Deuteronomy 1:31

My Notes

What Does Deuteronomy 1:31 Mean?

"And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place." Moses describes God's wilderness-care with the most INTIMATE image possible: a FATHER carrying his SON. The LORD BORE Israel — lifted, carried, supported — the way a man carries his child. The carrying was IN THE WILDERNESS (the hardest place), IN ALL THE WAY (every step, every mile, every moment), UNTIL YOU CAME (the carrying lasted until the arrival). The carrying was comprehensive: every terrain, every distance, every duration.

The phrase "the LORD thy God bare thee" (nesa'akha YHWH Elohekha — the LORD your God carried you) uses the verb nasa — to lift, to carry, to bear the weight of: God CARRIED Israel. The weight that should have been Israel's was BORNE by God. The miles that should have been walked were CARRIED. The journey that should have been trudged was LIFTED. The carrying is PHYSICAL in its metaphor: God held Israel the way a parent holds a child — supported, elevated, borne.

The "as a man doth bear his son" (ka'asher yissa ish et beno — as a man carries his son) makes the carrying PATERNAL: not a servant carrying a package. A FATHER carrying a SON. The relationship defines the carrying. The love motivates the lifting. The bond produces the bearing. The carrying isn't IMPERSONAL transport. It's PARENTAL tenderness — the father whose son is too small to walk, too tired to continue, too weak to manage the journey. The father PICKS UP the son and CARRIES.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Has the Father carried you through ALL the way — and do you recognize the carrying?
• 2.What does God CARRYING (not just guiding) teach about the nature of divine care in the wilderness?
• 3.How does the father-carrying-son image describe the TENDER quality of God's sustaining?
• 4.What wilderness-miles were you CARRIED through that you might have attributed to your own walking?

Devotional

God CARRIED you — as a father carries his son. Through the wilderness. In ALL the way. Until you arrived HERE. The most intimate image of divine care in Deuteronomy: the Father LIFTING the child, BEARING the weight, CARRYING the miles. Every step of the wilderness was a step the Father carried the son through.

The 'bare thee' (nasa — carried, lifted, bore) is WEIGHT-BEARING love: God didn't just GUIDE Israel through the wilderness. He CARRIED. The verb means: lifted the weight, bore the burden, supported the load. The miles of desert. The years of wandering. The weight of the journey. God BORE it — not metaphorically but as the operative REALITY of how Israel survived. The survival IS the evidence of the carrying.

The 'as a man doth bear his son' makes the carrying PATERNAL: the image is a FATHER carrying a CHILD — not a donkey carrying a pack. The relationship is PARENTAL. The motivation is LOVE. The carrying is TENDER. The father carries the son because the son CAN'T walk the distance, CAN'T manage the terrain, CAN'T survive the journey on his own strength. The father's arms are the son's survival-mechanism.

The 'in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place' makes the carrying COMPREHENSIVE and TEMPORAL: ALL the way (not just the hard stretches — ALL of them). UNTIL you came (the carrying lasted the ENTIRE DURATION — from departure to arrival, from beginning to end, from wilderness-entry to Moab-arrival). The carrying covered every MILE and every MOMENT. No stretch was uncarried. No moment was unborne.

Has the Father carried you — through ALL the way — and do you recognize the carrying?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture