Deḇarim (Deuteronomy) 1
1
1These are the words which Mosheh spoke to all Yisra’ĕl beyond the Yardĕn in the wilderness, in the desert plain opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and Laḇan, and Ḥatsĕroth, and Di Zahaḇ,
2eleven days’ journey from Ḥorĕḇ by way of Mount Sĕ‛ir to Qaḏĕsh Barnĕa.
3And it came to be in the fortieth year, in the eleventh new moon, on the first day of the new moon, that Mosheh spoke to the children of Yisra’ĕl according to all that יהוה had commanded him concerning them,
4after he had stricken Siḥon sovereign of the Amorites, who dwelt in Ḥeshbon, and Oḡ sovereign of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Eḏre‛i.
5Beyond the Yardĕn, in the land of Mo’aḇ, Mosheh undertook to declare this Torah, saying,
6“יהוה our Elohim spoke to us in Ḥorĕḇ, saying, ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain.
7Turn and set out on your way, and go into the mountains of the Amorites, and to all the neighbouring places in the desert plain, in the mountains and in the low country, and in the Negeḇ and on the seacoast, to the land of the Kena‛anites and to Leḇanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates.
8See, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which יהוה swore to your fathers, to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Ya‛aqoḇ, to give to them and their seed after them.’
9“And I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘I am unable to bear you by myself.
10יהוה your Elohim has increased you, and see, you are today as numerous as the stars of the heavens.
11יהוה Elohim of your fathers is going to add to you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you as He has spoken to you!
12How do I bear your pressure and your burden and your strife, by myself?
13Choose men, wise and understanding, and known to your tribes, and let me appoint them as your heads.’
14“And you answered me and said, ‘The word which you have spoken to us to do is good.’
15“And I took the heads of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, and leaders of hundreds, and leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.
16“And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘When hearing between your brothers, judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him.
17Do not show partiality in right-ruling, hear the small as well as the great. Do not be afraid of anyone’s face, for the right-ruling belongs to Elohim. And the case which is too hard for you, bring it to me, and I shall hear it.’
18“And I commanded you at that time all the words which you should do.
19“Then we set out from Ḥorĕḇ, and went through all that great and awesome wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as יהוה our Elohim had commanded us. And we came to Qaḏĕsh Barnĕa.
20“And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which יהוה our Elohim is giving us.
21See, יהוה your Elohim has set the land before you. Go up and possess it, as יהוה Elohim of your fathers has spoken to you. Do not fear, nor be discouraged.’
22“And all of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we would come.’
23“And the matter was good in my eyes, so I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe.
24“And they turned and went up into the mountains, and came to the wadi Eshkol, and spied it out.
25And they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us. And they brought back word to us, saying, ‘The land which יהוה our Elohim is giving us is good.’ ”
26“But you would not go up and rebelled against the mouth of יהוה your Elohim,
27and grumbled in your tents, and said, ‘Because יהוה was hating us, He has brought us out of the land of Mitsrayim to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28Where are we going to? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we, the cities are great and walled up to the heavens, and we saw the sons of the Anaqim there too.” ’ ”
29“Then I said to you, ‘Have no dread or fear of them.
30יהוה your Elohim, who is going before you, He does fight for you, according to all He did for you in Mitsrayim before your eyes,
31and in the wilderness, where you saw how יהוה your Elohim has borne you, as a man bears his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’
32Yet in this matter you are putting no trust in יהוה your Elohim,”
33who is going before you in the way to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in fire by night and in a cloud by day.
34“And יהוה heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and took an oath, saying,
35Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers,
36except Kalĕḇ son of Yephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and his children I give the land on which he walked, because he followed יהוה completely.’
37“And יהוה was enraged with me for your sakes, saying, ‘You do not go in there, either.
38Yehoshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Strengthen him, for he shall cause Yisra’ĕl to inherit.
39And your little ones and your children, who you say are for a prey, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they are going in there. And to them I give it, and they are to possess it.
40But you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Sea of Reeds.’
