Deuteronomy/Davarim 1: "These are the words that Moshe spoke to all Israel "

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words. i.e. discourses, of exhortation and reproof, which form the main contents of Deuteronomy.

unto all Israel. ‘These words redound to the praise of Israel.  Knowing that they were called together for the purpose of hearing a discourse which would contain strong words of reproof, they nevertheless attended in full number (Sifri).

beyond the Jordan.  Heb. ‘at the crossing of the Jordan’; or, at the banks of the Jordan,’ eastern or western.  Which one of these is meant in any particular passage can be determined only by the context (Gesenius, Luzzatto, Friedlander); Num. XXXII,19; Deut. XI,30.  Some commentators see in the words (lit. Transjordania) a fixed geographical name of the Moabite side of the Jordan, even for the inhabitants of that land.  Along with this went a local usage, determined by the position of the speaker.

in the Arabah. ‘The deep valley running North and South of the Dead Sea (RV Margin). Here the southern portion of this valley is meant, extending to the Gulf of Akabah, which is the north-eastern arm of the Red Sea.

Suph.  A shorter form of yam suph, i.e. the Red Sea.

Paran.  The wilderness of Paran is now called the wilderness of el-Tih, north of the Sinai Peninsula, and west of the Arabah.

Tophel.  Some identify this unknown place with el-Tafile, a village about 15 miles south-east of the Dead Sea.

Laban and Hazeroth. Possibly the Libnah and Hazeroth in Num. XXXIII,17-20.

Di-zahab.  The spot has not been identified.  The Hebrew implies ‘a place productive of gold’.

The five names mentioned above seemed to delimit the place where Moses gave one of the discourses to Israel.  Their identification is uncertain and full of difficulties.  Some of the ancient and medieval teachers have been inclined to treat these names homiletically.  By playing on their meaning, they associated these places with the murmurings and transgressions of the children of Israel.  Thus, Onkelos translates this v. as follows:  ‘These are the words which Moses spake to all Israel beyond the Jordan.  He reproved them because they had sinned in the Wilderness, and had provoked God to anger in the Plain (Arabah) of Moab; over against the Red Sea (Suph) they murmured against God; in Paran, they had spoken contemptuously (tophel) concerning the manna (laban); and in Hazeroth, they angered Him on account of flesh and because they amde the Golden Calf (di-zahab).’

it is eleven days’ journey. From Horeb, i.e. Sinai, the scene of the Giving of the Law, to Kadesh-barnea.  The distance between 160 and 170 miles.  In 1838, the traveller Robinson followed the route here specified, and the journey lasted exactly eleven days of ordinary camel-riding.

by the way of mount Seir.  Or, ‘by the Mount Seir road’—the easternmost track from the Sinai Peninsula to Kadesh.

[in the fortieth year.  The date of the discourses.  Moses reserved his exhortation for the closing days of his life, in the same way as Jacob (Gen.XLIX,), Joshua (Josh.XXIV), Samuel (I Sam.XII), and David (I Kings II).  Words spoke at the solemn time of departure from earth have a deep influence upon the hearers.

eleventh. . . .Koenig rightly points to this fact, among many others, as proof that, unlike the Samaritan and Septuagint Texts, the Heb. text has from the first been handed down to us with absolute accuracy, and that no attempt was made to ‘harmonize’ different forms of the same word or phrase.

Sihon . . . Og.  These signal victories, still fresh in the memory of all, are repeatedly mentioned in Deuteronomy; because the success of Moses’ leadership on these occasions heightened his authority and enabled him to address his people on their faults in the past and their duties in the future.

at Edrei.  The place where Og was slain (Num.XXI,35); the modern Dera, 30 miles east of the Lake of Tiberias.

this law.  ‘The Heb. word Torah does not and never did mean “Law”.  It means and always has meant, “Teaching”‘ (Herford).  The word torah may refer to moral guidance, or to a single specific teaching, as in Prov. I,8, ‘forsake not the teaching (torah) of thy mother.’  It is also applied to a body of religious precepts or teachings—such as form the central portion of this Book (Chaps.XII-XXVI). Often it denotes the entire sum of Israel’s religious doctrine and life—the Torah of Moses.

1-5.  Apart from the geographical uncertainties there are many other difficulties in these verses, so long as we regard them as forming the title-page to the whole of Deuteronomy.  Thus, v.5 states that ‘Moses took upon him to declare this law . . . ‘ In the light of the current view of these verses, this can only mean that the exposition in question follows immediately upon that verse.  And yet the succeeding chapters contain no exposition of the Torah; nor, strictly speaking, can the laws in chaps. XII-XXVI be called an ‘exposition’ of the Torah, seeing that, of the one hundred laws contained in those chapters, seventy are not mentioned int he previous Books of the Pentateuch.

