Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 1:7
Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all [the places] nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
7. turn you, and take your journey ] Heb. turn you or face, and break up camp, or move on. The first of these two verbs employed with a verb of motion is used only in D (and the editorial Num 14:25) of fresh starts of the whole people on their journey through the wilderness; as here, Deu 1:40, Deu 2:1, or with other verbs. In JE, where used with verbs of motion, it is of individuals only; while in P it has another meaning, to look towards. On the second verb see below, Deu 1:19.
hill country of the Amorites ] Heb. Mount of the Amorite: as at the present day in Arabic, the singular mount is applied to a mountain-range. The range of Pal. W. of Jordan is meant, but especially its S. end (cp. Deu 1:20). The name appears very early, for Kings of the 1st Dynasty in Babylon call themselves Kings of Amurru: a name which inscriptions found at Boghaz-Keui ( Mitt. d. deutsch. Orient. Gesellschaft, Dec. 1907, 23 f.), prove to have extended to the Euphrates; but which the Tell-el-Amarna letters (about 1400 b.c.) confine to the hinterland of Phoenicia, in the N. of Palestine. Amorite, in D as in E, is the general name for all the tribes dispossessed by Israel; J has Canaanite. Winckler explains this from the origin of E in N. Israel where the Amorites had been in force; while J, writing in Judah where Israel had not fought the Amorites, knew nothing of them but assigned the whole land to the Canaanites, whose civilisation had been paramount on the coast at the time of Israel’s entry and who continued to form an antithesis to Israel ( Gesch. Isr. i. 53). If this argument were sound, then D’s extension of the name Amorite to the S. of W. Palestine would be artificial. But Winckler himself recognises the ancient character of the tradition which calls Sn an Amorite ( op. cit. p. 52), and if the Amorites had penetrated to Moab, they had also, it is probable, extended their sovereignty as far S. on the W. of the Jordan.
and unto all nigh thereunto ] Heb. unto all its neighbours: the Arabah, i.e. N. of the Dead Sea (see on Deu 1:1); the hill-country, such of the W. range as was not included under the Mt of the Amorite; the lowland, Heb. the Shephelah, the low or foot-hills between the range and the maritime plain ( HGHL. 201 ff.); the South, Heb. the Negeb, the region to the S. of the range, which descends into the Negeb about Be’er-Sheba‘; the sea-shore, the maritime plain between the Shephelah and the Mediterranean, further defined as the land of the Canaanites, the deuteronomic writers limiting the Canaanites to the level ‘Arabah and the maritime plain, just as the Tell-el-Amarna letters call the coast land Kinai = Kena‘an (so rightly Driver, while Dillm. and Steuern. take the phrase as covering all the land already defined); and Lebanon added to complete the land, cp. Deu 11:24, Jos 1:4; as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, the ideal but never the actual limit of Israel’s territory, cf. Deu 11:24. Lists of the divisions of the Promised Land similar to this occur in (probably editorial) passages of the Book of Jos.: Jos 9:1, Jos 10:40, Jos 11:2; Jos 11:16, Jos 12:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To the mount of the Amorites – i. e. to the mountain district occupied by the Amorites, reaching into the Negeb, and part of the territory assigned to the tribe of Judah.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. Go to the mount of the Amorites] On the south of the land of Canaan, towards the Dead Sea.
Land of the Canaanites] That is, Phoenicia, the country of Sidon, and the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea from the country of the Philistines to Mount Libanus. The Canaanites and Phoenicians are often confounded.
