Deuteronomy 1:7

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.

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 1:7-8. 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.

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

1:7 The hill country consisted of interior areas of Canaan that were also inhabited by the Amorites (see 1:4; Num 13:29; Josh 10:6). The Canaanites apparently once lived throughout Palestine, but with the incursion of the Amorites they were restricted to the valleys and lowlands. • the western foothills: Hebrew the Shephelah, the term still used in modern Israel for the region between the hills of Judah and the coastal plain, an area that specializes in orchards and vineyards. • the Negev: This great desert area lies to the south of Canaan. The Hebrew word could also designate “the south.”

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

Or, Euphrates.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the mount of the Amorites--the hilly tract lying next to Kadesh-barnea in the south of Canaan.

to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon--that is, Phœnicia, the country of Sidon, and the coast of the Mediterranean--from the Philistines to Lebanon. The name "Canaanite" is often used synonymously with that of "Phœnician."

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 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.

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

(7) Enter the mount of the Amorites—i.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 plain—of Jordan. In the mountain—the hill-country of Judah in the south, Mount Ephraim in the centre, and the mountainous district further north. In the Shephêlah—Philistia. In the Negeb—the 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 Phœnicia (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,

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

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 Sîḥôn 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 Kinaḥi = 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.

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.

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, Num 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, Gen 15:18 or enjoyed, as it was by Solomon, Kg1 4:21.

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

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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Turn you. The Hebrews, after the passage of the Red Sea, seemed to turn their backs upon the promised land, to go southward. Now, therefore, they are ordered to bend their course to the north, and to enter Chanaan, (Haydock) on the western side of the lake of Sodom, where the Amorrhites dwelt. (Calmet) --- Their mountain, and the other hills, and plains, and vales, (Hebrew sephela, mentioned [in] 1 Machabees xii. 38,) as far as the Nile and Mediterranean, were the southern limits of the Chanaanites, whose country extended to Libanus. See Numbers xxxiv. (Haydock) --- God promises also to deliver the country as far as the Euphrates to the Hebrews, provided they continue faithful to him, chap. xix. 8. As they neglected this condition, they never possessed the whole country, not even that of Chanaan, unmolested. Yet the whole was tributary to them in the days of David and Solomon. (St. Augustine, q. 21. in Jos.) (Masius) (Tirinus)

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).

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.

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

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.

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

Go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all that dwell thereon; literally, its dwellers or inhabitants (wynkev). The mountain range of the Amorites, afterwards called the hill country of Judah and Ephraim, was the object which would first strike the view of one advancing from the south; and so, it stands here for the whole land of Canaan, with which it is in this context identified. Those "that dwell thereon" are the inhabitants of the whole of Canaan. The Amorites (Hebrew Emori, so called from Amor, or Emor) oftener than once appear as standing for the Canaanites generally (Gen_15:16; Deu_1:20, Deu_1:21, etc.) That all the inhabitants of Canaan are intended here is evident from the specification of the different districts of the land of Canaan which immediately follows. In the plain: the Arabah (see ver. 1). In the hills: the hill country of Judah. (Num_13:17) In the vale: the shephelah, or lowland, the country lying between the mountain range of Judah and the Mediterranean Sea, and stretching northwards from the parallel of Gaza to that of Carmel. In the south: the negeb, or southland (literally, dryness), the district which formed the transition from the desert to the cultivated land, extending from the south of the Dead Sea westwards to Gaza, a vast steppe or prairie, for the most part pasture land. The seashore: the narrow strip of land on the coast of the Mediterranean from Joppa to Tyre. (in the New Testament, "the coast of Tyre and Sidon," Luk_6:17) The land of the Canaanites: the whole country of which these were the separate parts. And unto Lebanon: the Whale Mountain, so called, probably, from the snow which rests on its summit. The great river, the river Euphrates. The Phrath, or Euphrates, which has its sources in the mountains of Armenia, and in its course divides Armenia from Cappadocia, formed the eastern limit of the territory promised by God to Abraham. The epithet "great" seems to have been commonly applied to it. Callimachus calls it "ASSuriou potamoio megav roov ("In Apoll.," 107), and Lucan has

Quaque caput rapido tollit cum Tigride magnus Euphrates. ("Phars.," 3:256.)

As by much the most considerable river of western Asia, the Euphrates was known as "the river" par excellence (cf. Exo_23:31; Isa_8:7; Jer_2:18; Psa_72:8) The mention of Lebanon and the Euphrates is not, as Keil suggests, "to be attributed to the rhetorical fullness of the style;" but is due to the fact that these were included in what God promised to Abraham and his seed (Gen_15:18 Exo_23:31; Deu_11:24)

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

To the mount of the Amorites - That is, to the mountainous country where the Amorites dwelt, which is opposed to the plain, where others of them dwelt. And this is the first mentioned, because it was in the borders of the land.

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

General Information:

Moses continues to remind the people of Israel what Yahweh said to them.

Turn and take your journey

The word "turn" is an idiom for beginning action. AT: "Start again on your journey" (See: Idiom)

hill country ... Euphrates

Yahweh is describing places in the land that he has promised to give to the Israelites.

hill country

This is an area in the hills near the place where the Amorites lived.

lowland

an area of land that is low and flat

Look

"Pay attention to what I am about to say"

I have set the land before you

"I am now giving this land to you"

that Yahweh swore

Yahweh is speaking as if he were another person. AT: "that I, Yahweh, swore" (See: Pronouns)

fathers

The word "fathers" is a synecdoche for all ancestors. AT: "ancestors" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

Amorite

Jordan River

Negev

Canaan

Lebanon

Euphrates River

possess

Yahweh

oath

ancestor

Abraham

Isaac

Jacob

descend

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

פנו וסעו לכם TURN YOU AND JOURNEY — this was the journey to Arad and Hormah mentioned in Numbers 21:1—3.

ובאו הר האמרי — Understand this according to what it literally implies.

ואל כל שכניו AND TO ALL ITS NEIGHBOURING PLACES — Ammon, and Moab, and Mount Seir.

בערבה IN THE PLAIN — this is the plain of the forest.

בהר IN THE MOUNTAIN — this is the King’s mountain.

ובשפלה AND IN THE LOW LAND — this is the low land of the south country.

ובנגב ובחוף הים AND IN THE SOUTH COUNTRY AND BY THE SEA COAST — Ashkelon and Gaza and Caesarea, etc., all as is stated in Sifrei Devarim 6:1.

עד הנהר הגדל TO THE GREAT RIVER [THE RIVER EUPHRATES] — Because it is mentioned in connection with the Land of Israel, it terms it "great". A popular proverb says: A king’s servant is a king, attach yourself to a captain and people will bow down to you; go near to an anointed (a distinguished) person and you become anointed (distinguished) yourself (cf. Rashi on Shevuot 47b and Genesis 15:18).

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.

TURN YOU, AND TAKE YOUR JOURNEY, AND GO TO THE MOUNT OF THE AMORITE etc. He mentioned to them the Land and the road that they are to traverse in their stages, and afterwards He said, Behold, I have set the Land before you which I swore to your fathers; go in and possess the Land — this being a command, not just an assurance and promise, as I have explained. (six hundred and thirteen) mitzvoth which are binding for all times; that we are not to leave it in the hands of other nations, that we are not to leave it to waste, and that we are to dwell in it. See more fully in Vol. IV, pp. 385-386.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.