Deuteronomy 1:40

40 But you turn and set out [in the direction of] the wilderness by way of the {Red Sea}.'^[a]

Deuteronomy 1:40 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 1:40

But as for you, turn ye
From the mountain of the Amorites, the border of the land of Canaan:

and take your journey into the wilderness, by the way of the Red sea:
see ( Numbers 14:25 ) . Jarchi says this wilderness was by the side of the Red sea, to the south of Mount Seir, and divided between the Red sea and the mount; so that now they drew to the side of the sea, and compassed Mount Seir, all the south of it, from west to east.

Deuteronomy 1:40 In-Context

38 Joshua, the son of Nun, {your assistant}, will go there; encourage him because he will cause Israel to inherit it.

39 And your little children, who you thought shall become plunder, and your sons, who do not today know good or bad, shall themselves go there, and I will give it to them, and they shall take possession of it.

40 But you turn and set out [in the direction of] the wilderness by way of the {Red Sea}.'

41 "You replied and said to me, 'We have sinned against Yahweh, [and now] we will go up and fight according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us'; and [so] each man fastened on {his battle gear}, and you regarded [it] as easy to go up [into] the hill country.

42 So Yahweh said to me, 'Say to them, "You shall not go up, and you shall not fight because I am not in your midst; you will be defeated {before} your enemies." '

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "sea of reeds"