Deuteronomy 1 Quiz

25 Comprehensive Deuteronomy 1 Quiz Questions and Answers

Deuteronomy 1 opens the book of Moses’ farewell address. The Deuteronomy 1 quiz below tests recall across forty-six verses recounting the appointment of judges, the sending of the spies, and the rebellion at the threshold of the promised land.

Read it alongside the Deuteronomy 6 quiz on the great commandment that anchors the farewell, the whole-book Deuteronomy quiz covering all thirty-four chapters, or the Pentateuch quiz spanning all five books of Moses.

Deuteronomy 1 Quiz Questions and Answers

Question 1: When does Moses date the speaking of these words?
  • A. In the thirty-eighth year, in the seventh month, on the first day of the month
  • B. In the fortieth year, in the tenth month, on the seventh day of the month
  • C. In the thirty-ninth year, in the ninth month, on the fourth day of the month
  • D. In the fortieth year, in the twelfth month, on the tenth day of the month
  • E. In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month
View Answer

Answer 1: E. The verse marks the precise date of Moses’ speech, forty years after the exodus and on the first day of the month leading up to his death.
KJV Reference: “And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 1:3).

Question 2: Over what divisions did Moses appoint captains?
  • A. Over tens of thousands, thousands, hundreds, and fifties
  • B. Over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens
  • C. Over hundreds, fifties, tens, and fives
  • D. Over thousands, fifties, twenties, and tens
  • E. Over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and twos
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Answer 2: B. Moses delegated leadership across four tiers, from the largest unit down to the smallest, that the burden of judging not rest on him alone.
KJV Reference: “And I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes” (Deuteronomy 1:15).

Question 3: Whom does Moses recall God slew at the beginning of the chapter?
  • A. Pharaoh of Egypt and the kings of the seven nations
  • B. Sihon king of the Bashan and Balak king of Moab
  • C. Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of the Edomites
  • D. Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan
  • E. Og king of Bashan and Pharaoh’s captains of war
View Answer

Answer 3: D. The two kings stand as the proof of the LORD’s victory over the giants east of Jordan, named in the very opening of Moses’ speech as the conquest behind them.
KJV Reference: “After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei” (Deuteronomy 1:4).

Question 4: What did the LORD say to Israel at the mount before the journey began?
  • A. Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount
  • B. Arise, take your journey unto the river of Egypt
  • C. Lo and Behold, I set before thee the land of promise
  • D. Lift up thine eyes and behold the land of Canaan
  • E. Hearken, the way is now open before thee, O Israel
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Answer 4: A. After almost a year at the mount of God receiving the law, the LORD declared the time at the mount was sufficient and called Israel to begin the journey toward the inheritance.
KJV Reference: “The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount” (Deuteronomy 1:6).

Question 5: How many days did Moses recall as the journey from the holy mount, by way of mount Seir, to the wilderness gateway of the land?
  • A. Twenty-one days
  • B. Thirty-five days 
  • C. Eleven days
  • D. Forty days
  • E. Seven days
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Answer 5: C. The number is given as a quiet rebuke. The wilderness journey itself was an eleven-day distance, but the people would spend forty years before entering.
KJV Reference: “(There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea.)” (Deuteronomy 1:2).

Question 6: What did Israel say in their tents about why the LORD brought them out of Egypt?
  • A. Because his anger was kindled, he hath given us up to slavery
  • B. Because the fathers rebelled, he hath driven us into the sand
  • C. Because we had broken the covenant, he hath cast us off
  • D. Because of the spies’ iniquity, he hath turned us back
  • E. Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth
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Answer 6: E. Israel’s accusation in the tents inverts the truth: the LORD who delivered them from Egypt is recast as a hateful captor, betraying how far the heart had drifted in a single generation.
KJV Reference: “And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us” (Deuteronomy 1:27).

Question 7: What was reported about the cities of the land that discouraged Israel?
  • A. The cities are great and walled up to heaven
  • B. The cities are filled with chariots and iron weapons
  • C. The cities are encamped about with mighty armies
  • D. The cities are stronger than any in the wilderness
  • E. The cities are guarded by the kings of the heathen
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Answer 7: A. The brethren who went up brought back not the LORD’s promise but a description of the obstacle: city walls so high they reached heaven itself, in the eyes of those who measured them.
KJV Reference: “…The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there” (Deuteronomy 1:28).

Question 8: How does Moses describe the LORD’s bearing of Israel through the wilderness?
  • A. As an eagle beareth her young
  • B. As a man doth bear his son
  • C. As a shepherd carrieth his lamb
  • D. As a father pitieth his children
  • E. As a nurse cherisheth her child
View Answer

Answer 8: B. The image is intimate, not abstract. The way of the wilderness was not a divine maneuver from afar but a father carrying his child every step.
KJV Reference: “And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how 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” (Deuteronomy 1:31).

