Deuteronomio 8:7 Commento

Moses had charged parents in teaching their children to whet the word of God upon them (Deu 6:7) by frequent repetition of the same things over and over again; and here he himself takes the same method of instructing the Israelites as his children, frequently inculcating the same precepts and cautions, with the same motives or arguments to enforce them, that what they heard so often might abide with them. In this chapter Moses gives them, I. General exhortations to obedience (Deu 8:1, Deu 8:6). II. A review of the great things God had done for them in the wilderness, as a good argument for obedience (Deu 8:2-5, Deu 8:15, Deu 8:16). III. A prospect of the good land into which God would now bring them (Deu 8:7-9). IV. A necessary caution against the temptations of a prosperous condition (Deu 8:10-14, and Deu 8:17, Deu 8:18). V. A fair warning of the fatal consequences of apostasy from God (Deu 8:19, Deu 8:20).

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 8 In this chapter Moses repeats the exhortation to observe the commands of God, and urges the Israelites to it, from the consideration of the great and good things God had done for them in the wilderness, and even in those instances which were chastisements, and were of an humbling nature, Deu 8:1, and on the consideration of the blessings of the good land they were going to possess, Deu 8:7 for which blessings they are exhorted to be thankful, and are cautioned against pride of heart through them, and forgetfulness of God, and of his goodness to them while in the wilderness, and when brought into the land of Canaan, which they were to ascribe to his power and goodness, and not their own, Deu 8:10, and the chapter is concluded with a warning against idolatry, lest they perish through it as the nations before them, Deu 8:19.

A land of wheat and barley,.... There were two harvests in it, one a barley harvest, which began at the passover, and the other a wheat harvest, which began at Pentecost: instances of the great plenty of these might be observed in the vast quantities consumed in the times of Solomon, in his household, and in the yearly distribution he made to Hiram, Kg1 4:22, yea, there was such plenty of wheat in this land, that it not only supplied the inhabitants of it, but even furnished other countries with it; with this the merchants of Israel and Judah traded at the market of Tyre, Eze 27:17. According to the Jewish writers, the best fine wheat flour was at Mechumas and Mezonichah, and the next to them was Chephraim, or Ephraim, in the valley (h): and vines; with which this land abounded everywhere; the places most noted were Lebanon, Eshcol, Engedi, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Sarepta; according to the above writers (i), Cerotim and Hatolim were the first for wine, and the second to them were Beth Rimah and Beth Laban in the mountain, and Caphat Sigmah in the valley; the wine of Sharon is also highly commended by them (k). and fig trees and pomegranates: according to Josephus (l), the country of Gennesaret furnished with the best grapes and figs for ten months without intermission, and the rest of fruits throughout the whole year. Figs and pomegranates, the spies brought with them when they returned from searching the land, as well as grapes, are a specimen of the fruits of it, Num 13:23. a land of oil olive; the mount of Olives was famous for olive trees, and had its name from thence; the whole land abounded with them, and though oil was so much in common use with the Jews, they supplied their neighbours with it: see Kg1 5:11. It was usual also, as we are told, for the ten tribes to send oil into Egypt (m); according to the Jewish doctors, Tekoah was the first place for oil, and the second, Ragab, beyond Jordan (n); very probably the same with Argob, Deu 3:4. and honey; besides the great quantities of honey produced by bees in this country, there was much of another sort that dropped from trees, called wild honey, the food of John the Baptist in the wilderness, Mat 3:4. Pliny (o) speaks of a sort of honey which he calls "eloeomeli", or oil honey, which is said to flow from the olive trees in Syria; but this honey here is generally thought by the Jewish writers to be an honey which was made of the fruit of palm trees, frequent in this country, and especially about Jericho; of which Josephus (p) says, that the palm trees about Jericho, the fatter of them (i.e. of the fruit of them) being pressed, emit a large quantity of honey, scarce exceeded by any; and Maimonides (q) says, that the honey spoken of in the law, particularly in this place, is honey of palm trees, so Ben Melech; and it was not unusual for people of other nations to make honey of the fruit of them. Herodotus (r) reports, that the Babylonians made honey out of palm trees; so the Arabs call honey of palm trees "dibs, dibis, dipso" (s), the same with the word here used; agreeably to which both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words,"out of whose palm trees honey is made.'' (h) Misn. Menachot, c. 8. sect. 1. (i) lbid. sect. 6. (k) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 77. 1. (l) De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 9. sect. 8. (m) Echa Rabbati, fol. 59. 3. (n) Misn. Menachot, c. 8. sect. 3. (o) Nat. Hist. l. 23. c. 4. Tikkune Zohar, correct. 16. fol. 27. 1. (p) De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 3. (q) In Misn. Menachot, c. 5. sect. 1. so Bartenora in Misn. Biccurim, c. 1. sect. 3. (r) Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 193. (s) See Shaw's Travels, p. 143.

