© Charles Chandler

 

Deuteronomy 1:1-5

 

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them, 4 after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law,

This was given after the 1312-Exodus, but while Ramose was still alive, and before the Hebrews crossed the Jordan to claim the land that "God" (=pharaoh) had promised to them. So the date would have been ~1307 bce.

 

Verse 2 seems out of place, but the meaning can be derived. To get to Kadesh-barnea (on the western border of Edom) by way of Mount Seir (on the eastern border of Edom), one has to travel west. At 20 km per day, an 11-day trip would cover 220 km, or roughly the distance from Moab to Kadesh-barnea. So this is telling us that Horeb was in Moab. This causes problems if one thinks of Horeb as a place, which is then confusingly situated in a variety of regions, such as Mount Seir, or Mount Sinai, etc. (See Deut. 1:6, Deut. 1:19, etc.) The confusion is solved if Horeb was actually short for Horemheb, a person who could move around. So this is telling us that when Ramose gave the Book of the Law to the Hebrews in Moab, Horemheb was there with them.