Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 1:44
Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites at the conclusion of their wilderness rebellion, recounting the immediate consequence of their refusal to heed God's command. He describes the moment the Amorites dwelling in the hills came out to confront the advancing camp.
The words — The verse emphasizes וַ/יִּרְדְּפ֣וּ (va/i.yir.de.Fu), "and they pursued," and הָ/אֱמֹרִ֜י (ha./'e.mo.Ri), "the Amorites," who dwelled in the hill country. These terms directly identify the pursuers and the terrain that enabled them to rout the Israelites from Seir to Hormah.
The thread — This routing from the hill country parallels the defeat recorded in Numbers 14:45. The pursuit imagery also connects to the swarming threat in Psalm 118:12, while Numbers 21:3 later records the naming of Hormah following Israel's victory over the Canaanites.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that disobedience triggers immediate, tangible consequences rather than abstract warnings. It requires the reader to trace how a single moment of presumption alters the trajectory of a community's journey.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
Cross-references
- Psalms 118:12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they were extinguished like burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
- Numbers 14:45 Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.
- Numbers 21:3 And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.
- Isaiah 7:18 On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.
- Deuteronomy 28:25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?