Deuteronomy 1:9
in Deuteronomy 1At that time I said to you, “I cannot carry the burden for you alone.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
KJV
And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
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This verse in Deuteronomy 1
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd I spake unto you at that time,.... About that time; for it was after the rock in Horeb was smitten, and before they encamped at Mount Sinai, that Jethro gave the advice which Moses took, and proceeded on it, as here related; see Exo 18:1. saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone; to rule and govern them, judge and determine matters between them.
This site's exposition
I am not able to bear you myself alone
on Deuteronomy 1:9-11
Exodus 18 credits the plan for shared judging to Jethro, who watched Moses sit alone from morning to evening and told him the thing was too heavy. Here Moses tells it as his own proposal to the people and does not mention his father in law at all. Both accounts stand in the canon, and the difference fits what this chapter is doing, which is holding the people to what they themselves agreed to. The reason he gives for the change is the multitude, as the stars of heaven, which is the promise made to Abram at Genesis 15:5.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Though he was a man as well worthy of that honour, and as well qualified for the business, as ever any man was, yet he was desirous that others might be taken in as assistants to him in the business and consequently sharers with him in the honour: I cannot myself alone bear the burden,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This appointment of the “captains” (compare Exo 18:21 ff) must not be confounded with that of the elders in Num 11:16 ff. The former would number 78,600; the latter were 70 only. A comparison between this passage and that in Exodus makes it obvious that Moses is only touching on certain parts of the whole history, without regard to order of time, but with a special purpose. This important arrangement for the good government of the people took place before they left Horeb to march direct to the promised land.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A reference is here made to the suggestion of Jethro (Ex 18:18). In noticing his practical adoption of a plan by which the administration of justice was committed to a select number of subordinate officers, Moses, by a beautiful allusion to the patriarchal blessing, ascribed the necessity of that memorable change in the government to the vast increase of the population.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Adonoy, your God, has multiplied you, and you are today as numerous the stars in the sky.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֹמַ֣ר | vaomar | and I said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵכֶ֔ם | ʾalekhem | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בָּעֵ֥ת | baet | at the time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| הַהִ֖וא | hahiv' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אוּכַ֥ל | ʾukhal | I am able | H3201 → | 194 times |
| לְבַדִּ֖י | levadi | to alone me | H905 → | 200 times |
| שְׂאֵ֥ת | seet | to bear | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֶתְכֶֽם׃ | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
וָאֹמַ֣רand I said
vaomarH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵכֶ֔םto you
ʾalekhemH413 →5510 times
בָּעֵ֥תat the time
baetH6256 →296 times
הַהִ֖וא<the> that
hahiv'H1931 →1879 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אוּכַ֥לI am able
ʾukhalH3201 →194 times
לְבַדִּ֖יto alone me
levadiH905 →200 times
שְׂאֵ֥תto bear
seetH5375 →656 times
אֶתְכֶֽם׃<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 11:17And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the…
it leads to
- Numbers 11:25
Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit…
- 1 Samuel 10:6
Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.
- 1 Corinthians 12:4–11
There are different gifts, but the same Spirit.
- 2 Kings 2:9
After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?” “Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,”…
- 2 Kings 2:15
When the sons of the prophets who were facing him from Jericho saw what had happened, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed down…
- Numbers 11:25
Through
Exodus 18:18Surely you and these people with you will wear yourselves out, because the task is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone.
it leads to
- Numbers 11:14–17
I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me.
- Acts 6:1–4
In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
- Philippians 2:30
because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for your deficit of service to me.
- Numbers 11:14–17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.