Deuteronomy 1:1-38

1 This is the message Moses gave to all the people of Israel in the desert east of the Jordan River. They were in the desert area near Suph, between Paran and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

2 (The trip from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea on the Mount Seir road takes eleven days.)

3 Forty years after the Israelites had left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses told the people of Israel everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them.

4 This was after the Lord had defeated Sihon and Og. Sihon was king of the Amorite people and lived in Heshbon. Og was king of Bashan and lived in Ashteroth and Edrei.

5 Now the Israelites were east of the Jordan River in the land of Moab, and there Moses began to explain what God had commanded. He said:

6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Mount Sinai and said, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

7 Get ready, and go to the mountain country of the Amorites, and to all the places around there -- the Jordan Valley, the mountains, the western hills, the southern area, the seacoast, the land of Canaan, and Lebanon. Go as far as the great river, the Euphrates.

8 See, I have given you this land, so go in and take it for yourselves. The Lord promised it to your ancestors -- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants."

9 At that time I said, "I am not able to take care of you by myself.

10 The Lord your God has made you grow in number so that there are as many of you as there are stars in the sky.

11 I pray that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, will give you a thousand times more people and do all the wonderful things he promised.

12 But I cannot take care of your problems, your troubles, and your arguments by myself.

13 So choose some men from each tribe -- wise men who have understanding and experience -- and I will make them leaders over you."

14 And you said, "That's a good thing to do."

15 So I took the wise and experienced leaders of your tribes, and I made them your leaders. I appointed commanders over a thousand people, over a hundred people, over fifty people, and over ten people and made them officers over your tribes.

16 Then I told your leaders, "Listen to the arguments between your people. Judge fairly between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner.

17 When you judge, be fair to everyone; don't act as if one person is more important than another, and don't be afraid of anyone, because your decision comes from God. Bring the hard cases to me, and I will judge them."

18 At that time I told you everything you must do.

19 Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and went toward the mountain country of the Amorite people. We went through that large and terrible desert you saw, and then we came to Kadesh Barnea.

20 I said to you, "You have now come to the mountain country of the Amorites, to the land the Lord our God will give us.

21 Look, here it is! Go up and take it. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you to do this, so don't be afraid and don't worry."

22 Then all of you came to me and said, "Let's send men before us to spy out the land. They can come back and tell us about the way we should go and the cities we will find."

23 I thought that was a good idea, so I chose twelve of your men, one for each tribe.

24 They left and went up to the mountains, and when they came to the Valley of Eshcol they explored it.

25 They took some of the fruit from that land and brought it down to us, saying, "It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us."

26 But you refused to go. You would not obey the command of the Lord your God,

27 but grumbled in your tents, saying, "The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to give us to the Amorites, who will destroy us.

28 Where can we go now? The spies we sent have made us afraid, because they said, 'The people there are stronger and taller than we are. The cities are big, with walls up to the sky. And we saw the Anakites there!'"

29 Then I said to you, "Don't be frightened; don't be afraid of those people.

30 The Lord your God will go ahead of you and fight for you as he did in Egypt; you saw him do it.

31 And in the desert you saw how the Lord your God carried you, like one carries a child. And he has brought you safely all the way to this place."

32 But you still did not trust the Lord your God, even though

33 he had always gone before you to find places for you to camp. In a fire at night and in a cloud during the day, he showed you which way to go.

34 When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and made an oath, saying,

35 "I promised a good land to your ancestors, but none of you evil people will see it.

36 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will see it. I will give him and his descendants the land he walked on, because he followed the Lord completely."

37 Because of you, the Lord was also angry with me and said, "You won't enter the land either,

38 but your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to take the land for their own.

Deuteronomy 1:1-38 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY

This book is sometimes called "Elleh hadebarim", from the words with which it begins; and sometimes by the Jews "Mishneh Torah", the repetition of the law; and so in the Syriac version, with which agrees the Arabic title of it; and when the Greeks, and we after them, call it "Deuteronomy", it is not to be understood of a second, a new, or another law, but of the law formerly delivered, but now repeated, and also more largely explained; to which are likewise added several particular laws, instructions, and directions; all which were necessary, on account of the people of Israel, who were now a new generation, that either were not born, or not at an age to hear and understand the law when given on Mount Sinai; the men that heard it there being all dead, excepting a very few; and these people were also now about to enter into the land of Canaan, which they were to enjoy as long as they kept the law of God, and no longer, and therefore it was proper they should be reminded of it; and besides, Moses was now about to leave them, and having an hearty desire after their welfare, spends the little time he had to be with them, by inculcating into them and impressing on them the laws of God, and in opening and explaining them to them, and enforcing them on them, which were to be the rule of their obedience, and on which their civil happiness depended. And sometimes the Jews call this book "the book of reproofs", because there are in it several sharp reproofs of the people of Israel for their rebellion and disobedience; and so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem begin it by calling it the words of reproof which Moses spake That this book was written by Moses there can be no doubt, from De 1:1, 31:4,9,24, only the eight last verses, which give an account of his death, and of his character, were wrote by another hand, equally inspired by God, as either Eleazar the priest, as some, or Samuel the prophet, as others; or, as it is the more commonly received opinion of the Jews, Ezra; though it is highly probable they were wrote by Joshua his successor. This book was written and delivered by Moses, at certain times in the last month of his life, and towards the close of the fortieth year of the children of Israel's coming out of Egypt. And that it is of divine authority need not be questioned, when the several quotations out of it are observed, as made by the apostles of Christ, in Ac 3:22, Ro 12:19 Heb 10:30, Ga 3:10 out of \De 18:15 32:35,36 27:26\ and by our Lord himself, Mt 18:16 from De 19:15. Yea, it is remarkable, that all the passages of Scripture produced by Christ, to repel the temptations of Satan, are all taken out of this book, Mt 4:7,10 compared with De 8:3, 6:10,13, and the voice from heaven, directing the apostles to hearken to him, refers to a prophecy of him in De 18:15.

\\INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 1\\

The time and place when the subject matter of this book was delivered to the Israelites are observed by way of preface, De 1:1-5, and it begins with reminding them of an order to them to depart from Mount Horeb, and pass on to the land of Canaan, which the Lord had given them, De 1:6-8, and with observing the very great increase of their number, which made it necessary for Moses to appoint persons under him to be rulers over them, whom he instructed in the duty of their office, De 1:9-18, and he goes on to observe, that when they were come to the mountain of the Amorites, they were bid to go up and possess the land; but, instead of that, they desired men might be sent to search the land first, which was granted, De 1:19-23, and though these men upon their return brought of the fruits of the land, and a good report of it, particularly two of them; yet being discouraged by the report of the rest, they murmured, distrusted, and were afraid to enter, though encouraged by Moses, De 1:24-33, which caused the Lord to be angry with them, and upon it threatened them that they should die in the wilderness, and only two of them should ever see and enjoy the land, and therefore were bid to turn and take their journey in the wilderness, De 1:34-40, but being convinced of their evil, they proposed to go up the hill, and enter the land, which they attempted against the commandment of the Lord, but being repulsed by the Amorites, they fled with great loss, to their great grief, and abode in Kadesh many days, De 1:41-46.