The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.
Moses here makes a large rehearsal of the fatal turn which was given to their affairs by their own sins, and God's wrath, when, from the very borders of Canaan, the honour of conquering it, and the pleasure of possessing it, the whole generation was hurried back into the wilderness, and their carcases fell there. It was a memorable story; we read it Num.
Commenting on Deuteronomy 1:19-46
And the saying pleased me well,.... Taking it to be a rational and prudent scheme, not imagining it was the effect of fear and distrust: and I took twelve men of you out of a tribe; whose names are given in Num 13:4.
Deu 1:19-25 “When we departed from Horeb, we passed through the great and dreadful wilderness, which ye have seen,” i.e., become acquainted with, viz., the desert of et Tih, “of the way to the mountains of the Amorites, and came to Kadesh-Barnea” (see at Num 12:16). הלך, with an accusative, to pass through a country (cf. Deu 2:7; Isa 50:10, etc.).
Commenting on Deuteronomy 1:19-25