Deuteronomy 1
BSASBForty years after leaving Egypt, Moses stands east of the Jordan and begins his farewell addresses to a new generation. He starts by looking back: God’s command to leave Sinai, the appointing of leaders, and the failure at Kadesh-barnea, where Israel refused to enter the land. The chapter shows how unbelief and presumption cost a whole generation their inheritance.
Deuteronomy 1:1
The book opens by naming its setting: Israel’s camp on the plains east of the Jordan, with the land in sight. What follows is spoken, living address from Moses to the whole people, not a dry code of rules.
BSA: words (“chronicles, events”): The Hebrew word covers both speech and things that happened, so Moses will recall deeds as well as commands.
Hebrew: דְּבָרִים (devarim, H1697) — “words, things, matters.” This is the Hebrew name of the whole book. It stresses that God’s people live by words spoken to them, and it can also mean the events those words describe.
Deuteronomy 1:2
Moses notes that the trip from Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, on the edge of Canaan, should have taken only eleven days. The remark prepares the sad point of the chapter: a short journey became a forty-year wandering because of unbelief.
BSA: Horeb (“the mountain of God, Sinai”): Horeb is Sinai, where God gave the law, so the journey begins from the place of covenant.
Deuteronomy 1:3
Moses dates his words precisely, in the fortieth year. He speaks only what the LORD commanded him. His message is not his own opinion but God’s word for this people, delivered at the end of the wilderness years.
BSA: fortieth (“a significant period of time, often used for testing or preparation”): Forty years of testing in the wilderness now lies behind Israel, and the moment of entering the land is near.
Deuteronomy 1:4
Moses reminds them of recent victories over two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og. God had already begun giving them land east of the Jordan. The reader is meant to see that the God who won those battles can be trusted for the rest.
See also: Numbers 21:21-35.
Deuteronomy 1:5
In Moab, Moses starts to explain the law. He is not adding new rules but unfolding what God had already given, so that a new generation can understand it and live by it.
BSA: explain (“to make plain, to declare”): Moses acts as a teacher, making God’s instruction clear and understandable to ordinary people.
Hebrew: בֵּאֵר (be’er, H874) — “made plain, set out clearly.” The word suggests spelling something out so nobody can miss it. Moses preaches the law in plain terms, aiming at hearts as well as ears.
Deuteronomy 1:6-7
God’s word at Sinai was, in effect, time to move on. A good stay at the mountain was not meant to become permanent. The LORD pointed them toward a wide land, from the hills and the south to the coast, Lebanon and the Euphrates, as the place of promise.
BSA: stayed (“dwelt, remained, or abided”): Israel had settled in at Sinai, and God now calls them out of comfortable staying into faithful going.
See also: Genesis 15:18.
Deuteronomy 1:8
The land is already set before them, like a gift laid on a table. They need only go in and take it. The basis is God’s oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so the command rests on a promise, not on Israel’s strength.
BSA: swore (“made an oath, promised”): God bound Himself by oath, so the land rests on His faithfulness rather than on Israel’s merit. possess (“take ownership, occupy”): The gift still had to be taken up by actually entering and settling it.
See also: Genesis 12:7.
Deuteronomy 1:9-11
Moses recalls that the people had grown so numerous that he could not carry them alone. Their great number was itself the fruit of God’s promise to Abraham, and Moses prays for even more blessing. The burden of leading was a sign of blessing.
BSA: burden (“responsibility, weight”): Leading God’s people felt like a heavy load that Moses could not carry by himself.
See also: Genesis 15:5.
Deuteronomy 1:12-13
Moses asks plainly how he can bear their troubles, burdens and quarrels alone. He then asks the people to choose capable men from each tribe, and he will appoint them. Good leadership is shared, and character matters first: wisdom, understanding and a good name.
BSA: wise (“intelligent and skilled”): These leaders needed practical skill in handling people and problems, not just good intentions. respected (“known and esteemed”): They had to be men whose lives were already well known and trusted by their own tribe.
See also: Exodus 18:13-26.
Deuteronomy 1:14-15
The people agreed that this was a good plan. Moses then placed the chosen men over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens, with officers to help. Every Israelite had a leader close at hand, and no one carried the whole load.
BSA: commanders (“captains, princes”): These were real heads with authority, set over defined groups of people.
Deuteronomy 1:16-17
Moses charges the judges: listen to both sides, treat Israelite and foreigner alike, and do not favor the great or fear the powerful. Their authority is borrowed, because judgment belongs to God. Hard cases go to Moses.
BSA: fairly (“righteously, with justice”): Judging is more than settling a dispute. It must match God’s own standard of right. partiality (“do not respect persons, have no favoritism”): A judge must not be swayed by a person’s rank, wealth or relationships.
Hebrew: תַכִּירוּ (takkiru, H5234) — “you shall recognize, take notice of.” The command is literally not to ‘recognize faces’ in judgment. A judge must look at the case itself and not at who stands before him.
See also: 2 Chronicles 19:6-7; James 2:1.
Deuteronomy 1:18-19
Moses had given them all they were to do, and they set out from Horeb as the LORD commanded. They crossed a huge, frightening wilderness and reached Kadesh-barnea, at the border of the land. They were close to the promise.
BSA: terrifying (“fearful, awe-inspiring”): The wilderness was a place that stirred real dread, yet God had brought them safely through it.
Deuteronomy 1:20-21
At Kadesh, Moses tells them the land is given. They need only go up and take it, as the God of their fathers has said. The command not to fear rests on who is giving the land.
BSA: discouraged (“dismayed, completely broken”): The danger was a deep loss of heart that leaves a person unable to act.
