Deuteronomy 1:6-8
Summary for Deut 1:6-3:29: 1:6–4:40 a Secular treaties typically included a section detailing the past relations between the treaty partners. The purpose here was to point out Israel’s successes and failures since the Exodus and to remind the people that God had been true to his word regardless of how they had acted toward him. In order to prepare the Israelites for life in Canaan, Moses reminded them of life in Egypt, of the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, and of their past blunders. He warned them to obey God’s covenant and assured them that God’s grace would follow them as they learned to trust and obey the Lord.1:7 b The hill country consisted of interior areas of Canaan that were also inhabited by the Amorites (see 1:4 c; Num 13:29 d; Josh 10:6 e). The Canaanites apparently once lived throughout Palestine, but with the incursion of the Amorites they were restricted to the valleys and lowlands.
• the western foothills: Hebrew the Shephelah, the term still used in modern Israel for the region between the hills of Judah and the coastal plain, an area that specializes in orchards and vineyards.
• the Negev: This great desert area lies to the south of Canaan. The Hebrew word could also designate “the south.”
1:8 f occupy it (literally acquire it as an inheritance): The land was already Israel’s because God had promised it to the nation’s ancestors centuries earlier (Gen 15:18-21 g; 26:3 h; Exod 23:31 i). Israel was not seizing new territory from its rightful owners but was taking possession of land occupied by squatters.
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