But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”
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
But as for you, turn ye,.... From the mountain of the Amorites, the border of the land of Canaan: and take your journey into the wilderness, by the way of the Red sea: see Num 14:25. Jarchi says this wilderness was by the side of the Red sea, to the south of Mount Seir, and divided between the Red sea and the mount; so that...
turn you, and take your journey into the . . . Red Sea--This command they disregarded, and, determined to force an onward passage in spite of the earnest remonstrances of Moses, they attempted to cross the heights then occupied by the combined forces of the Amorites and Amalekites (compare Num 14:43), but were repulsed with great loss. People often experience distress even while in the way of duty.