Deuteronomy 11:30

30 As you know, they are beyond the Jordan, some distance to the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oak of Moreh.

Deuteronomy 11:30 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 11:30

Are they not on the other side Jordan
Opposite to that where Moses now was in the plains of Moab, even in Samaria; so in the Misnah F20 it is said,

``as soon as Israel passed over Jordan, they came to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, which are in Samaria;''

but those mountains were not near Jordan nor Jericho, to which the people of Israel came first, but sixty miles from thence; though they were, as Moses says, on the other side from the place they now were:

by the way wherewith the sun goeth down;
or, as the Targum of Jonathan,

``after the way of the sun setting;''

following that, or taking their direction from thence, signifying that they lay to the west of Jordan:

in the land of the Canaanites;
of that particular tribe or nation which were eminently called Canaanites, for these dwelt by the sea by the coast of Jordan, ( Numbers 13:29 ) or as further described,

that dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal;
in the plain open champaign country opposite to Gilgal; not that Gilgal Joshua encamped at before he came to Jericho, which in Moses's time was not known by that name, but another, as Dr. Lightfoot F21 observes, and he thinks Galilee is meant:

beside the plains of Moreh;
near to Shechem, ( Genesis 12:6 ) and that Gerizim, one of these mountains, was not far from Shechem, is evident from ( Judges 9:6 Judges 9:7 ) and so in the Misnah F23 it is said, that these mountains were on the side of Shechem, which is in the plains of Moreh, as in ( Deuteronomy 11:30 ) ( Genesis 12:6 ) as the plains of Moreh here denote Shechem, so there: Benjamin of Tudela says F24 there is a valley between them, in which lies Shechem; and in his time there were on Mount Gerizim fountains and orchards, but Mount Ebal was dry like stones and rocks. The Targum of Jonathan here, instead of Moreh, reads Mamre; see ( Genesis 13:18 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Sotah, c. 7. sect. 5.
F21 Chorograph. Cent. c. 48.
F23 Sotah, c. 7. sect. 5.
F24 Itinerarium, p. 38, 40.

Deuteronomy 11:30 In-Context

28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn from the way that I am commanding you today, to follow other gods that you have not known.
29 When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that you are entering to occupy, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
30 As you know, they are beyond the Jordan, some distance to the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oak of Moreh.
31 When you cross the Jordan to go in to occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and when you occupy it and live in it,
32 you must diligently observe all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Gk Syr: Compare Gen 12.6; Heb [oaks] or [terebinths]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.