Deuteronomy 1:41-46

Unsuccessful Conquest of Canaan

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 ¹  and recklessly went up to the hill country. 1:44 The Amorite inhabitants of that area ²  confronted ³  you and chased you like a swarm of bees, striking you down from Seir as far as Hormah. ⁴  1:45 Then you came back and wept before the Lord, but he ⁵  paid no attention to you whatsoever. ⁶  1:46 Therefore, you remained at Kadesh for a long time – indeed, for the full time. ⁷ 

[1:43]  ¹ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.” See note at 1:26.

[1:44]  ² tn Heb “in that hill country,” repeating the end of v. 43.

[1:44]  ³ tn Heb “came out to meet.”

[1:44]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation here for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

[1:45]  ⁶ tn Heb “did not hear your voice and did not turn an ear to you.”

[1:46]  ⁷ 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.