Deuteronomy 1:3

Deu 1:3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first [day] of the month, [that] Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;

Ver. 3. In the eleventh month.] And in the twelfth month of this same year he died; so that this was his swan song: Sic, ubi fata vocant, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deu 1:3-4. The eleventh month — Which was but a little before his death. All that the Lord had given him in command — Which shows not only that what he now delivered was in substance the same with what had formerly been commanded, but that God now commanded him to repeat it. He gave this rehearsal and exhortation by divine direction: God appointed him to leave this legacy to the church. Og — His palace or mansion-house was at Astaroth, and he was slain at Edrei.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

in the fortieth year . . . Moses spake unto the children of Israel, &c.--This impressive discourse, in which Moses reviewed all that God had done for His people, was delivered about a month before his death, and after peace and tranquillity had been restored by the complete conquest of Sihon and Og.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. The fortieth year] This was a melancholy year to the Hebrews in different respects; in the first month of this year Miriam died, Nu 20:1; on the first day of the fifth month Aaron died, Nu 33:38; and about the conclusion of it, Moses himself died.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month.—The “and” is the real beginning of Deuteronomy, and connects it with the previous books. The moral of these words has been well pointed out by Jewish writers. It was but eleven days’ journey from Sinai to Kadesh-barnea—the place from whence Israel should have begun the conquest of the promised land; but not only eleven days of the second year of the exodus, but eleven months of the fortieth year found them still in the wilderness. “We see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”

(3, 4) Moses spake unto the children of Israel . . . after he had slain Sihon . . . and Og.—The conquest of these two kings and their territories was one of the exploits of the fortieth year. (See Num_21:21-35.) Before the eleventh month of that year, not only Sihon and Og, but also the five princes of Midian, “who were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country” (Jos_13:21), had also been slain (Numbers 31). This completed the conquest, and was the last exploit of Moses’ life. In the period of repose that followed he found a suitable time to exhort the children of Israel, “according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them” From Deu_34:8, we learn that “the children of Israel wept for Moses thirty days.” These days would seem to be the last month of the fortieth year, for “on the tenth day of the first month” (probably of the next year, Jos_4:19) they passed over Jordan. Thus the last delivery of the discourses recorded in Deuteronomy would seem to lie within a single month.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. And it came to pass in the fortieth year, etc.] P alone of the Hex. documents dates by months and days (I. P. 58, 71); and its division of the year is not that which, beginning with the autumn, prevailed in early Israel, but the Babyl. division which began with the spring. The Babyl. system was first adopted by the Jews, not during the exile (as usually supposed, Marti, Enc. Bibl. ‘Year’), but, as we gather from Baruch’s narratives in the Bk of Jeremiah, during Manasseh’s reign, when the Assyrians imposed on Judah many of their institutions (Jerusalem, ii. 189 f.). Another mark of P is the term for eleventh used in the Hex. by P alone and elsewhere only by late writers. Wellh. (Hist. 384 f.) takes the verse as from the editor who incorporated D with P, but Driver, as the introd. to a summary narrative in P, and as followed immediately by Deu_32:48-52; the self-same day there being the day specified here. On the date the 40th year and the different dating of JE and D see below on Deu_2:1-8.

the children of Israel] Another designation characteristic of P; D all Israel. See on Deu_1:1, Deu_4:44.

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.

And it came to pass in the fortieth year,.... That is, of the coming of the children of Israel out of Egypt:

in the eleventh month; the month Shebet, as the Targum of Jonathan, which answers to part of January and part of February:

in the first day of the month, that Moses spoke unto the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them; repeated to them the several commandments, which the Lord had delivered to him at different times.

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

Month, corresponding with our January, if the ecclesiastical calculation be followed; but if we date from Tisri, this eleventh month will be our July or August. Moses died on the 7th of the following month. (Du Hamel)

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).

