11 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan-in the wilderness, on the plain opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. 2 (By the way of Mount Seir it takes eleven days to reach Kadesh-barnea from Horeb.) 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites just as the Lord had commanded him to speak to them. 4 This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and [1] in Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law as follows: 6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Resume your journey, and go into the hill country of the Amorites as well as into the neighboring regions-the Arabah, the hill country, the Shephelah, the Negeb, and the seacoast-the land of the Canaanites and the Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land that I [2] swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:1-8
Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:1-8
(Read Deuteronomy 1:1-8)
Moses spake to the people all the Lord had given him in commandment. Horeb was but eleven days distant from Kadesh-barnea. This was to remind them that their own bad conduct had occasioned their tedious wanderings; that they might the more readily understand the advantages of obedience. They must now go forward. Though God brings his people into trouble and affliction, he knows when they have been tried long enough. When God commands us to go forward in our Christian course, he sets the heavenly Canaan before us for our encouragement.