Deuteronomy 1:42

And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:19-46 Moses reminds the Israelites of their march from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, through that great and terrible wilderness. He shows how near they were to a happy settlement in Canaan. It will aggravate the eternal ruin of hypocrites, that they were not far from the kingdom of God. As if it were not enough that they were sure of their God before them, they would send men before them. Never any looked into the Holy Land, but they must own it to be a good land. And was there any cause to distrust this God? An unbelieving heart was at the bottom of all this. All disobedience to God's laws, and distrust of his power and goodness, flow from disbelief of his word, as all true obedience springs from faith. It is profitable for us to divide our past lives into distinct periods; to give thanks to God for the mercies we have received in each, to confess and seek the forgiveness of all the sins we can remember; and thus to renew our acceptance of God's salvation, and our surrender of ourselves to his service. Our own plans seldom avail to good purpose; while courage in the exercise of faith, and in the path of duty, enables the believer to follow the Lord fully, to disregard all that opposes, to triumph over all opposition, and to take firm hold upon the promised blessings.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ye were ready to go up into the hill - Rather, perhaps, "ye made light of going up;" i. e. "ye were ready to attempt it as a trifling undertaking." Deuteronomy 1:43 shows the issue of this spirit in action; compare marginal references.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

40-45. turn you, and take your journey into the … Red Sea—This command they disregarded, and, determined to force an onward passage in spite of the earnest remonstrances of Moses, they attempted to cross the heights then occupied by the combined forces of the Amorites and Amalekites (compare Nu 14:43), but were repulsed with great loss. People often experience distress even while in the way of duty. But how different their condition who suffer in situations where God is with them from the feelings of those who are conscious that they are in a position directly opposed to the divine will! The Israelites were grieved when they found themselves involved in difficulties and perils; but their sorrow arose not from a sense of the guilt so much as the sad effects of their perverse conduct; and "though they wept," they were not true penitents. So the Lord would not hearken to their voice, nor give ear unto them.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

I am not among you, with my powerful presence and assistance.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the Lord said unto me,.... When the people had armed themselves, and were in motion, or ready to set forward to ascend the hill:

say unto them, go not up, neither fight; neither go up the hill, and if they did, contrary to this order, and should meet with enemies, not fight them, but retreat:

for I am not among you: the ark of the covenant, the symbol of his presence, was then among them, but it did not go with them, it continued in the camp, Numbers 14:44 nor did the Lord exert his power, or show himself present with them, or to be on their side, but left them to themselves, and to their enemies:

lest ye be smitten before your enemies; God not being with them to fight for them, protect and defend them, and give them victory.

Geneva Study Bible

And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am {y} not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.

(y) Signifying that man has no strength, but when God is at hand to help him.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

42. Say unto them, Go not up … for I am not among you] JE, Numbers 14:42. See previous note.

lest ye be smitten, etc.] JE, Numbers 14:42.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 42. - Moses, by the command of God, warned the people that, if they presumed to go up, they should go without his protection, and so would certainly fall before their enemies. Deuteronomy 1:42

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"Who standeth before thee," equivalent to "in thy service" (Exodus 24:13; Exodus 33:11 : for this meaning, see Deuteronomy 10:8; Deuteronomy 18:7; 1 Kings 1:28). "Strengthen him:" comp. Deuteronomy 31:7; and with regard to the installation of Joshua as the leader of Israel, see Numbers 27:18-19. The suffix in ינחילנּה points back to הארץ in Deuteronomy 1:35. Joshua would divide the land among the Israelites for an inheritance, viz., (v. 39) among the young Israelites, the children of the condemned generation, whom Moses, when making a further communication of the judicial sentence of God (Numbers 14:31), had described as having no share in the sins of their parents, by adding, "who know not to-day what is good and evil." This expression is used to denote a condition of spiritual infancy and moral responsibility (Isaiah 7:15-16). It is different in 2 Samuel 19:36. - In Deuteronomy 1:40-45 he proceeds to describe still further, according to Numbers 14:39-45, how the people, by resisting the command of God to go back into the desert (Deuteronomy 1:41, compared with Numbers 14:25), had simply brought still greater calamities upon themselves, and had had to atone for the presumptuous attempt to force a way into Canaan, in opposition to the express will of the Lord, by enduring a miserable defeat. Instead of "they acted presumptuously to go up" (Numbers 14:44), Moses says here, in Deuteronomy 1:41, "ye acted frivolously to go up;" and in Deuteronomy 1:43, "ye acted rashly, and went up." הזיד from זוּד, to boil, or boil over (Genesis 25:29), signifies to act thoughtlessly, haughtily, or rashly. On the particular fact mentioned in Deuteronomy 1:44, see at Numbers 14:45.