Deuteronomy 1

Deuteronomy 1:1 These are the words Moses said to all Israel across the Jordan in the open country,[1] in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.

Deuteronomy 1:2 It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-Barnea by way of Mount Seir.

Deuteronomy 1:3 In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, Moses told the Israelites everything Yahveh[2] had commanded[3] him to say to them.

Deuteronomy 1:4 This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.

Deuteronomy 1:5 Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this instruction,[4] and this is what he said:

Deueronomy 1:6 “Yahveh our God spoke to us at Horeb: and this is what he said: ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

Deuteronomy 1:7 Turn and set out and go to the hill country of the Amorites and their neighbors in the Arabah, the hill country, the Judean foothills, the Negev and the sea coast – to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates River.

Deuteronomy 1:8 See, I have given the land in your sight. Enter and take possession of[5] the land Yahveh swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants after them.’

Deuteronomy 1:9 “I spoke to you at that time, and this is what I said: I can’t bear the responsibility for you on my own.

Deuteronomy 1:10 Yahveh your God has so multiplied you that notice[6] today you are as numerous as the stars of the sky.

Deuteronomy 1:11 May Yahveh, the God of your fathers, add to[7] you a thousand times more, and empower[8] you as he promised you.

Deuteronomy 1:12 But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes by myself?

Deuteronomy 1:13 Appoint for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will place[9] them as your heads.

Deuteronomy 1:14 “You answered[10] me, ‘What you propose to do is good.’

Deuteronomy 1:15 “So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and set them over you as leaders: commanders for thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and officers for your tribes.

Deuteronomy 1:16 I commanded your judges at that time, and this is what I said: Hear the cases between your brothers and judge ethically between a man and his brother or his guest.[11]

Deuteronomy 1:17 Do not show partiality when deciding a case; listen to small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone because judgment[12] belongs to God. Bring me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.

Deuteronomy 1:18 At that time, I commanded you about all the matters you were to accomplish.

Deuteronomy 1:19 “We then set out from Horeb and walked across all the great and dangerous open country you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as Yahveh our God had commanded us. When we reached Kadesh-Barnea,

Deuteronomy 1:20 I said to you: You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahveh our God is giving us.

Deuteronomy 1:21 See, Yahveh, your God has given the land in your sight. Go up and take possession of it as Yahveh, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or filled with terror.

Deuteronomy 1:22 “Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let’s send men ahead of us, so that they may explore the land for us and bring us back a word about the route we should go up and the cities we will come to.’

Deuteronomy 1:23 The request seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one man from each tribe.

Deuteronomy 1:24 They left and went up into the hill country and came to the Valley of Eshcol, scouting the land.

Deuteronomy 1:25 They took some of the fruit from the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us back a word: ‘The land Yahveh our God is giving us is good.’

Deuteronomy 1:26 “But you were not willing to go up. You rebelled against the command of Yahveh your God.

Deuteronomy 1:27 You criticized[13] it in your tents and said, ‘Yahveh brought us out of the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites in order to exterminate[14] us because he hates us.

Deuteronomy 1:28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart, saying: The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, fortified to the sky. We also saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’

Deuteronomy 1:29 “Then I said to you: Don’t be terrified and don’t be afraid of them!

Deuteronomy 1:30 Yahveh, your God who goes ahead of you, will fight for you, just as you saw him do for you in Egypt.

Deuteronomy 1:31 And you saw in the open country how Yahveh your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place.

Deuteronomy 1:32 But in this matter you did not trust Yahveh your God,

Deuteronomy 1:33 who went ahead of you on the road to spy out a place for you to camp. He went in the fire by night to guide you on the road you were to travel and in the cloud by day.

Deuteronomy 1:34 “When Yahveh heard your words, he was infuriated[15] and swore an oath, and this is what he said:

Deuteronomy 1:35 ‘None of these men in this evil generation will see the good land I swore to give your fathers,

Deuteronomy 1:36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot because he remained loyal to Yahveh.’