AN EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE. (Deu. 8:1-20) All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live--In all the wise arrangements of our Creator duty has been made inseparably connected with happiness; and the earnest enforcement of the divine law which Moses was making to the Israelites was in order to secure their being a happy (because a moral and religious) people: a course of prosperity is often called "life" (Gen 17:18; Pro 3:2). live, and multiply--This reference to the future increase of their population proves that they were too few to occupy the land fully at first.

For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land--All accounts, ancient and modern, concur in bearing testimony to the natural beauty and fertility of Palestine, and its great capabilities if properly cultivated. a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills--These characteristic features are mentioned first, as they would be most striking; and all travellers describe how delightful and cheerful it is, after passing through the barren and thirsty desert, to be among running brooks and swelling hills and verdant valleys. It is observable that water is mentioned as the chief source of its ancient fertility.

The Israelites were to continue mindful of this paternal discipline on the part of their God, when the Lord should bring them into the good land of Canaan. This land Moses describes in Deu 8:8, Deu 8:9, in contrast with the dry unfruitful desert, as a well-watered and very fruitful land, which yielded abundance of support to its inhabitants; a land of water-brooks, fountains, and floods (תּהומות, see Gen 1:2), which had their source (took their rise) in valleys and on mountains; a land of wheat and barley, of the vine, fig, and pomegranate, and full of oil and honey (see at Exo 3:8); lastly, a land "in which thou shalt not eat (support thyself) in scarcity, and shalt not be in want of anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains thou hewest brass." The stones are iron, i.e., ferruginous. This statement is confirmed by modern travellers, although the Israelites did not carry on mining, and do not appear to have obtained either iron or brass from their own land. The iron and brass of which David collected such quantities for the building of the temple (Ch1 22:3, Ch1 22:14), he procured from Betach and Berotai (Sa2 8:8), or Tibchat and Kun (Ch1 18:8), towns of Hadadezer, that is to say, from Syria. According to Eze 27:19, however, the Danites brought iron-work to the market of Tyre. Not only do the springs near Tiberias contain iron (v. Schubert, R. iii. p. 239), whilst the soil at Hasbeya and the springs in the neighbourhood are also strongly impregnated with iron (Burckhardt, Syrien, p. 83), but in the southern mountains as well there are probably strata of iron between Jerusalem and Jericho (Russegger, R. iii. p. 250). But Lebanon especially abounds in iron-stone; iron mines and smelting furnaces being found there in many places (Volney, Travels; Burckhardt, p. 73; Seetzen, i. pp. 145, 187ff., 237ff.). The basalt also, which occurs in great masses in northern Canaan by the side of the limestone, from the plain of Jezreel onwards (Robinson, iii. p. 313), and is very predominant in Bashan, is a ferruginous stone. Traces of extinct copper-works are also found upon Lebanon (Volney, Travels; Ritter's Erdkunde, xvii. p. 1063).