Deuteronomy 11

2 which have not seen. Some of them (as Joshua and Caleb, with those who had entered on the journey under the age of 20) had been eyewitnesses of all these wonders, including those in Egypt; the rest, of those in the desert.

10 wateredst it with thy foot. By runnels or channels, which conveyed water from reservoirs through the gardens, and which were opened or closed by moving the earth with the foot. Egypt is dependent upon artificial irrigation, in connexion with the periodical overflowing of the Nile, an irrigation now made more general and effective by the Assouan Dam.

11 drinketh water, etc. This is an argument for obedience. The need of God’s constant care for water and fruitfulness is more apparent in Canaan than in Egypt, where the regular supply from the Nile has to be applied by the skill and labour of man.

14 the rain of your land. The rainy season in Palestine begins in autumn, when the land is prepared for sowing; and it ends about March, when the grain is swelling before it ripens. There is rarely any rain during the summer. Upon the regular recurrence of these rains the fertility of the country depends. Whatever be the second causes of prosperity, all are alike dependent upon the blessing of God, and subject to His control. See Gen. xli. 28-30; 1 Kings xvii. 1, etc.

21 as the days of heaven upon the earth. The R.V. reads, more literally, “as the days of the heavens above the earth.”

24. From the wilderness. Should be “from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the great River [Euphrates] to the western sea [Mediterranean].”

29 mount Gerizim. Gerizim lay on the south, and Ebal on the north, of the narrow valley in which Shechem (now Nablous) is built. Both are precipitous hills, rising direct from the valley, about 150 yards apart; Gerizim being rather less rocky and more productive than Ebal. See ch. xxvii. 11-13.

30 champaign. Heb., “the Arabah”: (so R.V.) see Numb. xxii. 1, etc., and notes.—beside the plains. Should be “beside the terebinth of the diviner.” The oak or terebinth was, as among the ancient Druids, a sacred tree.