9 'And I speak unto you at that time, saying, I am not able by myself to bear you; 10 Jehovah your God hath multiplied you, and lo, ye 'are' to-day as the stars of the heavens for multitude; 11 Jehovah, God of your fathers, is adding to you, as ye 'are', a thousand times, and doth bless you as He hath spoken to you. 12 'How do I bear by myself your pressure, and your burden, and your strife? 13 Give for yourselves men, wise and intelligent, and known to your tribes, and I set them for your heads; 14 and ye answer me and say, Good 'is' the thing which thou hast spoken—to do. 15 'And I take the heads of your tribes, men, wise and known, and I appoint them heads over you, princes of thousands, and princes of hundreds, and princes of fifties, and princes of tens, and authorities, for your tribes.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:9-15
Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:9-18
(Read Deuteronomy 1:9-18)
Moses reminds the people of the happy constitution of their government, which might make them all safe and easy, if it was not their own fault. He owns the fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham, and prays for the further accomplishment of it. We are not straitened in the power and goodness of God; why should we be straitened in our own faith and hope? Good laws were given to the Israelites, and good men were to see to the execution of them, which showed God's goodness to them, and the care of Moses.