Deuteronomy 1:1-5

LESSON ONE Deuteronomy 1:1-46

I. THE FIRST DISCOURSE

Review of the Journeys (Deuteronomy 1:1 to Deuteronomy 4:43)

INTRODUCTION Deuteronomy 1:1-5

Deuteronomy 1:1 These are the words which Moses spake unto all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and Paban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days journey[4]from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea. 3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that Jehovah had given him in commandment unto them; 4 after he had smitten Sihon the King of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,

[4] In the American Standard Version, used throughout this volume unless otherwise indicated, italicized words in the scripture text are meant to convey thoughts which seem necessary for a clear translation but not actually in the original.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 1:1-5

1.

Why was it necessary for Moses to speak to all Israel at this particular time?

2.

Locate on a map the particular place from which this speech was given.

3.

What possible purpose could be served in indicating the distance of eleven days journey?

4.

How could Moses remember all that Jehovah had given him in commandment unto them?

5.

Read Numbers 21:21-35 for an understanding of Deuteronomy 1:4.

6.

What is the meaning of the term beyond the Jordan in Deuteronomy 1:5 and Deuteronomy 1:1?

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 1:1-5

These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel, [still] on the [east] side of the Jordan [River] in the wilderness, in the Arabah [that is, the deep valley running north and south from the eastern arm of the Red Sea to beyond the Dead Sea] over near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 It is [only] eleven days-' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea [on Canaan's border; yet Israel took forty years to get beyond it].
3 And in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them,
4 After he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and Endrei.

5 Beyond [east of] the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying,

COMMENT 1:1-5

Israel, now virtually on the eastern banks of the Jordan after forty years in the wilderness, is to receive final exhortations and solemn injunctions before crossing the river under Joshua's leadership. Moses, their leader up to this hour, is soon to pass from the scene. Thus the exhortations he is about to give constitute his farewell addressand a touching scene it must have been!
The location of Israel is precisely given:

BEYOND THE JORDANa phrase understood only by the context. Deuteronomy 1:5 specifies that in this case it is in the land of Moabi.e., on the east side of the Jordan. More often than not, this is the meaning of the phraseGenesis 50:10-11; Joshua 9:10; Numbers 22:1eastward, toward the sunrising (Numbers 34:15). But at other times the phrase has reference to the west side[Mounts Gerizim and Ebal] are they not beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the-' sun? (Deuteronomy 11:30). At first it might seem that the standpoint of the writer or speaker would be the chief factor in determining whether beyond refers to the east or west side. But this assumption (while normally true) also has its difficulties, for sometimes beyond the Jordan refers to the same side as the speaker: Deuteronomy 3:8; Joshua 5:1; Joshua 9:1. The solution to this varied use of beyond apparently lies in the correct understanding of the Hebrew preposition (eber), and the flexibility of its translation. After showing that eber may refer to either the same side of the river as the speaker, or the other side, J. W. McGarvey points out: These examples demonstrate that the Hebrew preposition (eber) translated -beyond-' does not, by its own force, locate its object on the opposite side from him who uses is. They demonstrate that the opening words of Deuteronomy, -These be the words which Moses spake to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness,-' may have been written by Moses as certainly as by any other writer. Again, It is impossible that a Hebrew preposition whose object is sometimes located on the same side of the river with the person who uses it, can be uniformly translated -beyond.-' Yet this is what the revisers of our English version have attempted, For example, they make Moses say in Deuteronomy 3:8, -We took at that time out of the hands of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was beyond Jordan from the river Arnon to Mount Hermon,-' though the land mentioned was not beyond Jordan, but on the same side with Moses. They make Joshua say to the two and a half tribes before they crossed the river, -Your wives, your little ones and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond Jordan,-' [Joshua 1:14] when it was not beyond, but on the same side of the river with themselves; and they make the author of the Book of Joshua, who unquestionably wrote in the country west of the river, speak of -all the kings which were beyond the Jordan westward [Joshua 12:7]. They were not beyond Jordan, but on the same side with himself.

