Behold, the LORD thy God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has said to you; do not fear or be discouraged.’"
Moses continued reminding the people of what he had said at the time. He told them to behold the land of Canaan before them to which the Lord had brought them, and to go in and possess the land as their Lord had told them to do. He told them not to fear or be discouraged for the Lord had given them the land to possess.
(22) “And every one of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’"
Moses reminded them that they all came to him at the time. I'm sure not every single person came to him, nor would this current generation of people have come to him, but their fathers and the heads of their tribes representing all the people at the time came before him. They proposed that they send some men into the land to explore it and to bring back word about the best way to go and information about the cities to which they would come.
(23) “The plan pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one from each tribe."
Moses recalled that the people's plan seemed a good one to him. He selected twelve men, one from each tribe.
(24) "And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out."
Those twelve men went up into the mountains of the Amorites into the Valley of Eshcol, and searched out the land.
(25) "And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a good land which the LORD our God does give us.’"
Moses reminded them that the twelve spies brought back fruit of the land and the news that the land the Lord was giving them was very good.
(26) “Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God; (27) And you murmured in your tents, and said, ‘Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. (28) Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’"
Even though they saw the land was good, the people would not go in to possess the land against the command of their Lord to do just that. They cowered in their tents talking among themselves and actually came to the conclusion that this great act of love for His people was actually a trick to destroy them. Incredible! How little they had learned about God's nature and His love and mercy for them that they could believe such a thing! The people complained there was no place they could go into the land that they wouldn't encounter people taller and greater than them, and cities too strong and fortified for them to enter. They blamed the spies for discouraging them with all this news. Besides, there were the giant sons of Anakim there, as well! The people took the word of ten spies, for Caleb and Joshua had encouraged them to take possession of the land their Lord had given them.
(29) “Then I said to you, ‘Do not dread them, neither be afraid of them. (30) The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, (31) And in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.'"
Moses reminded the people of what he had said at the time. He told them not to dread or fear the Canaanites, for the Lord went before them and would fight for them, just as He had done in Egypt. He reminded them of how the Lord had cared and provided for them in the wilderness up to that point.
(32) "Yet in this thing you did not believe the LORD your God, (33) Who went in the way before you, to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day."
Moses reminded the people that they did not believe that their Lord, who had constantly gone before them previously to lead them to their campsites and had shown them the way to go in that fire by night and in that cloud by day, would lead and protect them now that they might go in and possess the land.
(34) “And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying, (35) ‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, (36) Except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him I give the land that he has trodden upon, and to his children, because he has wholly followed the LORD.'"
Moses reminded them of how the Lord was angry with their words and their lack of faith, and had vowed that none of that generation would be able to see the good land that He had promised to them long before them. None would see it except for Caleb (and Joshua mentioned later); those two spies had wholly followed the Lord. They alone had come back with good reports and believed the Lord when He had told them they could go in and possess it.
(37) "Also the LORD 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 him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.'"
Moses admitted to the people that the Lord was angry with him, also, and told him that he would not be able to go into the promised land either. This did not happen at the same time that the people had believed the bad report of the spies, but some 37 years later at the rock at Meribah, when he spoke for the sake of the people, but spoke unadvisedly and acted differently than the Lord had commanded him, and did not sanctify the Lord in the eyes of the children of Israel. For that reason the Lord had told Moses he would not be the one to bring the congregation into the promised land, but Joshua, Moses's own servant and minister, would do that. The Lord had instructed Moses to encourage Joshua, for he would be the one to lead them into their promised land to inherit it. This, of course, was because Joshua had been one of only two spies (with Caleb) who had believed the Lord in that they could go in and possess their promised land, just as the Lord had told them to do.
(39) "‘Moreover your little ones and your children, whom you said would be prey, whom in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in there; and to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.'"
Moses continued with what the Lord had said at the time of the people's rebellion and lack of faith, that their children whom the people had cried would become prey to the Amorites (Numbers 14:3), they, those children, not being at the age of understanding between good and evil, and certainly not having the understanding at the time to choose between the good and bad reports at the time of the spies, they would be the ones to go in and possess the land (Numbers 14:31). The Lord would give it to the children of the children of Israel.
(40) "‘But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.’"
Moses continued with what the Lord had said at the time. Those adults at the time, who would not be allowed to enter the promised land, were told to turn back toward the Red Sea again and journey into the wilderness (Numbers 14:25).
(41) “Then you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD; we will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain."
Moses reminded the people of what they had done at that point. They realized that they had sinned against the Lord, and they were ready to go up into the mountain and fight for their land (Numbers 14:39-40).
(42) “And the LORD said to me, 'Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.”’"
