Deuteronomy 11:30

11:30 Gilgal was the site of the first camp the Israelites would make in Canaan after crossing the Jordan (Josh 4:19). It was about two miles northeast of Jericho, although its exact location is no longer certain. A line from Jericho to Shechem would pass near Gilgal. • The oaks of Moreh were near Shechem; they were where Abram had set up his first camp in Canaan (Gen 12:6) and where Jacob had later buried Laban’s idols (Gen 35:4).

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

Or, plain.

Meaning, in Samaria.

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

(30) Where the sun goeth down.—A memorable passage, as attesting the true position of the speaker, east of Jordan, over against Jericho. The sun has been seen by travellers from that very spot going down exactly in the remarkable gap between Ebal and Gerizim.

The plains of Moren.—Rather, the oaks or terebinths of Moreh. (See Gen_12:6.)

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

Far. Hebrew, "over against Galgal, beside the plains of More, or Aluni More." Samaritan reads, "the plain of More, near Sichem," as Exodus xx. 17. (Haydock) --- This is styled the noble vale, Genesis xii. 6. (Calmet) --- The road from Jericho to the Mediterranean Sea, left these mountains on the north. The Chanaanite inhabited all that region, from Galgal to Sichem. How far these places were distant from each other, is not here specified; though Eusebius seems to have inferred from this text, that Garizim was near Jericho. But the plain might be very extensive or noble, and reach from Sichem as far as Galgala.

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).

Over against Gilgal; looking towards Gilgal, though at some considerable distance from it, as this particle is sometimes used.

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

30. By the way where the sun goeth down — Referring to the great highway for travel from Syria to Egypt, which runs through the land on the west side of the Jordan. There was another main road on the east side of the river.

Which dwell in the champaign — In the Arabah. This term was applied to the whole valley, extending from the sources of the Jordan to the gulf of Akabah. As the Israelites are now encamped on the east side of the Jordan, the Arabah would be right before them as they looked toward the west. Knobel thinks the region in which Nablus is situated to be meant.

Over against Gilgal — Not Gilgal on the west side of the Jordan near Jericho, but probably the Gilgal mentioned in 2Ki_2:1. In the narrative it is said that Elijah and Elisha came down from Gilgal to Bethel, and from Beth-el, going by Jericho, they pass on to the Jordan. This Gilgal was higher than Beth-el, and evidently more remote from Jordan. A place bearing the name Jiljilieh is thought to be the site of this Gilgal. The critics have made this one of the points of attack on the authenticity of the book. “It must seem strange that Moses, who had never been in the land of Canaan, should know all these places and be able to describe them so accurately. But it is still more strange that he should know the name Gilgal, which, according to the book of Joshua, was not given to the place till after the people had entered the land of Canaan. It is plain the text was written at a later age, when these names and places were familiarly known.” — Pentateuch Examined, ii, p. 200. Now it would be strange indeed if Moses were not familiar with the geography of the land. The monuments of Egypt show acquaintance with Syria. The great roads for commerce and war led through Canaan. Forty years spent in Egypt, forty years in Midian, and forty years on the very borders of the land would certainly give opportunity for familiar knowledge of the physical features of the land. As there were several places that bore the name Gilgal, one at least may have had that name before the conquest.

The plains of Moreh — Rather, the terebinths of Moreh, hallowed in the minds of the Israelites as the place of the divine manifestation to Abraham. Gen_12:6-7.

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

Over against - Looking toward Gilgal, tho' at some considerable distance from it. Beside the plains of Moreh - This was one of the first places that Abram came to in Canaan. So that in sending them thither to hear the blessing and the curse, they were minded of the promise made to Abram in that very place, Gen. xii, 6, 7.

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

הלא המה ARE THEY NOT [AT THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN … ]? — He gave geographical indications regarding them (the mountains).

אחרי [AT THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN,] AFTER — This means: behind the passage of the Jordan much further on in a distance, for that is the force of the expression אחרי, because wherever the term אחרי (in contradistinction to אחר; cf. Rashi on Genesis 15:1) is used it signifies “greatly separated” (Genesis Rabbah 44:5; cf. Sifrei Devarim 56:1; Sotah 33b).

דרך מבוא השמש [AT THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN, FAR DISTANT FROM IT] ON THE WAY OF THE SETTING OF THE SUN — i.e. beyond the Jordan towards the West. The accents in the verse prove that they (the word אחרי and the phrase דרך מבוא השמש) are two unconnected phrases since they bear two separate accents of a different character, viz., the word אחרי is marked by a Pashta (a disjunctive accent), and the word דרך is marked by a משפל (our Yetib), and also has a Dagesh. If, however, אחרי דרך formed one phrase, the word אחרי should be marked by a conjunctive accent, a שופר הפוך (our Mahpach) and דרך by a Pashta, while the ד of דרך would be ‘‘weak” (i.e. have no Dagesh; cf. Rashi on Joshua 7:15).

מול הגלגל means, distant from Gilgal (not near Gilgal).

אלוני מורה [BESIDE] THE TEREBINTHS OF MOREH — This is Shechem, for it states, (Genesis 12:6): “unto the place of Shechem, unto the terebinth of Moreh” (Sifrei Devarim 56:1; Sotah 33b; cf. Rashi on that verse).

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.