Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 8:9
A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any [thing] in it; a land whose stones [are] iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
9. without scarceness ] The noun is found only here, and its adj. thrice only in the late Ecc 4:13; Ecc 9:15 f.; cp. Isa 40:20. Scarcity of bread is a great curse of the desert nomads: some tribes taste it but once a month, others not so often, and it is regarded as a luxury (Robinson, Bib. Res. ii. 497, cp. i. 197 f., Musil, Arabia Petr. iii. ‘Ethnolog. Reisebericht,’ 148). Their hunger for it is a frequent cause of their raids on the fellahin (for an instance see von Oppenheim, Vom Mittelmeer zum Pers. Golf, i. 269).
whose stones are iron ] Whether iron here means basalt as in Deu 3:11 ( q.v.) is doubtful, for basalt is not confined to fertile lands, but is also found in the desert. More probably it is iron proper: not introduced to Palestine till the arrival of Israel or perhaps later. Like copper it came from the North (Jer 15:12), where the Phoenicians and Arameans seem to have moulded and worked it in the Lebanons (Ramman-Nirari III of Assyria records it as tribute from Aram-Damascus; and Idrisi, see ZDPV, viii. 134, mentions a mine above Beyrout). Josephus speaks of the Iron Mountain running as far as Moabitis (IV. B.J. Deu 8:2) and the Letter of Aristeas says that both iron and copper were brought before the Persian period from the Mts of Arabia. ‘Some have denied that the promise to Israel of iron in the rocks of their own land is justified by the geological facts. But ancient sources of the ore have been discovered at Ikzim on Mt Carmel, and near Burme, N. of the Jabbok’ ( Jerus. i. 332). Some of the hot springs of Palestine are impregnated with iron (Driver quoting Burckhardt, 33 f.). The excess of the references to iron and to furnaces in Jer. and Deut. over those in previous writers points to an increase of the metal in Israel before 650 b.c.
brass ] ‘In the O.T. this never refers to the alloy of zinc to which the term is now confined’ (J. H. Gladstone, PEFQ, 1898, 253 n.) but means either bronze, copper with alloy of tin, or pure copper. In W. Asia no source of tin has been certainly identified. But in a paper on ‘Copper and its Alloys in Antiquity’ (reported in Athenaeum, Feb. 3, 1906) the President of the Anthropological Institute gives his opinion that bronze was made directly from a copper ore containing tin long before the two metals were artificially mixed. The sources of copper for Palestine were Cyprus, the Lebanons (‘the land of Nuashshi’ or bronze), Edom, and N. Arabia (Tell-el-Amarna Letters (Winckler’s ed.), 25, 27, 31 ff.; see the present writer’s article ‘Trade, etc.’ in Enc. Bibl. 7; and for the copper-mines and smelting furnaces of N. Edom at Fnn, the Phainn of antiquity, see Musil, Edom, i. 156 f., 287, 298, 323, ii. 7 f.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 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 nechosheth should be translated copper; of which, by the addition of the lapis calaminaris, brass is made. See Clarke on Ex 25:3.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Where are mines of iron in a manner as plentiful as stones, and upon which travellers must tread, as in other parts they do upon stones;
and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass, to wit, in great plenty. These are mentioned, because they had none such in Egypt whence they came.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. a land whose stones are ironTheabundance of this metal in Palestine, especially among the mountainsof Lebanon, those of Kesraoun, and elsewhere, is attested not only byJOSEPHUS, but by Volney,Buckingham, and other travellers.
brassnot the alloybrass, but the ore of copper. Although the mines may now be exhaustedor neglected, they yielded plenty of those metals anciently (1Ch 22:3;1Ch 29:2-7; Isa 60:17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 the tribe of Asher, as seems from De 33:25 and more particularly at Sidon and Sarepta, which were in that tribe; the latter of which seems to have its name from the melting of metals there, and the former is said in Homer t to abound with brass.
t . Homer. Odyss. 15. l. 424.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9) Whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.We do not hear of mining operations in Palestine from sacred history. Brass, i.e., copper; and so in all passages.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Ver. 9. A land whose stones are iron i.e. Where the iron mines are as plentiful as quarries of stone in other places. Out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass; i.e. copper, of which brass is made. See chap. Deu 33:25.
REFLECTIONS.Repeated injunctions were given to urge their obedience; it was what God justly expected of them, and they need carefully perform. Two arguments are here mentioned.
1. What God had done for them in the wilderness. There they had gone through his gracious discipline, to humble and prove them, whether they would trust in his providence, and submit to his corrections; and there they had experienced astonishing interpositions of his mercy and grace to their bodies and souls. Note; (1.) We should remember often God’s past dealings with us in mercy, as an encouragement to trust in the continuance of his care. (2.) We have need of every affliction which the Lord is pleased to lay upon us; our hearts are so proud and stubborn, that all is little enough to bend them. (3.) Trials are the proofs of our faith. God exercises us, that our graces, like gold in the furnace, may shine the brighter. (4.) God can supply his people in their deepest distresses. Let us take no indirect courses to relieve ourselves, and then verily we shall be fed. (5.) The rod of correction is the mark of parental love; instead of fainting, we should rejoice, when we are chastised of him.
2. What God was about to do for them. Canaan was before them: a land watered with copious streams, the vallies standing thick with corn, the hills covered with vines and olives, and every pleasing fruit; where plenty crowned the happy year, and filled their tables with abundance; whilst mines of precious ore enriched the bowels of the earth, and opened hidden sources of wealth. Deeply, therefore, they were bound to serve that master who paid them such abundant wages. How glorious the earthly, but how much better the heavenly Canaan, watered with the river of life, adorned with the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord; flowing with wine of everlasting consolation, and rich in treasures that never wax old or decay! May my lot fall in this pleasant land!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Deu 8:9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any [thing] in it; a land whose stones [are] iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
Ver. 9. Thou shalt not lack anything in it. ] Of the Island of Cyprus it is said, that it sendeth forth great abundance of commodities to other countries, of whom it craveth no help again. a It was anciently called Macaria, the Blessed. Marcellinus, to show the fertility of it, saith that Cyprus aboundeth with such plenty of all things, that without the help of any other foreign country, it is, of itself, able to build a tall ship from the keel to the topsail, and so put it to sea, furnished of all things needful. Of Egypt also it is reported, that it is so fruitful a country, Ut cunctos mortales pascere, deos ipsos excipere hospitio salva re posse gloriaretur. It was anciently called publicum orbis horreum, the world’s great barn; as some foreign writers have termed our country the court of Queen Ceres, the granary of the western world, the Fortunate Island, the Paradise of Pleasure, and Garden of God. The worst is, that as Aristotle was wont to tax his Athenians, that whereas they were famous for two things, the best land, and the best laws, frumentis uterentur, legibus nequaquam, they abused their plenty, and lived lawlessly; b so it may be said of us, that we live in God’s good land, but not by God’s good laws.
a Turk. Hist.
b Laert, lib. v. cap. 1.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
scarceness. Hebrew. miskenuth = poverty, misery; occurs only here.
brass = bronze, or copper.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
whose stones: Deu 33:25, Jos 22:8, 1Ch 22:14, Job 28:2
Reciprocal: Gen 4:22 – brass Exo 25:3 – brass Eze 19:10 – she was
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8:9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any [thing] in it; a land {f} whose stones [are] iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
(f) Where there are mines of metal.