Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Argument: Introduction to Deuteronomy
The entire Pentateuch, among the ancient Hebrews, was only one book of the law. Hence in Hebrew it is called Torah, and in Latin "the law" by Christ and the Evangelists; as in Luke, last chapter, verse 44: "It is necessary that all things be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms concerning Me;" and Luke II, 23 and 24: "As it is written in the law of the Lord (Exodus xiii, 2): Because every male, opening the womb, shall be called holy to the Lord; and that they should offer a sacrifice, according to what is said in the law of the Lord (Leviticus xii, 8), a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons;" and Luke x, 26: "What is written in the law (Deuteronomy vi, 5)? He answering said: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart;" John I, 47: "Whom Moses wrote of in the law;" Matthew vii, 12: "For this is the law and the prophets;" Matthew xxii, 36: "What is the great commandment in the law?" Similar passages are found in Acts xxiv, 14, Acts xxviii, 3, and elsewhere.
But later the Pentateuch, according to the fivefold subject matter it treats, was divided into five parts, or books. Whence this fifth section, or book, from its opening words in the Hebrew manner is called elle haddebarim, that is, "these are the words." By the Greek interpreters, and first by the Septuagint as it seems, it was called Deuteronomium, that is, "the second law," and by the Rabbis mishneh, that is, "repetition of the law" -- not as if it contained a new and different old law from the preceding ones, but because it is a repetition and explanation of the law given at Sinai by God 38 years earlier, and described in the three preceding books, namely Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. So says Theodoret here, Question I, Saint Augustine, Question XLIX, and Athanasius in his Synopsis of Sacred Scripture. Whence Saint Jerome in his Helmeted Prologue (which is prefixed like a helmet to all the books of Sacred Scripture): "Deuteronomy," he says, "the second law, and a prefiguration of the law of the Gospel, does it not contain what came before in such a way that nevertheless all things are made new from the old?"
Furthermore, this repetition of the law was made by Moses, who was about to die, in the 40th year of the departure from Egypt, shortly before the Hebrews crossed the Jordan and entered Canaan, in the plains of Moab, namely at Abel-Shittim, which was the forty-second and last encampment of the Hebrews in the desert.
The reason for the repetition was twofold: first, because all the elders who had come out of Egypt and had heard the first law at Sinai, on account of the murmuring of the spies (Numbers xiv), had already died; and the present people were new, who had not heard the former law promulgated. Whence by this second promulgation of the law, God again entered into a new covenant with the Hebrews, as is said in chapter xxix, verse 1. Second, because Moses, now about to die and bid his final farewell to his people -- the Hebrews entrusted to him, whom he loved more than his own life -- wished by this repetition to impress the law more deeply and tenaciously upon them. For the last words of parents, princes, and teachers cling more tenaciously to their children and subjects. Hence Deuteronomy is like an impassioned and perpetual sermon, and for this reason Moses, in chapter xvii, verse 18, commanded that newly elected kings should write out Deuteronomy for themselves, so that they might learn, he says, to fear God. For the same reason, in chapter xxxi, verse 10, he commanded that Deuteronomy be read to the entire people every seventh year of remission: indeed, he commanded that it be inscribed on stones for an eternal memorial, Deuteronomy xxvii, 3, and Joshua viii, 32.
The author of Deuteronomy, as also of the entire Pentateuch, is Moses, who first promulgated it to the people by the living voice, and then left it to them in writing, as is clear from Deuteronomy xxxi, 9: "Moses wrote this law," it says, "and delivered it to the priests." However, the last chapter must be excepted, which was written not by Moses, but by Ezra, or rather by Joshua, the disciple and successor of Moses, as is clear from the same last chapter, verses 5 and 6, where the death and burial of Moses is described. For although Philo in his Life of Moses and Josephus in Book IV of the Antiquities, last chapter, think these things were written prophetically by Moses himself before his death, yet the contrary is truer, and this is indicated both by other things and by those words: "And no man knew his sepulcher, unto the present day;" which are clearly to be understood of the time that followed his death.
