Deuteronomy 8:9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 8:1-9

The charge here given them is the same as before, to keep and do all God's commandments. Their obedience must be, 1. Careful: Observe to do. 2. Universal: To do all the commandments, Deut. 8:1. And, 3. From a good principle, with a regard to God as the Lord, and their God, and particularly with a holy fear of him (Deut. 8:6), from a reverence of his majesty, a submission to his authority, and a dread of his wrath. To engage them to this obedience, besides the great advantages of it, which he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 8:9

A land wherein thou shall eat bread without scarceness ,.... That is, should have plenty of all sorts of provisions, which bread is often put for: thou shall not lack anything in it ; for necessity and convenience, and for delight and pleasure: a land whose stones are iron ; in which were iron mines: and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass ; both which are taken out of the earth and the stones of it, Job 28:2 and were to be found in the land of Canaan, and particularly in... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 8:9

A land whose stones are iron - Not only meaning that there were iron mines throughout the land, but that the loose stones were strongly impregnated with iron, ores of this metal (the most useful of all the products of the mineral kingdom) being every where in great plenty. Out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass - As there is no such thing in nature as a brass mine, the word נחשת nechosheth should be translated copper; of which, by the addition of the lapis calaminaris , brass is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 8:7-10

The duty of thankfulness for the bounty of God in nature. The people of Israel were being led by the Lord their God to a land beautiful, luxuriant, fruitful. (For an account of the productions of Palestine, of the fertility of its soil, and of the treasures hidden in its hills, see works by Kitto, Stanley, Wilson, Thomson, and others; as well as Bible dictionaries and Cyclopedias, under the several headings.) Evidently, at the time Moses uttered the words before us, the people had not... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 8:7-10

The good land. I. A LAND OF GREAT NATURAL ADVANTAGES —a wealthy possession . Wood, water, metals, a fertile soil, good pasturage, honey in the clefts of the rocks, etc. ( Deuteronomy 11:11 , Deuteronomy 11:12 ; Deuteronomy 33:13-16 , Deuteronomy 33:19 , Deuteronomy 33:25 ). Dr. Dykes remarks on it as uniting, as no other does, the two indispensable conditions of central position and yet of isolation, and points out that few regions offer so few temptations to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 8:7-20

The land on which they were about to enter is described as a good laud, fertile and well watered, and yielding abundant produce to its cultivators; and they are cautioned against forgetting, in their enjoyment of the gift, the bounty of the Giver, or congratulating themselves on having achieved the conquest of such a land, instead of gratefully acknowledging the grace which had sustained them during their protracted wandering in the wilderness, and by which alone they had been enabled to take... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 8:7-20

Wealth perilous to piety. God's policy in the government of men is to win by prodigal kindness. A churlish parsimony has never been found with him; the very opposite. An open eye discovers widespread munificence—a royal banquet. The present is only a sample of the future. The full inheritance is always the object of hope. The children of a king have large expectations. This passage contains— I. A NOTABLE INSTANCE OF DIVINE MUNIFICENCE . 1. The heritage of Israel was a "... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 8:7-20

God forgotten amid second causes. The support of the wilderness was manifestly miraculous. They could not doubt their dependence there upon God. They might murmur even amid daily miracle, but they could not doubt it. It would be different in Canaan, and it is in view of this Moses warns them. There they would get sustenance in ordinary ways; and they might say that their own power, and not God's blessing, made them wealthy. I. THERE IS A VERY GREAT TENDENCY TO FORGET GOD... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 8:9

A land whose stones are iron. Minerals do not abound in Palestine; the hills are for the most part calcareous; but by the side of the limestone in the north of Canaan ferruginous basalt appears in largo masses, and on Lebanon ironstone abounds. Near Tiberius are springs largely impregnated with iron, as are also those at Has-beija, on the Hermon range, as well as the soil around that place. Traces of extinct copper works are also to be found on Lebanon (cf. art. 'Metals,' in Kitto and Smith;... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 8:7-9

See Exodus 3:8 note, and the contrast expressed in Deuteronomy 11:10-11, between Palestine and Egypt.The physical characteristics and advantages of a country like Palestine must have been quite strange to Israel at the time Moses was speaking: compare Deuteronomy 3:25 note. To have praised the fertility and excellence of the promised land at an earlier period would have increased the murmurings and impatience of the people at being detained in the wilderness: whereas now it encouraged them to... read more

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