Deuteronomy 1 Study Notes

1:1 The reference to Moses being across the Jordan is from the perspective of one standing in Canaan to the west. The east side of the river was called Transjordan, even by those living there.

1:2-3 Forty years had passed since Israel’s exodus from Egypt. Though the journey from Horeb (Sinai) to Kadesh-barnea was normally eleven days (v. 2), Israel, because of its sin, had spent forty years on the not-much-longer route from Egypt to Moab (2:7; 8:2,4; Nm 14:33).

1:4 Sihon and Og were rulers of kingdoms in Transjordan whose defeat permitted Israel to occupy most of the region, which was later settled by the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and part of Manasseh (Nm 32; Jos 22).

1:6-7 The Amorites and their neighbors is a way of speaking of all the peoples of Canaan. Arabah more technically describes the Great Rift Valley of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.

1:8 The land the Lord swore to give was part of the covenant in which the Lord called Abraham out of paganism to found a people whom he would use to bless the whole earth (Gn 12:1-3; 15:12-21; 17:8). Israel’s impending conquest would be the inheritance God had already allotted to Abraham’s descendants.

1:9-18 See Ex 18:13-26.

1:9-11 Abraham had been promised that his offspring would eventually be innumerable (Gn 15:5). Through the gospel age and the proliferation of the church, this promise now extends to the spiritual descendants of Abraham as well (Rm 4:16-18).

1:15 The adjective respected means literally “known.” These leaders must have been thoroughly scrutinized and found to be all that they professed to be.

1:17 Do not show partiality is a translation of a phrase that can be rendered, “Do not recognize faces.” A judge must not be swayed by friendship or high rank.

1:19-46 See Nm 13-14. Moses tells the story of the first generation’s failure so that the second generation will not repeat it.

1:19 Kadesh-barnea was Israel’s main staging area throughout the forty years of desert sojourn. Known today as ‘Ain Qedeis, this large oasis would have been adequate for hundreds of thousands of Hebrews and their animals.

1:22-23 See Nm 13:1-3. Either Moses interpreted a suggestion by the people as a word from God or he consulted God before agreeing to the plan.

1:24-25 The Valley of Eshcol was in southern Canaan near Hebron. Its name means “bunch of grapes,” from the abundance of this fruit that grew there. Canaan had already been called a “land flowing with milk and honey” (6:3; 11:9; 26:9; cp. Nm 13:27), so this display of grapes reinforced the lushness of the land the Lord had bequeathed to his people Israel (Dt 1:25).

1:26-28 The description of the cities of Canaan as fortified to the heavens came from spies who were afraid to trust God for victory and therefore exaggerated the difficulties involved. Jesus taught that a person of true faith could command mountains (Mk 11:23). The Anakim, named for Anak, a descendant of the founder of Hebron (Jos 21:11), were a gigantic people (Nm 13:33), some of whom moved to Philistia and may have been related to Goliath and other giant Philistines (Jos 11:21-22; cp. 1Ch 20:4-8).

1:29-31 The imagery of God carrying Israel as a man carries his son brings to mind Israel’s special relationship to the Lord through his covenant with Abraham. Moses demanded Israel’s release from Pharaoh because, in God’s words, “Israel is my firstborn son” (Ex 4:22; cp. Ex 2:24-25).

1:32-33 The fire by night and the cloud by day are expressions of the presence of God as he led his people through the wilderness. The fire of God’s presence spoke of his visible glory and holiness and recalled his judgment against those who failed to revere him (4:9-14,24; Nm 11:1-3). The cloud symbolized God’s mysteriousness, occasionally overshadowing his brilliance lest it destroy the curious who might try to become too familiar (Ex 19:9-13,16-25; Dt 31:15).

1:34-36 Other exceptions were men under twenty years of age (as well as women) and Joshua, who is included in v. 38.

1:37-38 This curious statement is not Moses’s attempt to deflect guilt from himself to the nation. The point was that he as well as the older generation of Israelites would fail to enter the land of promise because all alike were guilty. When the people sinned with regard to their demand for water (the incident in view here; cp. Nm 20:1-8), Moses became angry; this undermined his credibility as a leader (Dt 20:12).

1:39 The sons who don’t yet know good from evil were not morally deficient but too young to form moral values (Is 7:16; 8:4). They were innocent and therefore not disqualified from entering the land of promise.

1:40-46 Surprisingly, the people thought that another act of disobedience would correct the first. From Seir as far as Hormah refers to an area just south of the Dead Sea and about fifty miles across. Its residents expelled the Israelites because Israel had attempted to penetrate the area despite God’s command not to do so (v. 42).