Moses therefore spoke and at the same time wrote Deuteronomy in the 120th and last year of his life, which was the year of the world 2493, 836 years after the flood, and 1456 years before the birth of Christ; and this in the few and nearly last weeks of that year, as is clear from the fact that Deuteronomy was written after the death of Aaron, which occurred in the same year, in the fifth month, as is clear from Numbers xx, 28, and Numbers xxxiii, 38; and after the victory over Og and Sihon, after the prophecy of Balaam, after the disaster of Baal-Peor, after the census of the people, after the war with the Midianites, and other events which are recounted from chapter xx of Numbers to the end. For all these things followed the death of Aaron; and after all these things, Moses shortly before his death began to promulgate, and then to write down Deuteronomy, namely in the eleventh month of the fortieth year, on the first day of the month, as is expressly stated in Deuteronomy i, 3: here therefore Moses utters his swan song.
Synopsis of the Chapter
In these three chapters Moses reviews and repeats the journey, events, and deeds of the 40 years during which they wandered through the desert. In this chapter he repeats the events at Sinai, and at verse 20, at Kadesh-barnea, where on account of the murmuring of the spies, all were condemned to death and to a wandering of 40 years.
Vulgate Text: Deuteronomy 1:1-46
1. These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness of the plain, facing the Red Sea, between Pharan and Thophel and Laban and Haseroth, where there is very much gold: 2. eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3. In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel all that the Lord had commanded him to say to them: 4. After he had struck Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon; and Og, king of Bashan, who remained in Astaroth and in Edrei, 5. beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab; and Moses began to explain the law, and to say: 6. The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying: You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7. Turn and come to the mountain of the Amorites, and to the other places near it -- the plains and the mountains and the lowlands toward the South, and along the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and of Lebanon as far as the great river Euphrates. 8. Behold, He said, I have delivered it to you; enter and possess it, concerning which the Lord swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give it to them and to their seed after them. 9. And I said to you at that time: 10. I am not able alone to bear you, because the Lord your God has multiplied you, and you are today as the stars of heaven, very many. 11. (May the Lord God of your fathers add to this number many thousands more, and bless you as He has spoken). 12. I am not able alone to bear your affairs, and the burden and the disputes. 13. Choose from among you wise and experienced men, whose conduct is proven in your tribes, that I may appoint them as your leaders. 14. Then you answered me: It is a good thing which you intend to do. 15. And I took from your tribes wise and noble men, and appointed them leaders, tribunes, and centurions, and commanders of fifty and commanders of ten, who would instruct you in all things. 16. And I commanded them, saying: Hear them, and judge what is just, whether he be a citizen or a stranger. 17. There shall be no distinction of persons; you shall hear the small as well as the great: nor shall you show deference to any man's person, because it is the judgment of God. And if anything seems difficult to you, refer it to me, and I will hear it. 18. And I commanded all things that you ought to do. 19. And setting out from Horeb, we passed through the terrible and vast wilderness which you saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorite, as the Lord our God had commanded us. And when we had come to Kadesh-barnea, 20. I said to you: You have come to the mountain of the Amorite, which the Lord our God is about to give us. 21. See the land which the Lord your God gives you: go up and possess it, as the Lord our God has spoken to your fathers; do not fear, nor be at all dismayed. 22. And you all came to me and said: Let us send men who may survey the land, and report by which way we should go up, and to which cities we should proceed. 23. And when the proposal pleased me, I sent from among you twelve men, one from each tribe. 24. And when they had set out and gone up into the mountains, they came as far as the Valley of the Cluster; and having surveyed the land, 25. taking some of its fruits to show its fertility, they brought them to us and said: The land which the Lord our God is about to give us is good. 26. And you were unwilling to go up, but incredulous to the word of the Lord our God, 27. you murmured in your tents and said: The Lord hates us, and therefore He brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorite, and to destroy us. 28. Where shall we go up? The messengers terrified our heart, saying: The multitude is very great, and taller than us in stature: the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; we saw the sons of Enakim there. 