Deu 1:27-28 | KD | STEP | “ But ye would not go up, and were rebellious against the mouth (i.e., the express will) of Jehovah our God, and murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hated us, He hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us .” שׂנאה, either an infinitive with a feminine termination, or a verbal noun construed with an accusative (see Ges. §133; Ewald , §238, a .). - By the allusion to the murmuring in the tents, Moses points them to Num 14:1, and then proceeds to describe the rebellion of the congregation related there ( ), in such a manner that the state of mind manifested on that occasion presents the appearance of the basest ingratitude, inasmuch as the people declared the greatest blessing conferred upon them by God, viz., their deliverance from Egypt, to have been an act of hatred on His part. At the same time, by addressing the existing members of the nation, as if they themselves had spoken so, whereas the whole congregation that rebelled at Kadesh had fallen in the desert, and a fresh generation was now gathered round him, Moses points to the fact, that the sinful corruption which broke out at that time, and bore such bitter fruit, had not died out with the older generation, but was germinating still in the existing Israel, and even though it might be deeply hidden in their hearts, would be sure to break forth again.

‏ Deuteronomy 1:27-28

“But ye would not go up, and were rebellious against the mouth (i.e., the express will)of Jehovah our God, and murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hated us, He hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.” שׂנאה, either an infinitive with a feminine termination, or a verbal noun construed with an accusative (see Ges. §133; Ewald, §238, a.). - By the allusion to the murmuring in the tents, Moses points them to Num 14:1, and then proceeds to describe the rebellion of the congregation related there (Deu 1:2-4), in such a manner that the state of mind manifested on that occasion presents the appearance of the basest ingratitude, inasmuch as the people declared the greatest blessing conferred upon them by God, viz., their deliverance from Egypt, to have been an act of hatred on His part. At the same time, by addressing the existing members of the nation, as if they themselves had spoken so, whereas the whole congregation that rebelled at Kadesh had fallen in the desert, and a fresh generation was now gathered round him, Moses points to the fact, that the sinful corruption which broke out at that time, and bore such bitter fruit, had not died out with the older generation, but was germinating still in the existing Israel, and even though it might be deeply hidden in their hearts, would be sure to break forth again. Deu 1:28

“Whither shall we go up? Our brethren (the spies) have quite discouraged our heart” (המס, lit., to cause to flow away; cf. Jos 2:9), viz., through their report (Num 13:28-29, Num 13:31-33), the substance of which is repeated here. The expression בּשּׁמים, “in heaven,” towering up into heaven, which is added to “towns great and fortified,” is not an exaggeration, but, as Moses also uses it in Deu 9:1, a rhetorical description of the impression actually received with regard to the size of the towns. ^{▼▼“The eyes of weak faith or unbelief saw the towns really towering up to heaven. Nor did the height appear less, even to the eyes of faith, in relation, that is to say, to its own power. Faith does not hide the difficulties from itself, that it may not rob the Lord, who helps it over them, of any of the praise that is justly His due” (Schultz).}

“The sons of the Anakims:” see at Num 13:22.