King James-' translators recognized the ambiguity of this Hebrew preposition, and wisely attempted no uniformity in rendering. They ascertained as best they could from the context, the only source of information in case of ambiguous words, on which side of the river the speaker or writer stood, and translated accordingly. They render it on this side, on the other side, or beyond, as the context requires, and in no instance have they made their renderings contradict the facts.

This translation has the opening sentence of Deuteronomy rendered, -These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness-' (Deuteronomy 1:1), and -on this side Jordan in the land of Moab-' (Deuteronomy 1:5 [see also Deuteronomy 3:29]); and thus it locates the writer of the book on the same side of the river with Moses. This is certainly correct if either Moses or one of his contemporaries wrote this preface.[5] The question of editing is taken up later in this volume. For the present, let it be seen that the word beyond (eber) does not, in and of itself, determine the location of the writer or speaker or even the object spoken of.

[5] The Authorship of Deuteronomy, p. 106-111.

Here, the context absolutely demands that the writer and speaker be located on the east side of the Jordan. The above understanding of the use of beyond will help unravel several contradictory passages as we progress in our study of Deuteronomy.

IN THE WILDERNESS, IN THE ARABAHThe Arabah is the valley or hollow that includes the Jordan valley and the Dead Sea, and sometimes the depression that extends southward to the Gulf of Aqaba, an arm of the Red Sea. The Jordan valley is sometimes referred to as the Ghor, an Arab name meaning hollow. Its width varies, but at the plains of the Jordan where the river flows into the Salt Sea, it is approximately fourteen miles wide. This wide area is also called the plains of Moab (Deuteronomy 34:1) and the Plain of the valley of Jericho (Deuteronomy 34:3). Our words Arab and Arabian are related to Arabahall being from a root word meaning arid, sterile, dry (Gesenius).

OVER AGAINST SUPH, BETWEEN PARAN, AND TOPHEL, AND LABAN, AND HAZEROTH, AND DIZAHABDeuteronomy 4:46adds, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites. Thus the general area of all these locations is known. And they [Israel] journeyed from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the Plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. (Numbers 33:48)

It is questionable as to whether Paran should be identified with the wilderness of Paran (Numbers 13:26), mount Paran (Deuteronomy 33:2), or considered a town by the same name. Some place named Paran would seem to be referred to in Deuteronomy 1:1; but no trace of such a city has yet been found.I.S.B.E. See also 1 Kings 11:18.

The travelling time from Horeb (Sinai) to Kadesh-barnea, at the southern edge of the promised land, was only eleven days (Deuteronomy 1:2).

OVER AGAINST SUPHthe Authorized Version's reading over against the Red Sea, is regrettable. The word sea is not in the original at all (it occurs later in the Septuagint and Vulgate versions), and they were now farther from the Red Sea than they ever had been! The Hebrew word SUPH should have been left untranslated (as in the American Standard and Revised Standard versions), as it undoubtedly is a city or town in the vicinity of Israel's camp. Ptolemy mentions a people named Sophonites that dwelt in Arabia Petraea, and it is possible that they took their name from this city.

IT IS ELEVEN DAYS-' JOURNEY FROM HOREB BY THE WAY OF MOUNT SEIR UNTO KADESH-BARNEAKadesh is located on the southern edge of the promised land (Numbers 13:25-26; Numbers 34:4), but it took Israel thirty-eight years to get far beyond it! The Decalogue was given about three months after leaving Egypt (Exodus 19:1) at Sinai. At the foot of this mountain, the tabernacle was reared up in the first month of the second year (Exodus 40:17). When Israel was first numbered in the wilderness (Numbers 1:1) they were thirteen months out of Egypt. On the twentieth day of that month, they set forth from the Mount (Numbers 10:11-12). But it obviously took them longer than the standard journey-time from Sinai to Kadesh via the Mount Seir road (Numbers 10:33; Numbers 11:3; Numbers 11:19-20; Numbers 11:35; Numbers 12:16; Numbers 13:25-26). It must have taken several months, for in Deuteronomy 2:14 we are told, And the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, were thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the midst of the camp, as Jehovah sware unto them. We have, then, approximately a two year period between Egypt and Kadesh. This, added to the thirty-eight between the first visit at Kadesh and the crossing of the Zered river (which flows into the southeastern shore of the Dead Sea) gives us forty years. When we add the time it took Israel to proceed up the east side and conquer the kingdoms of Sihon and Og, we have The fortieth year in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month as the time Moses began our present discourse.