The Lord had told Moses at the time to tell the people not to go up or fight, for He would not go with them. If they persisted in going, they would be smitten by their enemies (Numbers 14:41-42).
(43) “So I spoke to you; and you would not listen, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the mountain."
Moses reminded the people he had told them the words of the Lord, that they should not go and fight, but they would not listen. Once again, they were rebelling against the word of the Lord. When He told them to go, they would not, and then He warned them not to, they went defiantly up into the mountain.
(44) “And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even to Hormah."
Moses continued to remind them of what happened at the time. The Amorites who dwelt in the mountain came out against them as bees that had been disturbed in their hives. The original scripture (Numbers 14:45) that told of this incident indicated that it was the Amalekites and the Canaanites who came out against them. The commentaries I study explain that the Amorites, as the most powerful nation of Canaan, are sometimes referred to as to the Canaanite tribes in general. Continuing Moses's reminder to the people, he told them they had been defeated at Mount Seir, and driven back to Hormah.
(45) "And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you."
Moses reminded the people that those of them who had returned from their presumptuous advancement up the mountain, wept before the Lord, but He would not listen to them, for He had warned them not to go, but they had once again disobeyed, and He was not going to change His decision about sending them back into the wilderness and not allowing them to go in to possess their promised land.
(46) "So you abode in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you abode there."
After that, the people remained in Kadesh many days. No one seems to know the exact meaning of this difficult verse. Adam Clarke wrote, "They had been a long time at this place. And some think that the words mean, 'Ye abode as long at Kadesh, when you came to it the second time, as ye did at the first.' Or, according to others, 'While ye were in that part of the desert, ye encamped at Kadesh.'" Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, quoted others before him:
...according to Jarchi, as they did in the rest of the journeys or stations; so that as they were thirty eight years in all at several places, they were nineteen years in Kadesh; the same is affirmed in the Jewish chronology. Maimonides says they were eighteen years in one place, and it is very probable he means this; but Aben Ezra interprets it otherwise, and takes the sense to be, that they abode as many days here after their return as they did while the land was searching, which were forty days, but without fixing any determinate time, the meaning may only be, that as they had been many days here before this disaster, so they continued many days after in the same place before they marched onward into the wilderness again.
As Dr. Gill concluded, I believe the sense is just that they remained as long in Kadesh after this disaster as they had before it. Moses continued in the next chapter with their journeys from there.
A study of the word "Deuteronomy" reveals it is a Greek word, "Deuteronómion", and means "second law" or "copy of the law". However, Moses wrote in Hebrew, and that word for "Deuteronomy" was actually "eleh ha-devarim" and that means "these are the words." The book of Deuteronomy was essentially a retelling of God's laws and of the history that brought the people to this point in time. In this first chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses reminded the people why they had been in the wilderness for forty years. It was due to their own lack of faith and misconduct. The purpose of the law of God was to instruct the people in the way that would give them peace and prosperity, and keep them close to Him, their provider, their protector, their very source of life. When the people lost sight of that and began to wander away, it was a merciful God who brought them back to Him in whatever means necessary. God, in His infinite wisdom and knowledge of everything past, present, and future, knows exactly what we need to bring us to Him. Some people take more refining than others, but the ultimate goal of God is that all should come to repentance and salvation in Him (2 Peter 3:9). He is long-suffering, that is patient, taking the time, for instance forty years, to bring us to Him. We should all reflect on our past lives and see the blessings of God throughout, and understand that in those times of hardship God was working to draw us to Him. I don't believe that the bad things in our lives are the result of God punishing us. We have free will, and we often use it to turn from what God tells us is best for our lives. However, I don't believe as some do, that nothing "bad" ever comes from God. What we consider bad and what God considers that same thing to be are probably quite different! If a man has lived his entire life apart from God, and is in a terrible accident that disables him for the rest of it, but he comes to salvation in God because of his trials, would that not be a good thing? Even when there is loss of life that seems so unfair to us and may make us want to reject God because of it--if that loss eventually brings us to God because we can't handle it alone, is it not a good thing? We make the mistake of thinking that this life on earth is most important! If God takes a young person home to be with Him where they have joy and perfection and eternal life and love, is that not a most wonderful thing? It only hurts those of us who are left behind, who must learn and draw near to God in our pain. I certainly don't believe God gives a child cancer. The things we have done in our environment and the chemicals we eat and breathe, all our choices in life, bring about the perfect storms that can create cancer in a young one. No, it wasn't the choice of the child. But once again, this life is only meant to be a journey to heaven. Our dear ones who may have lost their lives early just had a much shorter journey. The rest of us may have to wander in the wilderness for awhile before we get there!