For these and other reasons, many commentators regard v.1-15 as introductory not to the whole Book, but merely to the First Discourse of Moses (I,6-IV,40); and, in consequence, their interpretation differs considerably from that given above.  One of these commentators is Sforno, who paraphrases v. 1 and 2 as follows:  ‘These are the words which Moses repeatedly spoke unto all Israel, beyond Jordan, in the Arabah, over against Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Di-zahab; viz. “it is eleven days’ journey from Horeb unto Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir.” And yet it had taken them forty years to accomplish that journey!  Such was the veiled admonition that Moses intended to convey to them by these words in each of the places mentioned.’ Targum Jonathan, Sifri, and Rashi seem to have understood these verses in the same sense.  ‘Had Israel been worthy, they could have entered the Land within eleven days; but they were sadly found wanting, and they drew upon themselves the punishment of forty years’ wandering’ (Sifri).  Luzatto sees this thought continued in v.3-5, which he paraphrases as follows: ‘In the fortieth year, after the victories over Sihon and Og, Moses undertook to make clear and expound the veiled meaning embodied in this “teaching”.’  Such declaration and exposition are contained in the First Discourse (I,6-IV,40) which he addressed to the People about to undertake the conquest of Canaan.  And in fact, that First Discourse is a historic retrospect of the main incidents from Horeb to Jordan, bringing home to the new generation why it was that the Israelites were doomed to wander forty years in the Wilderness before they could enter the Promised Land, though the direct route was only an eleven days’ journey.

A.  MOSES FIRST DISCOURSE

REVIEW OF JOURNEY FROM SINAI TO KADESH WITH EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE

Chapters I,6-IV,40)

Moses reviews the experiences of the Israelites in the terrible wilderness through which they passed till they reached Kadesh-barnea.  Thence the spies were sent on to Canaan.  These brought back word of a good land, but also of cities great and fenced up to heaven, and a population counting giants among them.  They so filled the heart of the people with fear, that Israel forgot God and was prepared to return to Egypt.  The unfaithful spies and the whole of that generation were therefore to perish in the Wilderness; their children alone were to enter the Promised Land.  Moses continues to tell of their presumptuous attempt to defeat that sentence, and the ignominious failure and our with which it had been visited.  Moses himself had been entangled in the rebellious outbreak of the people; and his doom is made known to him, to leave the passage into the Land of Promise to another leadership.  But even the eight and thirty years wandering in the Wilderness lacked not the LORD’s watchfulness.  Towards the end of the wandering, they passed by Edom, but were forbidden to attack Moab and Ammon.  With the crossing of the brook Zered, however, the new era began; the dread of Israel fell upon the heathen peoples.  In vain Sihon, King of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, resisted; their cities were taken, their people extirpated, their land divided among the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half-Manasseh.

6-8/  COMMAND TO START FROM HOREB

the LORD our God. Placed emphatically at the beginning of the sentence as the motive of the whole Discourse.  ‘The phrase the LORD our God has the intimate accent of a common affection.  No phrase has been more helpful to piety in all generations’ (G.A. Smith).

hill-country.  The central mountain-range of Palestine.

Amorites. The general term for the inhabitants of Canaan prior to the entry of the Israelites; Amos II,9; the Amorite. Representing the previous inhabitants of Palestine, as the Amorite was the most powerful tribe.]

Arabah. Here refers to its northern part, the Jordan Valley, ending in the Dead Sea.

Lowland. Heb. Shephelah. The foothills between the Central Range and the Maritime Plain.  It is one of the most fertile tracts in the land.

the South.  The Negeb; the dry steppe-district south of Judah.

the sea-shore. The Plain extending inwards from the coast of the Mediterranean to a distance of from four to fifteen miles.

Lebanon.  The range of mountains to the north of the Holy Land.

the river Euphrates. The ideal limit assigned to the territory of Israel.

[he land which the LORD swore unto your fathers.  This phrase occurs more than 20 times in Deuteronomy.  The Divine love towards the Patriarchs and the Promise to give, their children possessed of Canaan, led to the selection, and are guarantees for the preservation of Israel.