Deuteronomy 1:37 “Yahveh was angry with me also because of you and this is what he said: ‘You will not enter there either.

Deuteronomy 1:38 Joshua, son of Nun, who attends you, will enter it. Make him strong,[16] because he will enable Israel to inherit it.

Deuteronomy 1:39 Your children, whom you said would be plunder, your sons who don’t yet know good from evil, will enter there. I will give them the land, and they will take possession of it.

Deuteronomy 1:40 But you are to turn back and head for the open country by way of the Red Sea.’

Deuteronomy 1:41 “You answered me, ‘We have failed[17] Yahveh. We will go up and fight just as Yahveh our God commanded us.’ Then each of you put on his weapons of war and thought it would be easy to go up into the hill country.

Deuteronomy 1:42 “But Yahveh said to me, ‘Tell them: Don’t go up and fight, because I am not with you to keep you from being defeated in your enemies’ sight.’

Deuteronomy 1:43 So I said that to you, but you didn’t listen. You rebelled against Yahveh’s command and defiantly went up into the hill country.

Deuteronomy 1:44 Then the Amorites who lived there came out against you and chased you as if you were a swarm of bees. They crushed[18] you from Seir as far as Hormah.

Deuteronomy 1:45 When you returned, you wept in Yahveh’s sight, but he didn’t listen to your requests or pay attention to you.

Deuteronomy 1:46 This is the reason you stayed in Kadesh as long as you did.

[1]מִדְבָּר = open country. Deuteronomy 1:1, 19, 31, 40; 2:1, 7-8, 26; 4:43; 8:2, 15-16; 9:7, 28; 11:5, 24; 29:5; 32:10, 51.

[2]יהוה = Yahveh. Deuteronomy 1:3, 6, 8, 10-11, 19-21, 25-27, 30-32, 34, 36-37, 41-43, 45; 2:1-2, 7, 9, 12, 14-15, 17, 21, 29-31, 33, 36-37; 3:2-3, 18, 20-24, 26; 4:1-5, 7, 10, 12, 14-15, 19-21, 23-25, 27, 29-31, 34-35, 39-40; 5:2-6, 9, 11-12, 14-16, 22, 24-25, 27-28, 32-33; 6:1-5, 10, 12-13, 15-22, 24-25; 7:1-2, 4, 6-9, 12, 15-16, 18-23, 25; 8:1-3, 5-7, 10-11, 14, 18-20; 9:3-13, 16, 18-20, 22-26, 28; 10:1, 4-5, 8-15, 17, 20, 22; 11:1-2, 4, 7, 9, 12-13, 17, 21-23, 25, 27-29, 31; 12:1, 4-5, 7, 9-12, 14-15, 18, 20-21, 25-29, 31; 13:3-5, 10, 12, 16-18; 14:1-2, 21, 23-26, 29; 15:2, 4-7, 9-10, 14-15, 18-21; 16:1-2, 5-8, 10-11, 15-18, 20-22; 17:1-2, 8, 10, 12, 14-16, 19; 18:1-2, 5-7, 9, 12-17, 21-22; 19:1-3, 8-10, 14, 17; 20:1, 4, 13-14, 16-18; 21:1, 5, 8-10, 23; 22:5; 23:1-3, 5, 8, 14, 18, 20-21, 23; 24:4, 9, 13, 15, 18-19; 25:15-16, 19; 26:1-5, 7-8, 10-11, 13-14, 16-19; 27:2-3, 5-7, 9-10, 15; 28:1-2, 7-13, 15, 20-22, 24-25, 27-28, 35-37, 45, 47-49, 52-53, 58-59, 61-65, 68; 29:1-2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20-25, 27-29; 30:1-10, 16, 20; 31:2-9, 11-16, 25-27, 29; 32:3, 6, 9, 12, 19, 27, 30, 36, 48; 33:2, 7, 11-13, 21, 23, 29; 34:1, 4-5, 9-11.

