Deuteronomy 1

De 1:1-46.

MOSES'

SPEECH AT THE

END OF THE

FORTIETH

YEAR.

1. These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel--The mental

condition of the people generally in that infantine age of the Church,

and the greater number of them being of young or tender years, rendered

it expedient to repeat the laws and counsels which God had given.

Accordingly, to furnish a recapitulation of the leading branches of

their faith and duty was among the last public services which Moses

rendered to Israel. The scene of their delivery was on the plains of

Moab where the encampment was pitched

on this side Jordan--or, as the Hebrew word may be rendered "on

the bank of the Jordan."

in the wilderness, in the plain--the Arabah, a desert plain, or steppe,

extended the whole way from the Red Sea north to the Sea of Tiberias.

While the high tablelands of Moab were "cultivated fields," the Jordan

valley, at the foot of the mountains where Israel was encamped, was a

part of the great desert plain, little more inviting than the desert of

Arabia. The locale is indicated by the names of the most prominent

places around it. Some of these places are unknown to us. The Hebrew word, Suph, "red" (for "sea," which our translators have inserted,

is not in the original, and Moses was now farther from the Red Sea than ever),

probably meant a place noted for its reeds

(Nu 21:14).

Tophel--identified as Tafyle or Tafeilah, lying between Bozrah and

Kerak.

Hazeroth--is a different place from that at which the Israelites

encamped after leaving "the desert of Sinai."

2. There are eleven days' journey from Horeb--Distances are computed in

the East still by the hours or days occupiesd by the journey. A day's

journey on foot is about twenty miles--on camels, at the rate of three

miles an hour, thirty miles--and by caravans, about twenty-five miles.

But the Israelites, with children and flocks, would move at a slow

rate. The length of the Ghor from Ezion-geber to Kadesh is a hundred

miles. The days here mentioned were not necessarily successive days

[ROBINSON], for the journey can be made in a much shorter period. But

this mention of the time was made to show that the great number of

years spent in travelling from Horeb to the plain of Moab was not owing

to the length of the way, but to a very different cause; namely,

banishment for their apostasy and frequent rebellions.

mount Seir--the mountainous country of Edom.

3-8. in the fortieth year . . . Moses spake unto the children of

Israel, &c.--This impressive discourse, in which Moses reviewed all

that God had done for His people, was delivered about a month before his

death, and after peace and tranquillity had been restored by the

complete conquest of Sihon and Og.

4. Ashtaroth--the royal residence of Og, so called from Astarte ("the

moon"), the tutelary goddess of the Syrians. Og was slain at

Edrei--now Edhra, the ruins of which are fourteen miles in

circumference [BURCKHARDT]; its general breadth is about

two leagues.

5. On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare

this law--that is, explain this law. He follows the same method here

that he elsewhere observes; namely, that of first enumerating the

marvellous doings of God in behalf of His people, and reminding them

what an unworthy requital they had made for all His kindness--then he

rehearses the law and its various precepts.

6. The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long

enough in this mount--Horeb was the general name of a mountainous

district; literally, "the parched" or "burnt region," whereas Sinai was

the name appropriated to a particular peak

[see on

Ex 19:2].

About a year had been spent among the recesses of that wild solitude,

in laying the foundation, under the immediate direction of God, of a

new and peculiar community, as to its social, political, and, above

all, religious character; and when this purpose had been accomplished,

they were ordered to break up their encampment in Horeb. The command

given them was to march straight to Canaan, and possess it

[De 1:7].

7. the mount of the Amorites--the hilly tract lying next to

Kadesh-barnea in the south of Canaan.

to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon--that is,

Phœnicia, the country of Sidon, and the coast of the

Mediterranean--from the Philistines to Lebanon. The name "Canaanite" is

often used synonymously with that of "Phœnician."

8. I have set the land before you--literally, "before your faces"--it

is accessible; there is no impediment to your occupation. The order of

the journey as indicated by the places mentioned would have led to a

course of invasion, the opposite of what was eventually followed;

namely, from the seacoast eastward--instead of from the Jordan westward

(see on

Nu 20:1).

9-18. I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you

myself alone--a little before their arrival in Horeb. Moses addresses

that new generation as the representatives of their fathers, in whose

sight and hearing all the transactions he recounts took place. A

reference is here made to the suggestion of Jethro

(Ex 18:18).

