Deuteronomy 1:38-40
New English Translation
38 However, Joshua son of Nun, your assistant,[a] will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land.[b] 39 Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way,[c] and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad,[d] will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it. 40 But as for you,[e] turn back and head for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”[f]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 1:38 tn Heb “the one who stands before you”; NAB “your aide”; TEV “your helper.”
- Deuteronomy 1:38 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Deuteronomy 1:39 tn Heb “would be a prey.”
- Deuteronomy 1:39 sn Do not know good from bad. This is a figure of speech called a merism (suggesting a whole by referring to its extreme opposites). Other examples are the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:9), the boy who knows enough “to reject the wrong and choose the right” (Isa 7:16; 8:4), and those who “cannot tell their right hand from their left” (Jonah 4:11). A young child is characterized by lack of knowledge.
- Deuteronomy 1:40 tn The Hebrew pronoun is plural, as are the following verbs, indicating that Moses and the people are addressed (note v. 41).
- Deuteronomy 1:40 tn Heb “the Reed Sea.” “Reed” is a better translation of the Hebrew סוּף (suf), traditionally rendered “red.” The name “Red Sea” is based on the LXX which referred to it as ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης (eruthras thalassēs, “red sea”). Nevertheless, because the body of water in question is known in modern times as the Red Sea, this term was used in the translation. The part of the Red Sea in view here is not the one crossed in the exodus but its eastern arm, now known as the Gulf of Eilat or Gulf of Aqaba.
Deuteronomy 1:38-40
New International Version
38 But your assistant, Joshua(A) son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage(B) him, because he will lead(C) Israel to inherit(D) it. 39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive,(E) your children who do not yet know(F) good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. 40 But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.[a](G)”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 1:40 Or the Sea of Reeds
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.