that Moses spoke
"Moses" is a central figure in the Old Testament, revered as a prophet, leader, and lawgiver. His role as the speaker here highlights his unique position as the mediator between God and Israel. The Hebrew root for "spoke" is "דִּבֵּר" (diber), indicating not just casual conversation but authoritative proclamation. Moses' words are not his own; they are the words of God delivered through him, reinforcing his role as a faithful servant and leader.

to all Israel
The phrase "to all Israel" signifies the collective audience of Moses' message. "Israel" refers to the descendants of Jacob, also known as Israel, and represents the twelve tribes. This inclusivity underscores the unity and shared identity of the people as God's chosen nation. It also implies that the message is relevant to every individual within the community, emphasizing communal responsibility and obedience to God's covenant.

in the wilderness
The "wilderness" or "מִדְבָּר" (midbar) in Hebrew, is not just a geographical location but a significant setting for Israel's journey. It represents a place of testing, transformation, and reliance on God. The wilderness experience is a metaphor for spiritual growth and dependence on divine provision, as Israel learns to trust God in the absence of material security.

east of the Jordan
"East of the Jordan" situates the narrative geographically and historically. The Jordan River is a critical boundary for the Promised Land. Being east of it indicates that Israel is on the verge of entering the land God promised to their ancestors. This location symbolizes anticipation and preparation, as the people stand on the threshold of a new chapter in their history.

in the Arabah
The "Arabah" is a desert region, part of the Great Rift Valley, extending from the Sea of Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. Its mention here highlights the harsh and challenging environment in which Israel finds itself. This setting serves as a backdrop for God's faithfulness and provision, reminding the people of His guidance through difficult circumstances.

opposite Suph
"Suph" is often associated with the Red Sea or its vicinity. The term "opposite" suggests a specific location known to the original audience. This reference may evoke memories of the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, a foundational event in Israel's history that demonstrated God's power and deliverance.

between Paran and Tophel
"Paran" is a desert area where the Israelites camped during their wilderness journey. "Tophel" is less well-known, but its mention alongside Paran suggests a specific route or region. These locations anchor the narrative in real, historical geography, reminding readers of the tangible journey of faith and obedience.

Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab
These place names further specify the setting, though their exact locations are uncertain. "Laban" means "white" in Hebrew, possibly referring to a geographical feature. "Hazeroth" is a known campsite during the wilderness wanderings. "Dizahab" means "abundant in gold," perhaps indicating a place of wealth or significance. Together, these names paint a picture of Israel's journey, filled with both challenges and divine encounters, as they prepare to enter the Promised Land.

(1) These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel.--The first two verses and the three that follow form a kind of double introduction to the book, and perhaps more especially to the first portion of it, which ends with Deuteronomy 4:40.

On this side Jordan.--Literally, on the other side Jordan from the writer's or reader's point of view.

In the wilderness.--These words define still further the expression which precedes: "on the wilderness side of Jordan," or "before they crossed the Jordan, while they were still in the wilderness." Strictly speaking, the words "in the wilderness" cannot be connected with what follows, for "the plain" described is on neither side of Jordan, but below the southern end of the Dead Sea.

In the plain--i.e., the 'Arabah. Usually the plain of Jordan; here the valley that extends from the lower end of the Dead Sea to the head of the Gulf of Akabah.

Over against the Red Sea.--Heb., opposite S-ph. In all other places in the Old Testament, when we read of the Red Sea, it is Yam S-ph. Here we have Suph only. On these grounds some take it as the name of a place. (Comp. Vaheb in S-phah, Numbers 21:14, margin.) But we do not know the place; and as the Jewish paraphrasts and commentators find no difficulty in accepting Suph by itself as the sea, we may take it of the Gulf of Akabah. The plain between Paran and Tophel looks straight down to that gulf.

Between Paran, and Tophel . . .--Literally, between Paran, and between Tophel and Laban, &c.: that is, between Paran on the one side, and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab on the other. This is the literal meaning, and it suits the geography so far as the places are yet identified. The small map at p. 239 of Conder's Handbook to the Bible shows the desert of Paran stretching northward from Sinai on the left, and on the right, Tophel and Hazeroth (the only other places identified among these five) at the two extremities of a line drawn from the southeast end of the Dead Sea in the direction of Sinai. Tophel is taken as Tufileh, and Hazeroth is 'Ain Hadra. Laban must be some "white" place lying between, probably named from the colour of the rocks in its neighbourhood. Dizahab should be nearer Sinai than Hazeroth. The Jewish commentators, from its meaning, "gold enough," connected it with the golden calf. And it is not inconceivable that the place where that object of idolatry was "burned with fire," and "stamped" and "ground very small," till it was as "small as dust," and "cast into the brook that descended out of the mount" (Deuteronomy 9:21), was called "gold enough" from the apparent waste of the precious metal that took place there; possibly also because Moses made the children of Israel drink of the water. They had enough of that golden calf before they had done with it. If this view of the geography of this verse be correct, it defines with considerable clearness the line of march from Sinai to Kadesh-barnea. It lies between the mountains on the edge of the wilderness of Paran upon the west, and the Gulf of Akabah on the east, until that gulf is left behind by the traveller going northward. It then enters the desert of Zin, called here the plain, or 'Arabah. This desert is bounded by ranges of mountains on both sides, and looks down to the Gulf of Akabah. Behind the western range we still have the wilderness of Paran. On the east are the mountains of Edom, which Israel first had on their right in the march to Kadesh-barnea, and then on their left in a later journey, in the last year of the exodus, when they compassed the land of Edom. Tophel lies on the east of this range, just before the route becomes level with the southern end of the Dead Sea. . . .

