Deuteronomy 1:1-22

The Covenant Setting

1:1 This is what ¹  Moses said to the assembly of Israel ²  in the Transjordanian ³  wastelands, the arid country opposite ⁴  Suph, ⁵  between ⁶  Paran ⁷  and Tophel, ⁸  Laban, ⁹  Hazeroth, ¹⁰  and Di Zahab ¹¹  1:2 Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journey ¹²  from Horeb ¹³  to Kadesh Barnea ¹⁴  by way of Mount Seir. ¹⁵  1:3 However, it was not until ¹⁶  the first day of the eleventh month ¹⁷  of the fortieth year ¹⁸  that Moses addressed the Israelites just as ¹⁹  the Lord had instructed him to do. 1:4 This took place after the defeat ²⁰  of King Sihon ²¹  of the Amorites, whose capital was ²²  in Heshbon, ²³  and King Og of Bashan, whose capital was ²⁴  in Ashtaroth, ²⁵  specifically in Edrei. ²⁶  1:5 So it was in the Transjordan, in Moab, that Moses began to deliver these words: ²⁷ 

Events at Horeb

1:6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb and said, “You have stayed ²⁸  in the area of this mountain long enough. 1:7 Get up now, ²⁹  resume your journey, heading for ³⁰  the Amorite hill country, to all its areas ³¹  including the arid country, ³²  the highlands, the Shephelah, ³³  the Negev, ³⁴  and the coastal plain – all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates. 1:8 Look! I have already given the land to you. ³⁵  Go, occupy the territory that I, ³⁶  the Lord, promised ³⁷  to give to your ancestors ³⁸  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants.” ³⁹  1:9 I also said to you at that time, “I am no longer able to sustain you by myself. 1:10 The Lord your God has increased your population ⁴⁰  to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky. ⁴¹  1:11 Indeed, may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you ⁴²  just as he said he would! 1:12 But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife? 1:13 Select wise and practical ⁴³  men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders.” 1:14 You replied to me that what I had said to you was good. 1:15 So I chose ⁴⁴  as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials. 1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they ⁴⁵  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ⁴⁶  and judge fairly, ⁴⁷  whether between one citizen and another ⁴⁸  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ⁴⁹  1:17 They ⁵⁰  must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly ⁵¹  and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.

Instructions at Kadesh Barnea

1:18 So I instructed you at that time regarding everything you should do. 1:19 Then we left Horeb and passed through all that immense, forbidding wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as the Lord our God had commanded us to do, finally arriving at Kadesh Barnea. 1:20 Then I said to you, “You have come to the Amorite hill country which the Lord our God is about to give ⁵²  us. 1:21 Look, he ⁵³  has placed the land in front of you! ⁵⁴  Go up, take possession of it, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to do. Do not be afraid or discouraged!” 1:22 So all of you approached me and said, “Let’s send some men ahead of us to scout out the land and bring us back word as to how we should attack it and what the cities are like there.”

[1:1]  ¹ tn Heb “These are the words.”

[1:1]  ² tn Heb “to all Israel.”

[1:1]  ³ tn Heb “on the other side of the Jordan.” This would appear to favor authorship by someone living on the west side of the Jordan, that is, in Canaan, whereas the biblical tradition locates Moses on the east side (cf. v. 5). However the Hebrew phrase בְּעֵבֶר הַיּרְדֵּן (bÿ’ever hayyrÿden) is a frozen form meaning “Transjordan,” a name appropriate from any geographical vantage point. To this day, one standing east of the Jordan can describe himself as being in Transjordan.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term מוֹל (mol) may also mean “in front of” or “near” (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[1:1]  ⁵ sn This place is otherwise unattested and its location is unknown. Perhaps it is Khirbet Sufah, 4 mi (6 km) SSE of Madaba, Jordan.

[1:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term בֵּין (ben) may suggest “in the area of.”

[1:1]  ⁷ sn Paran is the well-known desert area between Mount Sinai and Kadesh Barnea (cf. Num 10:12; 12:16).

[1:1]  ⁸ sn Tophel refers possibly to et£-T£afîleh, 15 mi (25 km) SE of the Dead Sea, or to Da‚bîlu, another name for Paran. See H. Cazelles, “Tophel (Deut. 1:1),” VT 9 (1959): 412-15.

