I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
Parallel Translations
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I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
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And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
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and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
Cross-references (40)
Passages linked to Exodus 3:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 50:24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
- Genesis 15:18-21 In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
- Exodus 3:17 I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’
- Exodus 13:5 It shall be, when Yahweh brings you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month.
- Deuteronomy 1:25 They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, “It is a good land which Yahweh our God gives to us.”
- Deuteronomy 8:7-9 For Yahweh your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills; a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey; a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper.
- Jeremiah 11:5 that I may establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is today.” Then I answered, and said, “Amen, Yahweh.”
- Numbers 13:27 They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
- Ezekiel 20:6 in that day I swore to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.
- Psalms 91:15 He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.
- John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
- Exodus 6:6-8 Therefore tell the children of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. I will take you to myself for a people. I will be your God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am Yahweh.’ ”
- Exodus 12:51 That same day, Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
- Psalms 34:8 Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
- Genesis 11:5 Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
- Deuteronomy 7:1 When Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, and casts out many nations before you—the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—seven nations greater and mightier than you;
- Deuteronomy 11:9-24 and that you may prolong your days in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. For the land, where you go in to possess isn’t like the land of Egypt that you came out of, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs; but the land that you go over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky, a land which Yahweh your God cares for. Yahweh your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year. It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away to serve other gods and worship them; and Yahweh’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh gives you. Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates; that your days and your children’s days may be multiplied in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth. For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you—to do them, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him— then Yahweh will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border.
- Deuteronomy 27:3 You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have passed over, that you may go in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
- Psalms 12:5 “Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says Yahweh; “I will set him in safety from those who malign him.”
- Jeremiah 32:22 and gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
- Isaiah 64:1 Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence.
- John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.
- Exodus 33:2-3 I will send an angel before you; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Go to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way.”
- Exodus 34:11 Observe that which I command you today. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
- Numbers 14:7-8 They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey.
- Nehemiah 9:22-25 Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it. “So the children went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they pleased. They took fortified cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled, became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
- Psalms 22:4-5 Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them. They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.
- Genesis 15:14 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth;
- Genesis 18:21 I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”
- Exodus 22:23-31 If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor. You shall not charge him interest. If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious. “You shall not blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people. “You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. “You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me. You shall do likewise with your cattle and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days, then on the eighth day you shall give it to me. “You shall be holy men to me, therefore you shall not eat any meat that is torn by animals in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs.
- Genesis 11:7 Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
- Genesis 13:14-15 Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for I will give all the land which you see to you and to your offspring forever.
- Deuteronomy 26:9-15 and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, Yahweh, have given me.” You shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God. You shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the foreigner who is among you. When you have finished tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your gates and be filled. You shall say before Yahweh your God, “I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them. I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor given of it for the dead. I have listened to Yahweh my God’s voice. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
- Deuteronomy 28:11 Yahweh will grant you abundant prosperity in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you.
- Nehemiah 9:8 found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his offspring, and have performed your words; for you are righteous.
- Psalms 18:9-19 He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire. Yahweh also thundered in the sky. The Most High uttered his voice: hailstones and coals of fire. He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yes, great lightning bolts, and routed them. Then the channels of waters appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. He sent from on high. He took me. He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. They came on me in the day of my calamity, but Yahweh was my support. He brought me out also into a large place. He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
- Jeremiah 2:7 I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruit and its goodness; but when you entered, you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.
- Numbers 13:19 and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds;
- Deuteronomy 1:7 Turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the places near there: in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the South, by the seashore, in the land of the Canaanites, and in Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
- Joshua 9:1 When all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and on all the shore of the great sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard of it
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Most plentiful of all things.
Most plentiful of all things.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 3:8 And I am come down to deliver…
Exo 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Ver. 8. I am come down.] Humanitus dictum, as in Gen 11:7; Gen 18:21. {See Trapp on "Gen 11:7"} {See Trapp on "Gen 18:21"}
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Milk and honey.] Plenty and dainties; all things both for necessity and delight.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I am come down: this word notes God’s manifestation…
I am come down: this word notes God’s manifestation of himself and his favour, and giving help from heaven. See Gen 18:21.
