Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 4:44-49

"And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt, beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, when they came forth out of Egypt. And they took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising; from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even unto mount Sion (the same is Hermon), and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah." — Deuteronomy 4:44-49 (ASV)

SECOND DISCOURSE.

These words form an introduction to the second discourse, which occupies the larger portion of the book—from Deuteronomy 5:1 to the end of Deuteronomy 26. There is no real break between. The present introduction differs from what we find in Deuteronomy 1:1. There is no intimation that this portion of Deuteronomy was a repetition of what had been delivered between Sinai and Kadesh-barnea. What follows is said to have been spoken in the land of Sihon and Og, after the conquest by Israel.

On this side Jordan. —Literally, on the other side. The same expression in Deuteronomy 4:47 is defined by the addition, “toward the sun-rising.”

The whole passage (Deuteronomy 4:44–49) may be editorial, and added by Joshua in Canaan. But there is no necessity for this view.

Mount Sion. —See Note on Deuteronomy 3:9.