[3]צוּה = command. Deuteronomy 1:3, 16, 18-19, 41; 2:4, 37; 3:18, 21, 28; 4:2, 5, 13-14, 23, 40; 5:12, 15-16, 32-33; 6:1-2, 6, 17, 20, 24-25; 7:11; 8:1, 11; 9:12, 16; 10:5, 13; 11:8, 13, 22, 27-28; 12:11, 14, 21, 28, 32; 13:5, 18; 15:5, 11, 15; 17:3; 18:18, 20; 19:7, 9; 20:17; 24:8, 18, 22; 26:13-14, 16; 27:1, 4, 10-11; 28:1, 8, 13-15, 45; 29:1; 30:2, 8, 11, 16; 31:5, 10, 14, 23, 25, 29; 32:46; 33:4; 34:9.

[4]תּוֹרָה = instruction. Deuteronomy 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:11, 18-19; 27:3, 8, 26; 28:58, 61; 29:21, 29; 30:10; 31:9, 11-12, 24, 26; 32:46; 33:4, 10.

[5]יָרַשׁ = take possession of. Deuteronomy 1:8, 21, 39; 2:12, 21-22, 24, 31; 3:12, 18, 20; 4:1, 5, 14, 22, 26, 38, 47; 5:31, 33; 6:1, 18; 7:1, 17; 8:1; 9:1, 3-6, 23; 10:11; 11:8, 10-11, 23, 29, 31; 12:1-2, 29; 15:4; 16:20; 17:14; 18:12, 14; 19:1-2, 14; 21:1; 23:20; 25:19; 26:1; 28:21, 42, 63; 30:5, 16, 18; 31:3, 13; 32:47; 33:23.

[6]הִנֵּה = notice. Deuteronomy 1:10; 3:11; 9:13, 16; 13:14; 17:4; 19:18; 22:17; 26:10; 31:16.

[7]יָסַף = add to. Deuteronomy 1:11; 3:26; 4:2; 5:22; 12:32; 13:11; 17:16; 18:16; 19:9, 20; 20:8; 25:3; 28:68.

[8]בּרךְ = empower or endorse. Deuteronomy 1:11; 2:7; 7:13-14; 8:10; 10:8; 12:7; 14:24, 29; 15:4, 6, 10, 14, 18; 16:10, 15; 21:5; 23:20; 24:13, 19; 26:15; 27:12; 28:3-6, 8, 12; 29:19; 30:16; 33:1, 11, 13, 20, 24.

[9] שׂוּם = place. Deuteronomy 1:13; 4:44; 7:15; 10:2, 5, 22; 11:18; 12:5, 21; 14:1, 24; 17:14-15; 22:8, 14, 17; 26:2; 27:15; 31:19, 26; 32:46; 33:10.

[10]עָנָה = answer. Deuteronomy 1:14; 5:20; 19:16, 18; 20:11; 21:7; 25:9; 26:5; 27:14-15; 31:21.

[11]גֵּר = guest. Deuteronomy 1:16; 5:14; 10:18-19; 14:21, 29; 16:11, 14; 23:7; 24:14, 17, 19-21; 26:11-13; 27:19; 28:43; 29:11; 31:12.

[12]מִשׁפָּט = judgment. Deuteronomy 1:17; 4:1, 5, 8, 14, 45; 5:1, 31; 6:1, 20; 7:11-12; 8:11; 10:18; 11:1, 32; 12:1; 16:18-19; 17:8-9, 11; 18:3; 19:6; 21:17, 22; 24:17; 25:1; 26:16-17; 27:19; 30:16; 32:4, 41; 33:10, 21.

[13]רגן = criticize.

[14]שׁמד = exterminate. Deuteronomy 1:27; 2:12, 21-23; 4:3, 26; 6:15; 7:4, 23-24; 9:3, 8, 14, 19-20, 25; 12:30; 28:20, 24, 45, 48, 51, 61, 63; 31:3-4; 33:27.

[15]קָצַף = Deut 1:34; 9:7-8, 19, 22.

[16]חָזַק = be strong, make strong. Deuteronomy 1:38; 3:28; 11:8; 12:23; 22:25; 25:11; 31:6-7, 23.