It was
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a good land and a large, not only comparatively to Goshen, where they now dwelt, and to the number of the Israelites at that time; but absolutely, if you take the Land of Promise according to its true, and first, and ancient bounds of it, as you have them described, Gen 15:18; Deu 1:7; 11:24, and not according to those narrow limits to which they were afterwards confined for their unbelief, sloth, cowardice, and impiety.
Flowing with milk and honey, i.e. abounding with the choicest fruits, both for necessity and for delight. The excellency and singular fruitfulness of.this land, howsoever denied or disputed by some ill-minded persons, is sufficiently evident,
1. From express testimony, not only of Moses, Deu 8:7-9, but also of the spies who were sent to view it, and, though prejudiced against it, yet acknowledged it, Num 13:27; and of the holy prophets that lived long in it, as David, Psa 106:24; Joe 2:3; and Ezekiel, who calls it the glory of all lands, Eze 20:15. Which if it had not been true, it is ridiculous to think that they durst have said and writ so, when the people with whom they contested, and thousands of other persons there and then living, were able to confute them. After them Josephus, and St. Hierom, and others since, who lived long in that land, have highly commended it. And whereas Strabo speaks of the barrenness of the soil about Jerusalem, that is true, but by himself it is limited to the compass of sixty furlongs from Jerusalem. And if at this day the land be now grown barren in a great measure, it is not strange, considering both the great neglect and sloth of the people as to the improvement of it, and the great wickedness of its inhabitants, for which God hath threatened to turn a fruitful land into barrenness, Psa 107:34.
These people are diversely numbered, there are ten sorts reckoned, Gen 15:19-21, and seven, Deu 7:1, and here but six, because some of them were either destroyed or driven out of their land by others; or did by choice and design remove to some other place, as many in those times did, though it be not mentioned in Scripture; or by cohabitation and marriage with some of the other people, did make a coalition, and were incorporated with them, and so their name was swallowed up in the other; or because the names of some of these people, as particularly the Canaanites and the Amorites, were used sometimes more strictly, and sometimes more largely, so as to comprehend under them the other people, as the Girgashites, &c., whence it comes to pass that all the rest go under the names of the Canaanites, Gen 13:7, and of the Amorites in some places of Scripture, as hath been showed.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And I am come down to deliver them out…
And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,.... Which must be understood consistent with the omnipresence of God, who is everywhere, and strictly speaking cannot be said to remove from place to place, or to descend; but such a way of speaking is used, when he gives some eminent display of his power or goodness, as here in a wonderful manner he appeared in a burning bush, and manifested himself in a way of grace and kindness to his people, signifying that he would shortly save them: so Christ in our nature came down from heaven to earth, to save his spiritual Israel out of the hands of all their enemies:
and to bring them out of that land; the land of Egypt, where they were in bondage, and greatly oppressed:
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unto a good land, and a large; the land of Canaan, which was not only a good land, but a large one in comparison of Goshen, where the Israelites were pent up and straitened for room through their great increase; and though it was but a small country in itself, and when compared with some others, being but one hundred and sixty miles from Dan to Beersheba, and but forty six from Joppa to Bethlehem, and but sixty from Joppa to Jordan, yet, for so small a country, it had a great deal of good land in it; for Hecataeus (t) an Heathen writer, says it had in it three hundred myriads of acres of the best and most fruitful land:
unto a land flowing with milk and honey; which is not to be restrained merely to the abundance of cattle fed he
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I am come down to deliver them - When…
I am come down to deliver them - When God doth something very extraordinary, he is said to come down to do it, as Isaiah lxiv, 1. This deliverance was typical of our redemption by Christ, and in that the eternal Word did indeed come down from heaven to deliver us. A large land - So it was, according to its true and ancient bounds, as they are described, Gen. xv, 18, and not according to those narrow limits, to which they were afterwards confined for their unbelief and impiety. A land flowing with milk and honey - A proverbial expression, abounding with the choicest fruits, both for necessity and delight.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. And I am come down to deliver…
Verse 8. And I am come down to deliver them] This is the very purpose for which I am now come down upon this mountain, and for which I manifest myself to thee.
Large - land] Canaan, when compared with the small tract of Goshen, in which they were now situated, and where, we learn, from Ex 1:7, they were straitened for room, might be well called a large land. See a fine description of this land De 8:7.
