Verse 11
11. Take of the best fruits Hebrews, take of the song of the land; the products celebrated in song . This suggests the answer to the objection that these fruits should be had in Canaan in such a time of dearth . The items of the present here named were luxuries, which might have been preserved from previous years . “Almost all of them,” says Kalisch, “require for their growth heat rather than moisture; and some develop themselves to the greatest advantage in dry years and in a dry soil . ” So these may have grown and been abundant when the grains all failed . On balm, spices, and myrrh, see note on Genesis 37:25, where it will be noticed that the Ishmaelite caravan carried these same articles into Egypt . The honey ( רבשׁ ) here mentioned was probably the grape honey, manufactured by art, not by the bees; a sort of molasses or syrup, called by the modern Arabs dibs .
Nuts Probably the nuts of the pistachio tree, which somewhat resembles the terebinth. The Septuagint here translates the word by terebinth. The pistachio nut is said to be of an aromatic taste, and a favourite but not common fruit in the East. The almond tree was common in Palestine, but not in Egypt; its blossoms and fruit much resemble those of the peach tree.
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