This was but a little before his death.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3-5. The time and place of the delivery of the discourses that constitute this book are now mentioned. In the early part of this fortieth year Miriam had died. Num_20:1. Aaron died on the first day of its fifth month. Num_33:38. Moses is left almost alone; and he is soon to die at the command of Jehovah, (Deu_34:5.) The time is significant, also, from the fact that Moses had conquered the kings Sihon and Og. Num_21:21; Num_21:33. Jehovah is giving assurance of the fulfilling of his promises. The place is full of interest. In the plains of Moab, near the crossing of Jordan, with Jericho in sight, Moses undertook to expound the law.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 3, 4. Here is intimated the time when the following addresses were delivered to the people. It was on the first day of the eleventh month in the fortieth year; therefore near the end of their wanderings, and towards the close of the lawgiver"s own career. He could thus speak to them according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them, i.e. in accordance with the legislative contents of the preceding books. (comp. Deu_4:5 23 5:28-33 6:1) It was also after the destruction of Sihon and Og. (Num_21:21-35) This also is significant. By the destruction of these kings, who sought to bar the access of the Israelites to the Promised Land, God had given proof that he would indeed fulfill his promise to his people, and had at once laid them under obligations to obedience, and given them encouragement to go forward on the course to which he had called them. The "he" here is Moses, who, at the command of God, had led the Israelites against Sihon and "Og. Edrei, hod Draa (Num_21:33) was the second capital of "Og; he "reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei". (Jos_13:12) Here, however, it denotes the place where he was slain in battle, and the words "in Edrei" are to be referred to the verb "smote" and not to "dwelt" (cf. Deu_3:1; Num_21:33)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The eleventh month - Which was but a little before his death. All that the Lord had given him in commandment - Which shews not only that what he now delivered was in substance the same with what had formerly been commanded, but that God now commanded him to repeat it. He gave this rehearsal and exhortation by divine direction: God appointed him to leave this legacy to the church.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

eleventh

i.e. February.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It happened in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke

The ordinal numbers can be translated as cardinal numbers. AT: "They had lived in the wilderness for 40 years, 11 months, and 1 day, when Moses spoke" (See: Ordinal Numbers)

fortieth

40th (See: Numbers)

in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month

This is the eleventh month of the Hebrew calendar. The first day is near the middle of January on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and Ordinal Numbers)

eleventh

11th (See: Numbers)

Yahweh

This is the name of God that he revealed to his people in the Old Testament. See the translationWord page about Yahweh concerning how to translate this.

Yahweh had attacked

"Yahweh had enabled the Israelites to defeat"

Sihon ... Og

These are names of kings. (See: How to Translate Names)

Heshbon ... Ashtaroth at Edrei

These are names of cities. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

year

day

Moses

Israel

Yahweh

command

king

Amorite

Bashan

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

ויהי בארבעים שנה בעשתי עשר חדש באחד לחדש AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE FORTIETH YEAR, IN THE ELEVENTH MONTH, ON THE FIRST OF THE MONTH, [MOSES SPAKE] — This tells us that he reproved them only shortly before his death (Jewish tradition holds that Moses died on the seventh day of the twelfth month; cf. Megillah 13b). From whom did he learn this? From Jacob, who reproved his sons only shortly before his death. He said, “Reuben, my son, I will tell you why I have not reproved you for your unfitial conduct during all these years: it was in order that you should not leave me and go and join Esau, my wicked brother". — And on account of four things one should not reprove a person except shortly before one's death: that one should not reprove him and again have to reprove him; and that his fellow whom he reproves should not, when he afterwards happens to see him, feel ashamed before him, etc.; as it is set forth in Siphre. And similarly, Joshua reproved Israel only shortly before his death (cf. Joshua 24:1—29), and so, too, Samuel, as it is said, (I Samuel 12:3) “Behold, testify against me", and so, also, David reproved his son Solomon only shortly before his death (cf. 1 Kings 2:1—9).

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.