[17]חטָא = fail. Deuteronomy 1:41; 9:16, 18; 19:15; 20:18; 24:4.

[18]כְּתַת = crush. Deuteronomy 1:44; 9:21.

Deuteronomy 1 quotes:

“Such is the commencement of the fifth and last Book of the Pentateuch ,called Deuteronomy , or the second law, because it contains a repetition of the law which had been already promulged . Not indeed of the whole law, for that which regarded the priests and Levites , does not appear to have been repeated , but those which chiefly affected the congregation , the body of the people . These were all rehearsed by Moses during the last month of his life, which , together with the month of mourning for the patriarch himself, occupies the whole period contained in this book.”

Blunt, Henry. A Family Exposition of the Pentateuch. London: J. Hatchard and Son, 1844. p. 173.

“In
this book the inspired Lawgiver no longer comes before us as an Historian or a Legislator, but appears as a grand orator, a sublime Poet, a heart-stirring Preacher, and a divinely -inspired Prophet of GOD . The name, “ Deuteronomy,” is derived from the Septuagint and Vulgate versions of chapter xvii. verse 18 , where it is written that the King, ” when he sitteth upon the throne of his king dom, shall write him a copy of this law in a book,” and where the versions we have mentioned read, “ he shall write for himself the Deuteronomy.” But the word
Deuteronomy is not to be so understood as if Moses here designed to give a second Law, for he adds no new Law, but now in the last year and last month of his life, uttering as it were his farewell voice to the world, he reminds the people under his charge of what he had already delivered to them.”

Browne Robert Henry Nisbett. Christ in Deuteronomy : The Fulfilling of the Law. 1872. p. 1-2.

“This is a document that appears not as a record after the event but as itself an event in its own right. Jt springs full-grown from a background of obsecurity, and from the moment of its disclosure takes its place among the great books of all time. This position is due not only to its contents but equally to the remarkable religious movement occasioned by its appearance. It
is one of the books that made history.”

Longacre, Lindsay Bartholomew. Deuteronomy: A Prophetic Lawbook. New York: The Methodist Book Concern, 1924. p. 11.

When , with the man of the Spiritual Church , the state of tempta tion is completed by which faith in the Lord is formed and a new state of life is inaugurated, then there is with him from the Lord , by Divine Truth , the remembrance of former states of instruction , vers . 1-6 . 2. He is reminded also that exploration had been made of his state as to evils of various kinds , in order that these might be seen and overcome , and that a state of good and truth might take their place ; and he reflects further upon the way in which he had been
governed by the Lord through Divine Truths in due subordination , vers. 7-18 . 3. He remembers, too , the temptations through which he had passed ; the encouragement he had received ; his efforts in still more closely investigating theheavenly state ; the lack of courage among those who had remained in a merely natural state ; the eagerness and folly of those who essayed to overcome evil from selfish motives alone ; and their entire failure, involving his own further experiences in an intermediate state, vers . 19-46.”

Maclagan Henry. The Book of Deuteronomy Interpreted and Explained According to Its Spiritual or Internal Sense : With Copious References to the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. A. Gardner 1914. p. 1.

“Deuteronomy is аa. book intended for the people it might be described as the Institution of a Hebrew man ‘ — it is a manual, a rule of life addressed to all Israel, and also to each individual. Its end and aim is to bring about one éthos or moral tone, for the whole nation , to make it one in sentiment and religion , serving one God, and abhorring idolatry , a holy and unique people. Remembrance of God’s mercy is to turn their will and sway their emotions, and kindle them to love Him and serve Him with gladness and alacrity .
The author’s words come from his heart, and are meant for the hearts of his hearers.”

Wilkins G. The Fifth Book of Moses Called Deuteronomy. J.M. Dent ; J.B. Lippincott 1902. p. xxvi.

“Hence at Horeb, and again at Mount Seir,4 and now in the plains of Moab, where Moses addressed the people, the call comes constantly to move on, until the promised land is the possessed land.”

Craigie Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. Eerdmans 1976. p. 95.