Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 1:5

"Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying," — Deuteronomy 1:5 (ASV)

On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab. This would be on the other side of Jordan from the standpoint of the writer, or of the readers for whom the book was intended, which is Palestine.

Began Moses. “Began,” meaning “determined” or “attempted.”

To declare. This may intend the emphatic reiteration of what had already been received from God and delivered to Israel. However, the Hebrew word used here occurs in only two other places, and in both it is connected with writing. (See Deuteronomy 17:8, “You shall write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly” (bâêr hêtêb, meaning in writing and in making good). Again, in Habakkuk 2:2, “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables.” The etymological affinities of the word also suggest the idea of writing.

It would seem, then, that at this period Moses began to commit the discourses and laws that he had delivered to a permanent form, arranging and writing them with the same motive that influenced the Apostle Peter (2 Peter 1:15), “Moreover, I will endeavor that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.”

In this discourse, the history of Israel from the time of their departure from Sinai is briefly recapitulated (Deuteronomy 3:29), along with a short practical exhortation. This portion of history comprises three periods of the exodus:

1. The march from Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, with the sending of the twelve spies and its results, related more at length in Numbers 10:11 to the end of Deuteronomy chapter 14. The characteristic feature of this period is failure on the part of both leaders and people to rise to their high calling. Moses (Numbers chapter 11), Aaron and Miriam (Numbers chapter 12), Joshua (Numbers 11:28), the spies, who were also rulers (Deuteronomy 13:14), and the people throughout, all in turn exhibit the defects of their character. In the end, the enterprise is abandoned for the time.
2. The thirty-seven and a half years that follow are a period of disgrace, as is apparent from the absence of any note of time or place in the direct narrative between Numbers chapter 14 and Numbers chapter 20. Certain places are mentioned in Numbers chapter 33 which must belong to this period, but nothing is recorded of them beyond their names. A single verse (Deuteronomy 2:1) is all that is assignable to that period in this discourse of Moses. This long wandering was also a period of training and discipline.
3. The fortieth year of the exodus, in which the conquest of Sihon and Og was accomplished, and Israel reached the banks of the Jordan. After the sentence of death pronounced against their elder generation had been executed, a new life now began.