41“Then you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against יהוה. We ourselves are going up, and we shall fight, as יהוה our Elohim commanded us.’ And when each one of you had girded on his battle gear, you were ready to go up into the mountain.
42And יהוה said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be smitten before your enemies.” ’ ”
43“So I spoke to you, but you would not listen and rebelled against the mouth of יהוה, and acted proudly, and went up into the mountain.
44“Then the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do, and drove you back from Sĕ‛ir to Ḥormah.
45“And you returned and wept before יהוה, but יהוה would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.
46“So you dwelt in Qaḏĕsh many days, according to the days that you dwelt.
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Deḇarim (Deuteronomy) 1: TS2009
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Deuteronomy 1
1
The Final Speeches of Moses
1-5 #
Nu 21.21-35. This book contains the speeches that Moses made while Israel was in the land of Moab, camped near the town of Suph in the desert east of the Jordan River. The town of Paran was in one direction from their camp, and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab#1.1-5 Suph … Paran … Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab: The exact location of these towns is not known. were in the opposite direction.
Earlier, Moses had defeated the Amorite King Sihon of Heshbon. Moses had also defeated King Og of Bashan, who used to live in Ashtaroth for part of the year and in Edrei for the rest of the year.
Although it takes only eleven days to walk from Mount Sinai#1.1-5 Mount Sinai: The Hebrew text has “Horeb,” another name for Mount Sinai. to Kadesh-Barnea by way of the Mount Seir Road, these speeches were not made until 40 years after Israel left Egypt.#1.1-5 Egypt: The Israelites would soon enter Canaan, but they would have entered the land of Canaan from Kadesh-Barnea 40 years earlier if they had not rebelled against God (see verses 6-40).
The First Speech: Moses Reviews the Past
The Lord's Command at Mount Sinai
The Lord had given Moses his laws for the people of Israel. And on the first day of the eleventh month,#1.1-5 eleventh month: Shebat, the eleventh month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-January to mid-February. Moses began explaining those laws by saying:
6People of Israel, when we were in our camp at Mount Sinai,#1.6 Mount Sinai: See the note at 1.1-5. the Lord our God told us:
You have stayed here long enough. 7Leave this place and go into the land that belongs to the Amorites and their neighbors the Canaanites. This land includes the Jordan River valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Southern Desert, the Mediterranean seacoast, the Lebanon Mountains, and all the territory as far as the Euphrates River. 8I give you this land, just as I promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now you must go and take the land.
Leaders Were Appointed
(Exodus 18.13-27)
Moses said:
9Right after the Lord commanded us to leave Mount Sinai,#1.9 Mount Sinai: See the note at 1.1-5. I told you:
Israel, being your leader is too big a job for one person. 10The Lord our God has blessed us, and so now there are as many of us as there are stars in the sky. 11God has even promised to bless us a thousand times more, and I pray that he will. 12But I cannot take care of all your problems and settle all your arguments alone. 13Each tribe must choose some experienced men who are known for their wisdom and understanding, and I will make those men the official leaders of their tribes.
14You answered, “That's a good idea!” 15Then I took these men, who were already wise and respected leaders, and I appointed them as your official leaders. Some of them became military officers in charge of groups of 1,000, or 100, or 50, or 10, 16and others became judges. I gave these judges the following instructions:
When you settle legal cases, your decisions must be fair. It doesn't matter if the case is between two Israelites, or between an Israelite and a foreigner living in your community. 17And it doesn't matter if one is helpless and the other is powerful. Don't be afraid of anyone! No matter who shows up in your court, God will help you make a fair decision.
If any case is too hard for you, bring the people to me, and I will make the decision.
18After I gave these instructions to the judges, I taught you the Lord's commands.
Men Were Sent To Explore the Hill Country
(Numbers 13.1-33)
Moses said to Israel:
19The Lord had commanded us to leave Mount Sinai#1.19 Mount Sinai: See the note at 1.1-5. and go to the hill country that belonged to the Amorites, so we started out into the huge desert. You remember how frightening it was, but soon we were at Kadesh-Barnea, 20-21and I told you, “We have reached the hill country. It belongs to the Amorites now, but the Lord our God is giving it to us. He is the same God our ancestors worshiped, and he has told us to go in and take this land, so don't hesitate and be afraid.”