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A land flowing with milk and honey] Excellent for pasturage, because abounding in the most wholesome herbage and flowers; and from the latter an abundance of wild honey was collected by the bees. Though cultivation is now almost entirely neglected in this land, because of the badness of the government and the scantiness of the inhabitants, yet it is still good for pasturage, and yields an abundance of honey. The terms used in the text to express the fertility of this land, are commonly used by ancient authors on similar subjects. It is a metaphor taken from a breast producing copious streams of milk. Homer calls Argos ουθαρ αρουρης, the breast of the country, as affording streams of milk and honey, Il. ix., ver. 141. So Virgil: -
Prima tulit tellus, eadem vos ubere laeto
Accipiet. AEn., lib. iii., ver. 95.
"The land that first produced you shall receive
you again into its joyous bosom."
The poets feign that Bacchus, the fable of whom they have taken from the history of Moses, produced rivers of milk and honey, of water and wine: -
Ῥει δε γαλακτι πεδον,
Ῥει δ' οινῳ, ῥει δε μελισσαν
Νεκταρι. EURIP. Bacch., Εποδ., ver. 8.
"The land flows with milk; it flows also with wine; it flows also with the nectar of bees, (honey.)" This seems to be a mere poetical copy from the Pentateuch, where the sameness of the metaphor and the correspondence of the descriptions are obvious.
Place of the Canaanites, &c.] See Ge 15:18, &c.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 3:8. I am come down to deliver them…
Exo 3:8. I am come down to deliver them — When God doth something very extraordinary, he is said to come down to do it, as Isa 64:1. This deliverance was typical of our redemption by Christ, and in that the eternal Word did indeed come down from heaven to deliver us. A large land — So it was, according to its true and ancient bounds, as they are described, (Gen 15:18,) and not according to those narrow limits, to which they were afterward confined for their unbelief and impiety. A land flowing with milk and honey — A proverbial expression: abounding with the choicest fruits, both for necessity and delight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The natural richness of Palestine, the variety and excellence…
The natural richness of Palestine, the variety and excellence of its productions, are attested by sacred (compare Jer 32:22; Eze 20:6) and ancient writers, whose descriptions are strongly in contrast with those of later travelers. The expression “flowing with milk and honey” is used proverbially by Greek poets.
The Canaanites ... - This is the first passage in this book where the enumeration, so often repeated, of the nations then in possession of Palestine, is given. Moses was to learn at once the extent of the promise, and the greatness of the enterprise. In Egypt, the forces, situation, and character of these nations were then well known. Aahmes I had invaded the south of Palestine in his pursuit of the Shasous; Tothmosis I had traversed the whole land on his campaign in Syria and Mesopotamia; representations of Canaanites, and of the Cheta, identified by most Egyptologers with the Hittites, are common on monuments of the 18th and 19th Dynasties, and give a strong impression of their civilization, riches, and especially of their knowledge of the arts of war. In this passage, the more general designations come first - Canaanites probably includes all the races; the Hittites, who had great numbers of chariots (892 were taken from them by Tothmosis III in one battle), occupied the plains; the Amorites were chiefly mountaineers, and, in Egyptian inscriptions, gave their name to the whole country; the name Perizzites probably denotes the dwellers in scattered villages, the half-nomad population; the Hivites, a comparatively unwarlike but influential people, held 4 cities in Palestine proper, but their main body dwelt in the northwestern district, from Hermon to Hamath (see Jos 11:3; Jdg 3:3); the Jebusites at that time appear to have occupied Jerusalem and the adjoining district. Soon after their expulsion by Joshua, they seem to have recovered possession of part of Jerusalem, probably Mount Zion, and to have retained it until the time of David.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Spacious, compared with that of Gessen. Chanaan was not…
Spacious, compared with that of Gessen. Chanaan was not above 210 miles long, and 70 broad. (Brocard.) St. Jerome does not allow so much. Hecateus says that the Jews had three million acres of excellent land. --- Milk and honey are still very plentiful in Palestine, (Calmet) though the country has lost much of its ancient beauty and luxuriance, for want of cultivation. The Samaritan and Septuagint number the Gergesites among the rest of the Chanaanites.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. am come down] from heaven. A frequent anthropomorphism…
8. am come down] from heaven. A frequent anthropomorphism in J: cf. Gen_11:5; Gen_11:7; also Exo_19:11; Exo_19:18; Exo_19:20; Exo_34:5.