The river Euphrates] Thus Moses fixes the bounds of the land, to which on all quarters the territories of the Israelites might be extended, should the land of Canaan, properly so called, be found insufficient for them. Their SOUTH border might extend to the mount of the Amorites; their WEST to the borders of the Mediterranean Sea; their NORTH to Lebanon; and their EAST border to the river Euphrates: and to this extent Solomon reigned; see 1Kg 4:21. So that in his time, at least, the promise to Abraham was literally fulfilled; see below.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To the mount of the Amorite, i.e. to the mountainous country where the Amorites dwelt, which is opposed to the plain here following, where others of them dwelt. And this is the first mentioned, because it was in the borders of the land: see below, Deu 1:19,20. The divers parts or bounds of the land are here mentioned.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. the mount of the Amoritesthehilly tract lying next to Kadesh-barnea in the south of Canaan.
to the land of theCanaanites, and unto Lebanonthat is, Phoelignicia, the countryof Sidon, and the coast of the Mediterraneanfrom the Philistinesto Lebanon. The name “Canaanite” is often used synonymouslywith that of “Phoelignician.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Turn you and take your journey,…. That is, remove from Horeb, where they were, and proceed on in their journey, in which they had been stopped almost a year:
and go to the mount of the Amorites; where they and the Amalekites dwelt, in the south part of the land of Canaan, and which was the way the spies were sent, Nu 13:17,
and unto all the places nigh thereunto; nigh to the mountain. The Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi interpret them of Moab, Ammon, Gebal, or Mount Seir: “in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale”; such was the country near this mountain, consisting of champaign land, hills, and valleys:
and in the south; the southern border of the land of Canaan, as what follows describes the other borders of it:
and by the sea side: the Mediterranean sea, the western border of the land, which Jarchi out of Siphri explains of Ashkelon, Gaza, and Caesarea, and so the Targum of Jonathan:
into the land of the Canaanites; which was then possessed by them, the boundaries of which to the south and west are before given, and next follow those to the north and east:
and unto Lebanon; which was on the north of the land of Canaan:
unto the great river, the river Euphrates; which was the utmost extent of the land eastward, and was either promised, as it was to Abraham, Ge 15:18 or enjoyed, as it was by Solomon, 1Ki 4:21.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(7) Enter the mount of the Amoritesi.e., the southern part of Judah, from which the five kings of the Amorites, the southern confederacy of Joshua 10 (which see), arose to attack Gibeon. Israel would have marched into the heart of this territory had they entered from Kadesh, by the way of the spies.
And unto all the places nigh thereunto.The rest of the promised land is thus described: In the plainof Jordan. In the mountainthe hill-country of Judah in the south, Mount Ephraim in the centre, and the mountainous district further north. In the ShephlahPhilistia. In the Negebthe land afterwards assigned to Simeon, in the far south of Judah. And by the sea side to the north of Carmel (see Jos. 9:1; Jdg. 5:17), the coasts of the Great Sea over against Lebanon, and in the territory of Asher and Zebulun, as far as Phnicia (Gen. 49:13).
The land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon.The Canaanites held the plain of Esdraelon and the fortresses in the north. From Lebanon, the conquest would extend ultimately to the north-east, even to the great river, the river Euphrates,
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Mount of the Amorites Denoting all the mountainous region inhabited by the Amorites, extending into the Negeb, or south country. This nation, as the most powerful, often stands for all the people of Canaan.
All the places nigh Literally, all its neighbours. The whole land is more specifically mentioned according to its natural divisions.
The plain the hills The modern Ghor, or Jordan valley. The mountain or highlands, afterward called the mountains of Judah and Ephraim.
The vale The lowlands, the low, level country lying between the mountains of Judah and the Mediterranean Sea, extending from Carmel to Gaza.
The south The Negeb, or south country.
The sea side The narrow strip of coast from Joppa almost to Tyre, here denominated the land of the Canaanites.
Lebanon The boundary, as laid down in Num 34:7-9.
