A). THE PREAMBLE AND HISTORICAL PROLOGUE TO THE COVENANT (CHAPTER S 1-4). As we come to the commentary itself we should perhaps summarise what lies before us. Having declared in Whose Name Moses is acting, the first four Chapter s act as a historical prologue to the covenant and very much deal with... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 1 . PREAMBLE, HISTORY AND FAILURE. THE PREAMBLE (DEUTERONOMY 1:1). Deuteronomy 1-5 of the chapter set the scene for the whole book. They are carefully constructed so as to form a literary unit. Note the chiastic literary pattern which opens and closes the two sections. ‘These are the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES' RECAPITULATION OF THEIR HISTORY (DEUTERONOMY 1:6 TO DEUTERONOMY 4:43). Moses' instruction will now commence, recapitulating their history, and describing what Yahweh had commanded. He will first demonstrate how their fathers had been satisfactorily established by Him as a populous nation enjo... [ Continue Reading ]
HE POINTS OUT THAT THERE SHOULD IN FACT HAVE BEEN NO PROBLEM WITH THEIR POSSESSING CANAAN BECAUSE YAHWEH HAD MADE THEM A GREAT NATION, JUSTLY AND WISELY WATCHED OVER BY THEIR RULERS, AND HAD LED THEM SAFELY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. THEIR FAILURE WAS NOT YAHWEH'S FAULT (DEUTERONOMY 1:9). He now draws... [ Continue Reading ]
ISRAEL JOURNEY TO KADESH WITH A VIEW TO ENTERING THE LAND AND WITHDRAW BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF (DEUTERONOMY 1:19 TO DEUTERONOMY 2:1). This next section of the speech follows a chiastic pattern bringing out contrasts in order to emphasise the unbelief of the people and the judgment that came on them. It... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 1:26 ‘ Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you murmured in your tents, and said, “Because Yahweh hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Where are we going up? Our... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 1:29 ‘ Then I said to you, “Do not be in such dread, nor be afraid of them. Yahweh your God who goes before you, he will fight for you, in the same way as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you (thou) have seen how Yahweh your God bore you (thee), as... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 1:32 ‘ Yet in this thing you did not believe Yahweh your God, who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day.' But they (in their fathers) had not believed Yahweh their cov... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 1:37 ‘ Also Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, saying, “You also shall not go in there, Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage you him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it.” ' But Moses own right to enter the land had also later been lost.... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 1:39 “ Moreover your little ones, whom you said would be a prey, and your children, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they will go in there, and to them will I give it, and they will possess it.” Here Yahweh is seen as speaking to their fathers. They had said that if they... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 1:42 ‘ And Yahweh said to me, “Say to them, Do not go not up, nor fight, for I am not among you, lest you be smitten before your enemies.” So Yahweh, Who knew the truth of what would lay ahead, had now commanded them not to go forward. The command was clear. They were not to go forward... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 1:45 ‘ And you returned and wept before Yahweh, but Yahweh did not listen to your voice, nor did he give ear to you.' The result had been deep sorrow, so much so that they came and wept before the Tabernacle, ‘before Yahweh'. But they had wept in disappointment, not because they were r... [ Continue Reading ]