"Serbonian bog
Betwixt Damiata and mount Casius old,
Where armies whole have sunk."

(Milton, 'Paradise Lost,'Bk. 2:592.) But this has not been accepted by scholars generally (see Edinburgh Review, No. 307; Conder's 'Handbook to the Bible,' p. 247; Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, July and October, 1880). It seems probable that originally only a marshy district lay between the Gulf of Suez and the Mediterranean; and somewhere in this probably the passage of the Israelites and the drowning of the Egyptians occurred. Between Paran, and Tophel, etc. This serves more fully and particularly to indicate the locality here intended; but the details present considerable difficulty. Taken in connection with the words "over against the lied sea," the names here given can only be regarded as intended more precisely to indicate the region in which the Israelites had been during the forty years of their wandering. Paran: this is the name of the wilderness bordering on Idumea, where the Israelites encamped (Numbers 10:12; Numbers 12:16); the place of their encampment being Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin (Numbers 13:21, 26), which was the eastern part of the wilderness of Paran. hod. Wady Murreh. The wilderness of Paran corresponds in general outline with the desert of Et-Tih. This is a vast plateau of irregular surface stretching from the Et-Tih range northwards to the boundaries of the Holy Land, and from the Gulf of Akabah and the Wady cf. Arabah on the east to the Gulf of Suez and the Mediterranean on the west. It is described as "a chalky formation, the chalk being covered with coarse gravel, mixed with black flints and drifting sand;" not, however, wholly sterile: in many parts vegetation abounds, considerable portions are under cultivation, and there are evidences that it one time water was abundant there (Smith, 2:767; Kitto, 3:1077; Drew, 'Scripture Lands,' p. 80). It is not, however, to the wilderness of Paran that the reference is in the text, but to some definite locality or spot in the region in which the Israelites then were, or which they had recently passed through. It has been suggested that the place now called Feiran, and where there are the ruins of a town, once of some importance in the early history of Christianity, is the Paran of this passage, as it apparently is the Paran of 1 Kings 11:18. But this locality at the base of Jebel Serbail is much too far west to be the Paran here referred to. More probable is the suggestion that it is the Faran mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome ('Onomast.,' s.v. Φαράν), a city to the cast (northeast) of Allah or Elath, about three days' journey (Reland, 'Palest.,' p. 556; Winer, 'Realworterbuch,' s.v. Pharan). Tophel: this name occurs only here; it is supposed to be the place now coiled Tufailah or Tafyleh, a large village of six hundred inhabitants, between Bozrah and Kerak, on the eastern slope of the mountains of Edom (Burckhardt, 'Syria,' p. 402; Robinson, 'Bib. Res.,' 2:570). As this is a place where the Syrian caravans are supplied with provisions, it has been conjectured that the Israelites, when at Oboth (Numbers 21:10, 11), may have resorted to it for a supply, and that it was here that they purchased meat and drink from the children of Esau (Deuteronomy 2:29). And Laban. Laban is generally identified with Libnah, the second place of encampment of the Israelites on their return from Kadesh (Numbers 33:20, 21). Knobel, however, thinks it is the place called by Ptolemy 'Αὔαρα, lying between Petra and Allah; this name, from the Arabic (he was white), having the same meaning as the Hebrew לָבָן. Hazeroth is supposed to be the place mentioned in Numbers 11:35; Numbers 12:16, from which the Israelites entered the wilderness of Paran; but as the other places here mentioned are on the east side of the Arabah, it is not probable that this Hazeroth is the same as that of Numbers, which must have been not far from Sinai, in a northerly or north-westerly direction from that mountain, probably at or near to the fountain now called El Hudherah (Wilson, 'Lands of the Bible,' 1:235; Kitto, 'Cyclopedia,' 2:243). There were probably several places bearing the name of Hazeroth, i.e. villages. Dizahab. This is generally identified with Dhahab, a place on a tongue of land in the Gulf of Akabah. But it is extremely improbable that the Israelites ever were at this place, the approach to which is exceedingly difficult; and the mere resemblance of the names Dizahab and Dhahab is not sufficient to prove the identity of the places. There were probably more places than one which were named from zahab (gold) in the region traversed by the Israelites. There is a Dhahab on the east of the Jordan near the Zerka or Jabbok, a double mound, which is said to derive its name from the yellowish color of the sandstone rock of which it consists, and which is metalliferous. In the Arabic of the Polyglot, Dizahab appears as Dhi-dhahab, which signifies "auro praeditum vel ab auro dictum; nam דו vel די, apud Arabes in compositione nominum propr. idem est ac Hebrews בַעל (J. H. Michaelis). There is a various reading here, Di-waheb, and this has been supposed to connect this place with the Waheb of Numbers 21:14. But, as above noted, it is by no means certain that Waheb is there the name of a place; it may, as Bishop Patrick suggests, be that of a man, some hero or chief, who was conquered in Sufah or in a storm. Waheb is a name among the Arabs. The maternal grandfather of Me-hammed had this name (Abul-Pharaj, 'Hist. Dynast.,' p. 161, edit. Pococke, Oxen., 1663); and the sect of the Wahabees take their name from Abdul Wahab, a fanatic who appeared about the beginning of last century. The words "between Paran and Tophel" have been taken to indicate' the termini of the wanderings; at the commencement of these the people were at Paran, and towards the close of them they were at Tophel. '"Looking from the steppes of Moab over the ground that the Israelites had traversed, Suph, where they first entered the desert of Arabia, would lie between Paran where the congregation arrived at the borders of Canaan toward the west, and Tophel where they first ended their desert wanderings thirty-seven years later on the east" (Keil). But this assumes that Paran here is the wilderness of Paran.

Parallel Commentaries ...