The great river The Euphrates is mentioned as the extreme eastern boundary in the covenant Jehovah made with Abraham when he said, “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” Gen 15:18.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 7. Go to the mount of the Amorites This mountain, situated on the south of Canaan, was inhabited by the Canaanites and Amalekites, but principally by the Amorites, (see the 19th, 20th, and 44th verses following;) and it was to this mountain that Moses sent the spies, Num 13:17. We have no account of this order in the book of Numbers, any more than of a great many other things, which we should have been ignorant of, but for this supplemental book of Deuteronomy. Moses, in the subsequent part of the verse, sets forth the several quarters of the land of Canaan: the southern part lying towards the mount before mentioned; the western upon the Mediterranean sea, where dwelt the Canaanites, properly so called; the northern towards Lebanon; and the eastern towards the great river of Assyria, the Euphrates; for so far they might extend their territory, if Canaan should not be able to contain them. See on Numb. chap. 34: and Callim. Hym. ad Apoll. ver. 108. As in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, denote the nature of the country through which they were to pass, and what follows, the boundaries of the country; it would be more properly rendered, even by the south, and by the sea sideand by Lebanon.
REFLECTIONS.Moses is now about to part from the people whom he had so tenderly and faithfully served; and therefore he leaves them his solemn charge, that, after his death, they might have these things always in remembrance. They were now in the plains of Moab over against Suph; and just forty years had elapsed since their departure from Egypt, during which they had received the punishment of their murmurings, and were ready to receive the fulfilment of the promises: it highly imported them now to be obedient, since this would ensure them the necks of their enemies. It was at God’s command that he spoke, and he begins his discourse from their departure from Sinai. 1. He mentions their order to depart. They had dwelt long enough under the mount Sinai, and its awful thunderings, and are now to go to possess the land of promise. Note; God will not suffer his people to continue mourning ever under the spirit of bondage and distress; but when he has made them feel their deserts, he will shew them the riches of his grace, which begets the spirit of adoption. 2. The assurance that God gave them of success. We fight not when under Christ’s banner as uncertainly.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Deu 1:7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all [the places] nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
Ver. 7. Unto the great river Euphrates. ] Here are the bounds of the Promised Land; all which if they enjoy not, the fault was merely in themselves. Joshua chideth them for their slackness and dastardliness.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Turn you = Face about. Note the Figure of speech Polyonymia (App-6) in this verse. Hebrew. panah, set one’s face; start.
vale. Hebrew. Shephelah = Philistia.
south. Hebrew. Negeb, the hill country south of Judea. See note on “South”, Gen 12:9; Gen 13:1.
river. Hebrew. nahar, a flood, not nahal, a wady. Compare Gen 15:18.
the river. Figure of speech Anadiplosis. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the mount: Gen 15:16-21, Exo 23:31, Num 34:3-12, Jos 24:15, Amo 2:9
all the places: Heb. all his neighbours
in the plain: Deu 11:11, Jos 10:40, Jos 11:16, Jos 11:17
the great: Deu 11:24, Jos 1:4, 2Sa 8:3, 1Ch 5:9, 1Ch 18:3
Reciprocal: Gen 2:14 – Euphrates Gen 15:18 – Unto thy Exo 3:8 – unto a good Num 9:22 – abode Num 34:2 – is the land Deu 1:20 – the mountain Jos 13:5 – Lebanon Jdg 3:3 – in mount 1Ti 5:21 – without preferring
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 1:7-8. To the mount of the Amorites That is, to the mountainous country on the south part of Canaan, inhabited chiefly by the Amorites, Deu 1:19-20; Deu 1:44. The country to which Moses directed the spies to go up, Num 13:17. This order is not mentioned in the book of Numbers, nor a great many other things, for a knowledge of which we are indebted to this supplemental book of Deuteronomy. Behold, I have set the land before you Hebrew, before your faces; it is open to your view, and to your possession; there is no impediment in your way. And thus is the heavenly Canaan, and the kingdom of grace which leads to it, laid open to the view and enjoyment of all believers. Which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Gen 15:18; Gen 17:7; Gen 28:13. It is not indeed said in any of these places that God confirmed his promise with an oath; but he did what was equivalent thereto; he engaged his veracity by the solemn transaction of a covenant, which is called the oath of God, Gen 26:3.