a land flowing with milk and honey] a frequent designation of Canaan in the Pent.: in J (here, v. 17, Exo_13:5, Exo_33:3, Num_13:27; Num_14:8; Num_16:13 [of Egypt], 14): the compiler of H (Lev_20:24); Deu_6:3; Deu_11:9; Deu_26:9; Deu_26:15; Deu_27:3; Deu_31:20; also Jos_5:6 (D2[103]); Jer_11:5; Jer_32:22; Eze_20:6; Eze_20:15†. Milk is an essential article of diet in the East, especially among an agricultural people: ‘honey’ includes probably not only the honey of bees, but also what is now called by the corresponding name in Arabic dibs, i.e. grape juice, boiled down to a dark golden-brown syrup, intensely sweet, and much used in Palestine as a condiment to food (cf. DB. ii. 32b; EB. ii. 2015).
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[103] Deuteronomic passages in Josh., Jud., Kings.
of the Canaanite, &c.] Such rhetorical lists of the nations of Canaan whom the Israelites were to dispossess are frequent, esp. in the Hexateuch, in JE and Deuteronomic writers; see (in JE) Gen_15:19-21 (where ten are named); Exo_3:17; Exo_13:5; Exo_23:23; Exo_23:28; Exo_33:2; Exo_34:11; Deu_7:1 (seven), Exo_20:17; Jos_3:10; Jos_9:1; Jos_11:3; Jos_12:8; Jos_24:11 (all D2[104]); Jdg_3:5; 1Ki_9:20.
[104] Deuteronomic passages in Josh., Jud., Kings.
the Canaanite] more particularly, it seems (see Num_13:29), the inhabitants of the sea-coast, and of the Jordan-valley: but the term is often used, esp. by J (e.g. Gen_12:6), in a wider sense, of the pre-Israelitish population of Canaan generally (see further the writer’s note on Deu_1:6, p. 11 f., and Canaan in EB.).
the Hittite] The ‘Hittites,’1[105] as inscriptions now abundantly shew, were a great nation, whose home was N. of Phoenicia and Lebanon, Kadesh on the Orontes being one of their principal cities (see Hittites in EB. and DB.; or, more briefly, the writer’s note on Gen_10:15; and cf. 1Ki_10:29; 1Ki_11:1, 2Ki_7:6): but these Hittites were never conquered by the Israelites, and so cannot be referred to here. The reference may be to an offshoot settled in the far N. of Canaan (Jdg_1:26; Jdg_3:3 [read Hittite for Hivite]; Jos_11:3 [interchange, with LXX., Hittite and Hivite]); but a belief appears gradually to have sprung up,—though how far it is grounded on fact is difficult to say (see the writer’s Book of Genesis, pp. 228–30),—that there were once Hittites in the more southerly hill-country of Canaan (Num_13:29 in JE), and even in Hebron (Genesis 23 [P]); and it is possible that this is the view expressed in these enumerations.
[105] See now most fully Garstang’s Land of the Hittites (1910).
the Amorite] in the Tel el-Amarna letters (c. 1400 b.c.), the ‘land of Amurri’ is mentioned in such a way as to shew that it was the name of a canton, or district, N. of Canaan, behind Phoenicia2[106]. By the time of the Hebrew occupation, the Amorites appear to have extended themselves southwards; and so, in the OT., the term is used in two connexions: (1) Num_21:13 and often, of the people ruled by Sihon on the E. and NE. of the Dead Sea; (2) as a general designation of the pre-Israelitish population of the country W. of Jordan (so esp. in E and Dt., as Gen_15:6, Deu_1:7, cf. Amo_2:9-10),—in Num_13:29 said specially to have inhabited the hill-country.
