Deuteronomy 1:26

26–33. The Disaffection of the People

Israel defied the command to go up (Deu_1:26), murmuring that in hate God had brought them from Egypt, to be destroyed by the Amorite (Deu_1:27). quoting the spies that the people of the land were taller with fenced cities, and the ‘Anakim were there (Deu_1:28). Moses exhorted them not to fear, Jehovah would fight for them (Deu_1:29 ff.). But they persisted in unbelief (Deu_1:32), though God had never failed to guide them (Deu_1:33).—In the parallel account which is compiled from JE and P the few J E fragments, Num_13:30 f., Num_13:33, Deu_14:1 b, Deu_14:3 f., Deu_14:8-9 b, imply the people’s disquietude at the spies’ report and state that Caleb quieted them, but the other spies contradicted, affirming that the giant ‘Anakim (J), the Nephîlim (E), were in the land. The people wept, Why doth Jehovah bring us to this land to fall by the sword? were it not better to return to Egypt under another captain? Someone (Caleb?) exhorted them not to fear, Jehovah is with us.—P, Num_13:32; Num_14:1 a, Num_14:2; Num_14:5; Num_14:9 a, Num_14:10 a, states that on the evil report of the spies, that the land was hungry and the men of great stature, the congregation murmured (a different term from that in the deuteronomic review) against Moses and Aaron. Would God we had died in the wilderness! Moses and Aaron fell prostrate, while Joshua and Caleb rent their clothes and affirmed the land to be exceeding good. But the congregation bade stone them.

Thus all three accounts agree on the main facts: (1) that the spies were divided in reporting (any variations as to this are merely of emphasis), (2) that the people refused to go up from fear of the taller peoples of the land; (3) that they murmured against God (so even P, Num_14:27), (4) that they were exhorted to faith, and still disbelieved. The differences are—JE mentions only Caleb as urgent to go on, P Caleb and Joshua, the deuteronomic review neither, though the writer had those in mind as appears from the next section; JE reports the proposal to return to Egypt, P only a wish to die in the desert; P alone mentions the proposal of stoning.—Each writer, as elsewhere, uses his own style, our passage being full of characteristic deuteronomic phrases. But its main distinction is its religious spirit. Summarising the JE narrative, with a few verbal coincidences, it finely indicates the moral character of the people’s disaffection—opposing to their fears founded on a few men’s reports their own long and indubitable experience of their God’s unfailing providence.

Deu_1:26. ye would not] A phrase found seven times in D against three in the rest of the Pent.

rebelled, etc.] Web. defied the month of: another deuteronomic phrase.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:26-46 See Num 14.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Notwithstanding, ye would not go up,.... And possess it, as the Lord had bid them, and Moses encouraged them to do, as well as Joshua and Caleb, who were two of the spies sent into it:

but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God; disregarded the word of the Lord, and disobeyed his command, and thereby bitterly provoked him, which rebellion against him, their King and God, might well do.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Being. Hebrew, "but rebelled against, irritated, or rendered useless," &c. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

General Information:

Moses continues reminding the people of Israel what the previous generation of Israelites did.

Yet you refused to attack

God commanded the Israelites to attack and destroy the Amorites, but the Israelites were afraid and refused to fight them. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

into the hand of the Amorites

Here "into the hand" means to give the Amorites power over them. AT: "into the power of the Amorites" (See: Metonymy)

Where can we go now?

Here this question emphasizes how afraid they were. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "We have nowhere to go." (See: Rhetorical Question)

made our heart to melt

This means that they became afraid. AT: "made us very afraid" (See: Idiom)

are fortified up to the heavens

This is an exaggeration that emphasizes how frightened the people were because the cities were so large and strong. AT: "have walls so high it is like they reach up to the heavens" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

sons of the Anakim

These are descendants of the Anak people who were very large and fierce. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and How to Translate Names)

translationWords

rebel

command

Yahweh

God

tent

Egypt

power

Amorite

heart

heaven

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ותמרו — This is an expression denoting setting oneself in opposition: ye opposed yourselves to His words.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.