29. And I said to you: Do not fear, nor be afraid of them; 30. The Lord God, who is your leader, will fight for you Himself, as He did in Egypt before all your eyes. 31. And in the wilderness (you yourself saw) the Lord your God carried you, as a man is accustomed to carry his little son, in every way by which you walked, until you came to this place. 32. And not even so did you believe the Lord your God, 33. who went before you on the way and marked out the place where you should pitch your tents, showing you the way by night through fire, and by day through a pillar of cloud. 34. And when the Lord had heard the voice of your words, He was angry and swore, and said: 35. Not one of the men of this most wicked generation shall see the good land, which I promised under oath to your fathers, 36. except Caleb the son of Jephunneh: for he shall see it, and to him I will give the land which he has trodden, and to his sons, because he followed the Lord. 37. Nor is the indignation against the people to be wondered at, since the Lord, angry with me also on your account, said: Neither shall you enter there; 38. but Joshua the son of Nun, your minister, he shall enter in your place: encourage him and strengthen him, and he shall divide the land by lot to Israel; 39. your little ones, of whom you said they would be led captive, and the children who today do not know the difference between good and evil, they shall enter: and to them I will give the land, and they shall possess it. 40. But you, return and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. 41. And you answered me: We have sinned against the Lord; we will go up and fight, as the Lord our God has commanded. And when armed you set out toward the mountain, 42. the Lord said to me: Say to them: Do not go up, and do not fight, for I am not with you; lest you fall before your enemies. 43. I spoke, and you did not listen: but opposing the command of the Lord and swelling with pride, you went up into the mountain. 44. And so the Amorite, who dwelt in the mountains, came out against you and pursued you, as bees are accustomed to pursue: and struck you down from Seir to Horma. 45. And when you returned and wept before the Lord, He did not hear you, nor was He willing to heed your voice. 46. So you remained in Kadesh-barnea a long time.
Verse 1: These Are the Words Which Moses Spoke to All Israel
THESE ARE THE WORDS WHICH MOSES SPOKE TO ALL ISRAEL. -- Hence it seems to have been a miracle that Moses' voice was heard by all Israel, that is, by two or three million people, says Abulensis. The same is gathered more clearly from chapter xxix, 10: "You stand today, all of you, before the Lord your God, etc. All the people of Israel, your children and your wives, and the sojourners who dwell with you in the camp, except the hewers of wood and those who carry water." So the voice of Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Vincent Ferrer, and other Apostolic heralds was not only heard but also understood by foreign peoples ignorant of their language, for several leagues.
Beyond the Jordan
BEYOND THE JORDAN. -- Moses had not crossed the Jordan, but was standing on this side of it; nevertheless he is said to have spoken these things beyond the Jordan, because in relation to the promised land (according to which Scripture is accustomed to designate the regions and positions of places) this region was beyond the Jordan. Hence Scripture calls it beyond the Jordan, as is clear from Numbers xxxii, 32; Deuteronomy iv, 46. Perhaps Moses wrote "on this side of the Jordan"; but Joshua, or whoever arranged these records of Moses, already situated in Canaan, substituted for it "beyond the Jordan."
Second, because the Red Sea was the beginning, and the plains of Moab were the end of the Hebrews' pilgrimage: Moses therefore records both here. In Hebrew it is "facing the sea suph," that is, of reeds, by which could be understood the Dead Sea, which borders the Holy Land on the east, and adjacent and opposite to which are the plains of Moab. But "sea of suph" elsewhere commonly signifies the Red Sea, which separates Egypt from Arabia, and so the Chaldean and the Septuagint translate it here.
Facing the Red Sea
FACING THE RED SEA. -- For this sea curves around: whence the Hebrews, wandering and circling through the desert, approached it more than once, says Abulensis. Hence the Septuagint translates "near the Red Sea." But from cosmographic tables it is clear that the plains of Moab (in which these things were spoken) are at a very great distance from the Red Sea. Better therefore Pererius answers that "facing" or "opposite" is said of a place even far distant, provided it is opposite another: just as here the Red Sea was turned toward the Hebrews stationed in the plains of Moab. Moses mentions the Red Sea to bring to the Hebrews' memory the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, and thus to urge them to observe the commands of their God who had been so beneficent.