[106] See Hogarth’s Authority and Archaeology, p. 73 f.; or the writer’s Genesis, p. 125. It appears now that the Amurri extended eastwards much further than was once supposed: see the writer’s Schweich Lectures (1909), p. 36.
the Perizzite] named alone in Jos_17:15; by the side of the ‘Canaanite’ only, Gen_13:7; Gen_34:30, Jdg_1:4-5; and found also in many of the lists cited above. To judge from the first-cited passages, apparently a people of Central Palestine; but more is not definitely known of them. It is thought by some that the word is not a proper name at all, but that it is connected with perâzî, ‘country-folk,’ ‘peasantry’ (Deu_3:5 ‘besides the towns of the peasantry’; 1Sa_6:18 ‘the villages of the peasantry’), and denoted the village population of Canaan, the fellaḥin (or ‘labourers’ of the soil), as they are now called.
the Hivite] a petty people of Central Palestine: Gen_34:2 (in Shechem); Jos_9:7; Jos_11:19 (in Gibeon).
the Jebusite] the tribe which occupied the stronghold of Jerusalem, and maintained themselves there until expelled by David (Jos_15:8; Jos_15:63, 2Sa_5:6-9).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) I am come down.—By condescension to human infirmity,…
(8) I am come down.—By condescension to human infirmity, which conceives of all things under the limitations of time and space, God is spoken of as dwelling ordinarily in heaven, or “the heaven of heavens,” whence sometimes He “comes down” to manifest Himself to men. That this was not understood literally, even by the Jews, appears from such passages as 1Ki_8:27; Psa_137:7-9; Pro_15:3, &c.
A good land and a large.—The land promised to Abraham (Gen_15:18) well deserves this description. Besides Philistia, and Palestine on both sides of the Jordan, it included almost the whole of Syria from Galilee on the south, to Amanus, Taurus, and the Euphrates on the north and north-east. This tract of country is 450 miles long, and from sixty to a hundred and twenty miles broad. Its area is not much less than 50,000 square miles. Although some parts are unproductive, it is, on the whole, a region of great fertility, quite capable of forming the seat of a powerful empire.
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A land flowing with milk and honey.—This expression, here used for the first time, was already, it is probable, a proverbial one, denoting generally, richness and fertility. (See Num_13:27.)
The Canaanites. . . . —See the comment on Gen. (Exo_10:15-17; Exo_13:7).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I am come down. Another anthropomorphism, and one very…
I am come down. Another anthropomorphism, and one very common in Scripture (Gen_11:5, 7 18:21; Psa_18:9 Psa_144:5, etc.) connected of course with the idea that God has a special dwellingplace, which is above the earth. To bring them up. Literally correct. Palestine is at a much higher level than Egypt. (Compare Gen_12:10 Gen_13:1 Gen_37:25 Gen_39:1 Gen_42:2 Gen_46:3, 4 50:25) A good land and a large. The fertility of Palestine, though not equal to that of Egypt, was still very great. Eastward of Jordan, the soil is rich and productive, the country in places wooded with fine trees, and the herbage luxuriant. Vast tracts in the spring produce enormous crops of grain, and throughout the year pasturage of every kind is abundant. "Still the countless flocks and herds may be seen, droves of cattle moving on like troops of soldiers, descending at sunset to drink of the springs-literally, in the language of; the prophet, "rams, and lambs, and goats, and bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan (Stanley, Jewish Church, pp. 217, 218). The western region is less productive, but by careful cultivation in terraces may be made to bear excellent crops of corn, olives, and figs. Palestine proper to a modern European seems small, being about the size of Belgium, less than Holland or Hanover, and not much larger than Wales. It contains about 11, 000 square miles. To an Israelite of the age of Moses such a land would appear sufficiently "large;" for it was considerably larger than the entire Delta of Egypt, whereof his nation occupied the smaller half; and it fell but little short of the entire cultivable area of the whole land of Egypt, which was the greatest and most powerful country known to him. It may be added that the land included in the covenant which God made with Abraham, (Gen_15:18-21) and actually possessed by David and Solomon, (1Ki_4:21) was a "good land and a large," according even to modern notions, including (as it did) besides Palestine the whole of Syria, and thus containing an area of from 50, 000 to 60, 000 square miles. The phrase flowing with milk and honey, first used here, and so common in the later books (Num_13:27; Deu_26:9, 15 31:20; Jer_11:5 Jer_32:22; Eze_20:6, etc.) was probably a proverbial expression for "a land of plenty," and not intended literally. See what the spies say, Num_13:27.
