John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 1:1
These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel ,.... Not what are related in the latter part of the preceding book, but what follow in this; and which were spoken by him, not to the whole body of the people gathered together to hear him, which they could not do without a miracle; but to the heads of the people, the representatives of them, who were convened to hear what he had to say, in order to communicate it to the people; unless we can suppose that Moses at different times to... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 1:1-8
We have here, I. The date of this sermon which Moses preached to the people of Israel. A great auditory, no question, he had, as many as could crowd within hearing, and particularly all the elders and officers, the representatives of the people; and, probably, it was on the sabbath day that he delivered this to them. 1. The place were they were now encamped was in the plain, in the land of Moab (Deut. 1:1, 5), where they were just ready to enter Canaan, and engage in a war with the Canaanites.... read more