9-18.  APPOINTMENT OF ASSISTANTS

The first movement forward towards the conquest of the Holy Land revealed the growing numbers of the Israelites.  Moses could no longer, unaided, support the burden of so vast a nation.  Others had to share responsibility with him.  He has in mind not only the appointment of judges on the advice of Jethro (Exod. XVIII), but also the election of the 70 elders to help in the administration of the community.

not able to bear.  A reminiscence of Num. XI,14.

as the stars of heaven.  A simile of wonderful beauty.  God had fulfilled His promise to increase the children of the Patriarchs; Gen. XV,5.

the LORD . . . bless you. A pious interjection, as in II Sam. XXIC,3.  Moses hastens to bestow his blessing upon Israel in order that his words be not misunderstood as if he lamented the increase of his people (Hoffman).  The phrase ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers,’ has in substance been taken over into the Prayer Book.  It implies the unbroken continuity of the generations in Israel; and, likewise, the unchanging relationship between God and His ‘kingdom of priests’.

myself alone bear.  Moses now proceeds to recall how the task of government had grown beyond his powers.

your cumbrance.  Your troublesomeness; the people made the leader’s task heavier by placing obstacles in his way (Sifri).  He did not have their cooperation and assistance.

burden. ‘The responsibility of providing the people with food and water, the lack of which caused hostile demonstrations to be made against Moses’ (Ibn Ezra).

strife.  They were quarrelsome, and at this stage it was essential for him to be relieved of petty judicial functions.

get you.  It is clear from v. 15 that Moses, and not the people, made the selection.  As the Sifri points out, the Hebrew word denotes taking counsel about a project, not taking action in connection with it.

full of knowledge.  Or, ‘known.’ Because of their outstanding merit.

wise men and full of knowledge.   Compare this with what is stated in v.13, ‘wise men, and understanding, and full of knowledge.’ The Rabbis explain that Moses was unable to find men who possessed all the desired qualifications.

officers.  Officials in the administration of justice and maintenance of civil order, whose duty it was to put in force the instructions of their superiors (Talmud).  Some render the Heb. shoterim ‘recorders’, from ‘document.’

hear the causes between.  lit. ‘hear between’; i.e. not to listen to ex parte statements, but to listen to all that is said on both sides (Talmud).

the stranger. In matters involving equity, there must be no difference between an Israelite and the resident alien.  ‘The care taken by Israelite law to protect strangers finds no parallel in Babylonia’ (S.A. Cook).  Today, a great modern state outlaws a section of its own population, and oppresses it far more than it would dare to oppress total aliens.

that is with him.  The Rabbis sometimes understand it in the sense of ‘inhabiting his house’, and therefore, more in his power.  The very life of such a man may depend on justice being granted him.  the wife of a Chassidic rabbi, having quarrelled with her maid, was setting out to the magistrate to lodge her complaint.  Noticing that her husband was about to accompany her, she asked him whither he was bound.  ‘To the magistrate,’ he said.  His wife declared that it was beneath his dignity to take any part in a quarrel with a servant.  She could deal with the matter herself.  The Zaddic replied:  ‘That may be, but I intend to represent your maid, who, when accused by you, will find no one willing to take her part.’  And then, bursting into a passion of tears, he quoted Job XXXI,13: ‘If I did despise the cause of my man-servant, or of my maid-servant, when they contended with me—what then shall I do when God riseth up?”

ye shall not respect . . . in judgment. ‘You must never show partiality to any person in a case’ (Moffatt).  The judge must avoid everything that can possibly be construed as a bribe.

small and great alike.  i.e. an insignificant person, and a person of importance.  There was not to be one law for the rich, and another for the poor.  ‘Small’ and ‘great’ may also refer to the matters under dispute.  A dispute involving a small sum requires the same earnest attention as that involving  large sum (Talmud).

the judgment is God’s.  The judge should feel that he is God’s representative, and that every judicial decision is a religious act: II Chron. XIX,6 (and the king said to the judges,’Consider what ye do; for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD; and [He is] with you in judgment). In Jewish teaching all those who administer the law in accordance with right and thereby maintain the moral foundations—Truth and Justice—upon which human society rests, are performing a Divine task.  ‘Every judge who renders righteous judgment, Scripture deems him a co-partner of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the work of Creation’ (Talmud).

19-46.  FROM HOREB TO KADESH-BARNEA

dreadful wilderness.  ‘Wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water ‘ (VII,5).

22-25.  The Mission of the Spies

ye came near unto me.  By combining what is related here with Num. XIII, we get a full understanding of the incident.  The plan originated with the people; it commended itself to Moses; and was sanctioned by God.  Moses does not here repeat all the details, because a reminder of all those details is not required for his address of admonition; whereas the historical account in Numbers could well dispense with narrating the circumstance that it was the Israelites who had demanded the sending of the  Spies.  ‘It is evident that a circumstance may be passed over in silence by the historian, which nevertheless the orator selects as lending emphasis to his oration’ (Hoffmann).  It was important to remind them that the sending of the spies, which led immediately to their rebellion, was their own suggestion (Sifri).

the thing pleased me well.  But it did not please God.  It is to be noted that in Num. XIII,2 the Hebrews is lit. ‘send for thyself men’, and God, as it were, dissociated Himself from the scheme; whereas in the appointment of men to assist Moses, which had God’s approval, Scripture relates, ‘The LORD said unto Moses, gather for Me seventy men’ (Num. XI,16).

into the mountains. Better, into the hill-country; as in v. 7.

valley of Eshcol.  Near Hebron; Num. XIII,23.