Hebrew: תִּירָא (tira, H3372) — “fear, be afraid.” This is the common Hebrew word for fear. Throughout Deuteronomy fear of the enemy is set against the right fear of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 1:22-23
The people proposed sending scouts first, to learn the route and the cities. Moses thought the plan good and chose one man from each tribe. Here the request already shows a wish to rely on human checking before simple trust in God’s word.
BSA: search out (“explore, investigate thoroughly”): The scouts were to look the land over carefully, a thorough survey meant to be a help to the people.
See also: Numbers 13:1-3.
Deuteronomy 1:24-25
The twelve went up to the Valley of Eshcol and came back with fruit. They reported that it was a good land which God was giving. The evidence agreed with God’s promise, so there was every reason to go forward.
BSA: Eshcol (“cluster, a valley in Palestine”): The name means a cluster, and it fits the huge cluster of grapes the scouts carried back.
See also: Numbers 13:23-24.
Deuteronomy 1:26-27
Even with the good report, the people refused to go up. That was rebellion against God’s command, not just caution. They murmured in their tents that the LORD hated them and had brought them out to be destroyed. They read God’s love as hatred.
BSA: grumbled (“murmured in rebellion, complained”): This was a muttering that turned into open distrust of God’s character.
Hebrew: וַתֵּרָגְנוּ (vattēragenu, H7279) — “and you murmured.” The verb pictures grumbling done privately, behind closed tent flaps. Unbelief often starts as a complaint spoken in secret.
See also: Psalm 106:24-25.
Deuteronomy 1:28
They blamed the scouts for making their hearts melt. They said the people were bigger, the cities walled to the sky, and the Anakim, famous for their size, were there. Fear fixed on the obstacles and forgot the God who had promised.
BSA: melt (“to weaken or lose courage”): Their courage ran out of them like wax, leaving them unable to move.
Hebrew: הֵמַסּוּ (hemassu, H4549) — “they made melt, dissolved.” The picture is of something solid turning to liquid. Fear can take the firmness out of a heart.
See also: Numbers 13:28-33.
Deuteronomy 1:29-31
Moses answers with memory: the LORD goes before you and fights for you, as He did in Egypt. In the wilderness He carried Israel as a father carries his son. Past faithfulness is the ground for present courage.
BSA: son (“a descendant or child”): God’s care is that of a father, not merely a commander.
Hebrew: נְשָׂאֲךָ (nesa’akha, H5375) — “He carried you.” The verb means to lift and bear, and it suggests tender, patient care for someone who cannot manage the road alone.
See also: Isaiah 46:3-4; Hosea 11:3.
Deuteronomy 1:32-33
Despite all they had seen, they did not trust the LORD. Yet He had gone ahead of them in fire by night and cloud by day, choosing their campsites and showing the road. They had the guidance of God in plain view and still would not believe.
BSA: trust (“be faithful to, have confidence in”): To trust is to lean the whole weight on someone, as one leans on a reliable support. cloud (“a sign of God’s guidance”): The cloud was a visible sign that God Himself was leading them.
Hebrew: מַאֲמִינִם (ma’aminim, H539) — “believing, trusting.” This word comes from a root meaning firm or reliable. To believe God is to treat Him as solid ground.
See also: Exodus 13:21-22; Hebrews 3:19.
Deuteronomy 1:34-36
God heard their words and swore that none of that evil generation would see the land. Only Caleb would enter, because he followed the LORD fully. God takes both unbelief and faithful obedience seriously, and each is remembered.
BSA: wholeheartedly (“with all his heart, fully committed”): Caleb held nothing back from following the LORD.
Hebrew: מִלֵּא (mille, H4390) — “filled, fully followed.” The phrase is literally that Caleb ‘filled after’ the LORD. He followed completely, not partly.
See also: Numbers 14:20-24; Joshua 14:6-14.
Deuteronomy 1:37-38
Moses says the LORD was angry with him too, because of the people, and he would not enter the land. Joshua would, and Moses is told to encourage him. Leadership passes on, and God’s purpose does not depend on any one man.
BSA: enable (“cause to inherit, give possession to”): Joshua’s task would be to lead Israel into actual ownership of the land.
See also: Numbers 20:12.
Deuteronomy 1:39-40
The children whom the people feared would become plunder would enter and possess the land. Those who did not yet know good from evil would inherit the promise. The adults were turned back toward the wilderness. God’s mercy outlasts human failure.
BSA: captives (“plunder, spoil”): The people said their children would be taken as loot, but God turned that fear into promise.
See also: Numbers 14:31-33.
Deuteronomy 1:41-42
Now the people say they have sinned and will go up and fight. They put on their weapons, thinking it would be easy. But the LORD says He is not with them. A change of mind that does not follow God’s word is not true repentance.
BSA: sinned (“gone wrong, missed the mark”): They admitted they had failed to hit the target God set, though their next step missed it again.
See also: Numbers 14:40-43.
Deuteronomy 1:43-44
Moses warned them, but they would not listen and went up anyway. The Amorites swarmed out like bees and drove them back to Hormah. Going without God’s blessing, even in a good cause, ends in defeat.
BSA: presumptuously (“with pride, arrogance”): They acted from self-will, assuming God would back them without asking whether He would.
Deuteronomy 1:45-46
They returned and wept before the LORD, but He did not listen to them. Their tears came after disobedience had already done its work. They stayed at Kadesh a long time, then turned back into the wilderness.
BSA: listen (“hear, heed”): God’s refusal to heed here means He would not change the verdict, not that He was unable to hear.
See also: Hebrews 3:16-19.