The curse given at Kadesh for Israel's failure to obey God's injunction to lay hold of his promise was, in a sense, retroactive. After the number of days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation (Numbers 14:34).

But we cannot leave this passage without asking another question: Why does the sacred writer insert this matter of distances and traveling time? It seems obvious, that it is to show how simply and easily God's chosen people could have entered into the land God had assured them if they would have marched forth with courage and confidence at Kadesh! It was only eleven days from Horeb, by way of Mount Seir,as far as Kadesh-barnea (Rotherdam)but there the discouraging report of the spies (except Joshua and Caleb) caused the congregation to cower and made the heart of the people melt (John 14:8), causing them to cry, wherefore doth Jehovah bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: were it not better for us to return to Egypt? (Numbers 14:3). Failure to capitalize upon the promises, opportunities, and privileges God grants to us cannot but have harmful and regrettable resultsboth to us and our children. The comment of C. H. Mackintosh here is excellent: It is only too like ourselves. How slowly we get over the ground! What windings and turnings! How often we have to go back and travel over the same ground again and again! We are slow travelers, because we are slow learners. We, like them, are kept back by our unbelief and slowness of heart; but there is far less excuse for us than for them, inasmuch as our privileges are so very much higher. Our God is a faithful and wise as well as a gracious and patient Teacher. He will not permit us to pass cursorily over our lessons. Sometimes, perhaps, we think we have mastered a lesson, and we attempt to move on to another; but our wise Teacher knows better, and He sees the need of deeper ploughing. He will not have us mere theorists or smatterers: He will keep us, if need be, year after year at our scales until we learn to sing.

AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE FORTIETH YEAR, IN THE ELEVENTH MONTH, ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH THAT MOSES SPAKE UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, ACCORDING UNTO ALL THAT JEHOVAH HAD GIVEN HIM IN COMMANDMENT UNTO THEMThus the faithful servant of God communicated exactly what God had given him to communicate! Not his own theories or whims, nor his own speculations or fancies. See 1 Peter 1:19-21, John 5:19. He gives it allall that Jehovah had given him. The responsibility of the true servant of God today has not basically changed. God's wordall of itmust be communicated to his people if they are to be guided and directed aright.. the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever (Deuteronomy 29:29)and we must know them and be reminded of them if we are to do all the words of this law.

AFTER HE HAD SMITTEN SIHON THE KING OF THE AMORITES, WHO DWELT IN HESHBON, AND OG THE KING OF BASHAN, WHO DWELT IN ASHTAROTH, AT EDREI (Deuteronomy 1:4)The two main conquests of Israel on the east of the Dead Sea. We-'ll read more about Sihon's defeat in Deuteronomy 2:26-37 and a detailed account is also found in Numbers 21:21-31. His kingdom's borders were the Arnon river on the south and the Jabbok river on the north. We-'ll read more about Og of Bashan, just north of Sihon's kingdom, in Deuteronomy 3:1-17. An account of his defeat is also found in Numbers 21:33-35. These kings both dwelt in their capital cities, Heshbon and Ashtaroth, respectively. Ashtaroth is the plural form of Ashtareth, the Canaanite goddess and counterpart of Baal. Thus the place was probably early associated with her worship.

They combined to battle Israel but were defeated at Erdeione of the cities of Og (Deuteronomy 3:10) and not far from Ashtaroth.