26-33.  The Disaffection of the People.

in your tents.  Being unwilling to unite for common action.  The well-known phrase, to your tents, O Israel (I Kings XII,16) is a formula of dispersion, not a call for military action (H.W. Robinson).

the LORD hated us.  To this extreme of unbelief and ingratitude were the people driven by the report of a few among themselves, in spite of their long experience of God’s leading.  ‘The passage is eloquent of the fickleness with which a people will suffer the lessons of its past—facts of Providence it has proved and lived upon—to be overthrown by the opinion of a few “experts” as to a still untried situation’ (G.A. Smith).

whither are we going up? i.e. what unknown dangers are in front of us?

Anakim.  Giants; INum. XIII,22.

He shall fight for you. The words of encouragement used by Moses at the Red Sea; Exod. XIV,14.

before your eyes.  This phrase occurs ten more times in Deuteronomy.  Moses, throughout his address, appeals to the people’s experience of God.  He is not weaving abstract theories, but drawing on their history.

the LORD thy God bore thee.  Exod. XIX,4, ‘how I bore you on eagles’ wings.’

as a man doth bear his son. The relationship between God and man is here conceived int he tenderest terms, that of a father carrying his infant son when he is too weak or tired to walk; Hosea XI,1-3. ‘It was this usage that prepared the way for the term “Our Father who art in heaven”, first used in Pharisaic circles’ (Herford).

32 Yet in this matter 
you have been showing-no-trust in YHVH your God,

yet in this thing.  Notwithstanding past experience of the Divine protection and support, ye believed not in the LORD your God.

34-46.  God’s Anger and Judgments.

Caleb.  See Num. XIV,24.)

for your sakes.  Better, on your account. Moses had certainly disobeyed God’s command, and thereby incurred His wrath; but this had happened as a consequence of the people’s action. ‘They angered Him also at the waters of Meribah, so that it went ill with Moses because of them’ (Psalm CVI,32).  The leader must share responsibility for the failings of his flock; see also on III,26.  ‘Moses alone realizes all that life in the Promised Land may be; and Moses alone of all the vast assembly is the one who will never see it.

the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, this is the phrase under which the speaker veils the breakdown of his life-task’ (Moulton).  Moses refers to the Divine displeasure here, because it leads up to the mention of his successor.

standeth before thee. The Heb. idiom for ‘attend upon’, as a servant.

encourage thou him.  In its literal sense; i.e. make him strong.

ye said should be a prey.  See Num. XIV,3,31.

have no knowledge of good or evil.  Who are not of an age to incur communal responsibility; youths under twenty.

by the way to the Red Sea.  See Num.XIV,25.  The explorer, Trumbull, identified this road with the modern pilgrim-track from Suez to Akabah.

we will go up. The word ‘we’ is emphasized in the Hebrew.  ‘The quick revulsion of popular feeling is true to life.  The change was too facile to be real.  Mere enthusiasm is no atonement for guilt.  Men cannot run away from their moral unworthiness on bursts of feeling on bursts of feeling’ (G.A. Smith).

presumptuous.  See Num.XIV,41,44.

the Amorites.  In Num. the opponents are called ‘the Amalekite and Canaanite’, but as explained on v. 7, ‘Amorite’ is the general term for the inhabitants of Canaan.

as bees do.  The same forcible image for number and ferocity occurs in Isa. VII,18 and Psalm CXVIII,12.

wept before the LORD.  “Tears follow foolhardiness, as foolhardiness does timidity; the psychology of Israel is that of a child’ (Bertholet).

hearkened not.  Because their weeping was not the outcome of sorrow over sin; but of sorrow over the consequences of sin.  This feeling the old theologians named ‘attrition’; in contrast with the sincere penitence—the sorrow over sin itself—which they called contrition. There is all the difference in the world between a man who is contrite and one who is merely ‘attrite’.

according unto the days that ye abode there. Hoffman and Driver take this as an example of the Semitic idiom often employed by a writer who is either unable, or has no occasion, to speak explicitly.  Rashbam, Mendelssohn, and Luzzatto accordingly render, ‘And ye remained in Kadesh the many days that ye abode there’; i.e. as is well known to you.

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[Straight reading, without verse numbering]

ROBERT ALTER: THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES

DEUTERONOMY