Deuteronomy 1:1-8·~1 min

The Command to Leave Horeb

Moses’ words are anchored in the wilderness east of the Jordan, forty years after the exodus and after recent victories. From Moab he begins to unfold the law the LORD has given.

T¹hese are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan — in the Arabah opposite Suph — between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ²It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir. ³In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them. ⁴This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. ⁵On the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying:

At Horeb, the LORD says Israel has remained long enough and must set out toward the lands ahead. He places the promised land before them and tells them to enter what He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

⁶The LORD our God said to us at Horeb: “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. ⁷Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates. ⁸See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.”

Section summaryThe chapter opens by locating Moses’ words in time and place, then turns back to Horeb, where the LORD told Israel to leave the mountain and go toward the land set before them. The command is framed by promise: the land already stands before the people as the gift sworn to their fathers.

Role in the chapterThis section serves as the threshold to the whole chapter. It establishes Moses’ speech as a fresh explanation of the law and begins the backward look by naming the first clear command to move from waiting toward inheritance.