Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 1:1
Context1:1 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
Deuteronomy 1:1-46
Context1:1 This is what 12 Moses said to the assembly of Israel 13 in the Transjordanian 14 wastelands, the arid country opposite 15 Suph, 16 between 17 Paran 18 and Tophel, 19 Laban, 20 Hazeroth, 21 and Di Zahab 22 1:2 Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journey 23 from Horeb 24 to Kadesh Barnea 25 by way of Mount Seir. 26 1:3 However, it was not until 27 the first day of the eleventh month 28 of the fortieth year 29 that Moses addressed the Israelites just as 30 the Lord had instructed him to do. 1:4 This took place after the defeat 31 of King Sihon 32 of the Amorites, whose capital was 33 in Heshbon, 34 and King Og of Bashan, whose capital was 35 in Ashtaroth, 36 specifically in Edrei. 37 1:5 So it was in the Transjordan, in Moab, that Moses began to deliver these words: 38
1:6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb and said, “You have stayed 39 in the area of this mountain long enough. 1:7 Get up now, 40 resume your journey, heading for 41 the Amorite hill country, to all its areas 42 including the arid country, 43 the highlands, the Shephelah, 44 the Negev, 45 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. 46 Go, occupy the territory that I, 47 the Lord, promised 48 to give to your ancestors 49 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants.” 50 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 51 to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky. 52 1:11 Indeed, may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you 53 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 54 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 55 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 56 should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens 57 and judge fairly, 58 whether between one citizen and another 59 or a citizen and a resident foreigner. 60 1:17 They 61 must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly 62 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.
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 63 us. 1:21 Look, he 64 has placed the land in front of you! 65 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.” 1:23 I thought this was a good idea, 66 so I sent 67 twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. 1:24 They left and went up to the hill country, coming to the Eshcol Valley, 68 which they scouted out. 1:25 Then they took 69 some of the produce of the land and carried it back down to us. They also brought a report to us, saying, “The land that the Lord our God is about to give us is good.”
1:26 You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. 70 1:27 You complained among yourselves privately 71 and said, “Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! 1:28 What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage 72 by describing people who are more numerous 73 and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven 74 itself! Moreover, they said they saw 75 Anakites 76 there.” 1:29 So I responded to you, “Do not be terrified 77 of them! 1:30 The Lord your God is about to go 78 ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt 79 1:31 and in the desert, where you saw him 80 carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place.” 1:32 However, through all this you did not have confidence in the Lord your God, 1:33 the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go.
1:34 When the Lord heard you, he became angry and made this vow: 81 1:35 “Not a single person 82 of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors! 1:36 The exception is Caleb son of Jephunneh; 83 he will see it and I will give him and his descendants the territory on which he has walked, because he has wholeheartedly followed me.” 84 1:37 As for me, the Lord was also angry with me on your account. He said, “You also will not be able to go there. 1:38 However, Joshua son of Nun, your assistant, 85 will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land. 86 1:39 Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way, 87 and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad, 88 will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it. 1:40 But as for you, 89 turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea.” 90
1:41 Then you responded to me and admitted, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight as the Lord our God has told us to do.” So you each put on your battle gear and prepared to go up to the hill country. 1:42 But the Lord told me: “Tell them this: ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.’” 1:43 I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the Lord 91 and recklessly went up to the hill country. 1:44 The Amorite inhabitants of that area 92 confronted 93 you and chased you like a swarm of bees, striking you down from Seir as far as Hormah. 94 1:45 Then you came back and wept before the Lord, but he 95 paid no attention to you whatsoever. 96 1:46 Therefore, you remained at Kadesh for a long time – indeed, for the full time. 97
[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.
[1:1] 12 tn Heb “These are the words.”
[1:1] 13 tn Heb “to all Israel.”
[1:1] 14 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] 15 tn The Hebrew term מוֹל (mol) may also mean “in front of” or “near” (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
[1:1] 16 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] 17 tn The Hebrew term בֵּין (ben) may suggest “in the area of.”
[1:1] 18 sn Paran is the well-known desert area between Mount Sinai and Kadesh Barnea (cf. Num 10:12; 12:16).
[1:1] 19 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] 20 sn Laban. Perhaps this refers to Libnah (Num 33:20).
[1:1] 21 sn Hazeroth. This probably refers to àAin Khadra. See Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 199-200.
[1:1] 22 sn Di Zahab. Perhaps this refers to Mina al-Dhahab on the eastern Sinai coast.
[1:2] 23 sn An eleven-day journey was about 140 mi (233 km).
[1:2] 24 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] 25 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] 26 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] 34 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] 35 sn The eleventh month is Shebat in the Hebrew calendar, January/February in the modern (Gregorian) calendar.
[1:3] 36 sn The fortieth year would be 1406
[1:3] 37 tn Heb “according to all which.”
[1:4] 45 tn Heb “when he struck [or “smote”].”