Question 9: To which patriarchs had the LORD sworn to give the land?
  • A. Adam, Noah, and Abraham
  • B. Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph
  • C. Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph
  • D. Abraham, Isaac, and Levi
  • E. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
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Answer 9: E. Moses ties the call to enter the land back to the threefold patriarchal oath, anchoring Israel’s right to the land in covenant rather than conquest.
KJV Reference: “Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them” (Deuteronomy 1:8).

Question 10: How many men did Moses send to search out the land?
  • A. Six men
  • B. Ten men
  • C. Twelve men
  • D. Twenty-four men
  • E. Forty men
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Answer 10: C. Each tribe had a representative voice in the search, that no one tribe might claim privilege or blame regarding the report brought back.
KJV Reference: “And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe” (Deuteronomy 1:23).

Question 11: What did Moses confess concerning his ability to bear the people?
  • A. I am old, the burden is too great for me
  • B. The work is greater than one man’s strength
  • C. I am wearied with the multitude of all your judgments
  • D. I am not able to bear you myself alone
  • E. The LORD hath laid on me a yoke I cannot bear
View Answer

Answer 11: D. The admission opens the section on the appointment of judges. The burden of governing the multiplied congregation was beyond one man’s bearing, and Moses sought help.
KJV Reference: “And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone” (Deuteronomy 1:9).

Question 12: Which two men were named as exceptions to the judgment that none of that generation should see the good land?
  • A. Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun
  • B. Aaron the brother of Moses and Caleb the son of Jephunneh
  • C. Joshua the son of Nun and Eleazar the son of Aaron
  • D. Caleb the son of Jephunneh and his son the son of Anak
  • E. Joshua the son of Nun and the priests of the tribe of Levi
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Answer 12: A. Caleb is named first because he wholly followed the LORD, and Joshua second because he stood before Moses to be encouraged. Both verses preserve the two men whose faith would carry the next generation across Jordan.
KJV Reference: “Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, because he hath wholly followed the LORD” (Deuteronomy 1:36). “But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it” (Deuteronomy 1:38).

Question 13: How did the LORD lead Israel in the wilderness, by night and by day?
  • A. An angel before them, and with the priests behind
  • B. With the ark of the covenant going before the host
  • C. By a chariot of fire that lit up the sky
  • D. By a voice from heaven that called them by name
  • E. In fire by night and in a cloud by day
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Answer 13: E. The pillar served two functions: lighting the camp by night and shielding from the desert sun by day. The LORD himself searched out the place to pitch tents, going before the people in both.
KJV Reference: “Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day” (Deuteronomy 1:33).

Question 14: In what region does the chapter open Moses’ speech?
  • A. Beside the plains of Moab near the river of Egypt
  • B. On this side of Jordan in the wilderness
  • C. By the wilderness of Sin between Sinai and Egypt
  • D. In the land of the Amorites east of Jordan
  • E. In the camp of Israel before the holy tabernacle
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Answer 14: B. The opening verse situates the words geographically: on the eastern side of Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between named landmarks of the Pentateuch’s wilderness journey.
KJV Reference: “These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab” (Deuteronomy 1:1).

Question 15: What did the spies bring back as evidence of the land’s goodness?
  • A. Pomegranates and figs from the slopes 
  • B. Honey and milk from the highlands
  • C. The fruit of the land in their hands
  • D. Stones and dust from the cities 
  • E. Branches of cedar from the forests 
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Answer 15: C. The fruit they carried became the proof of the LORD’s promise. Their words were ‘It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us,’ confirmed by what they held in their hands.
KJV Reference: “And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us” (Deuteronomy 1:25).

Question 16: What did Moses say to encourage Israel against the dread of the Amorites?
  • A. The LORD goeth before you, he shall fight for you
  • B. The arm of the LORD is mighty, his strength shall not fail
  • C. The angel of the LORD shall protect you in battle
  • D. Be strong, for the LORD hath given the land to your hand
  • E. Stand still and behold the salvation of the LORD God
View Answer

Answer 16: A. The encouragement is grounded in the LORD’s pattern. He had fought for them in Egypt, and the same God now stood ready to fight for them against the Amorites, if they would only believe.
KJV Reference: “The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes” (Deuteronomy 1:30).

Question 17: Why was the LORD angry with Moses?
  • A. For thou hath struck the rock in your anger before the people
  • B. Because thou hath failed to lead the people into the land
  • C. For the burden of judging had distracted him from prayer
  • D. For the people’s sakes, thou also shalt not go in thither
  • E. Because he had murmured against the LORD’s command of mercy
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Answer 17: D. The LORD’s anger fell on Moses for the people’s sakes. The leader’s exclusion from the land was bound up with the people’s failure, and the verdict came at the same moment as the verdict on the wider generation.
KJV Reference: “Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither” (Deuteronomy 1:37).

Question 18: How does the chapter describe the multiplication of Israel?
  • A. As the dust of the earth in number
  • B. As the herds upon a thousand hills
  • C. As the leaves of the cedars of Lebanon
  • D. As the locusts in the year of plenty
  • E. As the stars of heaven for multitude
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Answer 18: E. Moses applies the patriarchal promise to the present. Israel had grown from seventy souls in Egypt to a stellar multitude, the fulfillment of the LORD’s word to Abraham.
KJV Reference: “The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude” (Deuteronomy 1:10).

