Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 1:34
And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and swore, saying,
34. the voice of your words ] So Deu 1:28 and not elsewhere.
34. and was wroth ] Heb. wayyioph, Deu 9:19 and twice in P, but not elsewhere of God in Pent. The causative form to provoke God only in Deu 9:7 f., Deu_9: 32.
and sware ] See on Deu 1:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
34 40. God’s Anger and Judgements
Provoked by the people’s words (Deu 1:34) God swore none should see the good land (Deu 1:35) but Kaleb, son of Y e phunneh; because he had fully followed Jehovah, to him and his children it should be given (Deu 1:36). Even with Moses was God angry for the people’s sake, saying, Thou shalt not come in thither (Deu 1:37); Joshua shall lead Israel to their heritage (Deu 1:38); and the people’s children possess it (Deu 1:39). Those addressed must turn back into the wilderness towards the Red Sea (Deu 1:40). The parallel account, Num 14:10 a Num 14:39, is divided (somewhat precariously) between JE and P. In Jeremiah , Deu 1:11-24; Deu 1:31 (?) Jehovah asks how long the people are to despise Him. He will smite and disinherit them, making of Moses himself a greater nation. Moses argues that other peoples will then say Jehovah is unable to carry Israel to the Land; and pleads His revealed mercy. Jehovah pardons, yet decrees that all who have seen His power but have not obeyed shall perish: only Kaleb who hath fully followed and his seed shall possess it, also the people’s little ones shall be brought in. In P, Deu 1:10 a, Deu 1:26-30; Deu 1:32-39 a, the divine glory descends on the tent of meeting and Jehovah asks how long He is to bear with this evil congregation whose murmuring He has heard. All from 20 years old and upwards shall perish except Kaleb and Joshua. This sentence is then expanded, and the spies who have brought an evil report are struck with the pestilence.
All these accounts agree in attributing to the people’s unbelief, after the report of the spies, a sentence of death on the adult generation, characteristically defined by P. The differences are (1) the usual distinctions of language (see notes below); (2) D and P omit Moses’ argument given by JE; P substitutes the descent of the glory of God; (3) JE and D except Kaleb front the doom, P Kaleb and Joshua (but an addition to D Deu 1:37-38 also excepts Joshua); (4) P alone (as usual) associates Aaron with Moses; (5) the addition to D extends God’s anger to Moses for the people’s sake; JE, on the contrary, declares God will make of Moses a greater people; while P (see on Deu 1:37) attributes Moses’ exclusion from the land to his own sin on an occasion 37 years after the present episode. Part of the analysis of Numbers 14 being precarious and the integrity of Deu 1:36-39 being doubtful we cannot say whether these differences of fact are reconcilable. Yet their coincidence with the distinctions of style and religious feeling among the three documents cannot be ignored; and the probability remains that here as elsewhere we have more or less independent traditions of the same event. Since Calvin, who in his harmony of the four last Bks of the Pent. removes Deu 1:37-38 from its context to a connection with Num 20:1-13, the explanation has been offered that the deuteronomic. passage is not chronological; but even this arbitrary act of literary criticism does not meet the difficulty of the statement that Jehovah was angry with Moses for the people’s sake.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 34. The Lord – was wroth] That is, his justice was incensed, and he evidenced his displeasure against you; and he could not have been a just God if he had not done so.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The voice of your words, to wit, your murmurings, your unthankful, impatient, distrustful, and rebellious speeches and carriages.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
34-36. the Lord heard the voice ofyour words, and was wrothIn consequence of this aggravatedoffense (unbelief followed by open rebellion), the Israelites weredoomed, in the righteous judgment of God, to a life of wandering inthat dreary wilderness till the whole adult generation haddisappeared by death. The only exceptions mentioned are Caleb andJoshua, who was to be Moses’ successor.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord heard the voice of your words,…. Of their murmurings against Moses and Aaron, and of their threatenings to them, Joshua and Caleb, and of their impious charge of hatred of them to God for bringing them out of Egypt, and of their rash wishes that they had died there or in the wilderness, and of their wicked scheme and proposal to make them a captain, and return to Egypt again:
and was wroth, and sware; by his life, himself; see Nu 14:28,
saying; as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
34. And the Lord heard the voice of your words. I have shown elsewhere what is meant by God’s hearing, i.e., that nothing can be concealed from Him, but that tie will take account of and judge all our words and deeds And this is worthy of our observation; for men would never dare to murmur against Him, unless they promised themselves impunity (75) from His not being present. Secondly, we learn from hence, that God, who is a just Judge, does not proceed hastily and without cause to inflict punishment on men, and that He does not manifest severity without a full examination of the case. He, therefore, means that they deprived themselves of their assured inheritance, when they were close upon receiving it, through their own rebellion and depravity.
(75) Sous ombre qu’il ne prend point garde a ce qui ce fait ici bas;” under the pretext that He pays no attention to what is done here below. — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(34) Was wroth, and sware.See Psa. 95:11, I sware in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Ver. 34. The Lordwas, and sware Moses makes God speak in the manner of the kings of the earth; and that, to accommodate himself to the feeble reach of our understanding. That God cannot be in a passion, is certain; when the Scripture represents him in this light, it is the better to make us comprehend how much he detests evil. In the same manner, if he is introduced swearing, it is to give the greater force and strength to his asseverations, agreeable to those forms which are established among men. It is well known, that the Pagans supposed that their gods might swear: even their supreme god Jupiter, as well as the rest; which shews, that the general idea which mankind have affixed to the term swearing means no more than giving the strongest and most awful assurances possible, and does not necessarily imply the invoking a superior. See Dr. Waterland’s Script. Vind. part 2: p. 47 and Gen 6:6.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 1:34-40
34Then the LORD heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and took an oath, saying, 35’Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers, 36except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed the LORD fully.’ 37The LORD was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘Not even you shall enter there. 38Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there; encourage him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it. 39Moreover, your little ones who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it. 40But as for you, turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.’