Between Paran and Tophel and Laban
BETWEEN PARAN AND TOPHEL AND LABAN. -- The Chaldean, and from him Rupert, takes Tophel not as a proper name but as an appellative, so that it is the same as "murmuring"; likewise Laban, that is "white," as signifying manna. Hence he translates: "He rebuked, because they sinned in the desert; and because they provoked God in the plains, facing the Red Sea; and in Paran, where they murmured against the manna; and in Hazeroth, where they provoked God over meat, and in that they made the golden calf." For in a similar manner Jacob near death rebuked and reproved Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, Genesis XLIX, and Joshua the Israelites, Joshua last chapter, and Samuel the people, I Kings XII. But it is clear that here not the subject matter but the place of Moses' speech is being described, and therefore Tophel and Laban, just as Paran and Hazeroth, are proper names of places, as the Septuagint teaches: hence the Chaldean added these things paraphrastically, as also that about the golden calf: for of this there is no mention here in the Hebrew; for the Hebrew says only that in Hazeroth there was sufficiency, that is, abundance of gold, that is, as our Translator renders it, a great deal of gold. Hence the Septuagint translates, gold mines.
Verse 2: In Eleven Days
Verse 2. IN ELEVEN DAYS, -- that is, Moses spoke these things. So some say, but the following words oppose this, "by the way of mount Seir"; for Moses could not speak to so great a multitude while walking and journeying on the road. Second, Cajetan and Oleaster explain it, as if to say: The journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, which is near Canaan, is eleven days; but the Hebrews, on account of their murmuring, were delayed from entering and led around for forty years. But this explanation is neither true nor to the point. For what does this have to do with the place or time at which Moses spoke these things? More absurd still is what Rabbi Solomon, cited by Lyra, imagines -- that the journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea is eleven days, but the Hebrews completed it in three days; for this three-day fabrication Abulensis refutes at length here.
I say therefore that these words, like the preceding ones, designate the place in which Moses spoke what follows, as if to say: The plains of Moab, where Moses promulgated Deuteronomy, are distant from Horeb or Sinai eleven days, going by the way of mount Seir, that is, the route toward Idumea, proceeding as far as Kadesh-barnea, and from there going around Idumea to the plains of Moab. For from Sinai to Kadesh-barnea is 17 leagues of one hour; from Kadesh-barnea to the plains of Moab is 34 leagues; as is clear from the tables of Adrichomius; therefore from Sinai to Moab is 51 leagues: so that if each day you cover four and a half leagues, in eleven days you will arrive from Sinai to these plains of Moab. So Abulensis.
Tropologically, Saint Gregory, Book II of the Moralia, chapter 1, says: "Israel could not hear the words of God on the mountain, but received the precepts in the plains: indicating indeed the subsequent weakness of the people, who could not ascend to the heights, but let themselves go by living negligently in the lowlands."
Verse 3: In the Eleventh Month, on the First Day
Verse 3. IN THE ELEVENTH MONTH, ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH. -- Moses therefore promulgated Deuteronomy on the first day of the month of Shebat, which corresponds to our January. For the first month of the Hebrews was Nisan, that is, March; and consequently the eleventh was January, the twelfth February. So Christ on the first day of January, by His circumcision and the name of Jesus, began to establish the new law and to ratify it with His blood, so that rightly this is the beginning of the new year and of Christian life, which Moses here foreshadowed and prefigured, when in the same month and day he promulgated Deuteronomy.
Verse 7: Come to the Mountain of the Amorites
Verse 7. COME TO THE MOUNTAIN OF THE AMORITES, -- to the mountain of Gilead and the kingdom of Og; for this the Hebrews occupied after slaying him, Numbers XXI, 35.
Verse 8: That He Might Give It to Them and to Their Seed
Verse 8. THAT HE MIGHT GIVE IT TO THEM AND TO THEIR SEED. -- The word "and" here means "that is"; for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never possessed the promised land in their own persons, but only in their children and descendants. So also elsewhere the word "and" is taken in this sense, as I showed in Leviticus VI, 2.
Verse 10: I Cannot Alone Sustain You
Verse 10. I CANNOT ALONE SUSTAIN YOU. -- The Septuagint has "bear you," as if to say: The governance of you, and the care of you, that is, the burden of the entire people, I alone cannot sustain. For Moses was not only the judge of the people, but also father, tutor, and mother, who carries her children in her bosom, as is clear from Numbers XI, 11 and 12.