Question 19: How does the chapter describe the Amorites’ chase of those who went up presumptuously?
  • A. As wolves that chase the lambs in the wilderness
  • B. As bees do and destroyed them in Seir
  • C. As eagles that fall upon the prey of the field of egypt
  • D. As lions that roar after the flocks
  • E. As a whirlwind that sweeps from the desert in the night
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Answer 19: B. The image is striking: a swarm of bees rather than an army of warriors. The Amorites pursued them in great numbers, scattered them in Seir, and drove them all the way back to Hormah.
KJV Reference: “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” (Deuteronomy 1:44).

Question 20: Who did the LORD say would inherit the land instead of the rebellious generation?
  • A. The little ones, who had no knowledge between good and evil
  • B. The wise men of every tribe of the children of Israel
  • C. The Levites who had not joined the rebellion at Kadesh-barnea
  • D. The strangers and proselytes who feared the LORD their God
  • E. The men of war who would be raised up after them
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Answer 20: A. Those whom the rebellious generation feared would be a prey are the very ones to whom the land is given. The children excluded from understanding are made the heirs of the promise.
KJV Reference: “Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it” (Deuteronomy 1:39).

Question 21: What was the charge to the judges Moses appointed?
  • A. To follow the law of the LORD strictly in all their decisions
  • B. To consult the priests of the tabernacle in every difficult matter
  • C. To hear the small and the great and not respecting persons in judgment
  • D. To deliver swift verdicts that the multitude might receive justice quickly
  • E. To execute the wicked and reward the righteous as the LORD commanded
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Answer 21: C. Three principles bind the judge: equal hearing for small and great, no respect of persons, and no fear of any man’s face. The judgment is God’s, not the judge’s, and that is its weight.
KJV Reference: “Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s” (Deuteronomy 1:17).

Question 22: What did Israel say after the LORD’s verdict had fallen?
  • A. We will turn back and serve the LORD in the wilderness
  • B. Let the LORD do unto us what is good in his eyes
  • C. We will offer sacrifices for our iniquity at the holy place
  • D. The LORD has cast us off forever, who can stand before him
  • E. We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight
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Answer 22: E. The confession came too late. The same people who had refused to go up when the LORD called now sought to go up after he had said no, and the result was disaster at the hand of the Amorites.
KJV Reference: “Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us” (Deuteronomy 1:41).

Question 23: What did the LORD do when Israel returned and wept?
  • A. He sent a prophet to deliver them in their distress
  • B. He raised up Moses to intercede on their behalf again
  • C. He turned the Amorites back from the wilderness border
  • D. He would not hearken to their voice nor give ear unto them
  • E. He renewed the covenant with the elders of the camp
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Answer 23: D. The weeping was real, but the moment of mercy had passed. The LORD’s silence is itself a verdict, and the people abode at Kadesh many days under the weight of it.
KJV Reference: “And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you” (Deuteronomy 1:45).

Question 24: What did Moses say in his blessing concerning the multiplying of Israel?
  • A. May the LORD multiply you greatly throughout the land
  • B. May the LORD make you a thousand times so many more
  • C. May the LORD make you fruitful as the hosts of heaven
  • D. May the LORD increase you above the host of all nations
  • E. May the LORD bless you as he blessed your father Abraham
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Answer 24: B. Moses pauses to bless before continuing the speech, asking the LORD to multiply Israel a thousand-fold above their present multitude. The blessing reaches forward into the inheritance even as Moses recalls the failure that delayed it.
KJV Reference: “(The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!)” (Deuteronomy 1:11).

Question 25: What did Moses tell the judges to do with cases too hard for them?
  • A. To bring the matter before the LORD in fasting and prayer
  • B. To send the matter unto the priest who stood before the ark
  • C. To bring the cause unto Moses and he would hear it
  • D. To divide the cause between two judges
  • E. To gather the elders of every tribe to deliberate the matter
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Answer 25: C. The hierarchy is preserved. Lower courts handled the manageable cases, and Moses sat as the final court of appeal for the difficult ones. The system anticipated what would later become the highest courts of Israel.
KJV Reference: “And the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it” (Deuteronomy 1:17).

Deuteronomy 1 is a chapter about a generation that came to the edge of the land and turned back. The LORD had set the inheritance before them. He had fought for them in Egypt, borne them through the wilderness as a man bears his son, and led them eleven days from the holy mount to the very threshold. And yet, when the spies returned and the cities loomed walled up to heaven, the people would not go up. They believed the obstacle more than the God who had delivered them already.

The whole rest of the book of Deuteronomy is a witness against that fear. Moses tells the story not for the generation that failed, since most of them are dead by chapter 1, but for their children. He wants the next generation to hear what unbelief cost. May we, when we stand at the edge of what God has set before us, remember whose hands carried us this far. The LORD who delivered yesterday is not weaker today.

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