Deu 1:34 He was angry and took an oath This same phrase, took an oath (BDB 989 KB 1396, Niphal IMPERFECT), was used when God committed Himself to a covenant relationship with Israel. Here He is committing Himself to the covenant consequence for disobedience-cursing. Notice that God’s promise to Abraham was to succeeding generations, but the curse was only to one generation, which was the initial evil (i.e., unbelief in YHWH’s promise of giving them Canaan) generation of the Exodus.
Deu 1:35 All of the men of military age (i.e., 20 years and up), who refused to follow YHWH’s command and take the land, are punished and the people had to wander in the wilderness until their deaths (i.e., 38 years). The NT book of Hebrews, chapters 3-4, discusses this very issue of faithlessness.
Only the two spies who brought the positive report, Caleb (cf. Deu 1:36) and Joshua (cf. Deu 1:38), were excluded. Covenant disobedience results in covenant curses for Israel (cf. Deuteronomy 27-29) and Moses (cf. Deu 3:26-27).
the good land This is a recurrent phrase (cf. Exo 3:8; Deu 1:35; Deu 3:25; Deu 4:21-22; Deu 8:7; Deu 8:20; Jos 23:13). Good denoted (1) God’s presence (i.e., God is good, Psa 86:5; Psa 100:5; Psa 106:1; Psa 107:1; Psa 118:1; Psa 118:29; Psa 145:9; and also note the parallelism of Amo 5:4; Amo 5:6; Amo 5:14-15) and (2) a land flowing with milk and honey (e.g., Exo 3:8; Exo 3:17; Exo 13:5; Exo 33:3; Num 13:27; Num 14:8; Num 16:13-14; Deu 6:3; Deu 11:9; Deu 26:9; Deu 26:15; Deu 27:3; Deu 31:20; Jos 5:6).
Deu 1:36 the land on which he has set foot The land which Caleb will capture and thereby inherit is located around Hebron. We think it is near the valley of Eshcol (cf. Jos 15:13), where the giants lived!
fully This means wholeheartedly (BDB 569, KB 583, Piel PERFECT). It refers to one without mixed motives; Caleb loved YHWH with all his heart and followed Him. It is a metaphor of true devotion (e.g., Num 14:24; Num 32:11-12; Jos 14:8-9; Jos 14:14; 1Ki 11:6). It is similar to the phrase, with all your heart and with all your soul (cf. Deu 6:5; Deu 10:12; Deu 13:3; Deu 30:2; 1Ki 9:4; 1Ki 11:4).
Deu 1:37 The LORD was angry with me also on your account Moses was trying to blame the people for his own disobedience (cf. Deu 3:26, just as Adam tried to do, cf. Gen 3:12), but note Num 20:7-13; Num 20:24; Num 27:14; Deu 4:21.
The VERB angry (BDB 60, KB 72, Hithpael PERFECT) is from the NOUN for nostril or nose. Apparently it referred to (1) the flaring of the nostril as a physical sign of anger or (2) snorting a nasal sound. This term is used consistently for divine (anthropomorphic) anger (cf. Exo 32:12; Deu 1:37; Deu 4:21; Deu 9:8; Deu 9:20; 2Ki 24:20).
Another use of this word in connection to deity is the phrase, slow to anger, which emphasizes God’s patience and longsuffering (e.g., Exo 34:6; Num 14:18; Neh 9:17; Pro 14:29).
Deu 1:38 Joshua, son of Nun, who stands before you The phrase, who stands before you, is a Hebrew idiom which refers to a leader. Joshua was the right-hand man of Moses and this may be a prophecy of his future leadership role.
encourage him This VERB (BDB 304, KB 302, Piel IMPERATIVE) means make strong (e.g., Deu 3:28). YHWH Himself does this in Jos 1:6-7; Jos 1:9; Jos 1:18!
for he will cause Israel to inherit it This promise goes back to the prophecies to the Patriarchs (e.g., Genesis 12, 15, 18, 26) about their descendants’ possession of Canaan (e.g., Deu 3:28; Deu 31:7; Jos 11:23).
Deu 1:39 your little ones who you said would become a prey This refers to Num 14:3; Num 14:31. Because of the adults disbelief God is telling them that their children surely would inherit the land just as He had promised.
who this day have no knowledge of good or evil Historically this is referring to the children who came out of Egypt. God did not hold them responsible until they were capable of covenant understanding and commitment.
In this text two sides/poles can be seen in:
1. I will give it to them (God’s sovereignty, cf. Deu 1:8)
2. They shall posses it (human choice and responsibility, cf. Deu 1:8)
See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY
Deu 1:40 by the way to the Red Sea This seems to be a reference to the road called the King’s Highway that ran beside the Gulf of Aqaba from Elath to Kadesh-barnea (cf. Num 14:25; Num 20:17; Num 21:22). This does not refer to the Egyptian body of water crossed early in the Exodus, unless it means in the general direction of.
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE RED SEA
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
was wroth. See Num 14:20-35 and Psa 95:8-11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
and sware: Deu 2:14, Deu 2:15, Num 14:22-30, Num 32:8-13, Psa 95:11, Eze 20:15, Heb 3:8-11
Reciprocal: Num 32:10 – General Num 32:14 – to augment Jos 15:13 – Caleb Psa 95:8 – in the Psa 106:26 – Therefore 1Co 10:5 – General Heb 3:11 – I sware Heb 3:18 – to whom