Verse 11: May the Lord Bless You
Verse 11. MAY THE LORD, ETC., BLESS YOU, -- that is, by giving you together with your offspring an abundance of temporal and spiritual goods; for God's blessing is to do good, because the word of God is efficacious.
Verse 15: And I Took Nobles
Verse 15. AND I TOOK, ETC., NOBLES, -- In Hebrew, "I took the heads of your tribes." The Hebrews require seven virtues in one who holds magistracy: first, wisdom; second, humility; third, the fear of God; fourth, hatred of avarice; fifth, love of truth; sixth, philanthropy; seventh, a good reputation.
Verse 17: There Shall Be No Distinction of Persons
Verse 17. THERE SHALL BE NO DISTINCTION OF PERSONS (In Hebrew, "you shall not recognize faces in judgment," that is, you shall not consider the person, whether he be rich or poor); SO YOU SHALL HEAR THE SMALL AS WELL AS THE GREAT, NOR SHALL YOU ACCEPT ANY MAN'S PERSON, BECAUSE IT IS THE JUDGMENT OF GOD, -- as if to say: Because when you judge, you act in God's place; and God in judgment is most equitable and does not regard persons. This history has been described and explained in Exodus XVIII, 19.
Hear Saint Jerome in his letter to Damasus: "Make yourself a stranger to the persons of all in judgment, and for the sake of justice defend the poor man in judgment, nor for the sake of favor indecently assist the rich man; or if you cannot do this, look to the merits of the cases." And Peter of Ravenna in a certain letter: "Nothing shines so gloriously in a judge as to love and exhibit justice without any respect of persons. For, as Cicero testifies, whoever puts on the friend strips off the person of judge. The equity which a judge serves knows neither the left hand of hatred nor the right hand of love. For the minister of law ought to be such that in his hand the scales of justice waver or totter at no person's authority." Again, Saint Jerome on Amos: "Whoever," he says, "is led in judging by kinship or friendship, or conversely by hostile hatred or enmity, perverts the judgment of Christ, who is justice." And Pope Innocent III, in his book On the Wretchedness of the Human Condition: "You," he says, "do not attend to the merits of cases, but of persons; not to rights, but to gifts; not to what reason dictates, but what the will desires; not what conscience feels, but what the mind craves; not what is lawful, but what is pleasing." And below: "The cause of the poor you delay and neglect; that of the rich you promote with urgency. In the former you show severity; in the latter you dispense with mildness. The former you regard with difficulty; the latter you treat with ease. The former you hear negligently; the latter you listen to attentively." And below: "The poor man cries out, and no one hears; the rich man speaks, and everyone applauds. The rich man has spoken, and all are silent; the poor man has spoken, and they say: Who is this? And if he offends, they will overthrow him. One suffering violence cries out, and no one hears; he shouts, and there is no one to judge. To the rich man they say: Sit here in the good place; but to the poor man: Stand there, or sit under the footstool of my feet."
Hence Solon, as Laertius attests, when asked: "What is the law?" replied: "A spider's web"; because if anything weak falls into it, it is held; but what is heavy passes through, tearing the web; for the poor who violate the law are punished, while the rich do as they please with impunity. And Ovid:
The court is closed to the poor; wealth bestows honors, Wealth bestows friendships: the poor man lies everywhere prostrate.
Do you want examples of those who did not respect persons? Elijah freely rebuked King Ahab, Elisha rebuked Joram, Nathan rebuked David, Isaiah rebuked Manasseh, Daniel rebuked Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, Jeremiah rebuked Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, John the Baptist rebuked Herod, Christ rebuked the scribes and Pharisees. Do you want examples from the Gentiles? Papinian, when ordered by the Emperor Caracalla to justify the parricide by which he had killed his brother Geta in the senate, refused, saying that "parricide cannot be excused as easily as it can be committed." Epaminondas ordered his son, who had been awarded a crown, then to be struck with an axe, because as a contemner of his father's command he had engaged the enemy and defeated him. The consul Brutus and M. Torquatus punished their sons with death, because they had conspired with the Tarquins against their country. Zaleucus of Locri, when he had passed a law about blinding adulterers and his son was caught in adultery, deprived himself of one eye and his son of the other, lest the law he had passed be violated on account of respect of persons. So Valerius Maximus, Book VI, chapter v.
