Deuteronomy 1:14
in Deuteronomy 1And you answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.
KJV
And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 1
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes
on Deuteronomy 1:12-15
Verse 13 has the people choose "wise, understanding, and respected men", and Moses appoints them. Exodus 18:21 has Moses doing the choosing and asks for men "God-fearing, trustworthy" and "averse to dishonest gain".
This site's exposition
What you propose to do is good
The people's answer puts their consent on the record. Matthew Henry reads the reminder as pointed, since the government the people later quarrelled with was one they had agreed to themselves.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And ye answered me and said,.... As the speech of Moses to the people is not expressed before, so neither this answer of theirs to him: the thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do; to look out for and present persons to him as before described; this they saw was for their own good and profit, as well as for the ease of Moses, and therefore readily agreed to it.
This he mentions to aggravate the sin of their mutinies and discontents after this, that the government they quarrelled with was what they themselves had consented to;
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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
VIDU’IM L’SHIVTEICHEM’ (AND KNOWN AMONG YOUR TRIBES) — “men who are known to you. For if he were to come before me [Moses] wrapped in his robe, I would not know who he is and of what tribe he is, but you know him for you have raised him.
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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽתַּעֲנ֖וּ | vataanu | and you answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| אֹתִ֑י | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וַתֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ | vatomeru | and you said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| טֽוֹב־ | tov- | [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| הַדָּבָ֥ר | hadavar | the word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבַּ֖רְתָּ | dibarta | you have spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ | laasot | to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
וַֽתַּעֲנ֖וּand you answered
vataanuH6030 →331 times
אֹתִ֑י<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
וַתֹּ֣אמְר֔וּand you said
vatomeruH559 →5305 times
טֽוֹב־[is] good
tov-H2896 →538 times
הַדָּבָ֥רthe word
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
דִּבַּ֖רְתָּyou have spoken
dibartaH1696 →1141 times
לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃to do
laasotH6213 →2628 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
On this verse
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.