In noticing his practical adoption of a plan by which the

administration of justice was committed to a select number of

subordinate officers, Moses, by a beautiful allusion to the patriarchal

blessing, ascribed the necessity of that memorable change in the

government to the vast increase of the population.

10. ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude--This was

neither an Oriental hyperbole nor a mere empty boast. Abraham was told

(Ge 15:5, 6)

to look to the stars, and though they "appear" innumerable, yet those

seen by the naked eye amount, in reality, to no more than three

thousand ten in both hemispheres. The Israelites already far exceeded

that number, being at the last census above six hundred thousand

[Nu 26:51].

It was a seasonable memento, calculated to animate their faith in the

accomplishment of other parts of the divine promise.

19-21. we went through all that great and terrible wilderness--of

Paran, which included the desert and mountainous space lying between

the wilderness of Shur westward, or towards Egypt and mount Seir, or

the land of Edom eastwards; between the land of Canaan northwards, and

the Red Sea southwards; and thus it appears to have comprehended really

the wilderness of Sin and Sinai

[FISK]. It is called by the Arabs El

Tih, "the wandering." It is a dreary waste of rock and of calcareous

soil covered with black sharp flints; all travellers, from a feeling of

its complete isolation from the world, describe it as a great and

terrible wilderness.

22-33. ye came . . . and said, We will send men before us, and they

shall search us out the land--The proposal to despatch spies emanated

from the people through unbelief; but Moses, believing them sincere,

gave his cordial assent to this measure, and God on being consulted

permitted them to follow the suggestion (see on

Nu 13:1).

The issue proved disastrous to them, only through their own sin and

folly.

28. the cities are great, and walled up to heaven--an Oriental

metaphor, meaning very high. The Arab marauders roam about on

horseback, and hence the walls of St. Catherine's monastery on Sinai

are so lofty that travellers are drawn up by a pulley in a basket.

Anakims--(See on

Nu 13:33).

The honest and uncompromising language of Moses, in reminding the

Israelites of their perverse conduct and outrageous rebellion at the

report of the treacherous and fainthearted scouts, affords a strong

evidence of the truth of this history as well as of the divine

authority of his mission. There was great reason for his dwelling on

this dark passage in their history, as it was their unbelief that

excluded them from the privilege of entering the promised land

(Heb 3:19);

and that unbelief was a marvellous exhibition of human perversity,

considering the miracles which God had wrought in their favor,

especially in the daily manifestations they had of His presence among

them as their leader and protector.

34-36. the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth--In

consequence of this aggravated offense (unbelief followed by open

rebellion), the Israelites were doomed, in the righteous judgment of

God, to a life of wandering in that dreary wilderness till the whole

adult generation had disappeared by death. The only exceptions

mentioned are Caleb and Joshua, who was to be Moses' successor.

37. Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes--This statement

seems to indicate that it was on this occasion Moses was condemned

to share the fate of the people. But we know that it was several years

afterwards that Moses betrayed an unhappy spirit of distrust at the

waters of strife

(Ps 106:32, 33).

This verse must be considered therefore as a parenthesis.

39. your children . . . who in that day had no knowledge between good

and evil--All ancient versions read "to-day" instead of "that day";

and the sense is--"your children who now know," or "who know not

as yet good or evil." As the children had not been partakers of the

sinful outbreak, they were spared to obtain the privilege which their

unbelieving parents had forfeited. God's ways are not as man's ways

[Isa 55:8, 9].

40-45. turn you, and take your journey into the . . . Red Sea--This

command they disregarded, and, determined to force an onward passage in

spite of the earnest remonstrances of Moses, they attempted to cross

the heights then occupied by the combined forces of the Amorites and

Amalekites (compare

Nu 14:43),

but were repulsed with great loss. People often experience distress

even while in the way of duty. But how different their condition who

suffer in situations where God is with them from the feelings of those

who are conscious that they are in a position directly opposed to the

divine will! The Israelites were grieved when they found themselves

involved in difficulties and perils; but their sorrow arose not from a

sense of the guilt so much as the sad effects of their perverse

conduct; and "though they wept," they were not true penitents. So the

Lord would not hearken to their voice, nor give ear unto them.

46. So ye abode at Kadesh many days--That place had been the site of

their encampment during the absence of the spies, which lasted forty

days, and it is supposed from this verse that they prolonged their stay

there after their defeat for a similar period.