Deuteronomy 8:7-9

7, 8. A good land In these verses Moses contrasts the sterility of the almost waterless desert with the fertility of the land they are soon to possess. They are to have a land of brooks and fountains. At Banias, the Caesarea Philippi of the New Testament, are rivulets so deep and so abundant in supply of water that they form one of the chief sources of the Jordan. This river, extending from the northern boundary to the Dead Sea, with the lakes through which it flows Merom and Gennesaret forms one of the most marked features of the land. “Beautiful springs, characteristic of the whole valley of the Jordan, are unusually numerous and copious along the western shore of the lake,” (Gennesaret.) STANLEY, Sinai and Palestine, p. 374.

Vines Palestine was noted for the products of the vineyard. Comparatively little wine is now made, as the Mohammedans are forbidden to use it. But the vine is still extensively cultivated in the southern part of Palestine. The traveler sees many fruitful vineyards in the neighbourhood of Hebron.

9. Out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass Instead of brass the translation should read copper. In Lebanon on the north, and in the mountains of Edom on the southeast, there were mines of copper. On the east of the Jordan are ancient worked-out iron mines. Comp. Delitzsch on Job, vol. ii, p. 91. The Jews apparently did not engage in mining to any extent.