[1:4] 46 sn See Deut 2:26–3:22.
[1:4] 48 sn Heshbon is probably modern Tell Hesban, about 7.5 mi (12 km) south southwest of Amman, Jordan.
[1:4] 50 sn Ashtaroth is probably Tell àAshtarah, about 22 mi (35 km) due east of the Sea of Galilee.
[1:4] 51 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] 56 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] 67 tn Heb “lived”; “dwelled.”
[1:7] 78 tn Heb “turn”; NAB “Leave here”; NIV, TEV “Break camp.”
[1:7] 80 tn Heb “its dwelling places.”
[1:7] 81 tn Heb “the Arabah” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[1:7] 82 tn Heb “lowlands” (so TEV) or “steppes”; NIV, CEV, NLT “the western foothills.”
[1:7] 83 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] 89 tn Heb “I have placed before you the land.”
[1:8] 90 tn Heb “the
[1:8] 91 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] 92 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 11, 21, 35).
[1:8] 93 tn Heb “their seed after them.”
[1:10] 100 tn Heb “multiplied you.”
[1:10] 101 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[1:11] 111 tn Heb “may he bless you.”
[1:13] 122 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] 133 tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”
[1:16] 144 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] 145 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] 146 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] 147 tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”
[1:16] 148 tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”
[1:17] 155 tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).
[1:17] 156 tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.
[1:20] 166 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] 177 tn Heb “the
[1:21] 178 tn Or “has given you the land” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[1:23] 188 tn Heb “the thing was good in my eyes.”
[1:23] 189 tn Or “selected” (so NIV, NRSV, TEV); Heb “took.”
[1:24] 199 tn Or “the Wadi Eshcol” (so NAB).
[1:25] 210 tn The Hebrew text includes “in their hand,” which is unnecessary and somewhat redundant in English style.
[1:26] 221 tn Heb “the mouth of the
[1:27] 232 tn Heb “in your tents,” that is, privately.
[1:28] 243 tn Heb “have caused our hearts to melt.”
[1:28] 244 tn Heb “greater.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “stronger,” NAB, NIV, NRSV; “bigger,” NASB).
[1:28] 245 tn Or “as the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[1:28] 246 tn Heb “we have seen.”
[1:28] 247 tn Heb “the sons of the Anakim.”
[1:29] 254 tn Heb “do not tremble and do not be afraid.” Two synonymous commands are combined for emphasis.
[1:30] 265 tn The Hebrew participle indicates imminent future action here, though some English versions treat it as a predictive future (“will go ahead of you,” NCV; cf. also TEV, CEV).
[1:30] 266 tn Heb “according to all which he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”
[1:31] 276 tn Heb “the
[1:34] 287 tn Heb “and swore,” i.e., made an oath or vow.
[1:35] 298 tn Heb “Not a man among these men.”
[1:36] 309 sn Caleb had, with Joshua, brought back to Israel a minority report from Canaan urging a conquest of the land, for he was confident of the
[1:36] 310 tn Heb “the
[1:38] 320 tn Heb “the one who stands before you”; NAB “your aide”; TEV “your helper.”
[1:38] 321 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:39] 331 tn Heb “would be a prey.”
[1:39] 332 sn Do not know good from bad. This is a figure of speech called a merism (suggesting a whole by referring to its extreme opposites). Other examples are the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:9), the boy who knows enough “to reject the wrong and choose the right” (Isa 7:16; 8:4), and those who “cannot tell their right hand from their left” (Jonah 4:11). A young child is characterized by lack of knowledge.
[1:40] 342 tn The Hebrew pronoun is plural, as are the following verbs, indicating that Moses and the people are addressed (note v. 41).
[1:40] 343 tn Heb “the Reed Sea.” “Reed” is a better translation of the Hebrew סוּף (suf), traditionally rendered “red.” The name “Red Sea” is based on the LXX which referred to it as ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης (eruqra" qalassh", “red sea”). Nevertheless, because the body of water in question is known in modern times as the Red Sea, this term was used in the translation. The part of the Red Sea in view here is not the one crossed in the exodus but its eastern arm, now known as the Gulf of Eilat or Gulf of Aqaba.
[1:43] 353 tn Heb “the mouth of the
[1:44] 364 tn Heb “in that hill country,” repeating the end of v. 43.
[1:44] 365 tn Heb “came out to meet.”
[1:44] 366 sn Hormah is probably Khirbet el-Meshash, 5.5 mi (9 km) west of Arad and 7.5 mi (12 km) SE of Beer Sheba. Its name is a derivative of the verb חָרָם (kharam, “to ban; to exterminate”). See Num 21:3.
[1:45] 375 tn Heb “the
[1:45] 376 tn Heb “did not hear your voice and did not turn an ear to you.”
[1:46] 386 tn Heb “like the days which you lived.” This refers to the rest of the forty-year period in the desert before Israel arrived in Moab.