The enumeration of the nations of Palestine here made is incomplete, five only of the ten whose land was promised to Abraham (Gen_15:19-21) being expressly mentioned. One, however, that of the Hivites, is added. We may suppose that they had succeeded to the Kenizzites or the Kadmonites of Abraham"s time. The only important omission is that of the Girgashites, who hold their place in most other enumerations (Gen_10:16 Gen_15:21; Deu_7:1; Jos_3:10 Jos_24:11, etc.) but seem to have been the least important of the "seven nations,"and are omitted in Jud_1:3:5. ("Girgashites" is introduced in the Samaritan version and the Sept.)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain I am come down to deliver them.
Exo_3:8
I am come down to deliver them.
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The worlds sorrow and Christs redemption
1. Christ came down from heaven.
2. Christ came at the call of the worlds sorrow.
3. Christ came to achieve the worlds moral freedom.
4. Christ came to destroy the kingship of sin..
5. Christ came to lead men into happiness.
6. Christ came to awaken holy agencies for the spiritual welfare of the race. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Jehovah resents the oppression of the Church
1. Surely.
2. Speedily.
3. Continually.
4. Retributively. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
I am come down
God is said to descend.
1. In accommodation to a human form of speech.
2. To show judgment on the wicked (Gen_18:1-33.).
3. Perhaps to indicate the situation of Egypt, which was a low country.
4. To indicate some notable event about to follow. Babel. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
To bring them up out of that land
1. Of bad rulership.
2. Of wicked companionship.
3. Of hostile religious influences.
4. Of servile bondage.
5. There are many countries in the world where it is dangerous for Gods people to reside. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Unto a good land, and a large
1. Canaan was large compared with Goshen.
2. God exchanges the situations of His people for their good.
3. God does not intend His people to remain long the slaves of any earthly power.
4. The spiritual Israel will in eternity enter into the fulness of these words. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The Canaanites and the Hittites
A disinherited people:--
1. Disinherited by God, as the Supreme Disposer of all territory.
2. As under a special (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The Divine resolution
Here the absolute, free, unconditional grace of the God of Abraham, and the God of Abrahams seed, shines forth in all its native brightness, unhindered by the ifs and buts, the vows, resolutions, and conditions of mans legal spirit. God had come down to display Himself, in sovereign grace, to do the whole work of salvation, to accomplish His promise made to Abraham, and repeated to Isaac and Jacob. He had not come down to see if, indeed, the subjects of His promise were in such a condition as to merit His salvation. It was sufficient for Him that they needed it. He was not attracted by their excellencies or their virtues. It was not on the ground of aught that was good in them, either seen or foreseen, that He was about to visit them, for He knew what was in them. In one word, we have the true ground of His gracious acting set before us in the words, I am the God of Abraham, and I have seen the affliction of My people. These words reveal a great fundamental principle in the ways of God. It is on the ground of what He is, that He ever acts. i am, secures all for my people. Assuredly He was not going to leave His people amid the brick-kilns of Egypt, and under the lash of Pharaohs taskmasters. They were His people, and He would act toward them in a manner worthy of Himself. Nothing should hinder the public display of His relationship with those for whom His eternal purpose had secured the land of Canaan. He had come down to deliver them; and the combined power of earth and hell could not hold them in captivity one hour beyond His appointed time. He might and did use Egypt as a school, and Pharaoh as a schoolmaster; but when the needed work was accomplished, both the school and the schoolmaster were set aside, and His people were brought forth with a high hand and an outstretched arm. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:8 God would not only rescue them but would…
3:8 God would not only rescue them but would take them to their own . . . land that he had promised to Abraham (Gen 13:14-18). • flowing with milk and honey: The land was agriculturally rich, with pasturage for cattle and crops with blooms from which bees could make honey. • Canaanites . . . Jebusites: The list of peoples who lived in Canaan indicates the importance of this strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Desert. As a vital crossroads for trade and communication between Egypt and the rest of the ancient Near East, it was a hotly contested prize. That Israel could end up in sole possession of it seemed an impossibility.
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