[1:1]  ⁹ sn Laban. Perhaps this refers to Libnah (Num 33:20).

[1:1]  ¹⁰ sn Hazeroth. This probably refers to àAin Khadra. See Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 199-200.

[1:1]  ¹¹ sn Di Zahab. Perhaps this refers to Mina al-Dhahab on the eastern Sinai coast.

[1:2]  ¹² sn An eleven-day journey was about 140 mi (233 km).

[1:2]  ¹³ sn Horeb is another name for Sinai. “Horeb” occurs 9 times in the Book of Deuteronomy and “Sinai” only once (33:2). “Sinai” occurs 13 times in the Book of Exodus and “Horeb” only 3 times.

[1:2]  ¹⁴ sn Kadesh Barnea. Possibly this refers to àAin Qudeis, about 50 mi (80 km) southwest of Beer Sheba, but more likely to àAin Qudeirat, 5 mi (8 km) NW of àAin Qudeis. See R. Cohen, “Did I Excavate Kadesh-Barnea?” BAR 7 (1981): 20-33.

[1:2]  ¹⁵ sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom. “By way of Mount Seir” refers to the route from Horeb that ended up in Edom Cf. CEV “by way of the Mount Seir Road”; TEV “by way of the hill country of Edom.”

[1:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in” or “on.” Here there is a contrast between the ordinary time of eleven days (v. 2) and the actual time of forty years, so “not until” brings out that vast disparity.

[1:3]  ¹⁷ sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.

[1:3]  ¹⁸ sn The fortieth year would be 1406 b.c. according to the “early” date of the exodus. See E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 66-75.

[1:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “according to all which.”

[1:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “when he struck [or “smote”].”

[1:4]  ²¹ sn See Deut 2:26–3:22.

[1:4]  ²² tn Heb “who lived.”

[1:4]  ²³ sn Heshbon is probably modern Tell Hesban, about 7.5 mi (12 km) south southwest of Amman, Jordan.

[1:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “who lived.”

[1:4]  ²⁵ sn Ashtaroth is probably Tell àAshtarah, about 22 mi (35 km) due east of the Sea of Galilee.

[1:4]  ²⁶ sn Edrei is probably modern Deràa, 60 mi (95 km) south of Damascus (see Num 21:33; Josh 12:4; 13:12, 31).

[1:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “this instruction”; KJV, NIV, NRSV “this law”; TEV “God’s laws and teachings.” The Hebrew noun תוֹרָה (torah) is derived from the verb יָרָה (yarah, “to teach”) and here it refers to the Book of Deuteronomy, not the Pentateuch as a whole.

[1:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “lived”; “dwelled.”

[1:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “turn”; NAB “Leave here”; NIV, TEV “Break camp.”

[1:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “go (to).”

[1:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “its dwelling places.”

[1:7]  ³² tn Heb “the Arabah” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:7]  ³³ tn Heb “lowlands” (so TEV) or “steppes”; NIV, CEV, NLT “the western foothills.”

[1:7]  ³⁴ sn The Hebrew term Negev means literally “desert” or “south” (so KJV, ASV). It refers to the area south of Beer Sheba and generally west of the Arabah Valley between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.

[1:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “I have placed before you the land.”

[1:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” Since the Lord is speaking, it is preferable for clarity to supply the first person pronoun in the translation.

[1:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “swore” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This refers to God’s promise, made by solemn oath, to give the patriarchs the land.

[1:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 11, 21, 35).

[1:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “their seed after them.”

[1:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “multiplied you.”

[1:10]  ⁴¹ tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[1:11]  ⁴² tn Heb “may he bless you.”

[1:13]  ⁴³ tn The Hebrew verb נְבֹנִים (nÿvonim, from בִּין [bin]) is a Niphal referring to skill or intelligence (see T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:652-53).

[1:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”

[1:16]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:16]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.

[1:16]  ⁴⁷ tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).

[1:16]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”

[1:16]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”

[1:17]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[1:17]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.

[1:20]  ⁵² tn The Hebrew participle has an imminent future sense here, although many English versions treat it as a present tense (“is giving us,” NAB, NIV, NRSV) or a predictive future (“will give us,” NCV).

[1:21]  ⁵³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid repetition.

[1:21]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “has given you the land” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).