Deuteronomy 1:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The extensive responsibilities taken on by Moses, along with the challenge of merging both governance and judiciary roles in a single individual, arose naturally from the vastness of the people. While he likened the number of Hebrews to that of the stars, this was not to be understood literally, since stars are countless; yet, while the Hebrews were indeed numerous, they were capable of being counted—having been tallied on more than one occasion. The effort required to undertake such counting felt as formidable as if one were to enumerate the stars. God reaffirmed the promise of the Hebrews' vast numbers multiple times during the patriarchal era (Gen. 12:2, Gen. 18:18, Gen. 22:17, Gen. 26:4).