Verses 19-21: And When We Had Come to Kadesh-barnea
Verses 19, 20, and 21. AND WHEN WE HAD COME TO KADESH-BARNEA, I SAID TO YOU: YOU HAVE COME TO THE MOUNTAIN OF THE AMORITE, ETC., SEE THE LAND WHICH THE LORD YOUR GOD GIVES YOU, -- because Kadesh-barnea is near Canaan; for only the mountain of Idumea lies between them. Hence from Kadesh-barnea the spies were sent into Canaan, to invade it immediately.
Verse 22: Let Us Send Men Who May Survey the Land
Verse 22. YOU SAID: LET US SEND MEN WHO MAY SURVEY THE LAND. -- Hence it is clear that the Hebrews themselves asked that spies be sent, who, with the consent of God and Moses, were sent in Numbers XIV.
Verse 28: Great Cities, Fortified Up to Heaven
Verse 28. GREAT CITIES, AND FORTIFIED UP TO HEAVEN, -- that is, enclosed and fortified with very high walls; and, as the Septuagint translates, teteikhismenai, that is, walled: it is a hyperbole; a similar one is found in chapter IX, verse 1.
WE SAW THE SONS OF ENAKIM (that is, the sons of giants, namely giants descended from Anak the giant) THERE. -- This history has been explained in Numbers XIII.
Verse 31: The Lord Your God Carried You
Verse 31. THE LORD YOUR GOD CARRIED YOU, AS A MAN IS ACCUSTOMED TO CARRY HIS LITTLE SON. -- "Carried," that is, He led, directed, nurtured, and protected, namely: first, by the pillar of cloud and fire; second, by giving manna; third, by protecting you from enemies and defeating them; fourth, by preserving your strength and health, and likewise the garments and sandals of each one. Hence in chapter II, verse 7, it is said that God dwelt with the Hebrews for 40 years.
Verse 33: He Marked Out the Place
Verse 33. HE MARKED OUT THE PLACE (going before the camp in a pillar of cloud) WHERE YOU SHOULD PITCH YOUR TENTS.
Verse 36: Because Caleb Followed the Lord
Verse 36. BECAUSE (CALEB) FOLLOWED THE LORD. -- In Hebrew, "because he completed (that is, so as to go) after the Lord," that is, he fulfilled my commandments, by following me, and obeying me fully and perfectly in all things.
Verse 39: The Children Who Do Not Know Good and Evil
Verse 39. AND THE CHILDREN, WHO TODAY DO NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL, -- that is, your little ones, who do not yet have the use of reason, so as to discern good from evil.
Verse 43: Opposing the Command of the Lord
Verse 43. OPPOSING THE COMMAND OF THE LORD. -- In Hebrew, "you embittered the mouth of the Lord," that is, you resisted His words and commands; and so you provoked Him and His face.
Verse 44: The Amorite Pursued You, as Bees Pursue
Verse 44. THE AMORITE, ETC., PURSUED YOU, AS BEES ARE ACCUSTOMED TO PURSUE, -- as if to say: Just as bees, when provoked, pursue those who disturb them in great numbers and with fury: so also your enemies, namely the Amorites, pursued you.
Verse 46: So You Remained in Kadesh-barnea a Long Time
Verse 46. SO YOU REMAINED IN KADESH-BARNEA A LONG TIME. -- In the Hebrew it is added, "according to the days in which you stayed." Which Vatablus explains thus, as if to say: You stayed in Kadesh-barnea after the return of the spies for as many days as you had stayed there before their return. Second, the Hebrews in Seder Olam explain it thus, as if to say: You stayed in Kadesh-barnea for as many days as you afterward stayed in all the remaining stations together, namely 19 years: for twice nineteen makes 38; to which add two years elapsed before they came to Kadesh-barnea, and you will have 40 years of pilgrimage in the desert. But nothing of the sort can be gathered from our translation, nor even from the Hebrew: for "according to the days in which you stayed" is nothing other than a repetition and Hebrew explanation of what preceded, namely "a long time." Hence our Translator omitted this Hebrew repetition, as superfluous and unusual to Latin ears.