22Then all of you came to me and said, “Before we go into the land, let's send some men to explore it. When they come back, they can tell us about the towns we will find and what roads we should take to get there.”
23It seemed like a good idea, so I chose twelve men, one from each tribe. 24They explored the hill country as far as Bunch Valley#1.24 Bunch Valley: Or “Eshcol Valley,” famous for its large bunches of grapes. 25and even brought back some of the fruit. They said, “The Lord our God is giving us good land.”
Israel Refused To Obey the Lord
(Numbers 14.1-45)
Moses said to Israel:
26 #
Dt 9.23; He 3.16. You did not want to go into the land, and you refused to obey the Lord your God. 27You stayed in your tents and grumbled, “The Lord must hate us—he brought us out of Egypt, just so he could hand us over to the Amorites and get rid of us. 28We are afraid, because the men who explored the land told us that the cities are large, with walls that reach to the sky. The people who live there are taller and stronger than we are,#1.28 The people … we are: Most Hebrew manuscripts; a few Hebrew manuscripts and one ancient translation “the people who live there are stronger than we are, and there are more of them than there are of us.” and some of them are Anakim.#1.28 Anakim: Perhaps a group of very tall people that lived in or near Palestine before the Israelites. See also 2.10,11, 20,21; Numbers 13.33. We have nowhere to go.”
29Then I said, “Don't worry! 30The Lord our God will lead the way. He will fight on our side, just as he did when we saw him do all those things to the Egyptians. 31#Ac 13.18. And you know that the Lord has taken care of us the whole time we've been in the desert, just as you might carry one of your children.”
32 #
He 3.19. But you still would not trust the Lord, 33even though he had always been with us in the desert. During the daytime, the Lord was in the cloud, leading us in the right direction and showing us where to camp. And at night, he was there in the fire.#1.33 the cloud … the fire: See Exodus 40.34-38; Numbers 9.15-23.
34 #
He 3.18. You had made the Lord angry, and he said:
35You people of this generation are evil, and I refuse to let you go into the good land that I promised your ancestors. 36Caleb son of Jephunneh is the only one of your generation that I will allow to go in. He obeyed me completely, so I will give him and his descendants the land he explored.
37The Lord was even angry with me because of you people, and he said, “Moses, I won't let you go into the land either. 38Instead, I will let Joshua#1.38 Joshua: Hebrew “Joshua son of Nun.” your assistant lead Israel to conquer the land. So encourage him.”
39Then the Lord spoke to you again:
People of Israel, you said that your innocent young children would be taken prisoner in the battle for the land. But someday I will let them go into the land, and with my help they will conquer it and live there.
40Now, turn around and go back into the desert by way of Red Sea#1.40 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Aqaba, since the term is extended to include the northeastern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at 11.4). Road.
41Then you told me, “We disobeyed the Lord our God, but now we want to obey him. We will go into the hill country and fight, just as he told us to do.” So you picked up your weapons, thinking it would be easy to take over the hill country.
42But the Lord said, “Moses, warn them not to go into the hill country. I won't help them fight, and their enemies will defeat them.”
43I told you what the Lord had said, but you paid no attention. You disobeyed him and went into the hill country anyway. You thought you were so great! 44But when the Amorites in the hill country attacked from their towns, you ran from them as you would run from a swarm of bees. The Amorites chased your troops into Seir#1.44 Seir: An area of hills and mountains that was part of the territory of Edom. as far as Hormah, killing them as they went. 45Then you came back to the place of worship at Kadesh-Barnea and wept, but the Lord would not listen to your prayers.
Israel Spent Years in the Desert
Moses said to Israel:
46After we had been in Kadesh for a few months, we obeyed the Lord and headed back into the desert by way of Red Sea#1.46 Red Sea: See the notes at 1.40; 11.4. Road.
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