Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 8:15
Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, [wherein were] fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where [there was] no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
15. great and terrible wilderness ] Deu 1:19: cp. Deu 7:21.
fiery serpents and scorpions ] The former, in the collective singular naash sarap, are described in the plural in Num 21:6 E: cp. Isa 30:6: the flying saraph. If saraph really means burning and is not a foreign word (for dragon or the like), it refers to the inflammation produced by the serpent’s bite. Scorpions is added characteristically by D.
out of the rock of flint ] Exo 17:6 (E): Num 20:8; Num 20:11 (JE): in both cases only the rock. D’s characteristic rhetoric adds of flint. The word does not occur before D, and elsewhere only in Deu 32:13; Psa 114:8; Job 28:9; Isa 50:7.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Render: Who brought thee through that great and terrible wilderness, the fiery serpent and the scorpion, and the dry land where are no waters. On the fiery serpents see Num 21:6 note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 15. Who led thee through that – terrible wilderness] See the account of their journeying in the notes, See Clarke on Ex 16:1, c. Nu 21:10-35, &c.
Fiery serpents] Serpents whose bite occasioned a most violent inflammation, accompanied with an unquenchable thirst, and which terminated in death. See Clarke on Nu 21:6.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
15. Who led thee through that greatand terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, andscorpionsLarge and venomous reptiles are found in greatnumbers there still, particularly in autumn. Travellers must usegreat caution in arranging their tents and beds at night; even duringthe day the legs not only of men, but of the animals they ride, areliable to be bitten.
who brought thee forth waterout of the rock of flint(See on De9:21).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness,…. The wilderness of Paran, which was great and large, reaching from Sinai to Kadesh, eleven days’ journey, and terrible to the sight, nothing being to be seen but dry rocks and barren mountains; see De 1:19, and especially for what follows: wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions; fiery serpents, such as bit the Israelites, of which see Nu 21:6 and scorpions, a kind of serpents, venomous and mischievous, which have stings in their tails they are continually thrusting out and striking with, as Pliny says u; and have their name from their great sting; for Aristotle w says, this alone of insects has a large sting:
and drought where there was no water; a dry and barren place where no water was to be had; see Ps 63:1 or it may be rather another kind of serpents may be meant, which is called “dipsas”; and so the Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, and Samaritan versions render it; the biting of which produces such a thirst as proves mortal, and which must be intolerable in a wilderness where no water is; and from whence it has its name, which signifies thirsty, as does the Hebrew word here used:
who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; which was done both at Horeb and Kadesh, Ex 17:6 and was very extraordinary; by striking flint, fire is ordinarily produced, and not water. Dr. Shaw observes x, that it may be more properly named, with other sorts of graphite marble here to be met with, “the rock of amethyst”, from their reddish or purple colour and complexion.
u Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 25. w Hist. Animal. l. 4. c. 7. x Travels, p. 317, 442.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(15) The rock of flint.The rock in Horeb is called tsr; the rock smitten in Kadesh, selagh. The first word conveys the idea of hardness; the other is rather a cliff, or height, and suggests the idea of inaccessibility. In Num. 20:10, the words of Moses to the rebels, Must we fetch you water out of this rock? seem to help the distinction, whatever its purpose may be. On the associations of the word tsr with flint, see Note on Jos. 5:2. The word challmsh, here used for flint, occurs in Deu. 32:13, Job. 28:9, Psa. 114:8 (an allusion to this passage), and Isa. 1:7.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Who led thee This passage is better rendered, “Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, poisonous serpents, and scorpions, and parched land, where were no waters.” Even in such a land they were the objects of a providential care. Bread from heaven, water from the rock, had supplied their wants.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 15. Scorpions The scorpion is a small insect, which has a bladder full of poison: the belly is divided into seven rings, from the last of which the tail proceeds, which tail is armed with one, and sometimes with two stings, whence it darts a dangerous poison; it fixes violently with its snout, and by its feet or claws, on such persons as it seizes, so that it cannot be plucked off without difficulty, and hence its name akrab. See Parkhurst on the word. The desarts of Arabia are full of these noxious creatures. See Scheuchzer on the place.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Deu 8:15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, [wherein were] fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where [there was] no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
Ver. 15. Who led thee through, &c. ] Good turns aggravate unkindnesses, and our offences are increased by our obligations.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
wilderness = desert, Compare Deu 1:19.
serpents. Hebrew. nachash.
drought. Hebrew. zimm’on. Only here and Psa 107:33, and Isa 35:7. Who brought. Compare Psa 114:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
led thee: Deu 1:19, Psa 136:16, Isa 63:12-14, Jer 2:6
fiery serpents: Num 21:6, Hos 13:5
who brought: Exo 17:5, Num 20:11, Psa 78:15, Psa 78:16, Psa 105:41, Psa 114:8, Isa 35:7, 1Co 10:4
Reciprocal: Exo 17:6 – and thou Num 20:5 – this evil Deu 32:10 – found Jdg 14:14 – Out of the eater Neh 9:15 – broughtest Job 36:31 – by Psa 107:4 – wandered Isa 30:6 – into the land Isa 43:19 – rivers Jer 2:2 – when Rev 9:3 – as